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Article
Publication date: 1 February 2012

Adli Abouzeedan, Magnus Klofsten and Thomas Hedner

Small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) evaluation models lack a clear coupling to innovation and its impact on firm performance. A model which can achieve this is the Survival…

Abstract

Purpose

Small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) evaluation models lack a clear coupling to innovation and its impact on firm performance. A model which can achieve this is the Survival Index Value (SIV) model. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the ability of the SIV model to indicate and predict the performance of a company. The firm, Autoadapt AB, is an innovation‐oriented enterprise, adapting personal cars to be driven by handicapped people. The authors knew in advance about the good performance of the firm and its high efficiency in conducting its operations and expected the SIV model to reflect correctly on Autoadapt's performance. Because the handicap degree of each of the individuals who benefit from the firm activities differs from one person to another, product solutions have to be individually designed. Therefore the firm has had to pursue a high level of innovativeness and it had to abide with this policy right from the start. The product development processes in the firm needed to adapt to such strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

To be able to demonstrate the ability of the SIV model to indicate a positive performance due to the intensive innovation activities of Autoadapt AB, a case study approach was used. Case studies are very suited for in‐depth analysis of an object under a longer period of time. It is a widely‐used research method in firm performance studies.

Findings

The results of the SIV analysis indicated that the model is able to project correctly the performance of the object firm. At all the four levels of analysis, i.e. SI values, the SPI slope, the survival factors, and the survivability coefficients, the SIV analysis performance indicated a stable positive development of the firm through the life time of the enterprise.

Originality/value

Measuring performance of SMEs is an important issue. There are couple of models stemming from the traditional accountancy disciplines in use; however these models suffer from clear disadvantages. Recently a new model, the SIV model, was introduced and has shown the ability of being a better candidate for performance analysis. The paper demonstrates the ability of the SIV model to judge correctly the performance of an innovative firm.

Case study
Publication date: 1 December 2011

Richard H. Borgman

In August 2007 the Mainsail II SIV-Lite was frozen by its trustee as a result of the ongoing credit crisis. The state of Maine held $20 million of Mainsail commercial paper in its…

Abstract

In August 2007 the Mainsail II SIV-Lite was frozen by its trustee as a result of the ongoing credit crisis. The state of Maine held $20 million of Mainsail commercial paper in its Cash Pool portfolio, a short-term portfolio that puts temporary, excess state revenues to work. When word of the potential loss became public, the Treasurer came under attack. The case introduces the functions of a state Treasury department, with particular emphasis on the investment objectives and guidelines for the cash pool as well as its composition. The case reviews the events leading up to and including August 2007, the month when the credit markets first began to seize and when the financial crisis effectively began. It examines securitization, structured finance, and the Mainsail SIV-Lite structure in some detail.

Details

The CASE Journal, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Case Study
ISSN: 1544-9106

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 February 2023

Esen Andiç-Mortan and Cigdem Gonul Kochan

This study aims to focus on building a conceptual closed-loop vaccine supply chain (CLVSC) to decrease vaccine wastage and counterfeit/fake vaccines.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to focus on building a conceptual closed-loop vaccine supply chain (CLVSC) to decrease vaccine wastage and counterfeit/fake vaccines.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a focused literature review, the framework for the CLVSC is described, and the system dynamics (SD) research methodology is used to build a causal loop diagram (CLD) of the proposed model.

Findings

In the battle against COVID-19, waste management systems have become overwhelmed, which has created negative environmental and extremely hazardous societal impacts. A key contributing factor is unused vaccine doses, shown as a source for counterfeit/fake vaccines. The findings identify a CLVSC design and transshipment operations to decrease vaccine wastage and the potential for vaccine theft.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to establishing a pandemic-specific VSC structure. The proposed model informs the current COVID-19 pandemic as well as potential future pandemics.

Social implications

A large part of the negative impact of counterfeit/fake vaccines is on human well-being, and this can be avoided with proper CLVSC.

Originality/value

This study develops a novel overarching SD CLD by integrating the epidemic model of disease transmission, VSC and closed-loop structure. This study enhances the policymakers’ understanding of the importance of vaccine waste collection, proper handling and threats to the public, which are born through illicit activities that rely on stolen vaccine doses.

Details

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6747

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 July 2012

Svante Lifvergren, Ulla Andin, Tony Huzzard and Andreas Hellström

Purpose – This chapter examines the developmental journey toward a sustainable health care system in the West of Skaraborg County in Sweden from 2008 to the present by proposing…

Abstract

Purpose – This chapter examines the developmental journey toward a sustainable health care system in the West of Skaraborg County in Sweden from 2008 to the present by proposing and illustrating the concept of a clinical microsystem to capture the work of a mobile team to care for elderly people with multiple diseases in its embedded context.

Design – An action research approach was adopted that entailed four researchers, one of whom was also a health care practitioner, engaging in iterative dialogues with the mobile team. This aimed at catalyzing joint learning in repeated action-reflection cycles at least three times a year over a period of 3 years. Data from patient databases were also drawn upon as additional resources for reflection.

Findings – The outcome of the initial periods of the team's work in the microsystem dramatically improved the care of these patients, significantly increasing quality of life and stabilizing their medical situation. It has also led to decreased resource utilization, not just by the team, but elsewhere in the wider health system.

Originality/value – We draw on and develop the concept of clinical microsystems to argue that such systems have a team at their core, but their work practices and patient outcomes require us to look beyond the team itself and take into account its interactions with patients and actors in the wider health care system. We also draw on the framework of Christensen, Grossman, and Hwang (2009) to propose that each microsystem has three distinct value configurations, namely shops, a chain, and a network. In terms of design, we suggest that the clinical microsystem can be seen as a parallel learning structure to that of the established health care bureaucracy.

Details

Organizing for Sustainable Health Care
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-033-8

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 16 November 2018

Frederick Betz

Abstract

Details

Strategic Business Models: Idealism and Realism in Strategy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-709-2

Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 January 2012

Allam Ahmed

138

Abstract

Details

World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, vol. 8 no. 2/3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-5961

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2024

Luwei Zhao, Qing’e Wang, Bon-Gang Hwang and Alice Yan Chang-Richards

The purpose of this study is to develop a new hybrid method that combines interpretative structural modeling (ISM) and matrix cross-impact multiplication applied to classification…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop a new hybrid method that combines interpretative structural modeling (ISM) and matrix cross-impact multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) to investigate the influencing factors of sustainable infrastructure vulnerability (SIV).

Design/methodology/approach

(1) Literature review and case study were used to identify the possible influencing factors; (2) a semi-structured interview was conducted to identify representative factors and the interrelationships among influencing factors; (3) ISM was adopted to identify the hierarchical structure of factors; (4) MICMAC was used to analyze the driving power (DRP) and dependence power (DEP) of each factor and (5) Semi-structured interview was used to propose strategies for overcoming SIV.

Findings

Results indicate that (1) 18 representative factors related to SIV were identified; (2) the relationship between these factors was divided into a five-layer hierarchical structure. The 18 representative factors were divided into driving factors, dependent factors, linkage factors and independent factors and (3) 12 strategies were presented to address the negative effects of these factors.

Originality/value

The findings illustrate the factors influencing SIV and their hierarchical structures, which can benefit the stakeholders and practitioners of an infrastructure project by encouraging them to take effective countermeasures to deal with related SIVs.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 April 2022

Johan Bruwer and Justin Cohen

Craft beer (CB) has gained prominence in the on-premise trade in the USA, which has become the world’s largest market for CB. Academically based research in the hospitality domain…

Abstract

Purpose

Craft beer (CB) has gained prominence in the on-premise trade in the USA, which has become the world’s largest market for CB. Academically based research in the hospitality domain examining consumer behavioral psychology-based constructs in the situational consumption context of restaurants has, however, not kept pace with market reality. This study aims to examine how product involvement, knowledge, opinion leadership-seeking, risk perception, information processing and their interactions affect consumption of CB by consumers in the situational context of restaurants in the USA.

Design/methodology/approach

A national sample of 697 consumers from across the USA covering all categories of restaurants, including bars, pubs and brewpubs, informs the development of a structural equation model (SEM) of the motivational process to examine these effects. In the process, the authors validate latent construct measurement scales specific to CB consumption in the restaurant environment.

Findings

The results support main hypotheses confirming the existence of distinct motivational relationships, thus explicating the processes by which consumers’ CB product involvement, product knowledge, opinion leadership-seeking and risk perception are activated, influence one another and their subsequent information processing-related outcomes. The findings also confirm the unstable nature of the situational involvement construct, the stability of enduring involvement and the pivotal role of psychological risk on opinion leadership and opinion seeking as well as on other antecedents. As far as the interaction effects between the constructs are concerned, the authors confirm five mediating effects and one moderating effect.

Practical implications

Strategies should be developed by hospitality managers to identify consumers with higher enduring involvement with CB. Strategies should also be implemented that mitigate psychological, social and functional risk. The insights into the motivational relationships pertaining to CB consumption in restaurants should be integrated into drinks menu design and be considered in how service staff are trained.

Originality/value

This research provides nuanced insights from a motivational perspective of consumers in the situational context of restaurants from a holistic and consumer-centric behavioral psychology perspective providing deepened insights of focal behavioral psychology constructs and their roles in the hospitality domain.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 34 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1990

M. Aynul Hasan

Some structural evidence indicating a substantial degree of inertiain commodity prices in Pakistan within the context of a completerational expectations macroeconomic model is…

Abstract

Some structural evidence indicating a substantial degree of inertia in commodity prices in Pakistan within the context of a complete rational expectations macroeconomic model is provided. The evidence also supports the existence of a short‐run Phillips curve for Pakistan for the period 1972(1) to 1981(4). What is more interesting is the existence of a long‐run “trade‐off” between excess demand for labour and inflation despite the fact that inflationary expectations are assumed to be rational.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. 17 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 October 2022

Mark Pim-Wusu, Clinton Aigbavboa and Wellington Didibhuku Thwala

The urgent need to preserve the ecosystem, which faces a threat from non-environmentally-friendly anthropogenic activities, has led to the study of adaptive capacity…

Abstract

Purpose

The urgent need to preserve the ecosystem, which faces a threat from non-environmentally-friendly anthropogenic activities, has led to the study of adaptive capacity implementation. There is an indication that the construction industries in developed countries are relatively better equipped to pursue sustainable construction than those in the developing world. Despite this, sustainable construction is yet to be established in developing countries. This research aims to develop a framework to drive and enable small and medium-sized (SME) firms in Ghana to implement adaptive capacity.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a quantitative approach, and 400 responses were retrieved as a sample size for which a six-factor adaptive capacity implementation framework was arrived at for SMEs in the Ghanaian construction industry. The data gathered from the respondents were analysed using IBM SPSS version 26 and AMOS version 24, and a structural equation modelling was also used to determine the work's validity based on the AMOS software.

Findings

The findings revealed that education and training, government support and a centralised information hub significantly influence adaptive capacity outcomes in Ghana.

Practical implications

It is recommended that the government, corporate and professional institutions that desire to preserve the country's ecosystem be guided by this study's adaptive capacity implementation framework.

Originality/value

This study's novelty also lies in the integrated framework for adaptive capacity implementation developed to aid small- and medium- sized enterprises in Ghana's construction industry to ensure environmentally-friendly construction activities.

Details

Built Environment Project and Asset Management, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-124X

Keywords

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