Ioanna Keramidou, Angelos Mimis, Aikaterini Fotinopoulou and Chrisanthos D. Tassis
This paper aims to identify the relationship between efficiency and profitability by using data from Greek meat processing companies over the period 1994‐2007.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify the relationship between efficiency and profitability by using data from Greek meat processing companies over the period 1994‐2007.
Design/methodology/approach
The relationship of efficiency and profitability is studied, by applying a new performance decomposition model. This method is capable of making valid and consistent inferences about the performance of a two‐stage production system, as well as the main sources of inefficiencies within a company.
Findings
A poor performance over the study period is observed in the sample companies. The low performance is mainly due to the low profitability. The results do not confirm the existence of a positive strong correlation between efficiency and profitability. The companies that have the capability of producing their products with the best practices are not always capable of generating the maximum profits.
Practical implications
The need for the improvement of performance has two aspects: first, it is a demand for the effective use of resources, and simultaneously, it is an urgent requirement for the generation of profits. According to the study findings, the long‐term survival of firms in our sample seems to require adopting mainly profitability‐enhancing strategies.
Originality/value
This paper provides one of the first evaluations of performance focusing on efficiency and profitability, by applying an innovative performance decomposition approach that has not yet been applied in Greek industries.
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Angelos Mimis and Thomas Georgiadis
The purpose of this paper is to examine the possibility of using non‐income indicators and the self‐organizing map (SOM) approach as an alternative analytical tool to map…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the possibility of using non‐income indicators and the self‐organizing map (SOM) approach as an alternative analytical tool to map countries' welfare status.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data from 27 countries of the East Asia‐Pacific region, a welfare analysis based on non‐income indicators is implemented. The set of the selected indicators employed includes measures of social indicators as well as indicators related to the overall development framework. The empirical approach of the present paper can be described as a two‐stage procedure. In the first stage, the standard incremental SOM algorithm has been used and the two‐dimensional map produced in a hexagonal grid is presented together with the weight maps. In the second stage, the k‐means methodology has been used to cluster the prototypes produced by the SOM.
Findings
The classification produced by the two‐stage approach of the empirical analysis is compared with the baseline World Bank's income categories (based on Gross National Income per capita) offering an opportunity to assess the usefulness of non‐parametric approaches that are based on non‐income indicators vis‐à‐vis World Bank's approach in analysing welfare outcomes. The emerging picture of the empirical analysis supports the potential of the SOM as a useful and prolific analytical tool in mapping welfare outcomes.
Originality/value
This study proposes a methodology beyond the conventional ordinal rankings of the welfare of the countries based on non‐income indicators and the SOM.
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Various philosophers and thinkers have discussed the importance of thinking and philosophising about the concept of ‘place’. A necessary structure of human experience, place is…
Abstract
Various philosophers and thinkers have discussed the importance of thinking and philosophising about the concept of ‘place’. A necessary structure of human experience, place is vital to the very foundation of human experience. More than the geography or arrangement of places, place is a concept that moulds human experience and contributes to understanding oneself and the world. Place has also been used to explain political motivations and issues such as citizenship, diaspora and migration. Despite its importance, place has not been problematised enough and has been neglected in studies of intersectionality. For instance, the role and influence of place in a person's diversity wheel and the interlocking web of oppressive structures have been reduced to either racial, class or gender categories. As a result, current critical theories fall short in drawing up the effects of place on intersectionality. This chapter, therefore, proposes the need to develop a critical place theory. It highlights the role that place-aspects play in the oppression and marginalisation of individuals. Moreover, it also examines the relatively new concept of placism as an analytical framework that can be used to explain varying oppressive placial structures.
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Abstract
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The US feminist art movement of the 1970s is examined through selected works written by artists, critics, and historians during the 1990s. Books, exhibition catalogues…
Abstract
The US feminist art movement of the 1970s is examined through selected works written by artists, critics, and historians during the 1990s. Books, exhibition catalogues, dissertations, and articles place the movement within the broader contexts of art history and criticism, women’s history, and cultural studies. The art includes painting, drawing, collage, mixed‐media, graphics, installations, video, and performance. An increasing historical perspective allows scholars to examine the movement’s institutions and unresolved issues surrounding class, race, and sexual preference. Background is provided by an introductory essay, which summarizes the movement’s facets of protest, pedagogy, networks and professional associations, and art making while noting examples of publications and institutions that form part of the record of the movement. This article will be useful to librarians and scholars in art, women’s studies, history, sociology, and cultural studies.
Antonio-Rafael Ramos-Rodriguez, María Paula Lechuga Sancho and Salustiano Martínez-Fierro
Analyze patterns of co-authorship in hospitality and tourism (H&T) research using bibliometric methods. The purpose of this paper is to answer three questions related to…
Abstract
Purpose
Analyze patterns of co-authorship in hospitality and tourism (H&T) research using bibliometric methods. The purpose of this paper is to answer three questions related to collaborative practices, the number of authors, the order of signatures and the role of the corresponding author.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is based on the bibliometric techniques of authorship analyzes published in leading H&T journals. Evaluative techniques provide longitudinal evidence of the evolution of some indicators of authors’ collaboration: the percentage of alphabetized authorships; the percentage of articles were the most relevant author signs in the first, middle or last position; and the position of the corresponding author in the by-line.
Findings
First, the collaborative nature of H&T research is confirmed; almost 80% of articles in the sample are co-authored. Second, over the past 30 years, the alphabetized signature model has been in decline in this field. Today, about 20% of articles indexed in JCR journals are signed alphabetically. Third, the first author’s placement is less consistent than that of the corresponding author.
Practical implications
This work provides relevant information on researchers’ authorship habits that may help evaluators assign credit and accountability and avoid malpractice in the authorial assignment.
Originality/value
This study explores the habits of researchers who collaborate to improve their productivity, impact and reputation. This is often linked to facilitating access to research funding and obtaining recognition from incentive systems. Yet, no research specifically examines trends in signature order or the corresponding author’s role in the H&T field.
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The campaign for striker replacement legislation, which began in the late 1980s and had effectively ended by the mid-1990s, was the most important political battle over labor…
Abstract
The campaign for striker replacement legislation, which began in the late 1980s and had effectively ended by the mid-1990s, was the most important political battle over labor legislation since the defeat of the Labor Law Reform Bill in 1978. Striker replacement was the AFL-CIO’s top legislative priority in the early 1990s and, coming quickly after the passage of NAFTA, which labor had opposed, the defeat of its campaign solidified organized labor’s reputation for failure in legislative battles. As yet, however, the political campaign for striker replacement legislation has attracted surprisingly little attention from industrial relations scholars.