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1 – 10 of over 1000M. Bilal Akbar, Nihar Amoncar, Erik Cateriano-Arévalo and Alison Lawson
Given the lack of understanding of social marketing success in theory and practice, this study aims to investigate how social marketing experts conceptualize success.
Abstract
Purpose
Given the lack of understanding of social marketing success in theory and practice, this study aims to investigate how social marketing experts conceptualize success.
Design/methodology/approach
In this qualitative study, the authors conducted an open-ended online questionnaire with 48 worldwide social marketing experts, most with more than 20 years of experience in the field. The authors analyzed data using topic modeling, a machine-learning method that groups responses/terms into cluster topics based on similarities. Keywords in each topic served to generate themes for discussion.
Findings
While behavior change is mentioned as paramount to conceptualizing success, participants prefer to use more tangible and less complex forms to define/measure success, such as campaign recall uptick. In addition, lack of funding was considered an important factor in measuring success. This study provides a two-stage taxonomy to better understand success in social marketing.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to conceptualize success in social marketing practice.
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This study aims to provide an integrated view of performance measurement systems (PMS) by developing a taxonomy reflecting the interdependencies among various PMS aspects. This…
Abstract
This study aims to provide an integrated view of performance measurement systems (PMS) by developing a taxonomy reflecting the interdependencies among various PMS aspects. This study aims to move the study of PMS from a cartesian form of contingency fit to a configuration form. More specifically, the following research question is investigated in this study: To what extent do similar patterns across various dimensions of PMS occur with regularity? Using a survey approach to collect data from a sample of manufacturing firms, this study aims to develop a taxonomy based on three aspects of the PMS process, namely the design (i.e., the mix of financial, customer, internal processes, innovation and learning measures), the use (i.e., monitoring, strategic decision-making, attention-focusing, legitimization), and the revision (i.e., the addition, deletion, and changes in performance indicators). Three patterns of relationships reflecting the role and importance of PMS within the organization emerge: (a) PMS as an outcomes surveillance mechanism, (b) PMS as a management support tool, and (c) PMS as an institutionalized organizational process. This study contributes to the management accounting literature by providing a different understanding of the various levels of integration of PMS within organizational routines.
Susanne Goller, Annik Hogg and Stavros P. Kalafatis
Since its conception over 60 years ago by Frederick in 1934, the concept of segmentation has gained increasing importance, in both the consumer and the business domains…
Abstract
Since its conception over 60 years ago by Frederick in 1934, the concept of segmentation has gained increasing importance, in both the consumer and the business domains. Examination of research within the latter domain indicates that, although considerable amounts of research have been carried out, these efforts appear to focus on sub‐areas of segmentation such as the development of segmentation bases and models, at the expense of a more strategic view. This not only has resulted in a diffused understanding of the subject‐matter but also is posited to have slowed the progress of theory development and research in business segmentation. Presents a comprehensive conceptualisation of business segmentation in the form of an integrating framework of business segmentation, aimed at raising new research agendas which could lead to a better understanding of existing gaps between theory and implementation and better recommendations to practitioners and assisting further development of theory in business segmentation.
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Emily E. Marsh and Marilyn Domas White
The paper establishes a taxonomy of image‐text relationships that reflects the ways that images and text interact. It is applicable to all subject areas and document types. The…
Abstract
The paper establishes a taxonomy of image‐text relationships that reflects the ways that images and text interact. It is applicable to all subject areas and document types. The taxonomy was developed to answer the research question: how does an illustration relate to the text with which it is associated, or, what are the functions of illustration? Developed in a two‐stage process – first, analysis of relevant research in children's literature, dictionary development, education, journalism, and library and information design and, second, subsequent application of the first version of the taxonomy to 954 image‐text pairs in 45 Web pages (pages with educational content for children, online newspapers, and retail business pages) – the taxonomy identifies 49 relationships and groups them in three categories according to the closeness of the conceptual relationship between image and text. The paper uses qualitative content analysis to illustrate use of the taxonomy to analyze four image‐text pairs in government publications and discusses the implications of the research for information retrieval and document design.
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Andrei Kuznetsov, John Dinwoodie, David Gibbs, Mark Sansom and Harriet Knowles
The purpose of this paper is to report an explicit taxonomy of maritime operations (MO) to guide harbour masters (HMs) of smaller ports in planning more sustainable operations.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report an explicit taxonomy of maritime operations (MO) to guide harbour masters (HMs) of smaller ports in planning more sustainable operations.
Design/methodology/approach
This research presents strategies for building theory to promote more sustainable port management in a two-stage research design. Starting from a base taxonomy in research Stage 1, ethnographic content analysis (ECA) of a sparse prior literature on MO generated a tentative taxonomy. In Stage 2, interviews to capture tacit practitioner knowledge refined the tentative taxonomy into a credible practitioner-informed final taxonomy.
Findings
ECA offers researchers a powerful tool to analyse complex operational problems. In this paper MOs are represented in an explicit taxonomy.
Practical implications
A final taxonomy of MOs guides sustainability strategy formulation by HMs and assists them to protect vital commercial revenues which serve supply chains and local communities.
Originality/value
An explicit final taxonomy of MO is derived using a novel methodology. The taxonomy guides sustainability strategy formulation and underpins subsequent planning of sustainable development policies.
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Paolo Landoni, Simone Franzò, Davide Viglialoro, Alessandro Laspia and Roberto Verganti
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive view of the different competition-based approaches that policymakers can exploit to foster external knowledge search and their…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive view of the different competition-based approaches that policymakers can exploit to foster external knowledge search and their positioning among innovation policy measures. A growing number of companies have implemented initiatives to access external knowledge to increase their innovativeness, consistently with the open innovation paradigm. Competition-based approaches have received increasing attention by the private sector as a way to access external knowledge. However, despite their potential role as innovation policy measures, a limited attention has been devoted so far to investigate them from the policymakers’ perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
To this aim, a two-stage empirical analysis has been carried out to develop a taxonomy of competition-based approaches. The first stage leveraged a multiple case study methodology including a sample of 20 competition-based approaches, while the second one leveraged interviews with Italian and European key informants.
Findings
This paper proposes a novel taxonomy including eight competition-based approaches, which differ among each other in terms of policy strategy, scope breadth and output required. Moreover, this paper enriches a well-established taxonomy of innovation policy instruments with the identified competition-based approaches.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the current debate on innovation policy by providing a taxonomy that includes eight competition-based approaches that can be exploited by policymakers to foster external knowledge search as well as their positioning among the innovation policy instruments. The taxonomy will hopefully support policymakers in identifying of the most suitable instruments in the light of their policy strategy and objectives.
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Yazan Khalid Abed-Allah Migdadi and Abeer Ahmad Omari
The purpose of this paper is to identify the best practices in the green operations strategy of hospitals.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the best practices in the green operations strategy of hospitals.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 25 cases from all over the world were investigated. The source of data was the annual sustainability reports that were retrieved from Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) database. The present research adopted the benchmarking method and the quantitative content analysis of sustainability reports. Then, the indicative models of best practices were developed by using two analysis approaches; within cluster analysis and across clusters analysis.
Findings
This study found four major taxonomies of green operation strategy in hospitals. The significant strategic groups were resources/waste management; electrical power management; non-hazardous waste management; and emissions/resources management. Indicative models for the relationship between actions and key green performance indicators were developed in the two stages of the analysis.
Originality/value
The best practices of green operations strategies in hospitals have not so far been investigated. Countries around the world should obey the new regulations for their environmental footprint; if they do, it will exert pressure on all sectors and organizations at all levels to take immediate steps to measure and improve their environmental performance.
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Paulo Alonso Gaona García, David Martín-Moncunill, Salvador Sánchez-Alonso and Ana Fermoso García
This paper aims to analyse user interfaces for search and collection visualisation and navigation from a usability perspective. The final aim is to offer repository owners a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse user interfaces for search and collection visualisation and navigation from a usability perspective. The final aim is to offer repository owners a scientific basis to support their decisions when they have to choose an interface that can really help users to effectively locate and visualise resources over large digital collections.
Design/methodology/approach
This HCI study is divided into two parts: perception and usability. The first one analysed three perceptual abilities required to use interfaces: attention, retention of information and understanding. The second one was run on an ad hoc generated collection including more than 40,000 European digital resources collected and classified according to a given branch of knowledge in the Art & Architecture Thesaurus.
Findings
Although visual interfaces proved useful for certain tasks related to resource discovery and search, and despite the overall good general user opinion, the authors found it necessary to conduct another thorough study to know more about the target users and the amplitude of the collection, as well as to determine the ideal type of interface to implement. All these factors are important for increasing user acceptance and avoiding unnecessary implementation costs.
Research limitations/implications
This research was run on a relatively small sample size of users from Spain and Latin America, which may not be representative of the general population. In similar studies previous knowledge about usability has been reported to introduce bias in the results, so the authors tried to avoid this when selecting the participants.
Originality/value
There are no previous usability studies for the development and implementation of interfaces in digital learning or cultural repositories. The authors' experience highlights the importance of addressing usability aspects a priori, to prevent users from ceasing to use visual interfaces over time, because they do not perceive any benefit from using them.
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Huiling Li, Wenya Yuan and Jianzhong Xu
This study aimed to identify a specific taxonomy of entry modes for international construction contractors and to develop a decision-making mechanism based on case-based reasoning…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to identify a specific taxonomy of entry modes for international construction contractors and to develop a decision-making mechanism based on case-based reasoning (CBR) to facilitate the selection of the most suitable entry modes.
Design/methodology/approach
According to the experience orientation of the construction industry, a CBR entry mode decision model was established, and based on successful historical cases, a two-step refinement process was carried out to identify similar situations. Then the validity of the model is proved by case analysis.
Findings
This study identified an entry mode taxonomy for international construction contractors (ICCs) and explored their decision-making mechanisms. First, a two-dimension model of entry mode for ICCs was constructed from ownership and value chain dimensions; seven common ICC entry modes were identified and ranked according to market commitment. Secondly, this study reveals the impact mechanism of the ICC entry mode from two aspects: the external environment and enterprise characteristics. Accordingly, an entry mode decision model is established.
Practical implications
Firstly, sorting out the categories of entry mode in the construction field, which provide an entry mode list for ICCs to select. Secondly, revealing the impact mechanism of ICC entry mode, which proposes a systematic decision-making system for the selection of ICC entry mode. Thirdly, constructing a CBR entry mode decision-making model from an empirical perspective, which offers tool support and reduces transaction costs in the decision-making process.
Originality/value
The study on entry modes for ICCs is still in the preliminary exploratory stage. The authors investigate the entry mode categories and decision-making mechanisms for ICCs based on Uppsala internationalization process theory. It widens the applied scope of Uppsala and promotes cross-disciplinary integration. In addition, the authors creatively propose a two-stage retrieval mechanism in the CBR model, which considers the order of decision variables. It refines the influence path of the decision variables on ICCs' entry mode.
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Joanne Locke, Nick Rowbottom and Indrit Troshani
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the process by which “analogue” corporate reports produced under a “paper paradigm” are translated into a machine language as required by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the process by which “analogue” corporate reports produced under a “paper paradigm” are translated into a machine language as required by digital reporting. The paper uses Austin and Searle’s linguistic speech act theory to examine how digitally translating reporting information into atomised data affects the infrastructure and practice of accounting.
Design/methodology/approach
Extensive interview and observation evidence focussed on the IFRS Foundation’s digital reporting project is analysed. An interpretive approach is informed by the concepts of L compatibility, illocution and perlocutionary acts which are drawn from speech act theory.
Findings
Two key sites of translation are identified. The first site concerns the translation of accounting standards, principles and practices into taxonomies for digital tagging. Controversies arise over the definition of accounting concepts in a site populated by accounting and IT-orientated experts. The second site of translation is in the routine production and dissemination of digital reports which impacts the L compatibility between preparers and users.
Originality/value
The paper highlights a previously unexplored field of translation in accounting and contributes a unique perspective that demonstrates that machine translation is no longer marginalised but is the “primary” text with effects on the infrastructure and practice of accounting. It extends speech act theory by applying it to the digital domain and in the context of translation between languages.
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