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Service quality in hospitals: more favourable than you might think
Tập 13 Số 3 - Trang 197-206 - 2003
M. Sadiq Sohail

This paper examines and measures the quality of services provided by private hospitals in Malaysia. Empirical research is used to determine patients’ expectations and perceptions of the quality of service, and a comprehensive scale adapted from SERVQUAL is empirically evaluated for its usefulness in the Malaysian hospital environment. Results based on testing the mean differences between expectations and perception indicate that patients’ perceived value of the services exceed expectations for all the variables measured. A comparative analysis with similar studies in other regions is reported, and the implications are discussed.

What makes mavens tick? Exploring the motives of market mavens’ initiation of information diffusion
Tập 21 Số 2 - Trang 109-122 - 2004
Gianfranco Walsh, Kevin P. Gwinner, Scott R. Swanson

With growing competition and the increasing complexity of commercial information, interpersonal communication continues to be important to marketers. Market mavens, those consumers with general product knowledge that act as disseminators of product information, play a central role in influencing others’ purchase decisions. Previous research, which has focused on mavens’ demographics and media consumption, has neglected the motives that drive these consumer communicators. From a survey of 326 consumers, we explore how those respondents ranked high on the maven scale differ in terms of their motivations to engage in word‐of‐mouth behavior from those scoring lower on the maven scale. Our results indicate that market mavens, compared with moderate and non‐mavens, are motivated to a greater extent by a sense of obligation to share information, a desire to help others, and feelings of pleasure associated with informing others about products. The relationship between initial information diffusion, maven group, and the investigated motivations are also explored. Implications for marketers targeting mavens are offered.

Impacts of business vision, top management support, and external expertise on ERP success
Tập 14 Số 4 - Trang 551-568 - 2008
Princely Ifinedo
Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of such contingency factors as top management support, business vision, and external expertise, on the one hand, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) system success, on the other.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual model was developed and relevant hypotheses formulated. Surveys were conducted in two Northern European countries and a structural equation modeling technique used to analyze the data.

Findings

It was found that the three contingency factors positively influence ERP system success. More importantly, the relative importance of quality external expertise over the other two factors for ERP initiatives was underscored

Originality/value

It is argued that ERP systems are different from other information technology implementations; as such, there is a need to provide insights as to how the aforementioned factors play out in the context of ERP system success evaluations for adopting organizations. As was predicted, the results showed that the three contingency factors positively influence ERP system success. More importantly, the relative importance of quality external expertise over the other two factors for ERP initiatives was underscored. The implications of the findings for both practitioners and researchers are discussed.

Strategic sourcing: benefits, problems and a contextual model
Tập 40 Số 1 - Trang 26-34 - 2002
David Jennings

This paper reviews the strategic benefits and problems relating to the outsourcing decision. These include issues of cost, quality, flexibility, strategic focus, leverage and diversification, the potential loss of critical skills and knowledge, and appropriation of final product value. The outsourcing decision is presented as one that will vary between firms within an industry through the differences in each organization’s context. A model is developed, structuring the contextual factors: capability, cost, technology, supply and product market conditions, to enable a consideration of the outsourcing decision through a focus upon its implications for competitive advantage.

Brand credibility in cause‐related marketing: the moderating role of consumer values
Tập 18 Số 6 - Trang 437-447 - 2009
Enrique Bigné‐Alcañiz, Rafael Currás‐Pérez, Isabel Sánchez‐García
Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the moderating effect of consumer altruistic values upon two drivers of brand credibility in cause‐related marketing (CrM): cause‐brand fit and consumer attribution of altruistic brand motivations.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a quantitative study. Data have been collected through personal interviews at households using the random route sampling technique. The sample is formed by consumers of insurance and personal hygiene products, using different brand‐social cause combinations. Data have been analysed through structural equation modelling and multigroup analysis to test the moderation hypotheses.

Findings

Findings show that altruistic consumers use mainly altruistic attribution to form their judgement on brand credibility in CrM messages, whereas non altruistic consumers base their assessment on cause‐brand fit.

Research limitations/implications

Real brands have been used in the empirical study and thus further research should replicate the study with fictional brands in order to avoid the effect of consumer prior information.

Practical implications

The findings have relevant implications for CrM campaign managers in helping them to understand how to increase brand credibility in CrM messages. They should emphasize altruistic motivations if their target comprises more altruists or brand‐cause fit if non‐altruists outweigh.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature by making explicit the moderating role of altruistic values on two antecedents of brand credibility (cause‐brand fit and altruistic attributions) in a CrM campaign.

Corporate governance, ownership structure, cash holdings, and firm value on the Ghana Stock Exchange
Tập 10 Số 5 - Trang 488-499 - 2009
Zangina Isshaq, Godfred A. Bokpin, Joseph Mensah Onumah
Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction between corporate governance, ownership structure, cash holdings, and firm value on the Ghana Stock Exchange.

Design/methodology/approach

A multiple regression approach using the seemingly unrelated regression to mitigate the problems of multicollinearity between the cash‐holding variable and other control variables is adopted.

Findings

Board size is found to be positively and statistically significantly related to share price among the corporate governance variables. However, a significant relationship between inside ownership and share price is not found. The results also indicate that additional units of cash holdings do not have a statistically significant influence on share price. Finally, leverage and income volatility are found to be significant determinants of share price.

Originality/value

This is the first of its kind in the country that considers the impact of corporate governance, ownership structure, and firm value on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).

Procurement for sustainable local economic development
Tập 25 Số 2 - Trang 133-153 - 2012
Laurie Kaye Nijaki, Gabriela Worrel
Purpose

The paper seeks to demonstrate how local entities, such as cities and counties, can use environmentally preferable purchasing plans as a tool in developing the local green economy. First, the authors focus specifically on either the rise of economic development programs through buy‐local efforts, or the focus on environmental sustainability through green procurement programs. Second, the authors discuss how locally driven, environmentally preferable purchasing could be used as a strategy to marry these goals together and utilize procurement as a tool to achieve green local economic development.

Design/methodology/approach

This research used qualitative methods to examine both procurement for economic development through the use of buy local campaigns, in addition to environmentally preferable procurement policies that have been used to bolster environmental quality in communities.

Findings

Green local economic development can be achieved by melding together procurement programs previously singularly focused on either economic development aims, or environmental preservation. It is found that procurement can be used as a viable tool in fostering both economic and environmental goals, and as a key policy and planning tool for sub‐national governments in the pursuit of a green economy.

Originality/value

Given the increased attention of achieving sustainable development in communities, this paper seeks to re‐envision procurement as one crucial tool for municipalities and regional governments that seek to bolster green jobs in their communities. The paper seeks to develop a new framework for public procurement through this investigation.

How cloud computing enables process and business model innovation
Tập 40 Số 4 - Trang 27-35 - 2012
Saul J. Berman, Lynn Kesterson‐Townes, Anthony Marshall, Rohini Srivathsa
Purpose

Although cloud computing is widely recognized as a technology game changer because it offers anytime, anywhere services, its potential for driving business innovation remains virtually untapped. This article seeks to define that potential for generating new business models and disrupting industries.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors show how cloud technology has the power to fundamentally shift competitive landscapes by providing a new platform for creating and delivering business value.

Findings

IBM research suggests that organizations are just beginning to understand the power of cloud services to help drive business innovation.

Research limitations/implications

To track how organizations use cloud tech today and how they plan to employ its power in the future, IBM surveyed 572 business and technology executives across.

Practical implications

The survey found that companies worldwide are beginning to recognize cloud's capabilities to generate new business models and promote sustainable competitive advantage.

Originality/value

By assisting in developing new operating capabilities, cloud technology can help a company change its role within its industry or enter a different industry.

Knowledge elicitation techniques in a knowledge management context
Tập 16 Số 4 - Trang 523-537 - 2012
Tatiana Gavrilova, Tatiana Andreeva
Purpose

A significant part of knowledge and experience in an organization belongs not to the organization itself, but to the individuals it employs. Therefore, knowledge management (KM) tasks should include eliciting knowledge from knowledgeable individuals. The paper aims to argue that the current palette of methods proposed for this in KM discourse is limited by idealistic assumptions about the behavior of knowledge owners. This paper also aims to enrich the repertoire of methods that can be used in an organization to extract knowledge (both tacit and explicit) from its employees by bridging KM and knowledge engineering and its accomplishments in the knowledge elicitation field.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on extensive literature review and 20 years of experience of one of the authors in applying various knowledge elicitation techniques in multiple companies and contexts.

Findings

The paper proposes that the special agent (analyst) might be needed to elicit knowledge from individuals (experts) in order to allow further knowledge sharing and knowledge creation. Based on this idea, the paper proposes a new classification of the knowledge elicitation techniques that highlights the role of analyst in the knowledge elicitation process.

Practical implications

The paper contributes to managerial practice by describing a systemic variety of knowledge elicitation techniques with direct recommendations of their feasibility in the KM context.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to a wider use of knowledge engineering methodologies and technologies by KM researchers and practitioners in organizations.

Uncovering the relationships between aspirations and luxury brand preference
Tập 19 Số 5 - Trang 346-355 - 2010
Yann Truong, Rod McColl, Philip J. Kitchen
Purpose

This paper seeks to test the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations on luxury brand preference. The objective is to help luxury marketers better understand and anticipate the psychological needs of their customers.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a thorough review of the literature, a series of hypotheses are derived and tested using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The final sample consists of a total of 615 participants.

Findings

The main findings show that aspirations can affect luxury brand preference depending on the type of aspirations: positive for extrinsic aspirations and negative for intrinsic ones. The findings also suggest that intrinsic aspirations play a more substantial role in luxury consumer behavior than had been previously thought.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that luxury marketers should take into consideration the duality of intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations when designing marketing campaigns. Particularly, focusing advertising campaigns on extrinsic values seems restrictive and discards consumers who are intrinsically motivated.

Originality/value

Aspirations are important in social psychology research because they have a strong influence on individuals' behavior. However, little research has been done in marketing to assess the potential effects of aspirations on consumer behavior, especially within the context of luxury goods.