Search results

1 – 10 of 10
Article
Publication date: 1 February 2003

Hannu Salmela and Pekka Turunen

Increased use of market mechanisms in the delivery of public services is one of the major attempts made by governments to achieve greater efficiency, higher quality and a clearer…

2476

Abstract

Increased use of market mechanisms in the delivery of public services is one of the major attempts made by governments to achieve greater efficiency, higher quality and a clearer focus on customers. Information systems (ISs) can promote the adoption of market mechanisms, but they can also preserve a monopolistic and hierarchic model of service delivery. Hence, understanding the competitive implications of information technology (IT) is becoming relevant for managers in the public sector as well. Provides a brief overview of previous research on IT‐based competition and discusses its relevance for public sector management. Then continues to describe a project where six offices of one city co‐operated in developing a shared geographic information system (GIS). While this research is based on an in‐depth analysis of only one case, other researchers have reported similar experiences. It appears that effective use of market mechanisms in the public sector requires new orientation in IS planning and rethinking of the role of IS departments in public sector organisations.

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 July 2018

Joel Hietanen, Pekka Mattila, Antti Sihvonen and Henrikki Tikkanen

The purpose of this paper is to continue the emerging stream of literature that has found knockoffs and counterfeits to be unobtrusive or even beneficial to luxury companies by…

1404

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to continue the emerging stream of literature that has found knockoffs and counterfeits to be unobtrusive or even beneficial to luxury companies by analyzing how they produce paradoxes of meaning and contribute to the renewal of luxury markets. This is done by exploring them as doppelgänger brand images that reappropriate brand imagery for their own purposes.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper that focuses on the role of knockoffs and counterfeits in the renewal of luxury markets.

Findings

The findings highlight how knockoffs and counterfeits can contribute to the emergence and cyclical diffusion of luxury. As luxury offerings are introduced to the market, knockoffs and counterfeits accelerate the snob effect, aid in anchoring trends and contribute to induced obsolescence. During diffusion, knockoffs and counterfeits can strengthen aspiration, bandwagon and herding effects. In doing so, knockoffs and counterfeits create a paradox as they simultaneously legitimize the idea of the “authenticity” of genuine offerings through their presence in the market and create cyclical demand for novel offerings by undermining the authenticity claims of existing luxury offerings. Thus, knockoffs and counterfeits can be understood as a paradox of luxury markets that contributes to the market cyclicality not despite but because of this paradoxical interplay.

Originality/value

While research on knockoffs and counterfeiting is plentiful in the field of marketing, this is among the few studies that analyze how these offerings contribute to luxury markets and their renewal.

Details

Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 36 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-4503

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 27 February 2009

Sarolta Németh

Purpose – The purpose is to analyse the initial stages of co-operation between a Finnish community intranet-developing project and a ‘telecottage’ enterprise in a South-eastern…

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose is to analyse the initial stages of co-operation between a Finnish community intranet-developing project and a ‘telecottage’ enterprise in a South-eastern Hungarian village community.

Findings – Both the Hungarian telecottage and the Finnish North Karelian intranet initiatives have achieved much publicity in and outside their countries; their success stories and experiences have also spread with the agency of researchers, by their academic publications and the lines of their personal and professional, often international networks. The case in focus is also evidence for more such informal ideas/innovation–transfer processes, supported by information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Methodology – The author, a Hungarian researcher working in Finland, has been an increasingly involved participant and observer of the evolving joint project, hence is the more subjective voice, and the action research-approach is employed.

Originality/value of chapter – This chapter presents an example of action research in the fast-developing ICT arena which clearly complements other research approaches in the field.

Details

Beyond the Rural-Urban Divide: Cross-Continental Perspectives on the Differentiated Countryside and its Regulation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-138-1

Article
Publication date: 9 February 2010

Kirsi Saarinen and Pekka Heino

Personal and portable electronic devices are becoming an important part of the everyday lives. Electronics miniaturization has been and continues to be the most important driver…

1004

Abstract

Purpose

Personal and portable electronic devices are becoming an important part of the everyday lives. Electronics miniaturization has been and continues to be the most important driver in this development. The current level of miniaturization has made the use of solder joints challenging and new methods, such as adhesive attachments, have been developed. The applicability of these methods depends crucially on their long‐term reliability. Typical failures mechanisms in adhesive connection include cracking, open joints and delamination. Moisture is the principal cause of failures in adhesive attachments. The purpose of this paper is to examine the long‐term effects of moisture and extended temperature on non‐conductive adhesive (NCA) attachments.

Design/methodology/approach

Moisture and extended temperature on NCA attachments are examined by strength tests and by finite element models.

Findings

The increase in temperature and moisture induces stresses on the interface of the adhesive and the chip. In the experiments, it is found that the adhesion strength of the adhesive decreased as a function of the time for which the samples are in a humid environment. Failures due to delamination are seen to be the result of these two mechanisms.

Originality/value

Reduction of pitch causes manufacturing problems in direct solder attachments. This paper examines a promising technique to overcome this problem by using adhesive attachment. Instead of solder joints in flip chip attachment, the chips can be attached to the substrate, or components can be attached to a printed wiring board, with adhesives.

Details

Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0954-0911

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2013

Pekka Leviäkangas, Raine Hautala, Virpi Britschgi and Risto Öörni

The aim of this research was to evaluate the new procurement practices of information and communication technology (ICT) services in Finnish-speaking schools in the City of…

Abstract

The aim of this research was to evaluate the new procurement practices of information and communication technology (ICT) services in Finnish-speaking schools in the City of Kauniainen. In the new model, schools define their needs and school administration mandates the procurement through tendering. The research included a review of the problems associated with procurement practices and the assessment of the procurement model. The results show that service levels have been improved and unit costs as well as the environmental load have been reduced. The new model requires the schools to have the skills and expertise to define their needs and the competencies to prepare and execute the procurement process. The case analysis of the Finnish “Dream School” in Kauniainen shows that administrative and governance aspects are equally important in successful deployment of technology.

Details

Journal of Public Procurement, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1535-0118

Article
Publication date: 21 June 2013

Anna Siukola, Clas‐Håkan Nygård and Pekka Virtanen

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the associations of employees’ attitudes and human resource arrangements to sickness absence from the perspective of absence culture and…

934

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the associations of employees’ attitudes and human resource arrangements to sickness absence from the perspective of absence culture and work ability.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted in one of the largest food industry companies in Finland. Sickness absence register data were obtained from the years 2003 to 2005 and a survey from 2005. This survey included single propositions about work arrangements (five propositions) and attitudes (three propositions) during sickness absence. These were analysed by absence days and short (1‐7 days) and long spells (>7 days).

Findings

The attitude of blue‐collar workers who agreed that it is a matter of course that someone is absent was statistically significant regarding sickness absence. They had increased risk for sickness absence days and for short spells. From work arrangements during absence the fact that jobs will wait returning to the workplace decreased the risk for short and long sickness absence spells in both groups. In addition, the fact that the employer will take a substitute during workmates’ absence increased the risk for all measured sickness absence rates among white‐collar workers.

Practical implications

These findings should be noted in enterprises’ human resource management and occupational health services to manage and understand sickness absence.

Originality/value

Although sickness absence has been widely studied, very little is known about sickness absence related work arrangements and attitudes associated with sickness absence. This study increases knowledge about these issues.

Details

International Journal of Workplace Health Management, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8351

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 May 2018

Björn Axelsson and Mats Vilgon

The topics of this chapter are quite fundamental for the book. The chapter deals with value in B2B; what is value, what creates value, how could value be identified, estimated…

Abstract

The topics of this chapter are quite fundamental for the book. The chapter deals with value in B2B; what is value, what creates value, how could value be identified, estimated, and exploited. For these reasons, the chapter presents a value calculation model and carries out a critical discussion of the meaningfulness of doing such calculations.

A second theme is a discussion about solution sales relative to product sales and also systems selling. We also provide a comparison between business ventures focusing on selling goods, a goods-dominant logic, relative to services, a service-dominant logic. This comparison is made with reference to the two underlying themes of the book, the solution-oriented business and the continuously ongoing organizing activities.

Content available
Article
Publication date: 7 June 2021

Sonia Sadeghian Esfahani, Stephen Cahoon, Shu-Ling Chen, Hilary Pateman and Seyed Mojtaba Sajadi

This paper aims to examine 12 factors influencing environmental activity adoption by Australian logistics companies.

1083

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine 12 factors influencing environmental activity adoption by Australian logistics companies.

Design/methodology/approach

After a literature review and collect the major factors influencing environmental activity adoption, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Friedman test are used to cluster and prioritize these factors through a Web survey.

Findings

The results of EFA show that these factors belong to three main groups including social and economic, pressure and governmental factors. The results of a Friedman test prioritizes 12 factors to find which factors have the greatest importance toward the adoption of environmental activity by managers of Australian logistics companies and reveals that governmental regulation, fuel and energy prices and the potential for achieving a competitive advantage, had the first to third ranking, respectively. Some new influencing factors in implementing environmental activities are found such as the willingness to be the market leader, responsibility and risk mitigation.

Research limitations/implications

This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the new factors influencing environmental adoption.

Practical implications

Australian logistics managers can use the results of this paper in developing their strategies and public policymakers can also use these results to improve sustainable development.

Originality/value

This is the first paper that clusters and prioritizes factors influencing environmental adoption in the Australian logistics industry.

Details

Maritime Business Review, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2397-3757

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 5 October 2011

Jarkko Kari

The basic idea of this chapter is to utilize spiritual information in empirically exploring how its purported source beings view the impacts of such information upon various…

Abstract

The basic idea of this chapter is to utilize spiritual information in empirically exploring how its purported source beings view the impacts of such information upon various phenomena. This chapter aims at discovering and describing the most central effect dimensions in this context and, by so doing, at building theoretical constructs. The empirical work was done during 2005–2009 in Finland. Because of the relative novelty of the research topic, an inductive approach was applied. The research data were composed of a representative sample of 62 spiritual texts (printed books and articles, as well as Web and e-mail articles). The chapter examines the discovered categories and their subcategories, shows the most salient connections between them and discusses the findings in the context of previous research. The investigation explored two dimensions: the targets and actuality of the impacts of spiritual information. The impact targets were classified as organisms (human individuals, human communities, extraterrestrials, spirits), things (parts of beings, objects, information, situations), processes (events, practices, life) and spaces (areas, Earth, universe). The actuality of the impacts of spiritual information fell under these categories: desired (implicitly desired, intended, explicitly desired, requisitioned) impacts, real (possible, believed, factual, alternative) impacts, nonexistent (hypothetical, no) impacts, as well as conditional (on supernatural sender, information, humans, situation) and unconditional impacts. This inquiry revealed several new varieties of information impact and even built whole new typologies, because quite little was known about both the targets and actuality of the impacts of information before the present study.

Details

New Directions in Information Behaviour
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-171-8

Article
Publication date: 9 May 2008

Miia Jaatinen and Rita Lavikka

The purpose of this paper is to develop further a theoretical framework of common understanding and explore the role of common understanding in coordination.

1295

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop further a theoretical framework of common understanding and explore the role of common understanding in coordination.

Design/methodology/approach

A constructive action research approach was employed applying abductive reasoning to develop new models with practical relevance.

Findings

A new framework of the elements of common understanding and a new theory of communication as a mechanism for coordination.

Research limitations/implications

As a longitudinal case study and part of a multiple case‐study, the findings are generalized to theory which should be further developed.

Practical implications

Presents a framework for developing shared meanings to achieve better coordination in collaborative service provisioning.

Originality/value

Presents a new model of common understanding, a refined approach to coordination.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

1 – 10 of 10