Search results

With brands being an important source of competitive advantage, knowledge of branding is needed to inform their management. After reviewing the literature, the article aims to report the findings of a case study that investigated the role of branding in the industrial purchase of agricultural tractors in the UK. The study's overall conclusion is that branding can play an important role in industrial purchase decisions.

Various attributes, together with levels of these attributes, were identified from the literature and a series of semi‐structured interviews with three farmers and farm contractors. Subsequently, conjoint analysis was employed to reveal how purchasers made their purchase decision. A total of 428 farmers and farm contractors (a 28.7 per cent response rate) ranked 25 cards that had been constructed to profile various hypothetical tractor designs.

Five attributes appeared from the literature review and interviews – brand name, price, dealer proximity, quality of dealer's service, and buyer's experience of the dealer. The conjoint analysis revealed that brand accounts for 38.95 per cent of the purchase decision, ahead of price (25.98 per cent) and service (14.90 per cent). The importance of brand varies according to the tractor brand. Also, the overall utility varies, with John Deere and New Holland brand names appearing as marketing assets and Valtra, Massey Ferguson, and Case IH as marketing liabilities. Among the study's other findings are that UK tractor buyers are brand loyal.

The study focuses on tractors in the UK, so while it provides an insight into the role of branding in an industrial purchase situation, further research is required in other product categories before the findings can be generalised.

Manufacturers and distributors need to maintain a strong image. Also, they may charge higher prices for tractors, using the extra revenue to reinforce their brand image. On‐farm demonstration of new tractors is suggested as an experiential marketing strategy. Special attention should be given to the location of dealers and the service they provide.

Research concerning branding in an industrial purchase context is limited, dated, or contradictory. This article contributes with empirical findings on industrial brand management in an important and relevant context.

Purpose: This study explores the perspectives of data experts (DXs) and refugees on the algorithms used by law enforcement officers and focuses on emerging insecurities. The authors take police risk-scoring algorithms (PRSA) as a proxy to examine perceptions on algorithms that make/assist sensitive decisions affecting people’s lives.

Methodology/approach: In-depth interviews were conducted with DXs (24) in Estonia and refugees (19) in Estonia and Turkey. Using projective techniques, the interviewees were provided a simple definition of PRSA and a photo to encourage them to share their perspectives. The authors applied thematic analysis to the data combining manual and computer-aided techniques using the Maxqda software.

Findings: The study revealed that the perspectives on PRSA may change depending on the individual’s position relative to the double security paradox surrounding refugees. The use of algorithms for a sensitive matter such as security raises concerns about potential social outcomes, intentions of authorities and fairness of the algorithms. The algorithms are perceived to construct further social borders in society and justify extant ideas about marginalized groups.

Research limitations: The study made use of a small population sample and aimed at exploring perspectives of refugees and DXs by taking PRSA as the case without targeting representativeness.

Originality/value: The study is based on a double security paradox where refugees who escape their homelands due to security concerns are also considered to be national security threats. DXs, on the other hand, represent a group that takes an active role in decisions about who is at risk and who is risky. The study provides insights on two groups of people who are engaged with algorithms in different ways.

In this paper we narrate a story of working on a large project funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage grant the ‘Keeping Connected: Young People, Identity and Schooling’ project. The purpose of the study is to consider the social connection and schooling of young people who have experienced long‐term chronic illness. While the research involves both quantitative and qualitative elements, the qualitative component is the largest and involves the most researcher time and diversity. At an early stage of the project, three of the researchers working on the qualitative team consider why the study was framed as a series of case studies rather than as ethnography. The second issue considered in this paper is the different approaches to data collection, data analysis and truth claims we might take.

Plagued by doubt and methodological unease, two researchers from a large Australian study resolve their quandary by revisiting methodological literature related to narrative inquiry, visual approaches and contemporary interviewing to find that the application of poststructuralist theory to methodology provides a useful way of addressing their concerns. Before embarking on extensive writing about the project, they trouble issues of data authenticity, analytic integrity and the problem of voice. The main value of this deliberation is its applicability to the wider discourse about contemporary qualitative inquiry that other researchers facing analytical dilemmas may also find helpful.

Librarians have been urged to emphasize social justice and human rights issues in their library mission, but they may find themselves challenged to provide additional services, such as access to legal information for those who cannot afford an attorney. Social justice services in libraries are seldom adequately funded and providing services in this area is labor intensive. In addition, there is an emotional intensity in library services for social justice that is often not considered in the initial enthusiasm of providing services in this area. Yet there seems to be no limit to the need. An interesting and useful perspective on how a public agency such as a library responds in circumstances of limited resources and unlimited demand can be found in the book Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Service, by Michael Lipsky. In this perspective, lower level civil servants who interact directly with members of the general public exercise a level of discretion in the amount of services provided and how those services are administered. This chapter explores how this can generate tensions between more traditional library bureaucracy and social justice services, such as providing public access to justice resources in law libraries. However, the “street-level” response is evolving into a sustainability perspective as librarians embrace a more social justice–oriented outlook in library service planning.

Structural factors during Chinese and Japanese immigration and settlement processes required families to adapt in ways that altered traditional gender behaviors. This study examines how two factors – spousal immigration order and family economic structure – affected the gendered division of labor and how gender roles consequently were reconstructed for first and second generation Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans. These issues are investigated through secondary data analysis of 21 in‐depth interviews with daughters of Chinese and Japanese immigrants on the West Coast.

Debate at last month's National Online Meeting in New York included discussion on how the delivery of news information is set to change, how best to use the Internet for research, and fresh approaches to teaching students the intricacies of online searching. Paul Blake gives this account.

Stress and burnout are continuous concerns in clinical settings. This has been exacerbated due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic which has impacted health-care professionals globally. Supervision can support staff in clinical setting and help prevent stress and burnout. The purpose of this review is to consider the efficacy of mobile apps for reducing stress and burnout in clinical settings and supervisions.

A comprehensive literature search was carried out using online databases such as Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL, PsychINFO, PsychARTICLES, MEDLINE and SAGE. From the searches, nine studies were included in the review after meeting the inclusion criteria.

Of the nine studies, eight related to stress and/or burnout and one related to work engagement. There were no specific studies which related directly to the use of mobile health (mHealth) for clinical supervision.

Through a focus on the efficacy of mHealth for stress and burnout in clinical settings and supervisions, the review highlights the efficacy of mHealth apps used in for stress and burnout in clinical settings and the importance of engagement of clinical staff. This will not only provide a higher quality of empirical evidence, but it will also lead to more positive outcomes for the mental health of clinical staff.

This review focussed upon the efficacy of mHealth for stress and burnout in clinical settings and supervisions. In comparison to previous reviews, this review differs because it combines both stress and burnout and clinical supervisions as the focal areas for improvement via the use of mHealth.

This research paper aims to explore the impact artisan cooperatives have upon women employed in Sub-Saharan Africa. Impacts were detailed using the theoretical framework of social capital theory to demonstrate the networks within artisan cooperatives that connect to greater opportunities for social and economic benefits.

A phenomenological approach was used for this study based upon the shared experiences of women who were leading artisan cooperatives in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study included semi-structured interviews over Zoom with Chief Entrepreneur Founders of artisan cooperatives located in Sub-Saharan Africa. Documents from the cooperatives were analyzed to triangulate the cooperatives’ current projects and efforts.

Three prevalent themes emerged: (1) key partnerships, (2) benefits of the cooperative and (3) change and growth among the women and communities. Empowerment was felt through both economic and social impacts upon the women.

This article captures the perspective of the Chief Entrepreneur Founders and their observations and experiences the women shared with them. Emic perspectives from the women who participate in the artisan cooperatives is the focus of future research.

These social enterprises serve as exemplary models for other cooperatives to provide dignified and sustainable work to impact the lives of women serving in these communities.

This study contributes research on social entrepreneurship within artisan cooperatives. It provides a baseline for further research on the artisan sector specifically for the sustainable development goals of gender equality, decent work and economic growth.

The purpose of this paper is to consider various strengths and weaknesses of the academic review process with an emphasis on the effect the process has on the relevance of business journals, particularly in the marketing literature.

The authors not only highlight some of the literature addressing the review process but also present insight and opinion largely based on decades of experience editing, reviewing, writing and publishing.

Reviewers can help develop research papers, but reviewers remain gatekeepers who, theoretically, protect journals from publishing research that would diminish the truthful body of knowledge within a field. However, many inefficiencies, some of which involve volition, allow one to question whether the review process as we know it best accomplishes that purpose.

Recognizing that reviewers affect journal prestige, the paper concludes with a number of ideas for improving the gate-keeping and developmental functions for academic articles.

Society should extract value from what appears in publicly circulated, academic, refereed journals. However, to the extent that the publication process interferes with objective dissemination of knowledge, that value is diminished and perhaps even absent.

The paper intends to stimulate frank conversation about the Academy’s refereed publication process and factors that tend to interfere with its function.