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1 – 10 of 22Bettina König, Christian Pfeiffer, Marcus Wieschhoff and Elena Karpova
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of wine closure types on the quality perception of wine consumers in a traditional wine market, combined with the willingness…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of wine closure types on the quality perception of wine consumers in a traditional wine market, combined with the willingness to pay for red and white wines in bottles closed with screw caps compared with that for wines in bottles with a cork closure.
Design/methodology/approach
An online experiment with 436 Austrian wine consumers was conducted in a two-by-two between-groups design. To assess the quality of Austrian red and white wine, quality indicators such as origin, grape variety, awards, the content of residual sugar, vintage, geographical indication, ageing potential, organic certification, vineyard designation and brand (producer) have been applied. Furthermore, different involvement levels as well as willingness to pay were taken into consideration.
Findings
Contrary to earlier findings, results confirm that Austrian consumers do not generally perceive wines (both red and white) in a screw cap bottle to be lower or different in quality from those in a cork-closed bottle. However, consumers expect red and white wines in bottles with a cork closure to be higher in price than wines in bottles with a screw cap. Among established quality indicators, the present analysis shows that price is the strongest cue for quality when it comes to wines and indicates that wines in bottles closed with corks and bearing a higher price tag are considered to be of higher quality.
Research limitations/implications
This research comes with limitations, such as the absence of sensory differences. Moreover, the research design is based exclusively on the description of wines and a limited set of quality indicators and does not involve the actual tasting of wines.
Practical implications
Outcomes suggest that in the strategic positioning of wines, the difference in wine consumers’ quality perceptions between wine bottles with screw caps and cork closures plays a smaller role than anticipated. Findings are relevant for practitioners, particularly in old-world wine markets where cork is still seen as the closure of choice for higher-quality wines.
Originality/value
The results of this survey contribute to understanding consumers of an established old-world wine market and their attitudes towards alternative bottle closure types such as screw caps. It adds new insights to the research stream of the quality perception of wines.
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Andrea Caputo, Mariya Kargina and Massimiliano Matteo Pellegrini
The purpose of this study is to map the intellectual structure of the research concerning conflict and conflict management in virtual teams (VT), to contribute to the further…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to map the intellectual structure of the research concerning conflict and conflict management in virtual teams (VT), to contribute to the further integration of knowledge among different streams of research and to develop an interpretative framework to stimulate future research.
Design/methodology/approach
A data set of 107 relevant papers on the topic was retrieved using the Web of Science Core Collection database covering a period ranging from 2001 to 2019. A comparative bibliometric analysis consisting of the integration of results from the citation, co-citation and bibliographic coupling was performed to identify the most influential papers. The systematic literature review complemented the bibliometric results by clustering the most influential papers.
Findings
The results revealed different intellectual structures across several types of analyses. Despite such differences, 41 papers resulted as the most impactful and provided evidence of the emergence of five thematic clusters: trust, performance, cultural diversity, knowledge management and team management.
Research limitations/implications
Based on the bibliometric analyses an interpretative research agenda has been developed that unveils the main future research avenues. The paper also offers important theoretical contributions by systematizing knowledge on conflict in identifying VTs. Managerial contributions in the form of the identification of best practices are also developed to guide conflict management in VTs.
Originality/value
The uniqueness of this paper is related to its effort in studying, mapping and systematizing the knowledge concerning the topic of handling conflicts in VTs. Considering the current contingencies, this research is particularly timely.
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Kristoffer Vandrup Sigsgaard, Julie Krogh Agergaard, Niels Henrik Mortensen, Kasper Barslund Hansen and Jingrui Ge
The study consists of a literature study and a case study. The need for a method via which to handle instruction complexity was identified in both studies. The proposed method was…
Abstract
Purpose
The study consists of a literature study and a case study. The need for a method via which to handle instruction complexity was identified in both studies. The proposed method was developed based on methods from the literature and experience from the case company.
Design/methodology/approach
The purpose of the study presented in this paper is to investigate how linking different maintenance domains in a modular maintenance instruction architecture can help reduce the complexity of maintenance instructions.
Findings
The proposed method combines knowledge from the operational and physical domains to reduce the number of instruction task variants. In a case study, the number of instruction task modules was reduced from 224 to 20, covering 83% of the maintenance performed on emergency shutdown valves.
Originality/value
The study showed that the other methods proposed within the body of maintenance literature mainly focus on the development of modular instructions, without the reduction of complexity and non-value-adding variation observed in the product architecture literature.
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Jingrui Ge, Kristoffer Vandrup Sigsgaard, Julie Krogh Agergaard, Niels Henrik Mortensen, Waqas Khalid and Kasper Barslund Hansen
This paper proposes a heuristic, data-driven approach to the rapid performance evaluation of periodic maintenance on complex production plants. Through grouping, maintenance…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper proposes a heuristic, data-driven approach to the rapid performance evaluation of periodic maintenance on complex production plants. Through grouping, maintenance interval (MI)-based evaluation and performance assessment, potential nonvalue-adding maintenance elements can be identified in the current maintenance structure. The framework reduces management complexity and supports the decision-making process for further maintenance improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
The evaluation framework follows a prescriptive research approach. The framework is structured in three steps, which are further illustrated in the case study. The case study utilizes real-life data to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed framework.
Findings
Through a case study conducted on 9,538 pieces of equipment from eight offshore oil and gas production platforms, the results show considerable potential for maintenance performance improvement, including up to a 23% reduction in periodic maintenance hours.
Research limitations/implications
The problem of performance evaluation under limited data availability has barely been addressed in the literature on the plant level. The proposed framework aims to provide a quantitative approach to reducing the structural complexity of the periodic maintenance evaluation process and can help maintenance professionals prioritize the focus on maintenance improvement among current strategies.
Originality/value
The proposed framework is especially suitable for initial performance assessment in systems with a complex structure, limited maintenance records and imperfect data, as it reduces management complexity and supports the decision-making process for further maintenance improvement. A similar application has not been identified in the literature.
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Shubhi Gupta, Govind Swaroop Pathak and Baidyanath Biswas
This paper aims to determine the impact of perceived virtuality on team dynamics and outcomes by adopting the Input-Mediators-Outcome (IMO) framework. Further, it also…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to determine the impact of perceived virtuality on team dynamics and outcomes by adopting the Input-Mediators-Outcome (IMO) framework. Further, it also investigates the mediating role of team processes and emergent states.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected survey data from 315 individuals working in virtual teams (VTs) in the information technology sector in India using both offline and online questionnaires. They performed the analysis using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The authors investigated two sets of hypotheses – both direct and indirect (or mediation interactions). Results show that psychological empowerment and conflict management are significant in managing VTs. Also, perceived virtuality impacts team outcomes, i.e. perceived team performance, team satisfaction and subjective well-being.
Research limitations/implications
The interplay between the behavioural team process (conflict management) and the emergent state (psychological empowerment) was examined. The study also helps broaden our understanding of the various psychological variables associated with teamwork in the context of VTs.
Practical implications
Findings from this study will aid in assessing the consequences of virtual teamwork at both individual and organisational levels, such as guiding the design and sustainability of VT arrangements, achieving higher productivity in VTs, and designing effective and interactive solutions in the virtual space.
Social implications
The study examined the interplay between behavioural team processes (such as conflict management) and emergent states (such as psychological empowerment). The study also theorises and empirically tests the relationships between perceived virtuality and team outcomes (i.e. both affective and effectiveness). It may serve as a guide to understanding team dynamics in VTs better.
Originality/value
This exploratory study attempts to enhance the current understanding of the research and practice of VTs within a developing economy.
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Ali Aslan Gümüsay, Mia Raynard, Oana Albu, Michael Etter and Thomas Roulet
Digital technologies, and the affordances they provide, can shape institutional processes in significant ways. In the last decade, social media and other digital platforms have…
Abstract
Digital technologies, and the affordances they provide, can shape institutional processes in significant ways. In the last decade, social media and other digital platforms have redefined civic engagement by enabling new ways of connecting, collaborating, and mobilizing. In this article, we examine how technological affordances can both enable and hinder institutional processes through visibilization – which we define as the enactment of technological features to foreground and give voice to particular perspectives and discourses while silencing others. We study such dynamics by examining #SchauHin, an activist campaign initiated in Germany to shine a spotlight on experiences of daily racism. Our findings show how actors and counter-actors differentially leveraged the technological features of two digital platforms to shape the campaign. Our study has implications for understanding the role of digital technologies in institutional processes as well as the interplay between affordances and visibility in efforts to deinstitutionalize discriminatory practices and institutions.
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Robert Cluley and William Green
Informed by social representation theory, the study aims to explore how marketing workers represent their activities on social media.
Abstract
Purpose
Informed by social representation theory, the study aims to explore how marketing workers represent their activities on social media.
Design/methodology/approach
A naturalistic data set of 17,553 messages posted on Twitter by advertising workers was collected. A sample of over 1,000 unique messages from this data set, incorporating all external links and images, was analysed inductively using structured thematic analysis.
Findings
Advertising workers represent marketing work as a series of fun yet constrained activities involving relationships with clients and colleagues. They engage in cognitive polyphasia by evaluating these productive differences in both a positive and negative light.
Research limitations/implications
The study marks a novel use of social representation theory and innovative social media analysis. Further research should explore these relations in greater depth by considering the networks that marketing workers create on social media and establish how, when and why marketing workers turn to social media in their everyday activities.
Practical implications
Marketing workers choose to represent aspects of their work to one another, using social media. Marketing managers should support such activities and consider social media as a way to understand the lives and experiences of marketing workers.
Originality/value
Marketing researchers have embraced digital media as a route to understanding consumers. This study demonstrates the value of analysing digital media to develop an understanding of marketing work. It sheds new light on the ways marketing workers create social relationships and enables marketing managers to understand and observe the social aspects of effective marketing.
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Ana Burcharth, Mette Præst Knudsen and Helle Alsted Søndergaard
The purpose of this paper is to examine how organisational activities that formally provide employees with work autonomy explain the performance of open innovation (OI).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how organisational activities that formally provide employees with work autonomy explain the performance of open innovation (OI).
Design/methodology/approach
The study reports the results of mediation analyses conducted on the basis of survey data from 307 firms.
Findings
The economic benefits of both inbound and outbound OI are fully captured only if firms provide employees with time, freedom and independence. The results show that employee autonomy fully mediates the relationship between openness and innovation sales, while the adoption of inbound OI is positively associated with the introduction of new products.
Practical implications
The opening of innovation induces managers to provide employees with discretion, as OI requires high levels of flexibility and experimentation.
Originality/value
The paper addresses theoretically and empirically the role of job design in the implementation of OI, while also distinguishing between the effects of inbound and outbound practices on innovation performance.
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Julie Krogh Agergaard, Kristoffer Vandrup Sigsgaard, Niels Henrik Mortensen, Jingrui Ge and Kasper Barslund Hansen
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of early-stage maintenance clustering. Few researchers have previously studied early-stage maintenance clustering…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of early-stage maintenance clustering. Few researchers have previously studied early-stage maintenance clustering. Experience from product and service development has shown that early stages are critical to the development process, as most decisions are made during these stages. Similarly, most maintenance decisions are made during the early stages of maintenance development. Developing maintenance for clustering is expected to increase the potential of clustering.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature study and three case studies using the same data set were performed. The case studies simulate three stages of maintenance development by clustering based on the changes available at each given stage.
Findings
The study indicates an increased impact of maintenance clustering when clustering already in the first maintenance development stage. By performing clustering during the identification phase, 4.6% of the planned work hours can be saved. When clustering is done in the planning phase, 2.7% of the planned work hours can be saved. When planning is done in the scheduling phase, 2.4% of the planned work hours can be saved. The major difference in potential from the identification to the scheduling phase came from avoiding duplicate, unnecessary and erroneous work.
Originality/value
The findings from this study indicate a need for more studies on early-stage maintenance clustering, as few others have studied this.
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