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1 – 10 of 884
Article
Publication date: 5 September 2009

Sarah DeDonder, Casey J. Jacob, Brae V. Surgeoner, Benjamin Chapman, Randall Phebus and Douglas A. Powell

The purpose of the present study was to observe the preparation practices of both adult and young consumers using frozen, uncooked, breaded chicken products, which were previously…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the present study was to observe the preparation practices of both adult and young consumers using frozen, uncooked, breaded chicken products, which were previously involved in outbreaks linked to consumer mishandling. The study also sought to observe behaviors of adolescents as home food preparers. Finally, the study aimed to compare food handler behaviors with those prescribed on product labels.

Design/methodology/approach

The study sought, through video observation and self‐report surveys, to determine if differences exist between consumers' intent and actual behavior.

Findings

A survey study of consumer reactions to safe food‐handling labels on raw meat and poultry products suggested that instructions for safe handling found on labels had only limited influence on consumer practices. The labels studied by these researchers were found on the packaging of chicken products examined in the current study alongside step‐by‐step cooking instructions. Observational techniques, as mentioned above, provide a different perception of consumer behaviors.

Originality/value

This paper finds areas that have not been studied in previous observational research and is an excellent addition to existing literature.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 111 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2010

Stacey Cahill, Katija Morley and Douglas A. Powell

The project explored the ways in which the topics of organic food and agriculture are discussed in representative North American media outlets in reference to food safety…

5375

Abstract

Purpose

The project explored the ways in which the topics of organic food and agriculture are discussed in representative North American media outlets in reference to food safety, environmental concerns, and human health.

Design/methodology/approach

Articles from five newspapers were collected and coded using the content analysis technique and analyzed for topic, tone, and theme.

Findings

For a six‐year time period, 618 articles on organic food and organic agriculture are analyzed and the prominent topics are found to be genetic engineering, pesticides, and organic farming. Articles with a neutral tone with respect to organic agriculture and food accounted for 41.4 percent of the articles, while positively toned articles garnered 36.9 percent. The themes human health, food safety, and environmental concerns were discussed with positive reference to organic food and agriculture in 81, 50, and 90 percent, respectively, of comments pulled from the articles.

Practical implications

Analysis of these articles over time, between media outlets and by topic allows for understanding of media reporting on the subject and provides insight into the way the public is influenced by news coverage of organic food and agriculture.

Originality/value

Research that analyzes media coverage for how it portrays the topic of organic food and organic agriculture with respect to health, food safety, and environmental concern, and concludes that articles about organic production in the selected time period are seldom negative.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 112 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 September 2004

300

Abstract

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 106 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Article
Publication date: 23 January 2023

Naomi Melville, Ruth Fairchild and Ellen W. Evans

Given the popularity of online video recipes, the purpose of this study was to explore the potential communication of food safety malpractices in YouTube video recipes.

Abstract

Purpose

Given the popularity of online video recipes, the purpose of this study was to explore the potential communication of food safety malpractices in YouTube video recipes.

Design/methodology/approach

Content analysis of purposively sampled, high-risk chicken salad video recipes (n = 38) using an observational checklist was undertaken. The checklist was based upon the requirements of the Partnership for Food Safety Education “Safe Recipe Style Guide”, which was annotated with visual and verbal communication of food safety practices being “best practice”, “inadequate” or “absent”.

Findings

None of the observed video recipes showed visual handwashing at the start of the recipe. Furthermore, there was a distinct lack of visual communication of handwashing during the video recipes.

Research limitations/implications

The lack of visual and verbal food safety communications within video recipes indicates a failure to adequately inform consumers of risks and safeguarding practices.

Originality/value

Previous research has focussed on communication of food safety practices in broadcasted television cookery programmes and published recipe books; this research extends consumer foods safety research to include resources commonly used by consumers to obtain meal inspiration. To date, this is the first study that has utilised the “Safe recipe style guide” as a tool to assess inclusion of food safety messages.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 125 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 October 2016

Ibrahim A. Elshaer and Marcjanna M. Augustyn

The purpose of this paper is to examine direct effects of quality management on competitive advantage within the context of the resource-based view of a firm.

9881

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine direct effects of quality management on competitive advantage within the context of the resource-based view of a firm.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data have been obtained from 288 general managers of luxury hotels in Egypt. The authors have used six dimensions and 22 indicators of quality management, two indicators of competitive advantage that manifest the hotel’s above average financial performance relative to competitors within the study sample, and a multi-group analysis in structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

The results indicate that quality management may be a source of competitive advantage. Top management leadership and supplier management differentiate hotels with above average financial performance from its competitors. The role of customer focus and employee management in generating competitive advantage is questionable while process management and quality data and reporting may not contribute to achieving competitive advantage.

Research limitations/implications

Only direct effects of quality management on competitive advantage are examined within the context of a luxury hotel industry in Egypt. Similar studies within other contexts and models that study indirect effects of quality management on competitive advantage with factors that might moderate these effects are needed. Future studies could compare effects of quality management on competitive advantage with effects of quality management on other business outcomes.

Practical implications

The results may inform management decision making concerning the development of capabilities that may generate competitive advantage.

Social implications

The current study contributes in providing further evidence that may contribute to enhancing the understanding and knowledge of the relationship between quality management and competitive advantage.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the debate on strategic value of quality management and resource-based sources of competitive advantage. Methodologically, this study shows an alternative approach to measuring competitive advantage and indicates that applying a multi-group analysis in SEM may contribute to producing original results.

Details

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 33 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-671X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 March 2018

Rafael Araújo Sousa Farias and Valmir Emil Hoffmann

The present study seeks to answer the following research question: what is the profile of the academic production related to the interorganizational networks in the period between…

2509

Abstract

Purpose

The present study seeks to answer the following research question: what is the profile of the academic production related to the interorganizational networks in the period between 2006 and 2016? Thus, this study aims to characterize the academic production about the subject interorganizational networks available in national journals with Concept “A” (Qualis Capes), in the period between 2006 and 2016.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses national journals with Concept “A” of the Qualis classification (2016) for journal selection. In total, 12 “A” concept journals were identified. However, it was decided to analyze ten of them. The procedures suggested by Crossan and Apaydin (2010) for conducting bibliometric studies were adopted. It has been identified that 77 articles were published in eight journals. The R 3.3.2 and R Studio 1.0.136 software were used. The IGRAPH 0.5.5-2 extension (package) was used to analyze graphs and co-authorship networks (Csárdi and Nepusz, 2006). This extension is able to manipulate networks with millions of vertices and edges and provides a series of functions to analyze the properties of social networks, such as subnetworks, intermediation, centrality, among other characteristics (Csárdi and Nepusz, 2006). Correspondence analysis (CA) was also performed. CA is a multivariate exploratory technique that converts a data matrix into a graphical representation, so that rows and columns are represented by points in a graph (Greenacre and Hastie, 1987). This extension is dedicated to the multivariate analysis of data and allows the manipulation of different types of variables (quantitative or categorical). In the present research, multiple CA (MCA) was applied – indicated when the elements are described as categorical variables (et al., 2008). The characteristics considered for carrying out MCA were the “main term”, “research approach”, “type of research”, “constructs” and “research strategies”. By using the FactoMineR 1.34 extension, the hierarchical clustering on principal components (HCPC) function was used (Husson et al., 2007; et al., 2008). This function allows creating clusters from the characteristics of the articles analyzed and highlights the justifications for the groupings created. The function allows forming as many clusters the researcher wishes, being of its attribution to analyze a division that best represents the characteristics of the data (Husson, Josse, and Pagès, 2010). Husson et al. (2010) suggest that an analysis should be performed from the hierarchical tree, thus the number of clusters can be defined considering the overall appearance (or shape) of the tree formed. At last, a word cloud was created using the Wordcloud 2.5 extension (Fellows, 2013). The noticed advantage of using this extension is that it does not separate the terms that form a keyword when generating the cloud. It has been used for the keywords of the 77 articles analyzed; however, it has been decided to keep those that presented frequency greater than or equal to two. By avoiding occasional terms, a more intelligible cloud was obtained.

Findings

The present study was not able to verify if the journals analyzed by Andrighi et al. (2011) have influenced others to publish on the subject, as suggested by the Bradford’s Law. The standard “success breeds success”, suggested by the Bradford’s Law, was not confirmed. The so-called nuclear zone (Brookes, 1969; Novaretti et al., 2015) is composed of the journals Brazilian Administration Review (BAR), Revista de Administração Contemporânea (RAC), Revista de Administração Pública (RAP) and Revista Brasileira de Gestão de Negócios (RBGN). The journal RAC stands out for having been the one that has increased its annual average of publication in relation to the theme, when compared with the findings of Andrighi et al. (2011). The journals BAR and RBGN stand out because they are in the nuclear zone, even though they were not considered in the work of Andrighi et al. (2011). It should be noted that all the analyzed journals have in common the fact of addressing the themes of management and administration and, more specifically, making room for the “competitiveness” and “cooperation” constructs. These constructs are related to the theme of networks and were the most recurrent in the articles analyzed. “Cooperation” (29), “competitiveness” (27), “knowledge” (12), “learning” (6) and “trust” (3) were the “constructs” used to compose the 77 articles analyzed. In turn, “network” (49), “alliance” (18) and “cluster” (9) were the “main term” most used in the articles. This implies that the topic of cooperation is more linked to a vision of strategy. As occurred in the research of Andrighi et al. (2011), the term “network” is the most recurrent; in addition, the growth of space obtained by the term “alliance” stands out. The terms “network” and “alliance” were the most used by the articles, being predominant in 87 per cent of the research. In the present research, the predominance of the term “network” may have occurred because its concept is broader and it is used in the literature in different ways, even in contradictory ways (Andrighi et al., 2011; Schommer, 2001). In turn, the term “alliance” may have been recurrent because it has a wide dispersion of published issues, such as governance structure, cooperation, knowledge transfer and trust (Lima and Campos Filho, 2009). By using the HCPC function of the FactoMineR extension, the articles were grouped according to their characteristics, and then three clusters were formed. By analyzing the generated results, it is assumed that the division into three clusters was the one that best represented the data. Cluster 1 is characterized by descriptive, quantitative, half documentary and half survey research studies, being “cluster” the main term. Cluster 2 is characterized by exploratory case studies with qualitative–quantitative analyzes. Cluster 3 is characterized by theoretical tests. The Zipf’s law points out that a small group of words occurs many times; however, when considering the most recurrent words Networks (9), Strategic Alliances (8), Cooperation (8), Interorganizational Networks (8) and Alliances (6) show that they were present in only about 10 per cent of the works. Lotka’s Law, which states that few authors publish much and many authors publish little, was not confirmed. The authors who presented the highest number of publications, T. Diana L. v. A. de Macedo-Soares (6); Jorge Renato Verschoore (6); Alsones Balestrin (5); Douglas Wegner (4); Humberto Elias Garcia Lopes (4), participated in less than 10 per cent of the works. Thus, the authorship was characterized by many researchers publishing few works, what can be an effect of the behavior of these authors, who prefer to publish in network. The centrality of the relations between the authors was analyzed and, in addition, the intermediation points of the network were identified. The present study also analyzed all the references used by the 77 articles that compose the study. The main author of each of the references used was identified. Among the 30 identified authors, Yin and Hair Jr. stand out for books related to fundamentals and research methodologies. Borgatti and Eisenhardt developed research on the topic of interorganizational networks and also created works for methodological foundations. Powell was the most frequently mentioned author (28) and had more different works referenced (9). Powell stands out for the production of articles published in periodicals, not books. Porter’s situation is the opposite. Most of the quotations made to the author come from his books, especially the work “Competitive strategy” (Porter, 1980). All authors identified are foreigners, with the exception of Balestrin. Marshall, Polanyi, Granovetter and Williamson are authors of works considered seminal, being them, respectively, “Principles of economics” (Marshall, 1890), “Personal knowledge: towards a post critical philosophy” (Polanyi, 1958) and “The strength of weak ties” (Granovetter, 1973) and “Markets and hierarchies, analysis and antitrust implications” (Williamson, 1975).

Research limitations/implications

Like all research, it has limitations. The first one derives from the selection criteria of the periodicals to be analyzed. The cut referring to the journals of greater impact excludes most of the national articles. These studies may contain important contributions to the knowledge of the national publication profile. In addition, the choice to analyze the journals disregards other types of work, such as books, scientific events, dissertations and thesis and reports. The choice of articles published in journals is based on the fact that these are a “certified knowledge”, as the studies are peer-reviewed, and in the case of the Qualis “A” stratum, a review of exogenous quality is supposed on this production. Despite its flaws, this system can be considered reliable to evaluate scientific knowledge (Bedeian, 2004; Shugan, 2007). The analysis of the most recent articles may have been hampered by a temporal issue. In addition, the choice of keywords, a necessary step, leaves out other studies. Another limitation refers to the fact that the articles have been analyzed and classified by the authors, which presupposes the use of their value judgments, at least to some extent. Other limitations refer to the bibliometric techniques employed. The main authors referenced in the studies were demonstrated, that is, those authors who have been used as a theoretical reference for studies of interorganizational networks. However, the circumstances under which these citations occurred were not analyzed. For example, an author may be quoted to use the contribution of his/her study, to be criticized or just to be another reference in the text. The lack of this analysis can be considered a fragility of the study.

Practical implications

This text was started talking about the dispersion of the studies on networks in the country. Previous work has been used, theoretically and empirically demonstrating this fact. Zipf’s Law applied to bibliometrics, as described by Guedes and Borschiver (2005), Novaretti et al. (2015) and Pao (1978), was not confirmed in this study, which seems to be an indicative fact that the research on this theme in Brazil presents fragmentation as an intrinsic characteristic. That is, it must remain fragmented, as this would be its own way to evolve. This is evident especially when comparing the study of Andrighi et al. (2011) and its results. With several but continuous temporal cut-outs, and the same keywords, the maintenance of this dispersion is evident. This is also a contribution of this study.

Social implications

The study contributed to updating the research profile, mainly after the triennium 2013-2015 of Qualis Capes’ evaluations. It also added to the mapping of recent Brazilian academic production related to interorganizational networks, completing studies by Alves et al. (2013), Andrighi et al. (2011), Balestrin et al. (2010), Cunha and Carrieri (2003) and Mascena et al. (2013). Thus, it is believed that the research reached the proposed objectives, despite its limitations.

Originality/value

The present research is also justified by helping to understand the subject being useful for researchers, educators and students, in general, in the task of demonstrating gaps and opportunities of future researches and collaborating with the elaboration of a research agenda (Baumgartner and Pieters, 2003). The work has updated bibliometrics on the subject and allows comparisons with previous bibliometric studies (Alves et al., 2013; Andrighi et al., 2011; Balestrin et al., 2010; Cunha and Carrieri, 2003; Ferreira et al., 2014; Lima and Campos Filho, 2009; Mascena et al., 2013). It is believed that the present study differs from the others because of the analysis performed, the way the data were treated, with techniques that are rarely used simultaneously, going beyond the descriptive statistics.

Details

Innovation & Management Review, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2515-8961

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 October 2021

Yi-Chun Huang and Chih-Ta Chen

Integrating economic and green initiatives into firm strategies is a challenge for firms in various industries. The study aims to incorporate multiple views, i.e. green innovation…

Abstract

Purpose

Integrating economic and green initiatives into firm strategies is a challenge for firms in various industries. The study aims to incorporate multiple views, i.e. green innovation theory (GIT), the green institutional perspective (GIP) and the natural-resource-based view (NRBV), to develop a comprehensive model to explore why and how firms implement green product innovation (GPI).

Design/methodology/approach

The study explores the relationships among institutional pressure, the firm's green resources and GPI. The research also distinguishes two different types of GPI: exploratory GPI and exploitative GPI. A total of 270 valid questionnaires were collected from electrical and electronics manufacturers in Taiwan. The authors employed structural equation modeling (SEM) using analysis of moment structures (AMOS) 23.0 to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results show that institutional pressure has a significant positive correlation with the firm's green resources. Furthermore, institutional pressure has a significantly positive influence on exploratory GPI and exploitative GPI, respectively. The firm's green resources also have a significantly positive effect on both exploratory GPI and exploitative GPI. In addition, institutional pressures have significantly positive indirect effect on both exploratory GPI and exploitative GPI.

Research limitations/implications

Economic benefits and environmental sustainability are the most pressing issues faced by the electrical and electronics industry today. The study's investigation covers Taiwanese electrical and electronics manufacturers only, so the test of the research model has limited generalizability. The authors suggest that to expand the generalizability of the findings, future research should examine this model in the context of other regions such as Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, etc.

Practical implications

The study has many interesting implications for both practitioners and policymakers. The authors' findings suggest that while Taiwanese electrical and electronics manufacturers face significant pressure from customers, competitors and regulation requirements (e.g. waste electrical and electronic equipment [WEEE], restriction of hazardous substances [RoHS] and energy using product [EuP] directives), firms in that sector should efficiently and effectively deploy their green resources and then perform proper GPI (e.g. exploratory GPI or exploitative GPI). These results also serve as a reminder to policymakers that balancing coercive (command-and-control) mechanisms with incentives and voluntary mechanisms is the best means by which to develop motivational and effective GPI policies.

Originality/value

First and foremost, the paper divides GPI into exploratory GPI and exploitative GPI. Furthermore, the research incorporates two important schools of thought, i.e. the GIP and NRBV, thus providing a more holistic view by which to explore why and how companies adopt GPI.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 26 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 January 2023

Martin Powell

This paper examines different perspectives on the broad umbrella term of organisational silence. It identifies ten perspectives on organisational silence from the previous…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines different perspectives on the broad umbrella term of organisational silence. It identifies ten perspectives on organisational silence from the previous literature on inquiries into failings of British National Health Service providers. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Using content analysis, it applies ten perspectives on organisational silence to the report of the inquiry into the Gosport Hospital.

Findings

There is some overlap between the perspectives in that they draw on the same authors, and stress similar issues. There is some evidence for most of the perspectives in the report, but some perspectives appear stronger than others. However, none of the perspectives seem to cover the full spectrum of behaviour and place differential emphasis on different processes. It is not clear whether all ten perspectives add independent analytical value. This suggests that some might be extended or combined with the umbrella term of organisational silence more fully opened.

Originality/value

This is the first study in healthcare to review perspectives on organisational silence and apply them to a case study.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 37 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 1997

John L. Campbell

Interest in developing institutional explanations of political and economic behavior has blossomed among social scientists since the early 1980s. Three intellectual perspectives…

Abstract

Interest in developing institutional explanations of political and economic behavior has blossomed among social scientists since the early 1980s. Three intellectual perspectives are now prevalent: rational choice theory, historical institutionalism and a new school of organizational analysis. This paper summarizes, compares and contrasts these views and suggests ways in which cross‐fertilization may be achieved. Particular attention is paid to how the insights of organizational analysis and historical institutionalism can be blended to provide fruitful avenues of research and theorizing, especially with regard to the production, adoption, and mobilization of ideas by decision makers.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 17 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Article
Publication date: 17 April 2009

Shaohan Cai

The main objective of this paper is to empirically investigate the linkage among organizational customer orientation, customer relationship practices, and organizational outcomes.

4311

Abstract

Purpose

The main objective of this paper is to empirically investigate the linkage among organizational customer orientation, customer relationship practices, and organizational outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The sampling frame of the study consists of 143,000 Chinese companies, each with revenue of more than 5 million RMB (Chinese currency). The target companies were randomly selected from 29 Chinese provinces using the stratified probability proportional to sizes (PPS) method. Structure equation modelling was utilized to analyze data.

Findings

It is found that organizational customer orientation affects customer relationship practices, which subsequently influence production performance and customer satisfaction. Production performance and customer satisfaction lead to financial performance.

Research limitations/implications

The study has some limitations that provide directions for future research. Data were only collected from China. Therefore, the research findings might reflect unique aspects of Chinese companies. Caution should be exercised when generalizing these research findings to other nations. The study also focused only on manufacturing firms' customer focus practices.

Practical implications

Companies need to promote customer orientation in their organization, in order to successfully implement customer relationship practices. Only when they effectively utilize the knowledge that they collect to improve production performance can they enhance customer satisfaction and their financial outcomes.

Originality/value

The paper maintains that customer focus practices should consist of two elements: organizational customer orientation and customer relationship practices. This offers new directions to researchers and practitioners for improving customer focus practices.

Details

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 26 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-671X

Keywords

1 – 10 of 884