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The purpose of this paper is to report on research undertaken within a European‐based airline services firm. As a result of pressures within the airline industry the firm embarked on a cost reduction programme, recognising the need to achieve more synergy from its procurement spend, located in semi‐autonomous business units (BUs). The paper describes sequentially the two stages of the author's involvement in the project and the outputs and results realised.

The aim was to design a practical tool, based on academic inputs, which could be used by the business to achieve purchasing synergy. The research is reported in a case study format and develops an original mixed method approach. This approach combines interviews, a focus group, cognitive mapping and portfolio analysis and leads to the production of a decision‐making framework for implementing purchasing pooling.

The results illustrate that prior to the study, procurement was highly fragmented with little co‐ordination between BUs. The company needed to standardise many of its item specifications to facilitate purchasing pooling. A hierarchy is created as a valuable tool for understanding the various and conflicting factors in item selection for pooling initiatives. In addition, four purchasing strategies are identified, to support synergy in the firm.

The decision‐making framework developed for the business is used to illustrate how the firm achieved purchasing synergy across its BUs. The approach can similarly be adopted in organisations with a high level of fragmentation in their spend.

The research demonstrates the value of applying academic knowledge and multiple methods in creating practical solutions for managers. It also addresses some of the weaknesses identified in using single methods of analysis such as portfolios.

The purpose of this paper is to develop, measure and empirically validate a scale that captures the full dimensionality of selection attributes considered by customers when choosing a bank.

Focus group interviews were conducted and a well-structured questionnaire was designed. The validity of this scale was tested in accordance with the psychometric scale development procedure.

Contrary to some assertions in past literature, the results suggested service delivery and cost/price as among the most important determinants of the bank selection decisions of consumers.

The practical implications drawn from this study involve the seven constructs which could be adopted by the bank managers, advertising executives and marketing experts in providing good quality services resulting in overall higher levels of customer satisfaction. These decision makers can apply the constructs from the study to identify factors most appealing to both potential and existing customers and build up effective marketing strategies to attract new customers and retain existing ones.

This research paper signifies the leading studies for advancing a validated tool to measure the customers’ selection decisions for banks. As a result, this valid and reliable scale would bring standardization to research conducted in the field of bank selection attributes.

This study explores the main factors considered when shippers and container shipping lines select their import/export and transshipment ports. In the present study, 38 container port selection indices were chosen from the previous research and field interviews. The scores of the 38 items were collected via survey to the three major maritime/port market players: shippers, shipping lines, and container terminal operators. In order to analyze the different priorities imposed on the port selection factors by the three market players, the ANOVA method has been employed. The empirical test shows the different perceptions about port selection attributes among service suppliers and demanders. In addition, the 38 items have been categorized into seven key factors through an exploratory factor analysis. The ANOVA technique was employed again to analyze the perspective differences for the port selection factors among the market players. The results show that there are significant differences among the players assessing the importance of the three port choice factors: liners and terminal operators give more weight to ‘hinterland and terminal basic conditions’ than shippers; terminal operators do not take ‘line operation’ as seriously as carriers and shippers; the factor of ‘terminal operation’ is more significantly considered by liners and terminal operators than by shippers.

The purpose of this study was to examine factors influencing user selection of individual works in a collection of digitized sheet music.

Google Analytics page view data were grouped by source (directing link) and correlated with five factors: inclusion in a collaborative indexing project (Sheet Music Consortium); browse list order; cover appearance; inclusion in mini-collections; and presence of links to audio versions.

Four of the five factors examined showed some influence on user selection: Works listed in the Sheet Music Consortium had more views/work than those not listed; Works at the top of the Sheet Music Consortium browse list had more views by Consortium users than those lower down; Works with cover graphics had more views/work than those with covers containing words alone; Works included in mini-collections received more views/work from users with access to those mini-collections; Works with links to audio versions did not have more views/work than works without links.

The most important finding of this study is that the best way to increase the use of individual collection items may be to participate in a large and well-known collaborative index such as the Sheet Music Consortium.

This is the first study using Google Analytics to examine factors influencing user selection of individual digital collection items.

This article reports on the influence of product type on the purchasing structure within selected phases of the purchasing process by using regression analysis on data from Greek manufacturing and utility enterprises. Our study examined the influence of two different categories of items, namely product incorporated items and MRO (maintenance, repair and operating) items, on various aspects of the purchasing cycle. The results suggested that parameters of purchasing structure varied considerably between the two product types and that their configuration depended on attributes such as product complexity and environmental uncertainty.

The purpose of this paper is to present issues and challenges of scheduled maintenance task development within the maintenance review board (MRB) process, and to find potential areas of improvement in the application of the MSG‐3 methodology for aircraft systems.

The issues and challenges as well as potential areas of improvement have been identified through a constructive review that consists of two parts. The first part is a benchmarking between the Maintenance Steering Group (MSG‐3) methodology and other established and documented versions of reliability‐centred maintenance (RCM). This benchmarking focuses on the MSG‐3 methodology and compares it with some RCM standards to identify differences and thereby find ways to facilitate the application of MSG‐3. The second part includes a discussion about methodologies and tools that can support different steps of the MSG‐3 methodology within the framework of the MRB process.

The MSG‐3 methodology is closely related to the RCM methodology, in which the anticipated consequences of failure are considered for risk evaluation. However, MSG‐3 considers neither environmental effects of failures nor operational consequences of hidden failures. Furthermore, in MSG‐3, the operational check (failure‐finding inspection) is given priority before all other tasks, whereas in RCM it is considered as a default action, where there is no other applicable and effective option. While RCM allows cost‐effectiveness analysis for all failures that have no safety consequences, MSG‐3 just allows it for failures with economic consequences. A maintenance program that is established through the MRB process fulfils the requirements of continuous airworthiness, but there is no foundation to claim that it is the optimal or the most effective program from an operator's point‐of‐view. The major challenge when striving to achieve a more effective maintenance program within the MRB process is to acquire supporting methodologies and tools for adequate risk analysis, for optimal interval assignments, and for selection of the most effective maintenance task.

The paper presents a critical review of existing aircraft scheduled maintenance program development methodologies, and demonstrates the differences between MSG‐3 and other RCM methodologies.

Draws on a study conducted in a grocery chain with over 50 stores, located in the western USA. Simulates selection of a grocery item, for a chain store advertisement, using a logical flow chart model of the decision and then conditions favouring successful simulations are discussed. States research is based on two sets of data, published ads and transcripts of interviews with chain executives. Gives examples of grocery ads and discusses them further. Summarises that the attempt to simulate selection of a single grocery item for a weekly chain ad produced a simple model and its simplicity probably stems from several causes.

This paper analyzes the impact of menu descriptions on the selection of menu items. Furthermore, this paper examines the relationship between menu descriptions and the perceived value of the item.

This study uses the different components of prospect theory (e.g. anchoring effects and framing effects). An experimental research design using mock menus was used to investigate the impact of item presentation, item selections, and menu descriptions on consumer judgments of consumer choice and price value.

The results found that detailed menu descriptions negated the impact of the price increases on the menu items.

The implications of this study are valuable to restaurateurs because it shows that menu descriptions have the potential to increase revenue while also increasing the value perception. The study can also be applied to similar competing restaurants. Restaurants can be successful when magnifying the differences with detailed descriptions.

The implications of this study can aid restaurateurs that are either developing new menus or increasing their prices. Restaurateurs are encouraged to provide a more detailed menu description in order to increase the perceived value by the guest.

This study aims to explore the influence of topic familiarity on the four stages of college students' learning search process.

This study clarified the effects of topic familiarity on students' learning search process by conducting a simulation experiment based on query formulation, information item selection, information sources and learning output.

The results characterized users' interaction behaviors in increasing topic familiarity through their use of more task descriptions as queries, increased reformulation of queries, construction of more purposeful query formulation, reduced attention to a topic's basic concept content and increased exploration of academic platform contents.

This study proposed three innovative indicators which were proposed to evaluate the effects of topic familiarity on college students' learning search process, and the adopted metrics were useful for observing differences in college students' learning output as their topic familiarity increased. It contributes to the understanding of a user's search process and learning output to support the optimization function of learning-related information search systems and improve their effect on the user's search process for learning.

The purpose of this study is to compare South Korean (SK) and United States (US) adolescents' clothing motives and their store selection criteria, examine whether adolescents with different primary clothing motives would have similar or different store selection criteria, and examine an interaction effect of country of residency and clothing motives on store selection criteria.

A total of 307 US students and 297 SK students participated in the study. The convenience sampling method was used to recruit teachers who volunteered to help with the study and administer the survey.

Results showed that clothing motives and store selection criteria differed significantly between SK and US participants. Participants with different primary clothing motives had significantly different store selection criteria. SK and US participants with the same primary clothing motive did not have significantly different store selection criteria.

Participants were recruited using a convenience sampling method and, therefore, they could not represent adolescents generally in either country.

Based on the findings, suggestions for store positioning, service management and international marketing strategies for apparel companies that target adolescents were provided.

Limited studies have examined adolescents' motives behind the clothes they purchase and wear, and their store selection criteria.