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1 – 10 of over 7000This paper presents a systematic method for classifying research on international channels of distribution. It is used to examine 79 articles published during an 18‐year period…
Abstract
This paper presents a systematic method for classifying research on international channels of distribution. It is used to examine 79 articles published during an 18‐year period (1988‐2005). Based on content analysis, each article is classified by its primary research framework. Two frameworks are identified: (1) structural ‐ based on the economic and organizational aspects of international channels of distribution; and (2) behavioral ‐ based on the exchange relationship between channel members from different national environments. This simple organizing system offers a comprehensive way to analyze scholarship that has emerged in the field. For managers, it can bring the theoretical and practical developments together in an understandable fashion as they seek to interpret and apply research findings. For scholars, it may bring focus to an increasingly complex area of international business and guide future research efforts.
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P. Ingwersen, B. Larsen and E. Noyons
The paper investigates the advantages of graphical mapping of national research publication and citation profiles from scientific fields in order to provide additional information…
Abstract
The paper investigates the advantages of graphical mapping of national research publication and citation profiles from scientific fields in order to provide additional information with respect to research performance. By means of multi‐dimensional scaling techniques national social science profiles from seventeen OECD countries and two periods, 1989‐1993 and 1994‐1998, are mapped, each profile represented by a vector of either publication volumes or citation values for nine social science fields. Aside from demonstrating the developments of publication volumes and citedness ranges as well as patterns, the graphical maps display clusters and similarities of national profiles over time. Combined with international rankings of averaged national impact factors (NIF) relative to the average world impact of field (WIF) for the same number of fields and periods, the graphical display supplies additional otherwise concealed information of the differences in research patterns between countries – even when the NIFs are quite similar. The analyses show that low Pearson correlation coefficients can be applied to flag extraordinary instances of either high or low national citation impacts during a period. Most importantly, the graphical maps make a strong case for adjusting or tuning the baseline impact to the actual national publication profiles when comparing NIFs of different countries. A new indicator, the Tuned Citation Impact Index (TCII) is proposed. It is constructed from the amount of expected citations a country ought to have received in each research field aggregated over its true profile. Common baseline profiles, like those of the world or EU, are consequently not regarded as the ideal benchmark. In the case illustrated by the journal publications of the social sciences the paper verifies the hypothesis that a dominant central cluster exists consisting of the large Anglo‐American countries: USA, Canada and the UK. A further hypothesis, that the smaller northern EU countries with English as the second language are located together and close to the central cluster on the publication maps is only partly satisfied in the second period. A third hypothesis, that countries located near the central cluster on the citation maps may hold high(er) NIFs is falsified.
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Gregory I. Peterson, Mete Yurtoglu, Michael B Larsen, Stephen L. Craig, Mark A. Ganter, Duane W. Storti and Andrew J. Boydston
This paper aims to explore and demonstrate the ability to integrate entry-level additive manufacturing (AM) techniques with responsive polymers capable of mechanical to chemical…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore and demonstrate the ability to integrate entry-level additive manufacturing (AM) techniques with responsive polymers capable of mechanical to chemical energy transduction. This integration signifies the merger of AM and smart materials.
Design/methodology/approach
Custom filaments were synthesized comprising covalently incorporated spiropyran moieties. The mechanical activation and chemical response of the spiropyran-containing filaments were demonstrated in materials that were produced via fused filament fabrication techniques.
Findings
Custom filaments were successfully produced and printed with complete preservation of the mechanochemical reactivity of the spiropyran units. These smart materials were demonstrated in two key constructs: a center-cracked test specimen and a mechanochromic force sensor. The mechanochromic nature of the filament enables (semi)quantitative assessment of peak loads based on color change, without requiring any external analytical techniques.
Originality/value
This paper describes the first examples of three-dimensional-printed mechanophores, which may be of significant interest to the AM community. The ability to control the chemical response to external mechanical forces, in combination with AM to process the bulk materials, potentiates customizability at the molecular and macroscopic length scales.
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Hashem Aghazadeh, Hossein Maleki and Sajedeh Sadat Majidi
Jane S. VanHeuvelen and Tom VanHeuvelen
Improving the nutritious quality of diets for individuals and populations is a central goal of many public health advocates and intergovernmental organizations. Yet the outcome of…
Abstract
Purpose
Improving the nutritious quality of diets for individuals and populations is a central goal of many public health advocates and intergovernmental organizations. Yet the outcome of healthy eating has been shown to systematically vary across individual-level socioeconomic lines, and across countries in different locations of the food system. We therefore assess variation in the association between eating nutritionally dense fresh fruits and vegetables and both self-rated health (SRH) and body mass index (BMI) across individual income and country locations in the food system.
Methodology/approach
We use nationally representative survey data from 31 countries drawn from the International Social Survey Programme’s 2011 Health module. We estimate the effect of the frequency of eating fresh fruits and vegetables using random-intercept, random-coefficient multilevel mixed-effects regression models.
Findings
We confirm that eating nutritionally dense fresh fruits and vegetables frequently associates with more positive health outcomes. However, this general conclusion masks substantial individual- and country-level heterogeneity. For both SRH and BMI, the largest beneficial associations are concentrated among the most affluent individuals in the most affluent countries. Moving away from either reduces the positive association of healthy eating.
Social and practical implications
Our results provide an important wrinkle for policies aimed at changing the nutritional quality of diets. Adjustments to diets without taking into account fundamental causes of socioeconomic status will likely be met with attenuated results.
Originality/value
We compare two important health outcomes across a wide variety of types of countries. We demonstrate that our main conclusions are only detectable when employing a flexible multilevel methodological design.
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The purpose of this paper is to discover and describe salient repeating and less common features of the recent medical literature about youth violence as it relates to mental…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discover and describe salient repeating and less common features of the recent medical literature about youth violence as it relates to mental health. How the relationship between youth violence and mental health is commonly conceptualized, investigated, and reported is summarized. Negative cases, unique approaches, and concepts are discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
An Ovid Medline literature search was conducted with the search parameters of “adolescent and violence” and “psychiatry or psychology or mental health.” In total, 66 articles met inclusion criteria and were analyzed using grounded theory procedures and techniques.
Findings
In all, 49 articles were reports of original research, 14 were literature reviews, and three were editorials. The articles included discussions of youth violence and mental health among young people in 49 countries. Most original research used cross-sectional designs that tested and supported the core hypothesis that greater exposure to violence is associated with more mental health issues. The relationship is robust even though characterizations of “exposure to violence” and “mental health” were highly variable. Meta-analytic and intervention studies were rare.
Originality/value
The core feature of the last decade of medical research has been the repeated testing and confirmation that a relationship between exposure to violence and mental health exists. Future youth violence research should move beyond continuing to test this hypothesis with cross-sectional study designs.
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Ethical marketing has gained popularity in recent years due to the increasing participation in ethical consumerism. Today, consumers are more concerned with the impact of their…
Abstract
Ethical marketing has gained popularity in recent years due to the increasing participation in ethical consumerism. Today, consumers are more concerned with the impact of their purchases on society and the environment. Furthermore, the responsibility of implementing and pursuing ethical marketing falls on marketing firms and professionals.
This chapter's main case study focuses on the food industry, and mini case studies have been used to bring out the ethical misdeeds. The selection of the food industry as the choice case study is based on the fact that it is a global multi-billion industry with long-term health implications for consumers. However, some of the huge profits being reaped by the firms have been associated with unethical marketing practices which have had negative effects on the consumer. The firms that have utilised these unethical marketing practices have provided lessons that their counterparts can take a cue from as they engage in various marketing activities. This chapter has reviewed the scope of ethics in marketing, together with the various concepts and theories that are important in ethical marketing. This chapter further elaborates on the indistinctiness between ethical marketing guidelines and government regulations. Guidelines for achieving ethical marketing have been provided by the setting of ethical marketing standards and subscribing to ethical codes of conduct. Although government regulation is a good tool to ensure that marketing is conducted ethically, what may be defined as legal might not be outright ethical or moral from an individual's point of view. In summary, marketers have to strike a balance between using ethical marketing practices and making profit.
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Ida Okkonen, Tuomo Takala and Emma Bell
The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the reciprocal relations between the caregiving imparted by immigration centre managers and the role of the researcher in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the reciprocal relations between the caregiving imparted by immigration centre managers and the role of the researcher in responding to the care that is given by managerial caregivers. To enable this, we draw on a feminist theory of care ethics that considers individuals as relationally interdependent.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis draws on a semi-structured interview study involving 20 Finnish immigration reception centre managers.
Findings
Insight is generated by reflecting on moments of care that arise between research participants and the researcher in a study of immigration centre management. We emphasise the importance of mature care, receptivity and engrossment in building caring relationships with research participants by acknowledging the care they give to others. Our findings draw attention to the moral and epistemological responsibility to practice care in organizational research.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the relationality between practicing care in immigration centre management and doing qualitative organizational research, both of which rely on mature care, receptivity and engrossment in order to meet the other morally. We draw attention to the moral responsibility to care which characterises researcher–researched relationships and emphasise the importance of challenging methodological discourses that problematise or dismiss care in qualitative organizational research.
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Teik-Leong Chuah, Meenchee Hong and Behzad Foroughi
Infection and cross-contamination have been massive concerns in the medical field. This study aims to investigate consumers’ awareness and their choices of endoscopes, which may…
Abstract
Purpose
Infection and cross-contamination have been massive concerns in the medical field. This study aims to investigate consumers’ awareness and their choices of endoscopes, which may deter them from the cross-contamination problem.
Design/methodology/approach
A discrete choice experiment survey was administered to 166 respondents in Penang, Malaysia. Participants were asked to make hypothetical choices and estimate their preference for endoscopes. The multinomial logit model was used to estimate the assumptions based on the stated preference data collected.
Findings
Only two-fifths of respondents are aware of their rights regarding endoscope selection. The findings are consistent with utility theory, where choices are made to maximise personal satisfaction. If given the choice, consumers preferred the single-use endoscope over the reusable or the doctor’s preferred endoscope. Price, insurance coverage and personal income are significant determinants of the consumer’s choice of endoscopes.
Research limitations/implications
This study only investigates subjects living in Penang. Other possible important attributes to endoscope choices, such as environmental and device availability may be considered in future study.
Practical implications
The findings may create awareness among consumers about their rights when choosing medical devices. It may also improve health-care institutions’ (users’) and device manufacturers’ (industry players’) understanding of consumer needs and demands from socioeconomic perspectives.
Social implications
The research offers insights into consumer rights and awareness of health-care services. Ultimately leading to better policy to protect consumers’ rights and safety.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the rare literature on consumer rights toward medical devices, in particular, the consumer’s awareness of the choice of endoscopes.
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