Search results
1 – 10 of 135Bruce Wallace, Lea Gozdzialski, Abdelhakim Qbaich, Azam Shafiul, Piotr Burek, Abby Hutchison, Taylor Teal, Rebecca Louw, Collin Kielty, Derek Robinson, Belaid Moa, Margaret-Anne Storey, Chris Gill and Dennis Hore
While there is increasing interest in implementing drug checking within overdose prevention, we must also consider how to scale-up these responses so that they have significant…
Abstract
Purpose
While there is increasing interest in implementing drug checking within overdose prevention, we must also consider how to scale-up these responses so that they have significant reach and impact for people navigating the unpredictable and increasingly complex drug supplies linked to overdose. The purpose of this paper is to present a distributed model of community drug checking that addresses multiple barriers to increasing the reach of drug checking as a response to the illicit drug overdose crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
A detailed description of the key components of a distributed model of community drug checking is provided. This includes an integrated software platform that links a multi-instrument, multi-site service design with online service options, a foundational database that provides storage and reporting functions and a community of practice to facilitate engagement and capacity building.
Findings
The distributed model diminishes the need for technicians at multiple sites while still providing point-of-care results with local harm reduction engagement and access to confirmatory testing online and in localized reporting. It also reduces the need for training in the technical components of drug checking (e.g. interpreting spectra) for harm reduction workers. Moreover, its real-time reporting capability keeps communities informed about the crisis. Sites are additionally supported by a community of practice.
Originality/value
This paper presents innovations in drug checking technologies and service design that attempt to overcome current financial and technical barriers towards scaling-up services to a more equitable and impactful level and effectively linking multiple urban and rural communities to report concentration levels for substances most linked to overdose.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this study is to identify grey consumers' perceived service quality at department stores and to examine the relationships between perceived service quality, their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify grey consumers' perceived service quality at department stores and to examine the relationships between perceived service quality, their satisfaction and loyalty to those stores.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured questionnaire was developed to collect the data. Factor analysis was employed to identify dimensions of grey consumers' perceived service quality. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between grey consumers' perceived service quality at department stores and their satisfaction and loyalty behaviors at those stores.
Findings
Three service quality dimensions were identified. The results showed that all three service quality dimensions in the study were significantly and positively related to their satisfaction at their favorite department stores and overall loyalty behavior to those stores. Among three service quality dimensions, personal interaction was the strongest predictor of both grey consumers' satisfaction and overall loyalty behavior. Personal interaction was identified as the most significant factor for promoting positive word of mouth and store image for repeat purchase intention.
Practical implications
With this study, department stores' managers would be able to better understand grey consumers and thereby take advantage of the potential purchasing opportunities of this powerful consumer market. This study also may contribute to the department stores' management in allocating their resources to improve service in a more effective way to satisfy grey consumers.
Originality/value
Despite the increasing purchasing potential this powerful market has created, grey consumers' shopping behavior is under‐researched and their needs are still unmet in the market place.
Details
Keywords
Rodney McAdam, Gren Armstrong and Brigitta Kelly
Investigates how organisations can progress from total quality (TQ) to business innovation and represents the first part of an EU sponsored research programme in total quality and…
Abstract
Investigates how organisations can progress from total quality (TQ) to business innovation and represents the first part of an EU sponsored research programme in total quality and innovation. First, definitions and underlying assumptions are analysed which enables a definition of TQ and innovation to be derived that can accommodate a natural organisational progression in terms of implementation. Second, TQ and Innovation are compared and contrasted by analysing models in each of the respective fields. The main findings were that, in general, innovation models were based more on organisational learning and appreciation of human capital than TQ models, which were based more on mechanistic process based continuous improvement. Finally, the results of a research study into innovation and total quality are presented and discussed. The study found that organisations which have a history of continuous improvement are more likely to go on and build a successful innovative culture.
Details
Keywords
Rodney McAdam, Peter Stevenson and Gren Armstrong
With increasing market pressure and fragmentation Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) must move beyond the change philosophy of Continuous Improvement (CI) and develop a…
Abstract
With increasing market pressure and fragmentation Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) must move beyond the change philosophy of Continuous Improvement (CI) and develop a culture of innovation. To find out if SMEs could go beyond CI to achieve effective business innovation as a change management philosophy, a literature survey and a research survey on 15 SMEs was conducted to provide additional relevant information. The main research findings were: the SMEs exhibited a range of Continuous Improvement and innovation characteristics – some had adopted a culture of Continuous Improvement, while others had not; the SMEs which had adopted a culture of Continuous Improvement found that it could provide a solid foundation on which to build a culture of effective business innovation; and these SMEs were found to have embraced all the different components of innovation, as measured, more readily than those SMEs which did not have a culture of Continuous Improvement.
Details
Keywords
Sadia Cheema, Malka Liaquat, Fatima Wyne and Sadia Ishaque
This chapter attempts to explore customer loyalty and retention in the context of Pakistani restaurants. Effects of customer perceived value and service quality as antecedents are…
Abstract
This chapter attempts to explore customer loyalty and retention in the context of Pakistani restaurants. Effects of customer perceived value and service quality as antecedents are tested on customer loyalty and retention along with the mediating effects of customer satisfaction and customer relationship management quality. This chapter is conducted in 15 restaurants from Multan. Results reveal how the restaurant sector lacks a monitoring mechanism that promotes an effective customer relationship. For example, what kinds of measurements the manager could use to enhance a customer's loyalty and retention.
Details
Keywords
James C. Lockhart and Mike Taitoko
For decades the majority of contributions to governance practice have been compliance-focused while much governance research has been grounded in an agency view (Daily, Dalton &…
Abstract
For decades the majority of contributions to governance practice have been compliance-focused while much governance research has been grounded in an agency view (Daily, Dalton & Rajagopalan, (2003), Academy of Management Journal, 46(2), 151–158). Much of that effort has failed to observe the key drivers of boardroom decision making. The objective of this research was to explore the shareholder–stakeholder tension within an organisation as it progressed through sequential forms of ownership. The results presented in this paper are primarily drawn from the immediate ex poste and ex ante events surrounding the collapse of Ansett Holdings Ltd and the latter government bailout of Air New Zealand. New Zealand's national airline provided a relevatory case (Yin, (1989), Case study research: Design and methods (Rev.ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage), the opportunity to study a phenomenon previously inaccessible to research, because data hitherto unavailable ‘entered’ the public domain. However, when reinterpreted in light of direct input from key executives involved – benevolent informants – much of that data needs to be reconsidered to better understand why critical decisions were made. The Ansett collapse subsequently became the single largest corporate collapse in Australian history while the loss to Air New Zealand became New Zealand's largest-ever corporate loss. The decision by Brierley Investments Limited (BIL) to ‘block’ Singapore Airline's (SIA) entry into the Australian market, implemented through the high risk acquisition of the balance of Ansett, directly resulted in both ‘collapses’. Decisions by the organisation's governance were found to have a direct impact on the performance of Air New Zealand through various phases of its ownership. While the ‘collapses’ are attributed to a failure of governance to act in the organisation's (stakeholders) interests. Growing tensions between shareholders and stakeholders were observed to be suppressed as the BIL dominated and led Board achieve complete control over decision making. There remains considerable opportunity to further governance research through the examination of business ethics, notably the view that appropriate ethics can be met by way of legislation (e.g. Diplock, (2003, April), Corporate governance issues. Securities Commission of New Zealand. Available from: http://www.sec-com.govt.nz/speeches/jds240403.shtml). However, the role of governance, particularly whom it is there to serve requires far greater attention on behalf of researchers. In the cases of Ansett and Air New Zealand the Board ceased to act in best interests of the organisation in favour of the major shareholder.
PALMER AERO PRODUCTS LTD. Mr J. C. Cahill has been appointed Marketing Manager of Palmer Aero Products Ltd.—the B.T.R. Industries subsidiary. Mr P. J. Taylor has been appointed…
Abstract
PALMER AERO PRODUCTS LTD. Mr J. C. Cahill has been appointed Marketing Manager of Palmer Aero Products Ltd.—the B.T.R. Industries subsidiary. Mr P. J. Taylor has been appointed European Sales Executive.
Badi H. Baltagi, Georges Bresson and Jean-Michel Etienne
This chapter proposes semiparametric estimation of the relationship between growth rate of GDP per capita, growth rates of physical and human capital, labor as well as other…
Abstract
This chapter proposes semiparametric estimation of the relationship between growth rate of GDP per capita, growth rates of physical and human capital, labor as well as other covariates and common trends for a panel of 23 OECD countries observed over the period 1971–2015. The observed differentiated behaviors by country reveal strong heterogeneity. This is the motivation behind using a mixed fixed- and random coefficients model to estimate this relationship. In particular, this chapter uses a semiparametric specification with random intercepts and slopes coefficients. Motivated by Lee and Wand (2016), the authors estimate a mean field variational Bayes semiparametric model with random coefficients for this panel of countries. Results reveal nonparametric specifications for the common trends. The use of this flexible methodology may enrich the empirical growth literature underlining a large diversity of responses across variables and countries.
Details