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Addresses the standardization of the measurements and the labels for concepts commonly used in the study of work organizations. As a reference handbook and research tool, seeks to improve measurement in the study of work organizations and to facilitate the teaching of introductory courses in this subject. Focuses solely on work organizations, that is, social systems in which members work for money. Defines measurement and distinguishes four levels: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. Selects specific measures on the basis of quality, diversity, simplicity and availability and evaluates each measure for its validity and reliability. Employs a set of 38 concepts ‐ ranging from “absenteeism” to “turnover” as the handbook’s frame of reference. Concludes by reviewing organizational measurement over the past 30 years and recommending future measurement reseach.

A method for qualitative estimation of reliability of large and complex mechanical and hydraulic systems is presented. It is especially useful for comparison and optimum selection of the structure at the conceptual stage of design when no other information about the salient features or parameters of the system is known. The method permits the identification and analysis of critical paths, loops and subsystems causing failure under different causes and modes. The method is based on graph theory and the graph variants proposed as reliability measures are also modified to yield realistic and useful results. The concept of system graph introduced in the article for dealing with large systems appears to be the most appropriate for analysis, comparison, selection and reliability estimates at the beginning of the system′s design.

The objective of this paper is to give an overview of various reliability concepts that have been developed in the last decades. The paper first summarises various indicators that have been developed in order to measure the reliability of a network and then looks at techniques to calculate these indicators. The usefulness and limitations of the different indicators is discussed. The paper suggests that there is no single perfect indicator but that the choice of indicator and technique depends on several factors, including the viewpoint of the analyst and the type and range of interventions being considered. In order to assess the impact of incidents the authors propose to distinguish between three types of intervention, namely “benevolent”, “neutral” or random, and “malevolent”. Also discussed is why the provision of up-to-date information to the traveller has a central role to play when trying to minimise the impact of an incident.

The manufacturing community has embraced the concept of total quality management (TQM) but little research has been published on how each aspect of quality is measured. This paper provides a deeper understanding of current quality measures and recommendations for appropriate TQM practices. This article adopts meta‐analysis approach to study issues concerning reliability of TQM measures and find consensus on the relationship between TQM practices and organizational performance across studies. The research findings and managerial implications are discussed.

A meta‐analysis approach was used to study 421 items relating to TQM practices in 50 refereed articles.

Items were categorized according to Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) categories. A total of 77 items were not matched and eliminated. Findings reveal that the mean value of reliability coefficients (α) is 0.84 in TQM research compared to 0.77 in marketing and 0.81 in MIS. The mean values of α are significantly different across studies based on years and nations. The mean values of α from the nations of North America, South America, Africa, and Asia are significantly higher than those of Europe and Australia. Top management support shows the highest mean effect size of the relationship between TQM practices and organizational performance compared to other relationships.

Meta‐analysis is used to enhance the understanding, applicability, and generalizability of a comparable research with diverse results. It does not require the original data. Using data from already published TQM research, meta‐analysis can be used to improve the understanding of current TQM issues manufacturing firms are facing.

This study examines the value relevance of recognised and disclosed revaluations of land and buildings for a large sample of Australian firms from 1993 through 1997. In contrast to prior research, we control for risk and cyclical effects and find no difference between recognised and disclosed revaluations, using yearly‐cross‐sectional and pooled regressions and using both market and non‐market dependent variables. We also find only weak evidence that revaluations of recognised and disclosed land and buildings are value relevant.

Single‐item measures are quick and easy to use; however, methodologists advocate the use of multiple‐item measures. Recently, this stringent viewpoint has been challenged. Using the classical formula for the correction for attenuation and job satisfaction data, they demonstrated that meaningful reliability estimates can be calculated for single‐item measures. This study examined this approach using “belief in a just world” data from two instruments. The findings provide qualified support for single‐item measures when the underlying constructs are homogeneous, but these findings are not strong enough to challenge the view that multiple‐item measures are needed to measure relatively complex constructs reliably. Practitioners and researchers should be wary of single‐item measures.

This paper reports the results of an exploratory study of inter‐coder reliability of annual report social and environmental disclosures content analysis. Using the sentence‐based coding instruments and decision rules from Hackston and Milne (1996), this study reports the co‐agreement levels reached by three coders over five rounds of testing 49 annual reports. The study also provides a commentary on the implications of formal reliability analysis for past and future social and environmental disclosures content analyses, and the complexities of formal reliability measurement. The overall findings suggest that the coded output from inexperienced coders using the Hackston and Milne approach with little or no prior training can be relied on for aggregate total disclosures analysis. For more detailed sub‐category analysis, however, the findings suggest a period of training for the less experienced coders with at least 20 reports appears necessary before their coded output could be relied on.

The purpose of this study is to revisit the measures of internal consistency for multi-item scales in hospitality research and compare the performance of Cronbach’s α, omega total (ω_Total), omega hierarchical (ω_H), Revelle’s omega total (ω_RT), Minimum Rank Factor Analysis (GLB_fa) and GLB algebraic (GLB_a).

A Monte Carlo simulation was conducted to compare the performance of the six reliability estimators under different conditions common in hospitality research. Second, this study analyzed a data set to complement the simulation study.

Overall, ω_Total was the best-performing estimator across all conditions, whereas ω_H performed the poorest. α performed well when factor loadings were high with low variability (high/low) and large sample sizes. Similarly, ω_RT, GLB_fa and GLB_a performed consistently well when loadings were high and less variable as well as the sample size and the number of scale items increased. Of the two GLB estimators, GLB_a consistently outperformed GLB_fa.

This study provides hospitality managers with a better understanding of what reliability is and the various reliability estimators. Using reliable instruments ensures that organizations draw accurate conclusions that help them move closer to realizing their visions.

Though popular in other fields, reliability discussions have not yet received substantial attention in hospitality. This study raises these discussions in the context of hospitality research to promote better practices for assessing the reliability of scales used within the hospitality domain.

For many years management accountants have been involved in the design of information systems for decision-making. To be effective in system design, accountants need pertinent and reliable performance measures within a valid framework. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) has received a great deal of attention as a comprehensive model of performance that takes into account both financial and non-financial measures. This paper examines the empirical reliability and validity of the BSC framework and its associated measures. With reference to content validity, internal consistency reliability, and factorial validity, results show that BSC, with measures grouped into its four dimensions, is a valid performance model.

Previous studies have called for better reliability and validity of BSC measures. The present study may help in the design and implementation of BSCs in business units by adding robustness to the BSC framework, and by suggesting a set of valid measures associated with the four BSC dimensions. The results may lead to reduced costs of BSC design and implementation, and enhanced consistency of future studies of the BSC.

The purpose of this study is to identify, characterize and assess supplier flexibility measurement practices in the order-to-delivery process.

The study involved a survey; participants were 224 purchasing managers at Swedish manufacturing companies that had more than 20 employees.

Scrutiny of the details of measurement practices revealed that most respondents actually do not specifically measure supplier flexibility. Instead they measure other measures like delivery reliability, conduct qualitative follow-ups, or cannot specify how supplier flexibility is measured. It was acknowledged that they measure different supplier flexibility aspects, and the applied measures were characterized, e.g. in terms of which flexibility dimension they represent.

Conceptual clarifications and adaptations to measuring supplier flexibility in the order-to-delivery process are provided. The identified measures can be a contribution in further developing literature on flexibility performance measurement.

Purchasing, logistics and supply chain managers in search of supplier flexibility performance measurement can find ways to measure and an extended flexibility vocabulary. This has the potential to improve flexibility in the supply chain.

Even though flexibility is claimed as being an important competitive advantage, few empirical studies and operationalized measures exist, particularly in the order-to-delivery process.