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1 – 10 of over 52000Sunday Segbenu Nunayon, Emmanuel Abiodun Olanipekun and Ibukun Oluwadara Famakin
University campuses are one of the major consumers of electricity. Therefore, it is important to investigate factors related to electricity saving. This study aims to examine the…
Abstract
Purpose
University campuses are one of the major consumers of electricity. Therefore, it is important to investigate factors related to electricity saving. This study aims to examine the key drivers in achieving efficient electricity management (EEM) practices in public universities.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve the objective, 23 drivers of EEM practices were identified through a comprehensive literature review and an empirical questionnaire survey was performed with 1,386 electricity end-users of three public universities having staff and students’ halls of residences in Nigeria. The collected data were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS version 21) to identify the number of components that could represent the 23 identified drivers.
Findings
The relative importance index ranking results indicated that 18 drivers were critical. The top five most critical drivers were understanding of the issues, understanding the vision and goal of an energy management programme, knowledge and skill, risk identification and good and effective communication among relevant stakeholders. An exploratory factor analysis revealed that the underlying grouped drivers were raising awareness, top management support and robust energy management team, risk management and stakeholders’ participation. This study also indicates that the most dominant of the four underlying groups was raising awareness, which highlights the role of increasing awareness and public consciousness as a significant catalyst in promoting EEM practices in public universities.
Research limitations/implications
Geographically, this study is limited to the opinion of respondents in public university campuses in Nigeria. Although this study could form the basis for future studies, its limitation must be considered carefully when interpreting and generalizing the results.
Practical implications
This paper has highlighted a few drivers of EEM practices in public universities. The results of this study present scientific evidence that can be used as a basis for formulating public policies that could be incorporated into the energy management regulations of university buildings. It is most important for policymakers to pay adequate attention to the most critical drivers especially those that are related to the “raising awareness” factor to promote sustainable campuses.
Originality/value
This study provides practical knowledge for university management to develop effective methods to implement the identified drivers of efficient and sustainable electricity management on the campus. This study also contributes to the body of knowledge in the field of energy management.
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Lerzan Aksoy, Timothy L. Keiningham, Alexander Buoye and Joan Ball
The purpose of this paper is to identify the key drivers of share of wallet for credit cards issued by either a credit union (CU) or bank using a Wallet Allocation Rule (WAR…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the key drivers of share of wallet for credit cards issued by either a credit union (CU) or bank using a Wallet Allocation Rule (WAR) framework.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey approach engaging 1,649 current CU members at nine CUs regarding their use of 3,487 different credit cards is employed. Binary logistic regression is used to discriminate when CU issued vs bank issued credit cards are perceived to be “best” by their owners.
Findings
This research indicates the key drivers differ significantly when CU members prefer a CU-issued credit card vs a bank-issued credit card. For example, CU-issued credit cards are attractive to some CU members because of prior relationships with the CU and offering lower interest rates on revolving balances. By contrast, customers who choose a bank-issued credit card are much more likely to be driven by the rewards offered on the card.
Practical implications
Using the WAR key driver approach, managers can identify differentiating attributes that influence customers’ perceptions of their rank vis-à-vis competition and thereby grow share.
Originality/value
This research provides a significant contribution to both the banking literature and the scientific literature by examining the robustness of a relative metrics approach within the retail banking and CU market. It represents the first empirical analysis of a WAR key driver approach in the scientific literature.
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Karen M. Gross Lopes, Marie Anne Macadar and Edimara Mezzomo Luciano
The relationship between citizens and government has been gradually changing from government centered to citizen centered. These changes can be understood from the public value…
Abstract
Purpose
The relationship between citizens and government has been gradually changing from government centered to citizen centered. These changes can be understood from the public value perspective, which is a promising way to foster the use of electronic services (e-services) by citizens. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how key drivers for public value creation can enhance adopting electronic public services by citizens. The use of e-services as a basis for applying smart technologies is also discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study based on both a systematic literature review and a case study of an e-service provided by a Brazilian state government.
Findings
The study identifies that creating public value happens only after adopting e-services and that public value can be perceived directly by those who use the service or indirectly by the observation of people who have adopted it. A two-dimensional framework showing the direct and indirect factors that drive public value creation is proposed based on the data collection and literature review.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed conceptual framework remains untested and the data collection in the Brazilian context might be a limitation. Other studies could gather data based on the collective uses of e-services.
Originality/value
The framework can be used in other studies concerning public value creation. Public managers might consider its drivers when planning e-services as a way to link them to social, political and collective issues in addition to smart technologies.
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Roger Brooksbank, Zahed Subhan, Ronald Garland and Scott Rader
On the basis of lessons gleaned from previous research into successful strategic marketing practices in times of both recession and growth, and in the face of an ongoing…
Abstract
Purpose
On the basis of lessons gleaned from previous research into successful strategic marketing practices in times of both recession and growth, and in the face of an ongoing post-global financial crisis “hangover” characterised by unpredictable trading conditions both worldwide and in the Asia-Pacific region, the purpose of this paper is to provide insights and advice for marketing strategists within New Zealand’s manufacturing sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The inquiry is based on two point-in-time mail surveys, one during recessionary conditions and the other during favourable economic conditions, with similar samples of 427 and 272 New Zealand manufacturers, respectively. Data analyses were conducted using SPSS and sought to compare and contrast successful strategic marketing decision making between the two time-points.
Findings
The results confirm that, irrespective of prevailing economic circumstances, basic strategic marketing plays a pivotal role in facilitating the competitive success of New Zealand manufacturers. However, with the notable exception of three “evergreen” practices – targeting selected market segments, competing on the basis of value-to-the-customer, and finding new ways to do business – the results also suggest that different economic conditions otherwise necessitate quite different priorities for success at each stage of the strategic marketing decision-making process.
Research limitations/implications
Due to relatively low-response rates, the extent to which the study samples are representative of the population under scrutiny remains unknown. Also, since an identical questionnaire was administered at two time-points ten years apart, differences in the respondents’ interpretation of certain questions and some of the marketing vocabulary and terminology used cannot be ruled out.
Practical implications
The research highlights the important contribution that strategic marketing makes to the achievement of competitive success in New Zealand’s manufacturing sector. It also identifies some of the underlying “key drivers” that best predict successful strategic marketing decision making in times of recession compared with growth, thereby indicating a number of key lessons for marketing strategists.
Originality/value
This study addresses a number of gaps in the empirical marketing literature. Although many previous studies have shown various strategic marketing activities to be critical to competitive success, few have examined it as a multi-step decision-making process and none have done so in the context of New Zealand manufacturing. Nor have previous studies sought to compare and contrast effective strategic marketing decision-making set against the background of contrasting economic circumstances.
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Salvatore Ammirato, Roberto Linzalone and Alberto Michele Felicetti
The innovation of business model (BM) is a strategic process for many firms, from which depends competitiveness and sustainability. Despite its theoretical relevance in management…
Abstract
Purpose
The innovation of business model (BM) is a strategic process for many firms, from which depends competitiveness and sustainability. Despite its theoretical relevance in management sciences, research on business model innovation is in its infancy and lacks of research consistency and theoretical connections to the theme of “performance”. With the aim to contribute in bridging this gap, this paper aims to identify and analyse drivers of business model innovation performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is based on an integrative literature review methodology.
Findings
BMI performance drivers are conditions related to various dimensions (i.e. processes, resources, market, BM structure, etc). that, when fulfilled, allow the BMI to have higher performance. BMI performance drivers are antecedents of BMI performance, and their identification is of both theoretical and practical value. The authors find and report a set of 35 BMI performance drivers.
Originality/value
The value of this research is both theoretical and practical. From a theoretical point of view, the identified “Business Model Innovation performance drivers” define and identify a variable of BMI performance, from a practical perspective, and they provide a comprehensive set of key conditions whose attainment should be planned, pursued and monitored by managers.
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Éamonn D'Arcy and Paloma Taltavull
The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of the structure of real estate education provision in Europe, its key recent drivers and some ideas for its future development.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of the structure of real estate education provision in Europe, its key recent drivers and some ideas for its future development.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides an analysis of recent trends in provision based on the European course accreditation data provided by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The structure of provision is examined within the context of the significant changes which have taken place in the structure of European real estate markets as a means of identifying its key drivers. The analysis goes on to consider the opportunities presented for the future development of provision by two important initiatives the “Bologna Process” and the “European Real Estate Society Education Seminar”.
Findings
There has been considerable expansion in the provision of real estate education in Europe in recent years. The postgraduate level both full‐time and part‐time has been established as the dominant mode of provision with a business school setting as an increasingly important academic context. The two initiatives examined have the potential to contribute to the development of a truly pan‐European approach to real estate education.
Originality/value
The paper provides the first systematic review of real estate education provision in Europe directly related to changes in the structure of real estate markets. It provides educators which some ideas on how to shape future provision in particular though the development of key stakeholder relationships across Europe.
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N. Harikannan, S. Vinodh and Anand Gurumurthy
The concept of sustainable manufacturing has been adopted by manufacturing organizations to develop eco-friendlier products and processes. In recent times, industries are…
Abstract
Purpose
The concept of sustainable manufacturing has been adopted by manufacturing organizations to develop eco-friendlier products and processes. In recent times, industries are progressing toward Industry 4.0 (I4.0). Guided with smart intelligent devices, I4.0 can possibly decrease excess production, material movement and consumption of energy. If so, it is hypothesized that there is a good synergy between I4.0 and sustainability, which warrants an integrated approach for implementation. This amalgamation is termed as “Sustainable industry 4.0.” Hence, this paper aims to systematically identify and analyze the drivers for this integration.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents the analysis of 20 drivers identified from literature review for simultaneous deployment of I4.0 and sustainable manufacturing. Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) is used to derive the structural model for analyzing the causal association between drivers. Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification (MICMAC) analysis is being performed to group the drivers.
Findings
The results showed that the dominant drivers derived are societal pressure and public awareness (D18), government policies on support I4.0 (D12), top management involvement and support (D15) and government promotions and regulations (D16). Also, the MICMAC analysis revealed many driving, dependent, linkage and autonomous drivers.
Research limitations/implications
The opinion from experts with combined expertise on I4.0 and sustainability was obtained. The respondent size could be increased in future studies.
Practical implications
The study has been done based on inputs from industry practitioners. Managerial and practical implications are presented. ISM shows that the drivers for deploying sustainable I4.0 are highly inter-related. It also reveals the pre-requisites for each level of the drivers.
Originality/value
The idea of analyzing the drivers for sustainable I4.0 is the original contribution of the authors.
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Haruhiko Iba and Apichaya Lilavanichakul
This study aims to identify the key drivers influencing the success of farmers who employ direct marketing at wholesale markets. The diversification of the distribution system in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify the key drivers influencing the success of farmers who employ direct marketing at wholesale markets. The diversification of the distribution system in Thailand has created many challenges for farmers, with diversified farm businesses struggling to survive and to ensure profitability across channels. Direct marketing channels at wholesale markets provide farmers the opportunity to develop a new farm business division.
Design/methodology/approach
The study consists of qualitative and quantitative approaches. First, in-depth interviews with farmers were conducted, and selected case studies were employed to develop a research framework and design the questionnaire. Second, the questionnaire survey was conducted. Using factor analysis and logistic regression, farmers' data were studied to define the factors of success in direct marketing.
Findings
Three key drivers were examined and verified. The findings indicate that the development of direct marketing channels requires farmers to efficiently allocate family labour, possess negotiation skills and manage a farmer network. Particularly, the presence of negotiation skills coupled with digital technology can enable farmers to expand the market and build their network.
Research limitations/implications
Two marketing channels have been explored. However, more choices in marketing channels utilizing digital resources should be addressed in future research.
Originality/value
This is the first empirical study to define the drivers leading Thai farmers to continue employing a direct marketing channel.
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Arka Ghosh, David John Edwards and M. Reza Hosseini
The Internet of Things (IoT) provides exciting opportunities for the construction industry to solve its time and resource constraints and frequent defaults. This study seeks to…
Abstract
Purpose
The Internet of Things (IoT) provides exciting opportunities for the construction industry to solve its time and resource constraints and frequent defaults. This study seeks to identify and rank the perceived importance level of principal research areas associated with the IoT and the construction industry by utilising a scientific mapping tool (i.e. VOSviewer). Such knowledge would enable key drivers for successful adoption of the IoT and digitisation technologies to be outlined. An analysis of key drivers and research trends that facilitates the development of a roadmap for applying the IoT and digital technologies in the construction sector is therefore much needed.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretivist philosophical lens was adopted to analyse published work as secondary data, where each publication represented a unit of analysis. A total of 417 peer-reviewed journal review articles covering the IoT within the construction domain were systematically reviewed using a mixed-methods approach, utilising qualitative-scientometric analyses techniques.
Findings
The results revealed a field of study in a fledgling stage, with a limited number of experts operating somewhat in isolation and offering single-point solutions instead of taking an integrated “holistic” approach. Key publication outlets were identified and the main focus of research undertaken being in the technical areas of smart buildings, smart construction objects and environmental sustainability. The major effects of adopting the IoT within the construction industry were identified as high-speed reporting, complete process control, data explosion leading to deep data analytics, strict ethical and legal expectations. Key drivers of the IoT adoption were outlined: interoperability; data privacy and security; flexible governance structures; proper business planning and models.
Practical implications
The study benefits researchers and industry practitioners alike. For researchers, the identified gaps reveal areas of high priority in future research. For construction companies, particularly small to medium-sized businesses, the study raises awareness of the latest developments and potential applicability of the IoT in the industry. For government agencies and policymakers, this study offers a point of reference in directing the adoption of the IoT smoothly in the construction sector and provides guidelines and standards for maximising the potential benefits.
Originality/value
The study is the first scientometric review of the existing body of knowledge in the context of application of the IoT in the construction industry. Findings expose knowledge gaps in contemporary research, specifically, a broader consideration of organisational adjustments needed to accommodate the IoT usage, economic analyses and impediments to wider acceptance.
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Timothy Lee Keiningham, Roland T. Rust, Bart Lariviere, Lerzan Aksoy and Luke Williams
Managers seeking to manage customer word-of-mouth (WOM) behavior need to understand how different attitudinal drivers (e.g. satisfaction, positive and negative emotion…
Abstract
Purpose
Managers seeking to manage customer word-of-mouth (WOM) behavior need to understand how different attitudinal drivers (e.g. satisfaction, positive and negative emotion, commitment, and self-brand connection) relate to a range of WOM behaviors. They also need to know how the effects of these drivers are moderated by customer characteristics (e.g. gender, age, income, country). The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
To investigate these issues a built a large-scale multi-national database was created that includes attitudinal drivers, customer characteristics, and a full range of WOM behaviors, involving both the sending and receiving of both positive and negative WOM, with both strong and weak ties. The combination of sending-receiving, positive-negative and strong ties-weak ties results in a typology of eight distinct WOM behaviors. The investigation explores the drivers of those behaviors, and their moderators, using a hierarchical Bayes model in which all WOM behaviors are simultaneously modeled.
Findings
Among the many important findings uncovered are: the most effective way to drive all positive WOM behaviors is through maximizing affective commitment and positive emotions; minimizing negative emotions and ensuring that customers are satisfied lowers all negative WOM behaviors; all other attitudinal drivers have lower or even mixed effects on the different WOM behaviors; and customer characteristics can have a surprisingly large impact on how attitudes affect different WOM behaviors.
Practical implications
These findings have important managerial implications for promotion (which attitudes should be stimulated to produce the desired WOM behavior) and segmentation (how should marketing efforts change, based on segments defined by customer characteristics).
Originality/value
This research points to the myriad of factors that enhance positive and reduce negative word-of-mouth, and the importance of accounting for customer heterogeneity in assessing the likely impact of attitudinal drivers on word-of-mouth behaviors.
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