The facilities management profession has emerged in the latter half of this century in parallel with the technological revolution. A need to establish career and development…
Abstract
The facilities management profession has emerged in the latter half of this century in parallel with the technological revolution. A need to establish career and development frameworks that will support this growth has also emerged. This article reflects on the progress in meeting such support frameworks by examining other similar management disciplines and looks specifically at the use of competencies as a development tool. The results of research are published as a guide to aid the development of programmes in this area.
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Jiju Antony, James Lancastle, Olivia McDermott, Shreeranga Bhat, Ratri Parida and Elizabeth A. Cudney
The purpose of this paper is to conduct an empirical study derived from the previous literature from the perspective of benefits, tools and techniques, continuous improvement (CI…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conduct an empirical study derived from the previous literature from the perspective of benefits, tools and techniques, continuous improvement (CI) and quality improvement (QI) methodologies and critical failure factors (CFFs) of Lean and Six Sigma (SS) in the national health service (NHS).
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review was carried out to identify previous findings, empirical data and critical variables concerning Lean and SS in healthcare for over ten years. Second, primary research in quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews was carried out with 110 participants who have experience using Lean and SS in the NHS.
Findings
Lean and SS have evolved into common practices within the NHS and now have an established list of tools and techniques frequently employed by staff. Lean and SS are considered robust CI methodologies capable of effectively delivering extensive benefits across many different categories. The NHS must overcome a sizable amount of highly important CFFs and divided organizational culture.
Originality/value
This paper has developed the most extensive empirical study ever produced on Lean and SS in the NHS and has expanded on previous works to create new and updated research. The findings produced in this paper will assist NHS medical directors and practitioners in obtaining up-to-date insight into Lean and SS status in the NHS. The paper will also guide the NHS to critically evaluate their current CI strategy to ensure long-term sustainability and deliver improved levels of service to patients.
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Wadu Mesthrige Jayantha and Eddie Chi‐man Hui
Residential crowding and underlying causes of crowding have been changing across the globe over time. The aim of this paper is to examine the dynamics of housing consumption and…
Abstract
Purpose
Residential crowding and underlying causes of crowding have been changing across the globe over time. The aim of this paper is to examine the dynamics of housing consumption and residential crowding in Hong Kong.
Design/methodology/approach
While the two‐step Engle‐Granger co‐integration approach based on an error correction model (ECM) is used to test for long‐run relation and short‐run dynamics of housing consumption, the study also uses a multivariate regression model to analyze the factors affecting residential crowding. Along with other variables in previous literature, the study introduces a new institutional factor, i.e. land supply, into the model that analyzes these two issues over a time span of 25 years.
Findings
The study's results suggest that many households in Hong Kong still have inadequate housing, and residential overcrowding is a serious issue. Coupled with market forces (e.g. income, housing price, household size), the new land supply factor noticeably has exerted significant influence on the two subject issues under investigation.
Practical implications
The paper provides policy implications that to address such deficiencies, the government should change its current land supply policy. A policy shift is recommended away from its “high‐land price” policy towards comprehensive developments in outer urban areas. This institutional change should help improve housing consumption in the territory overall.
Originality/value
This study adds knowledge to previous works in analyzing residential crowding and its underlying causes over the years, rather than in a particular point in time. It is also the first of its kind in Hong Kong.
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Mobility has wide‐range impacts on the financial management of property issues, such as consumption and investment. In the literature of residential mobility, household life cycle…
Abstract
Mobility has wide‐range impacts on the financial management of property issues, such as consumption and investment. In the literature of residential mobility, household life cycle is widely acknowledged as an important concept. An array of household demographic factors such as age has been repeatedly found to be significant in influencing mobility. Many previous researches offer few verifi able hypotheses or propositions and their results are conflicting. Some of them also suffer methodological inadequacies. This paper is an attempt to rectify this situation. There are two important contributions by the current research. One is a methodology that employs multivariate methods, which fills the gap of previous research. The second contribution is the large census dataset of Hong Kong which is rare in previous studies. The research is conducted under the framework of life cycle models with emphasis on economic and demographic variables of households. Demographic determinants are found to be more important in explaining population mobility among rental households while economic factors are more pertinent for owners. This may be explained by the different strategies adopted by renters and owners in satisfying their housing needs. Renters are envisaged to base their mobility decisions more on demographic factors. Owners, on the other hand, tend to view home buying as an investment as well and hence put more emphasis on economic factors. It is hoped that this research can shed more light on the topic of residential mobility by drawing on the experience of a large population residing in a small place, Hong Kong
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Machine tools exports are exceptionally buoyant, but the home sales graph continues to sink. This gives a headache to one of Britain's key industries that it will suffer from well…
Abstract
Machine tools exports are exceptionally buoyant, but the home sales graph continues to sink. This gives a headache to one of Britain's key industries that it will suffer from well into the seventies. Would a government aspirin help? Lesley Bernstein talks to the industry's top men. Pictures by Eric Lockrane and Eddie Ryle‐Hodges.
Nwamaka A. Anaza, Aniefre Eddie Inyang and Jose L. Saavedra
The purpose of this study is to explore salesperson empathy and the moderating impact of positive/negative affect on a salesperson’s listening and adaptive selling behaviors. It…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore salesperson empathy and the moderating impact of positive/negative affect on a salesperson’s listening and adaptive selling behaviors. It also seeks to identify whether and how empathy influences performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study’s hypothesis was analyzed using data collected from business-to-business salespeople working for a manufacturing firm. A partial least squares analysis was used to test the study’s proposed hypotheses.
Findings
The results of this study show that empathy and the moderating role of positive affect foster desirable sales behaviors (listening and adaptive selling behaviors) that subsequently enhance in-role (expected) and extra-role (discretionary) performance.
Originality/value
Contributions from the findings enhance the literature through its consideration of how the direct effect of empathy on sales behaviors (a salesperson’s listening and adapting selling behavior) is moderated by the salesperson’s positive and negative affect and how sales behaviors impact final sales outcomes (in-role and extra-role performance).
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Ken Yiu Kwan Fan, Patrick Lo, Kevin K.W. Ho, Stuart So, Dickson K.W. Chiu and Eddie H.T. Ko
This paper aims to study the information needs and online information-seeking behaviors on mobile platforms of performing arts students at a college level.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the information needs and online information-seeking behaviors on mobile platforms of performing arts students at a college level.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey instruments were used to collect data from performing arts students at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts (HKAPA), a metropolitan’s major performing arts tertiary institution. Data collected were analyzed through descriptive statistics and other statistical methods, and the music-related students were compared with the production-related students.
Findings
The result reveals that performing arts students all owned their mobile devices and often used mobile apps for non-academic purposes, but they did not often use mobile library services or read online academic contents with their mobile devices. The participants considered inadequate signal coverage, slow loading time, difficulty in reading on a mobile device and the lack of specialized mobile apps as more significant barriers affecting their usage. There are some significant differences between the music-related and production-related student groups in that music-related students watched lectures on the library websites and used electronic music scores more often than the production-related students.
Practical implications
This study contributes to the input for enhancements and policies to future mobile services and facilities of performing art libraries.
Originality/value
There have been scant studies on the mobile learning needs of performing arts students, especially in Asia.
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This paper reports on the analysis of the principalship as portrayed in a sample of 48 films. The analysis reveals that, unlike the timid, obsequious pastor in the Western and the…
Abstract
This paper reports on the analysis of the principalship as portrayed in a sample of 48 films. The analysis reveals that, unlike the timid, obsequious pastor in the Western and the bullying marine sergeant in a war movie, for example, there is little that is stereotypic about the role of the school principal and the types of leadership practised; there is no single model of the “successful” (or, for that matter, “unsuccessful”) principal. Success, however defined, has been achieved by some but it has eluded others. Admittedly, one can readily identify common themes associated with the principalship, for example, the vesting of authority, the exercise of power, relationships with teachers, students and community, and so on. And yet, against this common backdrop, countless scenes have been enacted in which the role of the principal has been one of great variation. Portrayals of roles are, of course, the outcome of the interaction of author, scriptwriter, actor, director ‐ to name but some of those involved in the production of a film. Nevertheless, they provide at times quite extraordinary insights into others’ perceptions of both the role and the exercise of leadership in schools and school communities. For those involved in programs designed to prepare educationists for the principalship, considerable satisfaction is to be found in the variety of representations of this office that are displayed per medium of film. Films provide a legitimate basis on which to analyse leadership behaviour and from which a greater sensitivity to the role may be developed.
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Cong Liang, Eddie Chi Man Hui and Tsz Leung Yip
This paper aims to explore one question: to what extent does urban rehabilitation impact the housing search cost of the low-income tenants.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore one question: to what extent does urban rehabilitation impact the housing search cost of the low-income tenants.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts the fixed effects time-on-market (TOM) model and pricing model to study the research question.
Findings
Urban rehabilitation lifts the subdivided units (SDUs’) prices by around 7%. For the SDU located in old districts, urban rehabilitation gives rise to the rental price up by 11%–12%. The SDUs in the area without urban rehabilitation experience a short marketing period of 16%–17%. The SDU located in the old district that is without urban rehabilitation would have a short marketing time.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the pioneering research to investigate the relationship between rehabilitation and low-income rental housing from the improved search theory. The improved search theory posits that under the circumstance of urban rehabilitation, low-income tenants’ options are limited and the search behavior will be restricted in the affordable areas, and then TOM will be shortened. With the concentration of SDUs in Hong Kong, the test of the search theory is broken down into two hypotheses. (H1) Urban rehabilitation leads to low-income housing prices increase. (H2) Low-income housing located in areas without urban rehabilitation has a shorter TOM.
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Eddie W.L. Cheng and Danny C.K. Ho
Two attitudinal (training value and training motivation) and two organizational (opportunity to transfer and transfer reward) factors were proposed to affect the transfer of MBA…
Abstract
Two attitudinal (training value and training motivation) and two organizational (opportunity to transfer and transfer reward) factors were proposed to affect the transfer of MBA knowledge to the job and were tested using multiple regression analysis. The results indicated that only training value was significantly related to transfer outcome. In other words, the greater the perception of training value, the more would be the training applications. Other factors were shown to have little impact. It might be due to the fact that testing of the transfer of MBA knowledge required a longitudinal approach that should incorporate the identification of what MBA knowledge was to be transferred. Future studies were also suggested to include other individual, attitudinal, and environmental factors to study their effects on training transfer.