The purpose of this paper is to explore the managerial and leadership challenges faced when managing personnel in the retained duty system (RDS) within English fire and rescue…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the managerial and leadership challenges faced when managing personnel in the retained duty system (RDS) within English fire and rescue services. It examines the key areas of motivation, commitment, culture, relationships and practical management arrangements.
Design/methodology/approach
This exploratory research, using primary and secondary sources, adopted a deductive approach, incorporating questionnaires, interviews, focus groups and document analysis.
Findings
The research identified issues agreed upon by both employees and managers, and as well as areas of disparity and conflict. It also highlighted matters that appear to be pivotal to the successful management of a RDS, and in particular the importance of how roles are deployed, and managed by senior management, as well as how employees perceive them.
Practical implications
This paper offers recommendations regarding the managerial understanding and appreciation of an RDS as some managers in this research appear to have little or no knowledge of (or indeed a misconception of) key issues in the effective management of the RDS It suggests recommendations for the wider support and engagement of RDS personnel.
Originality/value
This paper offers a contemporary assessment of the challenges faced when managing RDS personnel. While firefighters and whole-time unionised firefighters in particular, have attracted interest from scholars of industrial relations, there has been relatively little academic research from a public management perspective.
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Damien Wilson, Maxwell Winchester and Michael S. Visser
This study aims to understand the degree of predictability and value in analyzing consumer purchase patterns in the US wine retail market. The study considers whether brands in US…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand the degree of predictability and value in analyzing consumer purchase patterns in the US wine retail market. The study considers whether brands in US wine retailing follow the well-established Duplication of Purchase Law and Double Jeopardy Law.
Design/methodology/approach
Over 20,000 customer panel wine purchases were analyzed from a number of locations within a supermarket chain based on the West Coast of the USA. Cross-purchasing behavior for the top 20 wine brands by market penetration was analyzed to assess whether the well-established Duplication of Purchase Law and Double Jeopardy Law hold up in this wine retail setting in the USA. The degree of predictability and the existence of anomalies in expected cross-purchasing behavior were identified in the analysis.
Findings
Results confirmed a Double Jeopardy pattern and that wine cross-purchasing patterns for the most part followed the Duplication of Purchase Law. However, exceptions to these patterns were found, which indicated areas in need of managerial attention due to the potential to remedy, develop or monitor the most prominent variations between predicted and realized cross-purchasing behavior. Repeated identification of variations has been identified in other product categories, known as market partitions.
Originality/value
Although it is commonly believed that wine is a unique product category, the results of this study demonstrate that consumer behavior toward wine is similar to other fast-moving consumer goods. The exceptions suggest that while similar consumer purchase patterns are evident, consumers are more likely to cross purchase wine brands and grape types more than would be expected given Duplication of Purchase Law benchmarks.
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The article reviews the Lagos Plan of Action (LPA) towards economicdevelopment in Africa by the year 2000 and examines the level ofpreparedness in African countries to implement…
Abstract
The article reviews the Lagos Plan of Action (LPA) towards economic development in Africa by the year 2000 and examines the level of preparedness in African countries to implement the Plan. Nigeria is used as a case study. The Lagos Plan of Action approved a strategy to de‐emphasise external links with the West and East. This calls for the development and full utilisation of Africa′s basic human resource and African‐driven technology. The article examines the internal resources and structure in Nigeria such as education, management, finance, work ethics – the building blocks upon which the success of the delinking depends.
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Yun Shen, Francis Agyekum, Krishna Reddy and Damien Wallace
This paper provides a systematic review of literature pertaining to the welfare impact of financial inclusion. We identify the 50 most influential publications in the field that…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper provides a systematic review of literature pertaining to the welfare impact of financial inclusion. We identify the 50 most influential publications in the field that have evolved into three distinct categories, each of which we critically review to identify the main contributions of this research area.
Design/methodology/approach
By conducting a state-of-the-art literature review, this paper identifies the most influential papers in the research fields on the welfare impact of financial inclusion. One caveat is that as newer publications generally have fewer citations, reviewing prior work can result in a misleading account of emerging trends and research directions. Manual assessment of publications after 2018 facilitates a discussion of important emerging research trends and their directions.
Findings
The three key research streams are identified as financial services and financial accessibility, financial capability, and financial literacy and household welfare. By assessing publications from 2018 to 2023, we also document four key emerging research trends: Fintech and digital financial inclusion, sustainability and climate change, growth, poverty, income inequality, financial stability, and Entrepreneurship. Drawing on these emerging trends, we highlight the opportunities for future research.
Research limitations/implications
Keyword searches have limitations as some papers might be overlooked if they do not match the specific search criteria, despite their relation and significance to the overall topic of the welfare impact of financial inclusion. To address this issue, we have expanded this review by incorporating more literature from other databases, such as the Scopus database which may alleviate this issue.
Practical implications
The three key research streams contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the welfare impact of financial inclusion. The emerging trends integrate existing knowledge and leave the chance for innovative research to expand the research frontier.
Originality/value
This paper fulfils the systematic literature review streams in the welfare impact of financial inclusion and provides fruitful opportunities for future research.
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Andrea Insch, Damien Mather and John Knight
The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumer willingness to pay a premium for domestically manufactured products in the context of a buy-national campaign and the role of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumer willingness to pay a premium for domestically manufactured products in the context of a buy-national campaign and the role of congruity in determining that willingness.
Design/methodology/approach
A market-stall-like context was used to conduct a stated-preference choice modelling experiment in six major cities in Australia and New Zealand. Participants were asked to choose one of three country-source alternatives for each of three product categories on display (muesli bars, toilet paper and a merino wool garment) with and without “Buy Australian Made” or “Buy New Zealand Made” stickers. A total sample of 2,160 consumers participated.
Findings
Strong evidence for the existence of buy-made-in effects for the muesli bar and toilet paper categories was found at the 95 per cent confidence level. Domestically made toilet paper attracted a premium in Australia (10 per cent) but a discount in New Zealand (5 per cent). Consumers in both countries indicated their willingness to pay a 14 per cent premium for domestically made muesli bars.
Research limitations/implications
This research design, which aimed to achieve a high level of ecological validity, precluded direct quantitative measurement of product category-COO schema congruency in the same experiment, either before or after the choice experiments. Future studies in other countries and product categories would benefit from surveying a separate sample of the same populations to directly estimate cross-population differences in COO “extreme affect” and product-COO congruence to strengthen the untangling of possibly confounding effects.
Practical implications
Brand managers, retail sector organisations and governments may need to reconsider the rationale for participating in buy-national campaigns, given the lack of generalisability of buy-made-in price premiums.
Originality/value
This paper is a rare example of an experiment to test whether consumers are willing to pay a premium for domestically made products in the context of a buy-national campaign.
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Laurent Tournois and Damien Forterre
Franchising has become an increasingly popular overseas expansion strategy for companies in various industries. A successful development in a transition economy such as Serbia has…
Abstract
Purpose
Franchising has become an increasingly popular overseas expansion strategy for companies in various industries. A successful development in a transition economy such as Serbia has been exclusively associated with McDonald’s, which raises concerns about the ability of other international franchises to penetrate the Serbian market. The purpose of this paper is to explore the customer-based constraints that may hamper the spread of franchising in a post-communist country. Specifically, factors such as country-of-origin (COO) effects, longevity and brand localness/globalness that may affect consumers’ preferences are considered.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses mixed methods, that is to say a combination of qualitative and semi-quantitative approaches. Primary data were collected using (45) semi-structured interviews with local customers. The (success) story of McDonald’s in Serbia serves as the reference point.
Findings
The findings suggest that COO and localness are both relevant in explaining consumer preferences. Longevity signals the ability to adhere to international standards as well as regular local engagement. The results also stress that, contrary to widespread belief, global franchise names do not have an advantage over local players.
Research limitations/implications
Further investigation is needed to empirically examine the relationships between several key variables identified in the present study (longevity, COO, tradition, patriotism, trust, emotional attachment, perceived quality, authenticity, satisfaction, behavioral intentions). These may influence franchise system penetration and, ultimately, its performance.
Practical implications
Although post-communist countries have become highly appealing for international fast-food and coffee-shop chains, these countries are hard-to-please environments for setting-up and operating a franchise business. These findings advocate franchises to find the right balance between their global name and a quick integration of indigenous attributes to compensate for their late entry. Franchise marketing managers must develop a brand narrative that includes both local brand associations and global/international standards to increase franchise brand awareness and generate a positive consumer attitude.
Originality/value
Despite the call for more studies on franchising in emerging markets and their realities, not much attention has been paid to (local) customer-related constraints. The inclusion of a temporal perspective appeared to be highly relevant in investigating the potential effect of longevity on the local development of the franchise system. Moreover, there is a scarcity of scholarly branding research in the franchising sector. Local competition, although a neglected dimension in prior studies, has been examined through consumer preferences toward global and local brands. The chosen research methodology responds to the recent call of scholars for more diverse approaches. Finally, as a post-communist, transition and emerging economy, Serbia serves as a stimulating and yet uncovered research setting, given its tumultuous history with Western countries, as well as the long successful history of the McDonald’s franchise.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate three patterns of stories employed by organisational actors to make sense of organisational change: stories of “the good old days”;…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate three patterns of stories employed by organisational actors to make sense of organisational change: stories of “the good old days”; stories of deception, taboo and silence; and stories of influence. Each pattern reflects one way in which organisational actors make sense of change and in which they use their stories for different purposes. This argument is illustrated by short evocative stories from the original data.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper derives from qualitative and inductive cross‐national research into organisational change and learning. Three manufacturing firms, one each from the UK, South Africa and Russia, were studied to investigate sensemaking under conditions of change. Data were collected through narrative interviews and interpreted using an inductive approach borrowing elements from grounded theory and analytic induction.
Findings
Personal accounts of experiences with organisational change (change stories) have a dual purpose. On the one hand, they are powerful sensemaking devices with which organisational actors make organisational change meaningful. On the other hand, they contest official change stories, reflecting the complex dynamics of organisational change in patterns of stories. The conclusion is that the experiences and agendas of different organisational actors shape the interests and actions of people in organisations, with decisive implications for patterns of organisational change.
Research limitations/implications
Organisational change as a multi‐story process needs to be investigated through further qualitative and contextual research to provide richer insights into the dynamics of storytelling and sensemaking under conditions of organisational change.
Originality/value
Cross‐national study that builds on case and cross‐case analysis of autobiographical stories of experiences with organisational change.