Elena Barsky and Judit Bar‐Ilan
The purpose of the research was to create internet search instructions, to test their effectiveness and to track the search behavior of the first year MLS students
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the research was to create internet search instructions, to test their effectiveness and to track the search behavior of the first year MLS students
Design/methodology/approach
The students received two exercises with similar search tasks. No specific search guidelines were delivered to the students prior to the first exercise. Prior to the second exercise students received a lecture based on the internet search instructions developed by the authors. The results of the two searches were analyzed and compared.
Findings
As a result of the lecture students significantly improved the search results. There were a certain number of problematic search behavior patterns and obstacles uncovered, which proved to have a critical impact on the search results, such as: difficulties in acquiring new or alternative vocabulary during the search process, perception of the task as the ultimate source of keywords, and perception of commercial sources as unavailable.
Research limitations/implications
In order to understand the effect of the internet search instructions, the experiment has to be repeated with other groups of users. If the results consistently show that search behavior improves, the authors recommend systematic training of internet users.
Originality/value
The paper might be particularly interesting for information specialists and search instructors mostly because it reveals connection between the way the problem was stated and initial search strategy – a connection that to our knowledge has not been deeply explored yet.
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Elena Antonacopoulou and Jay Kandampully
This paper provides a critical examination of how service value can be enhanced and the subsequent transformation of that knowledge into an organisation‐wide learning process. In…
Abstract
This paper provides a critical examination of how service value can be enhanced and the subsequent transformation of that knowledge into an organisation‐wide learning process. In particular, it concentrates on the role of people in creating and adding value to services by highlighting some of the contextual factors which may potentially facilitate the value‐adding dimensions that personal input can bring to service delivery. Offers a new conceptualisation of quality service by promoting the notion of “alchemy”, and addresses the crucial role performed by people. Argues that service alchemy provides an opportunity for organisations to improve, attain and maintain excellence.
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Elena Laurenza, Michele Quintano, Francesco Schiavone and Demetris Vrontis
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the extant literature regarding the exploitation of digital technologies by illustrating how this type of IT can influence business…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the extant literature regarding the exploitation of digital technologies by illustrating how this type of IT can influence business process improvements in the healthcare industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reports an illustrative case study for MSD Italy, the Italian subsidiary of the USA-based company Merck & Co., Inc. The group sells drugs for human use in Italy but is also active in the veterinary (MSD Animal Health) industry, with Vree Health, and in solutions and software-based services for the healthcare industry.
Findings
The results show that the adoption of digital technologies could improve the performance of main healthcare business processes, particularly those processes that can be simplified with the adoption of information technology. More specifically, digital technologies could increase efficiency and, at the same time, allow for the delivery of better quality and reduced response times, with many benefits for several stakeholders, such as national health systems, clinicians and patients.
Originality/value
Although some studies report the need for effective business processes for sustainable healthcare systems, there is a lack of literature regarding the specific implications of the adoption of such digital technologies for the business process management of healthcare firms. This paper attempts to fill in this gap.
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Cintia Analía Barrionuevo, Elena Espeitx Bernat and Irene Julia Velarde
The purpose of this paper is to examine the initiatives of value enhancement and the promotion of local agri-food products in Argentina and Spain to address some of their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the initiatives of value enhancement and the promotion of local agri-food products in Argentina and Spain to address some of their limitations and contradictions.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on processes of participatory action research, data and knowledge were produced dialectically with the actors, linking the research process to rural development processes.
Findings
Value enhancement and promotion of local agri-food products is a complex system where values, preferences and availability of resources converge, allowing to consume products of higher quality, “heritage” products or products differentiated by the production mode. This consumption is not only aimed at tourists who are willing to pay something more for a “certified” local product, but also for the estrategic allies who appreciate the taste of the food of their territory: local consumers. These processes develop strategies such as the “fairs” of each product, or the classic “quality seals.” In the comparison between experiences of both countries, the controversies raise with the high prices of the products as a synonym of value enhancement instead of the right to quality food and the seeking of food sovereignty.
Originality/value
Problematizing the recovery and valorization of local products reveals the necessity, awareness and inclusion of consumers as actors in the innovation processes and not simply as buyers of luxury products. The originality is also based on specific intervention experiences with territorial actors (social, economic, scientific and political) that shape new forms of intervention, based on strategies that link patrimonialization, knowledge systems and territorial development.
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Elena Svetieva and Paulo N. Lopes
Purpose: The purpose of the present study is to review and specifically examine the untested but common recommendation that leaders should give more effective positive feedback…
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of the present study is to review and specifically examine the untested but common recommendation that leaders should give more effective positive feedback that is specific and mindful of nonverbal delivery. Study Design/Methodology/Approach: We used a dyadic interaction study where designated “leaders” interact with a “subordinate” in an idea generation and evaluation task. Leaders (n = 90) first received brief training in delivering positive feedback, and their subsequent feedback behavior during the dyadic interaction was coded for frequency, specificity, and both verbal and nonverbal affective delivery. Key dependent variables were subordinate affective reactions, perceptions of the leader, and subsequent task motivation. Findings: Frequency of leader positive feedback had significant positive impact on subordinate perceptions of the leader, but no impact on subordinate positive affect or task motivation. Positive feedback specificity and affective delivery, however, had no impact on subordinate affect, perceptions of the leader, or task motivation. Training effects were also observed – leaders were able to increase the specificity of their feedback, but were not able to modulate their affective delivery. Originality/Value: The design of the study allowed us to identify the leader positive feedback behaviors that were trainable and had the most impact on subordinates in terms of positive affect, perceptions of the leader, and subsequent task effort. We discuss the implications of these effects for positive feedback theory and application and commonly assumed “best practices.”
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Daria Lupsa, Loreni Baciu and Delia Virga
This study is based on job demands-resources model and the conservation of resources theory explores the roleof psychological capital (PsyCap), as a personal resource, and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study is based on job demands-resources model and the conservation of resources theory explores the roleof psychological capital (PsyCap), as a personal resource, and organizational justice (distributive and procedural), as a contextual resource, in enhancing health through work engagement. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 193 Romanian social workers (87.60 percent women) from the national network was used to test two structural models.
Findings
Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that work engagement partially mediates the relationship between PsyCap and health, and work engagement totally mediates the relationship between organizational justice and health.
Research limitations/implications
The results emphasize the role of resources, PsyCap and organizational justice, in protecting the social workers’ health.
Practical implications
These findings support the necessity of combined evidence-based programs to develop social worker’s PsyCap and to maintain the optimum level of perceived organizational justice. These intervention programs can, in turn, enhance the work engagement and protect the health of employees in the workplace.
Originality/value
This study indicates a novel conceptual model that has two simultaneous predictors of work engagement and health. It provides insights into how contextual resources (organizational justice) potentiate the effect of personal resources (PsyCap) in enhancing health.