Search results
1 – 10 of 25S. Balasubrahmanyam and Deepa Sethi
Gillette’s historically successful “razor and blade” business model (RBM) has been a promising benchmark for multiple businesses across diverse industries worldwide in the past…
Abstract
Purpose
Gillette’s historically successful “razor and blade” business model (RBM) has been a promising benchmark for multiple businesses across diverse industries worldwide in the past several decades. The extant literature deals with very few nuances of this business model notwithstanding the fact that there are several variants of this business model being put to practical use by firms in diverse industries in grossly metaphorically equivalent situations.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts the 2 × 2 truth table framework from the domains of mathematical logic and combinatorics in fleshing out all possible (four logical possibilities) variants of the razor and blade business model for further analysis. This application presents four mutually exclusive yet collectively exhaustive possibilities on any chosen dimension. Two major dimensions (viz., provision of subsidy and intra- or extra-firm involvement in the making of razors or blades or both) form part of the discussion in this paper. In addition, this study synthesizes and streamlines entrepreneurial wisdom from multiple intra-industry and inter-industry benchmarks in terms of real-time firms explicitly or implicitly adopting several variants of the RBM that suit their unique context and idiosyncratic trajectory of evolution in situations that are grossly reflective of the metaphorically equivalent scenario of razor and recurrent blades. Inductive method of research is carried out with real-time cases from diverse industries with a pivotally common pattern of razor and blade model in some form or the other.
Findings
Several new variants of the razor and blade model (much beyond what the extant literature explicitly projects) have been discovered from the multiple metaphorically equivalent cases of RBM across industries. All of these expand the portfolio of options that relevant entrepreneurial firms can explore and exploit the best possible option chosen from them, given their unique context and idiosyncratic trajectory of growth.
Research limitations/implications
This study has enriched the literature by presenting and analyzing a more inclusive or perhaps comprehensive palette of explicit choices in the form of several variants of the RBM for the relevant entrepreneurial firms to choose from. Future research can undertake the task of comparing these variants of RBM with those of upcoming servitization business models such as guaranteed availability, subscription and performance-based contracting and exploring the prospects of diverse combinations.
Practical implications
Smart entrepreneurial firms identify and adopt inspiring benchmarks (like razor and blade model whenever appropriate) duly tweaked and blended into a gestalt benchmark for optimal profits and attractive market shares. They target diverse market segments for tied-goods with different variants or combinations of the relevant benchmarks in the form of variegated customer value propositions (CVPs) that have unique and enticing appeal to the respective market segments.
Social implications
Value-sensitive customers on the rise globally choose the option that best suits them from among multiple alternatives offered by competing firms in the market. As long as the ratio of utility to price of such an offer is among the highest, even a no-frills CVP may be most appealing to one market segment while a plush CVP may be tempting to yet another market segment simultaneously. While professional business firms embrace resource leverage practices consciously, amateur customers do so subconsciously. Each party subliminally desires to have the maximum bang-to-buck ratio as the optimal return on investment, given their priorities ceteris paribus.
Originality/value
Prior studies on the RBM have explicitly captured only a few variants of the razor and blade model. This study is perhaps the first of its kind that ferrets out many other variants (more than ten) of the razor and blade model with due simplification and exemplification, justification and demystification.
Details
Keywords
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to propose a precise and standardized strategy for numerically simulating vehicle aerodynamics.
Design/methodology/approach
Error sources in computational fluid dynamics were analyzed. Additionally, controllable experiential and discretization errors, which significantly influence the calculated results, are expounded upon. Considering the airflow mechanism around a vehicle, the computational efficiency and accuracy of each solution strategy were compared and analyzed through numerous computational cases. Finally, the most suitable numerical strategy, including the turbulence model, simplified vehicle model, calculation domain, boundary conditions, grids and discretization scheme, was identified. Two simplified vehicle models were introduced, and relevant wind tunnel tests were performed to validate the selected strategy.
Findings
Errors in vehicle computational aerodynamics mainly stem from the unreasonable simplification of the vehicle model, calculation domain, definite solution conditions, grid strategy and discretization schemes. Using the proposed standardized numerical strategy, the simulated steady and transient aerodynamic characteristics agreed well with the experimental results.
Originality/value
Building upon the modified Low-Reynolds Number k-e model and Scale Adaptive Simulation model, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, a precise and standardized numerical simulation strategy for vehicle aerodynamics is proposed for the first time, which can be integrated into vehicle research and design.
Details
Keywords
Josephine Ofosu-Mensah Ababio, Eric B. Yiadom, John K.M. Mawutor, Joseph K. Tuffour and Edward Attah‐Botchwey
This study aims to use 67 developing countries to examine the role of financial inclusion as an “empowering tool” for renewable energy uptake and to improve environmental…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to use 67 developing countries to examine the role of financial inclusion as an “empowering tool” for renewable energy uptake and to improve environmental sustainability in developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a battery of econometric models, including the generalized method of moment-panel vector autoregression (GMM-PVAR), impulse response function, Granger causality, fully modified ordinary least squares and dynamic ordinary least squares, the study proposed and tested three hypotheses.
Findings
The results from various estimations indicate that financial inclusion has a positive effect on renewable energy consumption and environmental sustainability improvement in developing countries. The findings suggest that financial inclusion can improve environmental sustainability by increasing access to financing to fund renewable energy projects, support sustainable businesses and promote sustainable practices.
Originality/value
This study suggests that policymakers prioritize financial inclusion to promote renewable energy consumption and environmental sustainability. Policies should enhance access to financial services, offer financial incentives and subsidies, provide affordable loans through microfinance institutions and fintech companies and promote sustainable businesses and green technologies.
Details
Keywords
Shahla Safwat Ravhee and Sazdik Ahmed
This paper aims to examine how the interrelation between architecture and the physical environment came to prominence and influenced the pioneering modernist architects to acquire…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how the interrelation between architecture and the physical environment came to prominence and influenced the pioneering modernist architects to acquire the features of modern architecture that the British modernists later adopted. How the post-war urban poor of Britain, suffering from ill-health and dire need of sun, air and a good environment, played an essential role in alleviating the environmental concerns of the modern movement architects.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology of this research involves a comprehensive architectural analysis of the Finsbury Health Centre alongside an in-depth historical investigation of modernist design principles. This review article examines books, articles and some archival materials, such as recordings, pictures, etc. on the early phase of British modernism and its environmental dimension by looking at the works of historians, architects and critics.
Findings
Design based on modernist principles. While it can be seen as the political agenda of the Labor Party, this building was not only functionally efficient but also represented the biometric concerns of modern architecture with the most natural means.
Research limitations/implications
While this study provides valuable insights, it may be limited by historical documents and data availability.
Originality/value
The originality and value of this paper lie in its examination of the Finsbury Health Centre as a case study, shedding light on the environmental rhetoric of modernism in historic architecture. By providing a holistic assessment of the building’s environmental aspects, this research contributes to both architectural history and contemporary sustainable design practices.
Details
Keywords
Sobah Abbas Petersen, Tor Åsmund Evjen and John Krogstie
The main aim of this paper is to describe the potential benefits of enterprise building information models (EBIMs) for health-care institutions. The main research question…
Abstract
Purpose
The main aim of this paper is to describe the potential benefits of enterprise building information models (EBIMs) for health-care institutions. The main research question addressed is how data from EBIM could be leveraged to create value for hospitals beyond design, construction and traditional facility management.
Design/methodology/approach
Three different prototypes, which use different technologies in combination with EBIM, are described to illustrate different uses of EBIM within the context of a hospital and health-care operations. The case study approach has been used to present the prototypes.
Findings
EBIM data, in combination with other data sources, increases the potential benefits of the data with respect to many health-care-related processes, during the operation of a health-care institution. The benefits of EBIM span beyond the design and construction life cycle phases of a hospital and provide value to a variety of stakeholders in multiple health-care-related processes.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this work is the limited sources of data and information such as the specific methods that were used in the design and development of each of the prototypes and a deeper insight into the design rationale and decisions. Another limitation of this paper is that the findings have not been validated.
Practical implications
This study demonstrates the value of convergence of a number of technologies such as EBIM, data and different types of technologies, throughout the life cycle of a building. This study also highlights the value of building information models (BIMs) data for supporting the design of novel educational and other types of application areas. The practical implications include the value for multiple stakeholders, such as resources planning, fleet and equipment management and contract negotiation. Benefits identified for resource planning can have strategic and financial implications at the management level. For patients, visitors and health-care personnel, there may be reduced infections, cleaner and pleasant facilities as well as a reduction of time to find relevant resources.
Social implications
Social implications" could be replaced by "For patients, visitors and health-care personnel, there may be cleaner and pleasant facilities and easy navigation support through the hospital. Furthermore, enhanced access to knowledge and information about the artefact and assets in the hospital can enhance learning and knowledge sharing.
Originality/value
This study identifies the lack of research in using BIM with other data for value-added services for multiple stakeholders in the operations phase of a hospital and addresses that research gap.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical historical analysis of the business (mis)behaviors and influencing factors that discourage enduring cooperation between…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical historical analysis of the business (mis)behaviors and influencing factors that discourage enduring cooperation between principals and agents, to introduce strategies that embrace the social values, economic motivation and institutional designs historically adopted to curtail dishonest acts in international business and to inform an improved principal–agent theory that reflects principal–agent reciprocity as shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, strategic and ideological forces
Design/methodology/approach
The critical historical research method is used to analyze Chinese compradors and the foreign companies they served in pre-1949 China.
Findings
Business practitioners can extend orthodox principal–agent theory by scrutinizing the complex interactions between local agents and foreign companies. Instead of agents pursuing their economic interests exclusively, as posited by principal–agent theory, they also may pursue principal-shared interests (as suggested by stewardship theory) because of social norms and cultural values that can affect business-related choices and the social bonds built between principals and agents.
Research limitations/implications
The behaviors of compradors and foreign companies in pre-1949 China suggest international business practices for shaping social bonds between principals and agents and foreign principals’ creative efforts to enhance shared interests with local agents.
Practical implications
Understanding principal–agent theory’s limitations can help international management scholars and practitioners mitigate transaction partners’ dishonest acts.
Originality/value
A critical historical analysis of intermediary businesspeople’s (mis)behavior in pre-1949 (1840–1949) China can inform the generalizability of principal–agent theory and contemporary business strategies for minimizing agents’ dishonest acts.
Details
Keywords
Lambodara Parabhoi, Manoj Kumar Verma and Rebecca Susan Dewey
This paper aims to determine the gender composition of journal editorial boards in the field of library and information science and to identify trends in the gender composition of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to determine the gender composition of journal editorial boards in the field of library and information science and to identify trends in the gender composition of different editorial roles and the country of affiliation and occupation of people fulfilling these roles.
Design/methodology/approach
In an analysis of 13 selected Library Information Science journals published by the Emerald Publishing group, data relating to 549 editors and editorial board members were obtained from the Open Editors online database. Data were assessed by role, gender, country and continent of their affiliation, and occupation.
Findings
Women were found to be under-represented as editors and editorial board members in 10 of the 13 journals. This was most evident in the highest-ranking role of editor or editor-in-chief. The majority of editors and editorial board members were from English-speaking countries located in Europe and the Americas, followed by Asia. The vast majority of editorial personnel belonged to the teaching and learning profession, with relatively few support staff, or researchers taking on these roles.
Originality/value
The findings of this study highlight the gender inequality in prestigious and career-advancing academic roles across multiple research areas. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no such research has yet been conducted in the field of library and information science.
Details
Keywords
Bas Becker and Carel Roessingh
Multisited ethnography has primarily been portrayed as a challenge for the following field-worker, with the researcher taking the central role and neglecting research participants…
Abstract
Purpose
Multisited ethnography has primarily been portrayed as a challenge for the following field-worker, with the researcher taking the central role and neglecting research participants also experiencing a multisited nature of their work. The authors argue that literature on multisited ethnography merely discusses multisitedness as a methodological theme. In correspondence, the authors propose to think of multisitedness not just as a methodological theme but also as an empirical theme.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors contend etic and emic perspectives to address multisitedness empirically, which enables researchers to compare and contrast the multisited topic of inquiry in academic “outsider” terms with the etic analysis and considering the perspective of the research participants' multisited experiences using the emic perspective. To show the fruitfulness of discussing multisitedness using the complementary etic and emic analysis, the authors present the example of Mennonite entrepreneurial activities in Belize, a heterogeneous group of migrants that established themselves as successful traders and entrepreneurs.
Findings
Through an etic multisited ethnographic perspective, the authors compare and contrast four communities of Mennonites in terms of their entrepreneurial activities, technology and energy use. Through an emic perspective, the authors demonstrate how Mennonites, while preferring an in-group focus, navigate their multisited entrepreneurial activities, which require interaction with the outside world.
Originality/value
The authors highlight the value of combining etic–emic reflections to acknowledge and include the multisited nature of many social phenomena as experienced by the research participants.
Details
Keywords
Christtestimony Jesumoroti, AbdulLateef Olanrewaju and Soo Cheen Khor
Hospital building maintenance management constitutes a pertinent issue of global concern for all healthcare stakeholders. In Malaysia, the maintenance management of hospital…
Abstract
Purpose
Hospital building maintenance management constitutes a pertinent issue of global concern for all healthcare stakeholders. In Malaysia, the maintenance management of hospital buildings is instrumental to the Government’s goal of providing efficient healthcare services to the Government's citizenry. However, there is a paucity of studies that have comprehensively explored all dimensions of hospital building defects in relation to maintenance management. Consequently, this study seeks to evaluate the defects of hospital buildings in Malaysia with the aim of proffering viable solutions for the rectification and prevention of the issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilised a quantitative approach for data collection.
Findings
The findings indicated that cracked floors, floor tile failures, wall tiles failure, blocked water closets, and damaged windows were some of the flaws that degrade hospital buildings. The study’s outcomes reveal that defects not only deface the aesthetic appearance of hospital buildings but also inhibit the functionality of the buildings and depreciate the overall satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
Considering the indispensable role of hospital buildings in the grand scheme of healthcare service provision and ensuring the well-being of people, the issue of defects necessitates an urgent re-evaluation of the maintenance management practices of hospital buildings in Malaysia. Previous studies on the maintenance management of hospital buildings in Malaysia have focused primarily on design, safety, and construction.
Practical implications
This is particularly important because defects in hospital buildings across the country have recently led to incessant ceiling collapses, fire outbreaks, ceiling, roof collapses, and other structural failures. These problems are typically the result of poor maintenance management, exacerbated by poor design and construction. These disasters pose significant risks to the lives of hospital building users.
Originality/value
This study offers invaluable insights for maintenance organisations and maintenance department staff who are genuinely interested in improving hospital buildings’ maintenance management to optimise staff's performance and enhance the user satisfaction of hospital buildings in Malaysia and globally.
Details
Keywords
Zaigham Ali, Ammar Hussain and Shahid Hussain
The purpose of the present study is to investigate the community’s view of power outages and their effect on sustainable community development. This research has three aims. This…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the present study is to investigate the community’s view of power outages and their effect on sustainable community development. This research has three aims. This project will first investigate how a blackout affects a community’s ability to live sustainably.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey questionnaire was developed that included 22 factors from the literature. The questionnaire was distributed to diversified segments of society from different regions of Pakistan and examined critical factors affecting sustainable community development. A total of 349 (77%) responses were received.
Findings
The study results confirm that power failure negatively affects the sustainable life of a community. This study found that the reduced production of large manufacturing, decrease leisure and comfort, reduced public administrative efficiency, loss of educational opportunities and increased use of traditional energy sources are the most important factors for sustainable community development. Findings also suggest that policymakers and practitioners in public organizations need to ensure that projects are completed in a timely manner to meet growing community needs.
Originality/value
The purpose of this research is to address knowledge gaps related to power outages and sustainable community development. The major impact of power disruptions on communities was previously disregarded in development discourse. Participants in these discussions recognize communities as genuine stakeholders and acknowledge that power outages can have a substantial impact on their economic and social development. However, previous studies have neglected to address this phenomenon.
Details