Ian Barnes and Claire Randerson
Accession to the European Union is one of the most powerful foreign policy tools exercised within the European arena and enlargement negotiations have been a major stimulus to…
Abstract
Purpose
Accession to the European Union is one of the most powerful foreign policy tools exercised within the European arena and enlargement negotiations have been a major stimulus to reform in Central and Eastern Europe. Conditionality has evolved as over time into a dynamic instrument used to ensure that new members are sufficiently prepared to take on the responsibilities of EU membership, whilst also satisfying existing member states that new members will not prove too burdensome. This paper aims to examine some of the lessons learnt from the first stage of the Fifth Enlargement and the stricter use of conditionality mechanisms for Romania, Bulgaria and beyond.
Design/methodology/approach
The article is based on interviews with EU officials involved in the enlargement process.
Findings
The article finds that the use of conditionality in the 2004 enlargement has had a far from uniform effect on candidates and policy areas and that the commission has learnt much from this experience. The integration of Bulgaria and Romania will offer more significant challenges and conditionality has evolved as a mechanism to address these.
Originality/value
The article offersboth an empirical as well as theoretical evaluation of the use of conditionality in the context of the EU enlargement process.
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This paper aims to identify proactive supply risk management methods which can be used to reduce or remove risk sources during the supplier selection process, in the context of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify proactive supply risk management methods which can be used to reduce or remove risk sources during the supplier selection process, in the context of Western‐based manufacturing companies that source from emerging markets.
Design/methodology/approach
Learning from the literature and conducting multiple‐case study analyses of five Western‐based manufacturing companies' sourcing experiences from emerging markets.
Findings
The experiences of five Western‐based manufacturing companies suggested that applying the risk management process into supplier selection was particularly important and effective for supply risk reduction when sourcing from emerging markets. Supply risk sources must be identified and proactive supply risk management methods must be used to remove or reduce risk sources for effective supply risk management. The proactive risk management methods discovered in this research are: conducting a supplier questionnaire covering a wide range of business dimensions of the supplier; performing a technical review; negotiating a risk mitigation plan; employing local‐based procurement staff; using a total cost estimate; applying a strict part qualification process.
Research limitations/implications
A multiple‐case study methodology employs a limited number of case studies and therefore may restrict the generalisation of research findings. Manufacturing companies are used as case study organisations for this research. Therefore, the research findings are particularly applicable and useful to manufacturing companies but might not be valid for other types of company. The research focuses on supply risk reduction during the supplier selection process, while further research into other stages of the supply management process is desirable.
Practical implications
The generated proactive supply risk management methods are useful to manufacturing companies looking to source or aiming to improve their sourcing experiences from emerging markets.
Originality/value
The literature provides valuable contents in terms of concepts but lacks proactive supply risk management methods for supply risk management when sourcing from emerging markets. The generated proactive supply risk management methods based on first‐hand information are valuable both to academics and practitioners in this field.
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Nurdilek Dalziel, Fiona Harris and Angus Laing
The complexity of customer relationships has been recognized in the relationship marketing literature. Yet, the understanding of how this complexity impacts on the formation and…
Abstract
Purpose
The complexity of customer relationships has been recognized in the relationship marketing literature. Yet, the understanding of how this complexity impacts on the formation and development of different relationship forms is limited. Focusing on the development of customer‐service provider relationships in a financial services context, this paper aims to critically examine the nature and formation of business‐to‐consumer service relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative methods were employed, with in‐depth interviews undertaken with a sample of UK bank customers.
Findings
The complexity of customer relationships was documented by approaching relationships as multidimensional, dynamic and contextual. A relationship typology based on four key relationship components (trust, commitment, buyer‐seller bonds, and relationship benefits) is proposed. This typology suggests that for a relationship to exist it does not necessarily have to encompass an emotional dimension. Moreover, the paper demonstrates the importance of the fit between customers' relational expectations and their experiences with service providers in developing long‐term committed relationships.
Research limitations/implications
The study was limited to the UK context. The extension of this study to other sectors or financial institutions operating in different regulatory and technological environments needs to be tested.
Practical implications
It is crucial that relationships are viewed as multidimensional, taking into account various relationship components. Since different relationship components influence relationships differently, organisations need to develop different relationship marketing strategies for each consumer segment according to consumers' relational expectations.
Originality/value
Building on preceding research, this paper broadens understanding of the complexity of customer‐firm relationships by presenting insight into the affective element of relationships and highlighting the role of the fit between customers' relational expectations and their experiences in relationship development.
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It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields…
Abstract
It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields but who have a common interest in the means by which information may be collected and disseminated to the greatest advantage. Lists of its members have, therefore, a more than ordinary value since they present, in miniature, a cross‐section of institutions and individuals who share this special interest.
Sebastian J. Lowe, Lily George and Jennifer Deger
This chapter looks at what it means to set out to do anthropological research with tangata whenua (New Zealanders of Māori descent; literally, ‘people of the land’), from the…
Abstract
This chapter looks at what it means to set out to do anthropological research with tangata whenua (New Zealanders of Māori descent; literally, ‘people of the land’), from the particular perspective of a Pākehā (New Zealander of non-Māori descent – usually European) musical anthropologist with an interest in sound-made worlds. In late 2017, Lowe was awarded funding for a conjoint PhD scholarship in anthropology at James Cook University, Australia, and Aarhus University, Denmark. However, following advice from several colleagues in Aotearoa New Zealand, Lowe decided to assess the viability of the project with his prospective Māori and non-Māori collaborators prior to officially starting his PhD candidature. Throughout this process of pre-ethics (Barrett, 2016), Lowe met with both Māori and non-Māori to discuss the proposed PhD project; a ‘listening in’ to his own socio-historical positioning as a Pākehā anthropologist within contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand. This approach to anthropological research is in response to George (2017), who argues for a new politically and ethnically aware mode of anthropology that aims to (re)establish relationships of true meaning between anthropology and Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand.