Search results

Financial services are inherently intangible and high on experience and credence qualities. In order to promote them effectively, a service provider must first identify the dimensions used by consumers to evaluate the service quality of banks prior to becoming a customer. Based on responses from customers of a credit union, the current study identifies four dimensions – empathy/assurance, tangibility, routine transaction cost, and loan transaction cost – which form the domain of consumer's evaluation of search quality in the financial services industry. Further, the relationships between these search quality factors and overall assessment of respondents' current bank is also investigated. The results indicate that higher levels of importance accorded to search quality factors, especially loan transaction costs, were associated with extreme (good or bad) assessment of current bank. The importance accorded to these search quality factors was also tested against contingency variables such as gender, marital status, age, household income, employment status, education, and house ownership. Of these, gender and home ownership emerged as the strongest determinants. These findings suggest that bank managers should be cognizant of search quality factors and their relations with the appropriate contingency variables.

To examine supply chain competences necessary to efficiently and/or effectively succeed in aftermarket support.

Using the aerospace industry as a context, this paper provides a brief overview of aftermarket support practices and trends and discusses the broader implications for aftermarket supply chain managers.

There are multiple approaches to aftermarket support. Which approach should be used depends on key variables including: technology, need for visibility and/or traceability, and need for collaborative product commerce.

This paper is a general review. Future research should examine resources necessary in individual industries, other forms of relationships, and the influence of new technologies.

In many industries, there are significant opportunities for incremental profit in aftermarket support. Collaborative product commerce, alliances, a number of new technologies (e.g. web commerce), and security needs may play critical roles in determining whether or not a company's aftermarket support practices will be profitable. Firms without competences in these areas should seek help from trusted partners to fill competence gaps.

This paper explores an often ignored but significant line of business – aftermarket support. Lessons demonstrated in this paper may be used in a number of industries that rely on aftermarket support for incremental profit.

This paper proposes a revised analytical model for accounting professionals that can be used to evaluate the financial well being of innovative companies that rely on earnings management practices (EM) for their growth. Through an analysis of corporate governance, financial reporting standards, and ratio analysis this paper reaches the conclusion that Enron extended previously researched earnings management practices that could have been detected in early 2000. Results of the analysis indicate that by using price book, price earnings multiple, net margin percentage, and return on assets, and taking into consideration the so‐called risk management activities which seemed to disguise highly volatile speculative derivative‐based activities, Enron was headed for implosion at least one year before its collapse.

Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.

Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.

PROFOUND CHANGES are taking place in every major working place, whether in factories or offices. These changes are by no means dependent upon or even caused by the advent of what has come to be termed the new technology. That, it is true, has provided a fresh attitude to work. It has brought — there are no two ways about this — great unemployment and a reluctance that is very understandable to rush into strike action on some small pretext.

Using Juster’s probability scale, this study examines a sample of 881 customers’ self‐reported estimates of probable defection from their main bank. One year later these customers’ statuses with their main bank were reviewed, allowing comparison of intended with actual defection. This methodology allows not only investigation of the Juster scale’s performance in a “subscription” type market but also identification of those customers with a predisposition to switch banks. Bank management can then decide if and how they might address their switch‐prone customers. Respondents were asked to allocate their probability of closing all accounts at their main bank in the next 12 months. The sample estimate was 10 percent while the actual defection result was 5 percent. While this may seem somewhat inaccurate, similar studies in the literature report the tendency of the Juster scale to over‐estimate switching behaviour, but its estimates have consistently proved superior previously to those derived from attitudinally based intention‐to‐buy scales and at least the equal of the Conversion Model.

The purpose of the paper is to identify how local populations, particularly at the municipal and village levels, can enhance their capacity to prepare and respond more effectively and efficiently to the logistic challenges that they face in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Using a phenomenological approach, a qualitative research study was conducted from an interpretative, constructivist perspective. Through a series of semi‐structured interviews the researchers gathered stories about the experiences of local responders at municipal level in the capital city region of the Republic of the Philippines in the aftermath of a specific natural disaster event (Typhoon Ondoy – September 2009). A number of key differences between the espoused strategies expressed in disaster management legislation and the actual experiences of local people on the ground were identified and, as a result, a conceptual model was developed that, if implemented, would enhance the capacity of local populations to prepare and respond in a more efficient and effective manner.

Results from the study indicate that the ability of local populations to contribute to the logistic preparation and response processes has been considerably undervalued and underutilised. A revised model is therefore developed that better incorporates their potential contribution to the management of both the demand and supply sides that would lead to swifter, more accurate, and more efficient logistic response mechanisms.

The developing canon of humanitarian logistic literature has, to date, been relatively silent on the subject of the contribution of the local population to the overall logistic management challenge. The paper provides important insights into the issues on which the government of a developing country could usefully focus attention in their approach to natural disaster preparedness and response, and it offers a conceptual model for future testing and evaluation.

Examines the context of the voluntary sector and its impact on organisational processes. Provides a selective overview of traditional literature on change management and assesses its relevance for the voluntary sector. Investigates alternative models that could facilitate understanding of change processes in the voluntary sector. Discusses the results from an empirical study into the change management experiences of a voluntary sector umbrella body. Concludes with key HRM lessons for the wider voluntary sector at this time of significant change, as well as highlighting the impact of contextual factors on the application of generic models of change.

IT IS AN AXIOM that engineers never stop learning. Every fresh job is a fresh challenge that must be met and overcome.