Jan Koch and Carsten C. Schermuly
In times of market volatility and uncertainty, finding effective strategies to attract and retain individuals continues to be a challenge for organizations. Based on the…
Abstract
Purpose
In times of market volatility and uncertainty, finding effective strategies to attract and retain individuals continues to be a challenge for organizations. Based on the psychological empowerment process (Spreitzer, 1996), this paper strives to examine if the application of agile project management could serve as such a strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
In two independent studies, the authors used an experiment with students as potential applicants (N = 121) and a field study with employees (N = 229) to test the predictive quality of agile project management for attracting individuals toward the organization.
Findings
Using structural equation modeling, the authors identified an indirect relationship between agile project management and attraction toward the organization via psychological empowerment. The authors found this relationship for potential applicants as well as employees. Furthermore, individuals high in sensation seeking are found to be more attracted toward organizations that apply agile project management than individuals low in sensation seeking.
Research limitations/implications
The findings contribute to the empowerment literature by establishing agile project management as a work structure that fosters feelings of psychological empowerment.
Practical implications
Taken together, these results suggest that agile project management can attract individuals who seek novel, complex and intense sensations. Where applicable, organizations may highlight their practice of agile project management methodologies as part of their employer brand to attract future specialists for agile projects.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to integrate the research streams on agile project management and attraction toward the organization using quantitative data.
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The purpose of the paper is to analyse empirically the causal relationships between quality management, service quality and business success in German logistics companies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to analyse empirically the causal relationships between quality management, service quality and business success in German logistics companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper develops a measurement instrument of logistics service quality by combining conceptual approaches from service marketing with quality indicators from operations management. This measure is verified through factor analysis on a sample of 229 German logistics providers. Relationships between logistics service quality, quality management and business success are investigated in a structural equation model.
Findings
The results support measuring logistics service quality by the three dimensions: service potential, process and outcome. The effect of quality management on these constructs is confirmed. Likewise, the positive effect of service quality on business success is confirmed, with the notable exception of outcome quality.
Research limitations/implications
This research only involves German logistics service providers. Further studies in other countries are needed to generalise the results.
Practical implications
Logistics service providers should devote more attention to quality management than they currently do. To enhance quality, they should focus their efforts on service potential and the service process. The paper offers them a way to measure these quality dimensions.
Originality/value
Research into logistics services has so far been mostly descriptive. The present study is the first to validate empirically a measure of logistics service quality and relate it to other phenomena. The relationship between quality management, service quality and business success found by structural modelling helps to understand the role of quality in logistics services.
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Wieland Schwinger, Werner Retschitzegger, Andrea Schauerhuber, Gerti Kappel, Manuel Wimmer, Birgit Pröll, Cristina Cachero Castro, Sven Casteleyn, Olga De Troyer, Piero Fraternali, Irene Garrigos, Franca Garzotto, Athula Ginige, Geert‐Jan Houben, Nora Koch, Nathalie Moreno, Oscar Pastor, Paolo Paolini, Vicente Pelechano Ferragud, Gustavo Rossi, Daniel Schwabe, Massimo Tisi, Antonio Vallecillo, Kees van der Sluijs and Gefei Zhang
Ubiquitous web applications (UWA) are a new type of web applications which are accessed in various contexts, i.e. through different devices, by users with various interests, at…
Abstract
Purpose
Ubiquitous web applications (UWA) are a new type of web applications which are accessed in various contexts, i.e. through different devices, by users with various interests, at anytime from anyplace around the globe. For such full‐fledged, complex software systems, a methodologically sound engineering approach in terms of model‐driven engineering (MDE) is crucial. Several modeling approaches have already been proposed that capture the ubiquitous nature of web applications, each of them having different origins, pursuing different goals and providing a pantheon of concepts. This paper aims to give an in‐depth comparison of seven modeling approaches supporting the development of UWAs.
Design/methodology/approach
This methodology is conducted by applying a detailed set of evaluation criteria and by demonstrating its applicability on basis of an exemplary tourism web application. In particular, five commonly found ubiquitous scenarios are investigated, thus providing initial insight into the modeling concepts of each approach as well as to facilitate their comparability.
Findings
The results gained indicate that many modeling approaches lack a proper MDE foundation in terms of meta‐models and tool support. The proposed modeling mechanisms for ubiquity are often limited, since they neither cover all relevant context factors in an explicit, self‐contained, and extensible way, nor allow for a wide spectrum of extensible adaptation operations. The provided modeling concepts frequently do not allow dealing with all different parts of a web application in terms of its content, hypertext, and presentation levels as well as their structural and behavioral features. Finally, current modeling approaches do not reflect the crosscutting nature of ubiquity but rather intermingle context and adaptation issues with the core parts of a web application, thus hampering maintainability and extensibility.
Originality/value
Different from other surveys in the area of modeling web applications, this paper specifically considers modeling concepts for their ubiquitous nature, together with an investigation of available support for MDD in a comprehensive way, using a well‐defined as well as fine‐grained catalogue of more than 30 evaluation criteria.
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Ghulam Raza, Kratzer Jan and Syed Zaheer Abbas Kazmi
Agri-entrepreneurship is considered a promising strategy to address poverty, particularly in developing countries. However, embarking on an agri-entrepreneurial venture poses…
Abstract
Purpose
Agri-entrepreneurship is considered a promising strategy to address poverty, particularly in developing countries. However, embarking on an agri-entrepreneurial venture poses significant challenges. The existing literature on agri-entrepreneurship in developing countries, particularly focusing on smallholders’ constraints, is often scattered and fragmented, focusing mainly on individual barriers rather than providing a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted constraints. Therefore, this study aims to fill the gap by conducting a systematic review to identify, categorize, and prioritize the smallholders’ constraints.
Design/methodology/approach
By systematically reviewing literature retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science, published between 2013 and 2023, and following the PRISMA guidelines, this study identifies agri-entrepreneurial constraints through content analysis and categorizes and prioritizes them using thematic analysis.
Findings
This study revealed a range of constraints which are categorized into thematic areas including market-related challenges, financial constraints, limitations in human capital, institutional barriers, socio-cultural factors, technological shortcomings, and infrastructural challenges. Moreover, the study examines the role of social networks and their impacts on the livelihoods of smallholders in developing countries.
Research limitations/implications
The study’s scope is limited to constraints for agri-entrepreneurship, particularly for smallholders in developing countries. The review considers English articles published between 2013 and 2023, and ABS 3 and above ranked journal articles.
Originality/value
The study systematically identifies, categorizes, and prioritizes the significant constraints to agri-entrepreneurship in developing countries by conducting a systematic review and identifying research gaps and future directions.
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After the many years of public‐sector reforms in advanced capitalist democracies, a concept of strategic management for the delivery of public services would be highly relevant…
Abstract
After the many years of public‐sector reforms in advanced capitalist democracies, a concept of strategic management for the delivery of public services would be highly relevant for the conduct of operations by public organisations, or bureaux, as well as in schemes of outsourcing. However, it must take into account the specific features of the public sector (such as the occurrence of bounded rationality and the risk of garbage‐can decision processes) as well as the implications of the rule of law. Outcome measures constitute the starting point in the derivation of public‐sector strategic management. As the ‘new public organisation’ replaces bureaucracy, then the flat and boundary‐less organisation will need more of a strategic management focus, especially when combined with outsourcing.
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Jae‐Eun Chung and Byoungho Jin
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether preference toward in‐group members can serve as opportunism governance in channel relationships in a collectivist culture. This…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether preference toward in‐group members can serve as opportunism governance in channel relationships in a collectivist culture. This study proposes a model of opportunism incorporating in‐group preference and trust as antecedents of opportunism. Based on Transaction Cost Economics and Social Exchange Theory, transaction‐specific investment and relationship length are employed in the model as confounding variables of in‐group preference for opportunism and trust.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 109 Korean department store buyers and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (EQS 6.0).
Findings
The results showed that buyers' in‐group preference increased buyers' trust toward suppliers and decreased suppliers' opportunistic behavior. Buyers' increased trust toward suppliers was found to reduce suppliers' opportunistic behavior. Further, Trust was significantly influenced by supplier TSI, but not by length of relationship. On the other hand, opportunism was significantly influenced by length of relationship, but not by supplier TSI.
Research limitations/implications
This study examined only the positive side of in‐group membership. Some criticisms of in‐group preference are favoritism, interference with fair competition, and collective blindness, any of which might decrease the efficiency of business operations. These impacts should be examined to gain a balanced view of the implications of in‐group preference in business settings.
Practical implications
Multinational companies should understand that in‐group membership is an important source of building trust and oppressing opportunism in the Korean market. Multinational companies can strategically approach in‐group members of business partners to become members of those in‐groups.
Originality/value
This is the first empirical study to examine collectivists' tendencies toward in‐group preference as opportunism governance.