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1 – 10 of 41Robin Nunkoo, Viraiyan Teeroovengadum, Peta Thomas and Llewellyn Leonard
The study conceptualizes service quality as a second-order factor and analyzes its influence on customer satisfaction, perceived value, image, consumption emotions and customer…
Abstract
Purpose
The study conceptualizes service quality as a second-order factor and analyzes its influence on customer satisfaction, perceived value, image, consumption emotions and customer loyalty by testing a structural equation model.
Design/methodology/approach
The model is tested using data collected from 672 guests staying in accommodation establishments located in South Africa. The study follows a hierarchical approach using confirmatory factor analysis to test the second-order factor model and structural equation modeling to test the overall model.
Findings
The results indicate that the second-order factor model is acceptable both empirically as well as conceptually and performs better than other competing models of service quality. The findings provide support for all hypotheses and evidence of a structural model with a high explanatory power.
Research limitations/implications
The second-order factor model is less useful when fine-grained analyses are needed, such as when a detailed assessment of the level of quality of service offered by a hospitality organization is required.
Practical implications
The second-order factor model allows for an analysis of service quality at different levels of abstraction. Accommodation managers interested in customers’ evaluation of service on a cumulative basis can make use of the global measure to determine service quality evaluations. Practitioners can also use the findings to manage the different dimensions of service quality.
Originality/value
The study demonstrates that service quality is best represented as a second-order factor, and in doing so, it provides an improved measurement of the construct. More so, by integrating the variable in a nomological network, the research develops a more parsimonious model than the existing ones.
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Yanfei Hu and Claus Rerup
James March argued that irrational approaches to problem solving and foolishness can be useful for addressing complex problems. Grand challenges are complex problems that often…
Abstract
James March argued that irrational approaches to problem solving and foolishness can be useful for addressing complex problems. Grand challenges are complex problems that often involve “guarded societal institutions” – societal beliefs and practices guarded by political or commercial powers. To explain how organizations with impossible goals dismantle such institutions by mobilizing irrationality and foolishness, we develop a process model which is illustrated with the case of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Our main contribution is to expand James March’s ideas on logics of action and organizational intelligence to advance a novel perspective for tackling big societal problems. We argue that foolishness is not only a means for finding distant solutions to complex problems but also a means for generating sustained motivation, well-being, and ideas that spark debate and lead to the questioning of taken-for-granted societal beliefs.
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A. Srivastava, D. Agarwal, S. Mistry and J. Singh
The purpose of this paper is to synthesise environment friendly UV curable polyurethane acrylate resins for various industrial applications and study the performance properties of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to synthesise environment friendly UV curable polyurethane acrylate resins for various industrial applications and study the performance properties of the cured coating films applied over metal surfaces.
Design/methodology/approach
The polyurethane acrylate resin was synthesised using polyester polyol (synthesised using ethylene glycol, adipic acid and 1,6 hexane diol), isophorone diisocynate (IPDI) and 2‐hydroxy ethyl methacrylate (HEMA). The different formulations were developed using various reactive diluents viz. monofunctional, difunctional, trifunctional and tetrafunctional (ethoxylated phenol monoacrylate, 1, 6 hexane diol di acrylate, dipropylene glycol di acrylate, trimethylol propane triacrylate, propoxylated trimethylol propane triacrylate, pentaerythrol triacrylate – PETA). These samples were cured under UV radiation. For effective curing, various compositions of oligomers, photoinitiator and reactive diluents were used. The mechanical, optical, rheological, chemical and stain resistance properties were evaluated.
Findings
The designed polyurethane acrylate gave good performance properties when used with reactive diluents having different functionality in different ratios for application over metal surfaces as protective coatings for various industrial applications. While using reactive diluents, the coating compositions showed significant enhancement of mechanical, physical and chemical resistance properties. Owing to different functionality of reactive diluents used, highly cross‐linked structures are formed, which lead to excellent mechanical and chemical properties. The optimum results were obtained with PETA as reactive diluent.
Research limitations/implications
The polyurethane resin has been synthesised from polyester polyol (made up of ethylene glycol, adipic acid and 1, 6 hexane diol), IPDI, 2‐HEMA. Besides, this, it can be synthesised from some other polyester polyol or polyether polyol. In addition to this, some other isocyanates such as TDI, MDI, HDI, HMDI, etc. may be used.
Practical implications
The study has provided a better solution for developing low volatile organic compound (VOC) products by using UV radiations, which can be cured within a minimum period of time and can save significant application curing time for the end‐users. The developed product is also an environmentally friendly product.
Originality/value
Metallic surfaces are widely used in packaging industry in rigid and semi‐rigid forms. One of the prime requirements of the surface is an attractive printing on it. Conventionally used coating system on metallic surfaces are not holding or retaining their decorative effect/gloss level to a large extent. For this purpose, an overprint varnish is normally used which is mostly solvent based. This paper has been able to suggest very good formulations for printing of metallic surfaces for packaging and for overprinting in particular, which is radiation curable and environment friendly.
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Jasvinder Sidhu, Peta Stevenson-Clarke, Mahesh Joshi and Abdel Halabi
The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical account of four unsuccessful merger attempts between Australia’s two major professional accounting bodies over a 30-year…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical account of four unsuccessful merger attempts between Australia’s two major professional accounting bodies over a 30-year period (1969 to 1998), each of which ultimately failed. An analysis of the commonalities and differences across the four attempts is provided and social identity theory is used to explain the differences between members level of support for these merger bids.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a qualitative approach using a historical research methodology to source surviving business records from public archives and other data gathered from oral history interviews.
Findings
The study found that, across all four merger attempts between Australia’s two professional accounting bodies, there was strong support from society members (the perceived lower-status group) and opposition exhibited by institute members (the perceived higher-status group). This study also found that the perceived higher-status organisation always initiated merger discussions, while its members rejected the proposals in the members’ vote.
Research limitations/implications
This paper focusses on the Australian accounting profession, considering a historical account of merger attempts. Further research is required that includes interviews and surveys of those involved in making decisions regarding merger attempts.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to examine in detail these four unsuccessful merger attempts between the largest accounting organisations in Australia.
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The purpose of this chapter is to give an interpretation to the limits of Indonesia’s forestry policy through the sustainable development approach analyzing the crossroads between…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this chapter is to give an interpretation to the limits of Indonesia’s forestry policy through the sustainable development approach analyzing the crossroads between economic development and environmental sustainability. There is an expansion and intensification of industrial plantations such as palm oil, as part of the economic development strategy, which must coexist with ongoing efforts of conservation of forest resources in the pursuit of environmental sustainability, including policies such as the Forest Moratorium.
Design/methodolgy/approach
The study explores the influence of the economic development of the palm oil industry in the environmental sustainability of the Forest Moratorium during the period 2011–2014. A case study on the Forest Moratorium is presented analyzing the operativeness of sustainable development principles in the discourse and concrete actions of this specific policy.
Findings
The study evidences that there is a basic problem in Indonesia’s forestry policy and the sustainable development approach, not only because of its inherent contradictions, but also due to the flaws in its interpretation and implementation. It is necessary to rethink the sustainable development, its scopes and limitations, taking into consideration its hybridity, dynamism, and constant transformation. It is also necessary to consider the feasibility of a paradigm shift or a search for sustainable solutions based on other parameters. One way of doing it should include a more participatory approach with a joint work by the government, local communities, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and academia.
Research limitations/implications
First, as this is a case study the findings are not generalizable; and second, the social dimension of sustainable development is not incorporated in its entirety, as this study focuses mainly on the economic and environmental dimensions.
Practical implications
The findings contribute to the discussion in the theoretical and public policy fields, on the crossroads between economic development and environmental sustainability in the international agenda for sustainable development.
Originality/value
The study allows capturing the discussion in a concrete case and learning from the experience of Indonesia, its institutional failures, and the causes of its environmental problems.
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“WHAT a place to be in, is an old library! It seems as though all the souls of all the writers, that have bequeathed their labours to these Bodleians, were reposing here, as in…
Abstract
“WHAT a place to be in, is an old library! It seems as though all the souls of all the writers, that have bequeathed their labours to these Bodleians, were reposing here, as in some dormitory or middle state. I do not want to handle, to profane the leaves, their winding sheets… I seem to inhale learning, walking amid their foliage.” Thus wrote Charles Lamb, of the Bodleian Library, which is the largest library to bear the name of a private benefactor, and amongst British libraries, is second only in importance to the British Museum.