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In addition to proposing an integrated conceptualization of mail survey response behavior, this article presents an empirical study which examines the potential of source and appeal variations on response rate, response speed, and response completeness. The findings of this empirical study are presented and compared to a similar study for the purpose of validating source and appeal effects on mail survey response and the conceptual framework. The results, not totally in agreement with earlier findings, generally lend support for the untapped potential of source and appeal in influencing mail survey response behavior. There is also statistical justification for two of the six motivators comprising the proposed conceptual framework.

Extended research efforts have been dedicated to understanding how different aspects of online surveys impact the response rate and quality of collected data. With the hope to yield higher response rates, leading survey software solutions (e.g., SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, QuestionPro) introduced a new technique of embedding a question from an online survey into invitation emails sent to the respondents. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the impact of embedded questions on survey response rate and quality. The results of two experimental studies show that respondents are more likely to respond to a survey with an embedded question compared to an email without one. No statistically significant differences were discovered regarding data quality that was assessed via survey completion rate, respondent bias, and attention check questions. The chapter provides suggestions and guidelines for increasing online surveys' response rate and quality.

School library media specialists (SLMSs) often struggle with assuming leadership roles. Discrepancies existed in perceptions of SLMSs of their leadership preparedness, their opportunities to exert leadership, and their assumption of leadership roles. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the perceptions of SLMSs regarding their instructional leadership and to examine the extent to which they practiced instructional leadership. The study was designed to determine whether there were differences between SLMSs perceptions of the importance of their leadership roles and their opportunities to practice those roles. The results of the study indicated that SLMSs perceived all of the leadership roles to be more important than they were able to carry out in practice and that supportive administrators were the most essential factor in providing SLMSs the opportunity to practice and expand their roles as instructional leaders.

The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature on empirical research in lean manufacturing (LM). It provides a critical assessment of empirical research methodology of 178 research articles published from 1990 to 2009.

The article reviewed a set of 178 empirical research articles in LM research with respect to empirical research design and its related facets. The 236 empirical research articles which are published in 70 journals during 1990-2009 are collected from four major management science publishers, namely, Emerald Online, Science Direct, Springer Link and Taylor & Francis. In total 178 research articles published in 24 journals are selected for critical review of empirical research methodology in LM. The approach for the critical review of 178 empirical research articles in LM is based on empirical research approach given by Flynn et al. (1990). The critical review discusses the current status of empirical research in LM and future directions.

It is concluded from the analysis of the results that: the number of empirical research articles in LM is increasing at a faster pace than ever before; theory building and theory verification articles are equally advanced; the researchers have also unexplored various aspects of empirical research such as importance of triangulation of data, alternate research designs other than survey and case studies; contextual focus is mostly on the manufacturing industry; more focus required on other aspects of empirical research such as collecting the samples from developing and undeveloped countries, larger sample size, longitudinal data collection methods. Finally, it concludes that there is a need of LM frameworks, which gives the stepwise process to remove all kinds of wastes from any organization.

To the knowledge of the authors, it is the first of its kind attempt to critically review the empirical research articles in LM. The review analysis entirely focussed on descriptive statistics of empirical research in LM. The sample size is one of the unique features of this research as the number of shortlisted articles is 178 in 24 journals published over a time span of 20 years (1990-2009).

The purpose of this research is to determine whether instruction would be welcomed by instant messaging (IM)/chat users, whether instruction is possible in this medium, whether it can be effectively provided, and if the use of co‐browsing enhances learning.

Two studies were conducted in which IM/chat reference transcripts were analyzed and patron surveys collected. This research paper compares results from these studies, the first based on use of text‐only IM software, the second using commercial chat software with a co‐browse feature.

Findings indicate that patrons welcome instruction, whether they ask for it or not, and are satisfied with chat/IM as an instructional medium. Librarians usually provide instruction, though they are more likely to do so if patrons ask for it, directly or indirectly. Co‐browsing was used little and did not increase the amount of instruction provided. Patron question format had an impact on the likelihood of co‐browsing. Despite a high rate of technical difficulties, co‐browsing was very well received by survey respondents.

Findings suggest more training on the importance of instruction in virtual reference is needed.

Providing instruction via reference is an established practice at the physical reference desk, yet few studies of instruction in virtual reference have been conducted and none on co‐browsing as an instructional tool. This study addresses the need for research on instruction in the virtual reference environment.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the attitudes of staff and students towards adopting the use of e-portfolios for the purposes of supporting the concept of personal development planning (PDP). The study compares and contrasts the views and opinions of staff and students at one UK Higher Education Institution (HEI) about whether e-portfolios can support PDP.

Adopting a case study approach, this study presents empirical data gathered from two surveys involving 460 students and 182 lecturers from one UK HEI, collected from four different campuses across the West of Scotland.

The results of the surveys showed that the framework the authors used in the research to collect information about students and staffs attitudes was effective and that further research is merited for a more extensive investigation into PDP e-portfolio usage within HEI.

The research was conducted at only one UK HEI so at this stage of the research, it is difficult to assess how generalisable the findings are.

This study provides useful empirical evidence to educators who may be considering employing e-portfolios within an educational context. For example, the views of students and staff identified in this paper can aid towards informing educators about some of the issues that might impact on using e-portfolios for supporting PDP in higher education.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work that presents survey data on both students’ and lecturers’ attitudes towards e-portfolio use to support and facilitate PDP.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a literature review to provide an overview of surveys focussing on business process management (BPM)/business process orientation (BPO) or on BPM-related topics in order to describe the status quo, uncover trends, classify survey contributions and assess the possible further development of survey research.

In order to achieve the research goals, the authors conduct a literature review. The authors analyze the retrieved literature by means of a developed analysis framework which allows the authors to examine the surveys from the meta-perspective and content-based perspective.

A lot of surveys focussing on BPM/BPO or on BPM-related topics have been published in German- and English-speaking literature over the last years. Nevertheless, the authors find out that while some topics, countries/regions and industries are well explored others were neglected in the past. Moreover, the authors provide first evidence that companies have a different BPM demand. Finally, the authors conclude that although the implications of the incorporated surveys provide a good starting point for practitioners they seem to be too abstract to be helpful for them. Thus, the authors recommend the conduction of qualitative research endeavors to develop adaptable theories for practitioners.

This literature review focusses on survey research in BPM. It could be repeated in order to verify the findings and moreover to track progress. However, although the authors followed the steps proposed for a literature review, the selection of relevant articles might be a limitation of this paper.

The literature review provides an overview of surveys focussing on BPM/BPO or on BPM-related topics that have been published so far. The developed and strictly applied analysis framework supports a systematic analysis of survey research and could therefore provide a detailed picture of the current state of this research field. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no comparable literature review has been undertaken until now.

The paper's aim is to illustrate the use of a technique that can help researchers choose which techniques, and at what level, to employ in an internet‐based survey.

A screening experiment, designed as a Plackett‐Burman design, is used to study main effects of 11 techniques for increasing survey response. Three measures of effect used are click rate, completion rate, and response rate. A convenience sample of students at a large university in New Zealand is used.

Follow‐up had significant impact on click rate; incentive and pre‐notification had a significant impact on completion rate; no technique had significant effect on response rate.

Main effects are examined. Also, a limited number of approaches for each technique are studied.

This paper illustrates the use of a methodology that researchers, practitioner, and academics alike, can use to select techniques to employ in an internet survey. This is the first known application of the technique for selecting data collection techniques in marketing.

This study aims to pose one major research question, i.e. why and how to use knowledge management methods in order to enhance knowledge creation in academia – at universities and research institutes?

The paper defines KM in academia as any systematic activity related to support and enhancement of the creation of scientific knowledge and achievement of research goals, including both social process and relevant computer technology tools. Two surveys and case studies were carried out to achieve the research purpose at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST). The first survey focused on knowledge management in academia and investigated the current KM situations, special and diverse requirements from researchers. The second survey concentrated on supporting the creative processes of academic research and investigated which aspects of knowledge creation processes should be supported in particular. Based on survey findings, the practical solutions are further presented aimed to improve the creative environment for scientific knowledge creation.

The findings from the first survey showed that the KM obstacles reflected on various aspects: technological support, the people involved in creation activities, laboratory cultural, and so on. The seven most critical questions and three most important questions were evaluated by responders with respect to academic knowledge creation process in the second survey.

The study advances the belief that knowledge management (KM) is applicable not only in industrial and market organizations, but also in academia.

With respect to the survey results, it is suggested that a creative environment in academia should be enhanced from both “soft” and “hard” aspects under the guidelines of a systems thinking framework for KM in scientific labs. From the soft side, by using personalization strategies, a knowledge‐sharing culture has to be built in labs to facilitate scientific communication, debate and team work. From the hard side, by using technology strategies, a practical example is presented in JAIST concerning the implementation of the hard aspect of creative environment. It is hoped that the research can launch further debate and prompt practical steps to help research institutes or universities improve their management and increase the research efficiency.

An essential point is that the study is based on the feedback from knowledge creators in a typical knowledge creation organization, which makes the analyses and conclusions more comprehensive and persuasive from both the theoretical and practical points of view. The research not only explores some hidden or tacit problems existing in academic knowledge management and scientific knowledge creation, but also proposes solutions for scientific knowledge creation that were found to be valuable by university management.