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1 – 10 of over 5000Paul Williams, Geoff Soutar, Nicholas Jeremy Ashill and Earl Naumann
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the drivers of customer value, and their respective relationships with customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions, between two…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the drivers of customer value, and their respective relationships with customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions, between two culturally distinct groups of adventure tourists.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a descriptive design and compared data from 301 Japanese and Western adventure tourists who experienced the same adventure tour. The respondents were split into two groups, and a path modeling approach was used to examine similarities and differences.
Findings
The results indicated that Japanese tourists attached more importance to emotional value and novelty value. Western tourists, however, attached relatively more importance to the utilitarian dimension of price value for money.
Practical implications
The main implication of this study is that tourism operators should account for differences in value perceptions between Japanese and Western tourists when planning tour operations, training tour guides, and managing tour itineraries. Operators should also consider customizing their tour products to fit the specific needs of these different cultural groups. This reinforces the adaptation argument when marketing tourism to international consumers.
Originality/value
This study highlights that different value drivers affect the satisfaction and behavioral intentions of Japanese tourists, relative to Western tourists. The need for adaptation of tourism products toward certain international tourists is thus necessary. The research also reinforces the importance of conceptualizing and measuring customer value as a multidimensional construct in an international adventure tourism context.
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Marianne Bradford, Julia B. Earp and Paul F. Williams
The purpose of this paper is to determine what types of sustainability activities companies are reporting and whether persons external to the companies understand how those…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine what types of sustainability activities companies are reporting and whether persons external to the companies understand how those reported activities correspond to the companies’ narratives about sustainability. That is to ascertain how people interpret the meaning of the activities included in the sustainability reports.
Design/methodology/approach
From a sample of sustainability reports prepared by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, the authors identified the distinct activities reported. The authors prepared a survey comprised of these activities and asked a sample of people knowledgeable about business and investing to evaluate each activity on the extent to which they are relevant to sustainability performance. The responses were then factor analyzed to identify the most important dimensions of sustainability these persons employed to relate the activities to sustainability.
Findings
The dimensions employed by the subjects differed in some significant ways from those dimensions used to construct the GRI format. Subjects evaluated sustainability efforts as primarily efforts of being a good citizen with sustainability an end in itself rather than as constraint to be respected in achieving profitability goals.
Research limitations/implications
The study is a first attempt so results are preliminary, i.e. suggestive but not definitive. Though preliminary an intriguing implication is that closure on a sustainability reporting structure would be premature. More effort needs to be devoted to provide more clarity on the concept of corporate sustainability and what its implications are for corporate behavior.
Practical implications
Given the results that sustainability be regarded as a corporate end, what is the role of the corporation in society seems still to be disputatious. Sustainability may not be something achievable without changes in corporate law.
Originality/value
The study is an early attempt to assess the potential alternative narratives about corporate sustainability. Its value lies in providing insights into the age-old question of what should be the role of the corporation in a free society.
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Margarietha de Villiers Scheepers, Paul Williams, Vikki Schaffer, Anthony Grace, Carl Walling, Jenna Campton, Karen Hands, Deborah Fisher, Hannah Banks, Jo Loth and Aurora Scheelings
In contrast to prior studies examining burnout in academic employees, this paper explores how academic employee agency mitigates burnout risks in the context of the coronavirus…
Abstract
Purpose
In contrast to prior studies examining burnout in academic employees, this paper explores how academic employee agency mitigates burnout risks in the context of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and how this agency facilitates research productivity and influences well-being in the face of changes in learning and teaching practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use collaborative auto-ethnography (CAE) in the higher education (HE) sector to probe how an employee productivity group supported the group's members during the pandemic.
Findings
Thematic analysis revealed four emerging themes: burnout, beneficial habits for research productivity, blocking-out-time and belonging. The authors' findings suggest that by acknowledging and legitimising employee-initiated groups, feelings of neglect can be combatted. Purposeful employee groups have the potential to create a therapeutic, safe space and, in addition to the groups' productivity intent, diminish the negative effects of a crisis on organisational effectiveness.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature by utilising a CAE approach to provide greater insight into how academics enact agency by creating digital research workspaces, attending to the spatial dimensions of well-being especially during turbulent times.
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Paul Jeremy Williams, M. Sajid Khan, Rania Semaan, Earl R. Naumann and Nicholas Jeremy Ashill
A key issue for B2B industrial firms is to better understand the drivers of customer value and contract renewal decisions, due to the long-term supplier-customer relationships…
Abstract
Purpose
A key issue for B2B industrial firms is to better understand the drivers of customer value and contract renewal decisions, due to the long-term supplier-customer relationships. When the B2B firm is operating across national boundaries, there is added complexity to the renewal decision, because the drivers are also influenced by cultural considerations. The purpose of this paper is to examine the main drivers of customer value creation and contract renewal intentions, for a large B2B firm operating in both the USA and Japan and compare the two data sets.
Design/methodology/approach
The company, which provided the data for the study, is a US Fortune 100 firm in the facilities management industry, operating worldwide. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire from a sample of the firm’s customers in two of its largest markets, the USA and Japan. The authors used PLS to analyze the data, and compare and contrast the drivers.
Findings
The findings highlight both similarities and differences across the two countries for the most influential drivers of customer value and contract renewal. Although no differences were found when examining the effect of relational drivers on contract renewal, differences were observed for utilitarian drivers: product quality and price.
Practical implications
The authors expected the relational drivers of contract renewal to be stronger in the high-context culture of Japan, but found that there were no differences with the US market. While relational drivers are important in the decision-making process in both countries, it seems that managers should focus more on price considerations in Japan. In contrast, product quality is relatively more important in the USA, when negotiating contract renewals with customers.
Originality/value
Noticeably absent from the B2B services literature is its application to international markets. In particular, research is lacking on the specific drivers of customer value and contract renewal intentions in the USA and Japan, despite the importance of long-term on-going contractual relationships in these markets. This study has provided additional insights into the complex world of contract renewal between international buyers and sellers of large industrial systems.
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Ben Johnson and Charles Oppenheim
The purpose of this paper is to report an investigation into the social and citation networks of three information scientists: David Nicholas, Peter Williams and Paul Huntington.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report an investigation into the social and citation networks of three information scientists: David Nicholas, Peter Williams and Paul Huntington.
Design/methodology/approach
Similarities between citation patterns and social closeness were identified and discussed. A total of 16 individuals in the citation network were identified and investigated using citation analysis, and a matrix formed of citations made between those in the network. Social connections between the 16 in the citation network were then investigated by means of a questionnaire, the results of which were merged into a separate matrix. These matrices were converted into visual social networks, using multidimensional scaling. A new deviance measure was devised for drawing comparisons between social and citation closeness in individual cases.
Findings
Nicholas, Williams and Huntington were found to have cited 527 authors in the period 2000‐2003, the 16 most cited becoming the subjects of further citation and social investigation. This comparison, along with the examination of visual representations indicates a positive correlation between social closeness and citation counts. Possible explanations for this correlation are discussed, and implications considered. Despite this correlation, the information scientists were found to cite widely outside their immediate social connections.
Originality/value
Social network analysis has not been often used in combination with citation analysis to explore inter‐relationships in research teams.
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Charles C. Manz and Henry P. Sims
This paper explores the ethical issues associated with using behavioral management techniques in organizations. First, criticisms of behavioral management are enumerated. Then, a…
Abstract
This paper explores the ethical issues associated with using behavioral management techniques in organizations. First, criticisms of behavioral management are enumerated. Then, a response is developed for each of the criticisms. A model is proposed which recommends an open/positive system of behavioral management in order to optimize both organizational effectiveness and individual freedom and dignity. Finally, an alternative to external control, employee self‐management, is proposed and explored as a further system of managerial control.
Paul Ponsaers, Joanna Shapland and Colin C. Williams
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the topic of the informal economy, exploring its definition from both economic and criminological standpoints. It seeks to consider…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the topic of the informal economy, exploring its definition from both economic and criminological standpoints. It seeks to consider possible linkages with organised crime and the conditions under which these may be facilitated, with reference to the papers in this double special issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The papers in this issue are deliberately from different methodological perspectives, in order to illustrate the need for multidisciplinarity to show both the extent of the informal and criminal economies and their links to geographical and social context.
Findings
As well as revealing the endemic nature of corruption in Ukrainian workplaces and the high levels of informal activity undertaken by workers the research found that many people wish for their workplace to become more regulated.
Research limitations/implications
The issue can only, for reasons of space, explore a number of facets of the informal economy. The nature of the informal economy depends upon place, time, social and ethnic context, and historical links and trade routes. The issue concentrates upon criminogenic potential, rather than the survival value of informal solutions or their place in cementing household and community economies and interactions.
Originality/value
The issue contains papers which reveal new theoretical insights on this rather unresearched and complex topic, as well as new empirical findings. It highlights the impact of internationalisation and globalisation.
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Nuan Fang Xu, Zi-Chen Deng, Yan Wang and Kai Zhang
The purpose of this paper is to study the dynamic vibrations of the tethered satellite system (TSS).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the dynamic vibrations of the tethered satellite system (TSS).
Design/methodology/approach
The energy principle and the variational approach are used to establish the dynamic equations of the TSS. By introducing new generalized coordinates, the equations are transformed into the Hamiltonian system. Then, the symplectic Runge-Kutta (SRK) method is used to solve the canonical equations.
Findings
The influence of the tether length on the dynamic behavior of the TSS is very important.
Originality/value
The dynamic responses of the TSS are obtained by using the SRK method.
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Paul Williams and Helen Sullivan
Learning and knowledge management (KM) are important though complex elements of multi‐organisational collaborations. Leadership is often considered to be critical in shaping the…
Abstract
Learning and knowledge management (KM) are important though complex elements of multi‐organisational collaborations. Leadership is often considered to be critical in shaping the outcomes of effective collaboration, but what particular form should this take to tackle the particular challenges faced by learning and KM? To what extent do any of the existing models and theories of leadership address learning and KM perspectives? What are the key issues that demand the attention of leaders and leadership processes? This paper draws on a substantial body of disparate and often unconnected literature to explore these complex and under‐researched questions of theoretical and practical enquiry in a public sector context. It concludes with an assessment of the main leadership challenges, the potential of different leadership approaches and some suggestions as to future areas of research.
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