Jennifer A. Espinosa, James Stock, David J. Ortinau and Lisa Monahan
The authors explore complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory as an updated theoretical perspective for managing product returns that better matches the chaotic nature of recent…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors explore complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory as an updated theoretical perspective for managing product returns that better matches the chaotic nature of recent consumer behaviors. CAS theory highlights the importance of agents who create and self-organize to help systems adapt in unpredictable environments.
Design/methodology/approach
This research utilizes data collected from return managers in an online survey and applies regression analyses to estimate the influence of the focal variables.
Findings
Empirical evidence of the firm flexibility–firm adaptability link is established, and return processor creativity positively relates to this link. The firm flexibility–firm adaptability link fully mediates the relationship between return processor creativity and returns management performance and partially mediates the relationship between return processor creativity and relationship quality. Nonmediated effects were observed for turnover and revenue size.
Practical implications
Managers of returns who embrace an adaptability approach become facilitators of returns by supporting processor creativity. Enhancing the autonomy of processors in their day-to-day work increases the knowledge-creation capabilities of the firm, which helps the firm move forward and adapt in an uncertain environment.
Originality/value
This research presents empirical evidence of the underlying mechanisms of CAS theory in the product returns context by studying processor agents and argues that CAS theory better fits the current dynamics of the product returns environment. Further, this paper extends work by Espinosa et al. (2019) and Nilsson (2019) by studying how a specific human characteristic – creativity – impacts product returns management.
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Jennifer A. Espinosa, Donna Davis, James Stock and Lisa Monahan
The purpose of this paper is to explore the processing of product returns at five case companies using a complex adaptive systems (CAS) logic to identify agent interactions…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the processing of product returns at five case companies using a complex adaptive systems (CAS) logic to identify agent interactions, organization, schema, learning and the emergence of adaptations in the reverse supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a multiple-case study design, this research applies abductive reasoning to examine data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews and direct researcher observations collected during site visits at case companies.
Findings
Costly or high-risk returns may require agents to specialize the depth of their mental schema. Processing agents need freedom to interact, self-organize and learn from other agents to generate emergent ideas and adapt.
Practical implications
Limiting the depth of individual agent schema allows managers to better allocate labor to processing product returns during peak volume. To boost adaptability, managers need to craft a dynamic environment that encourages agents with diverse schema to interact, anticipate, and self-organize to brainstorm new ideas. Managers need to resist the urge to “control” the dynamic environment that ensues.
Originality/value
This paper builds on existing research that studies the key decision points in the analysis of product returns by exploring how processing-agent behaviors can create adaptability in the reverse supply chain. Additionally, this research follows in the tradition of Choi et al. (2001) and Surana et al. (2005) and proposes the application of CAS to a specific part of the supply chain – the processing of product returns.
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Jennifer A. Espinosa, David J. Ortinau, Nina Krey and Lisa Monahan
The purpose of this paper is to study how repeat customers utilize their established overall restaurant brand image (ORBI), overall restaurant loyalty, satisfaction and behavioral…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study how repeat customers utilize their established overall restaurant brand image (ORBI), overall restaurant loyalty, satisfaction and behavioral intentions (revisit, recommend) to reengage with a casual-dining restaurant brand.
Design/methodology/approach
The study design consists of a mixed-methods, two-phase research approach that includes both qualitative and quantitative data. First, focus groups and in-depth interviews with adult customers reveal preliminary insights on restaurant dining patterns and familiarity with franchised casual dining restaurants. Second, an online self-administered survey tests the influence of ORBI on repeat customers’ overall restaurant loyalty, satisfaction and behavioral intentions.
Findings
For repeat customers, ORBI positively predicts loyalty and satisfaction. Loyalty and satisfaction mediate the relationship between ORBI and intentions to recommend, while loyalty alone mediates the relationship between ORBI and intentions to revisit a casual dining restaurant.
Practical implications
Managers looking to stimulate recommendation intentions can increase ORBI, loyalty or satisfaction among repeat customers; or choose some combination of these three predictors. To improve revisit intentions, managers should first increase loyalty, followed by ORBI. Importantly, management needs to tailor information given to repeat customers differently than other customers.
Originality/value
This paper provides a first conceptualization of how both loyalty and satisfaction jointly mediate the relationships between ORBI and two behavioral intentions (revisit, recommend). The results show that loyalty plays a significant role in these predictive relationships and is more important than satisfaction for enhancing intentions to revisit a restaurant.
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Ahmad Nadzri Mohamad, Allan Sylvester and Jennifer Campbell-Meier
This study aimed to develop a taxonomy of research areas in open government data (OGD) through a bibliometric mapping tool and a qualitative analysis software.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to develop a taxonomy of research areas in open government data (OGD) through a bibliometric mapping tool and a qualitative analysis software.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the authors extracted metadata of 442 documents from a bibliographic database. The authors used a bibliometric mapping tool for familiarization with the literature. After that, the authors used qualitative analysis software to develop taxonomy.
Findings
This paper developed taxonomy of OGD with three research areas: implementation and management, architecture, users and utilization. These research areas are further analyzed into seven topics and twenty-eight subtopics. The present study extends Charalabidis et al. (2016) taxonomy by adding two research topics, namely the adoption factors and barriers of OGD implementations and OGD ecosystems. Also, the authors include artificial intelligence in the taxonomy as an emerging research interest in the literature. The authors suggest four directions for future research: indigenous knowledge in open data, open data at local governments, development of OGD-specific theories and user studies in certain research themes.
Practical implications
Early career researchers and doctoral students can use the taxonomy to familiarize themselves with the literature. Also, established researchers can use the proposed taxonomy to inform future research. Taxonomy-building procedures in this study are applicable to other fields.
Originality/value
This study developed a novel taxonomy of research areas in OGD. Taxonomy building is significant because there is insufficient taxonomy of research areas in this discipline. Also, conceptual knowledge through taxonomy creation is a basis for theorizing and theory-building for future studies.
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Eva M. Fernández, Michelle C. Fraboni, Jennifer Valad, Sabrina Avila, Allan Edmond and Corinna Singleman
This chapter explores the methods developed to improve STEM success for students at two public urban institutions, a project whose aim is to improve academic outcomes for…
Abstract
This chapter explores the methods developed to improve STEM success for students at two public urban institutions, a project whose aim is to improve academic outcomes for undergraduate students, especially for those most vulnerable and least likely to succeed in this student population. The theory of change that underpins the project – including its activities and its evaluation plan – posits that three interlocked activities (course redesign, peer mentors and articulation) will lead to improvements in academic outcomes and ultimately contribute to the overarching goal of increasing the number of students from underserved backgrounds who graduate with baccalaureate STEM degrees. The project focusses on the first courses students take in STEM, where they are also most likely to fail. We describe the methodology developed for faculty development and the organizational structure of the peer mentoring component for these courses. Both of these components constitute safe spaces where faculty and peer mentors learn to support students using evidence-based and inclusive instructional practices. Courses redesigned by faculty were offered following a cluster-level randomized control trial design, where sections were assigned to treatment (with or without a peer) or control. These interventions have a positive impact on cumulative GPA, according to preliminary analyses. The project also has a positive effect on faculty participants and on peer mentors, both groups now better prepared to jointly deliver STEM curricula in more effective ways. Among the reasons why this works, instructor empathy surfaces as playing a leading role in academic outcomes for undergraduate students.
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The question of cultural identity has taken new levels of importance in the Andean country of Ecuador. Ecuadorian scholars often treat identity as a historical construction…
Abstract
The question of cultural identity has taken new levels of importance in the Andean country of Ecuador. Ecuadorian scholars often treat identity as a historical construction, revealing the country's Mestizo population as a culture of oppression. However, such statements only take into account the Western definition of history and fail to appreciate the indigenous concept of myth and the human need to constantly rewrite history in terms of today. Since Ecuador's majority is profoundly Mestizo (people with both Spanish and indigenous ancestry), there exists a clash of thought structures, both Western and indigenous, which do not allow for collective transformation. This research utilizes interactive research methods, particularly Augusto Boal's “Theatre of the Oppressed,” to penetrate the clash, intensifying it so that the “cultural oppression” becomes clear to those involved in the explorations, allowing them to uncover the “power of myth” now deeply buried in the collective unconscious.
Jennifer Aracely De Santiago-Romero, Carlos Alonso Salas-Ramírez, Karen Marlenne Herrera-Rocha, Nuria Elizabeth Rocha-Guzmán, María José Rivas Arreola, José Alberto Gallegos-Infante, Silvia Marina González-Herrera, Martha Rocio Moreno-Jiménez and María Alejandra Galindo-Gallegos
The purpose of this study was to development of a new chocolate-flavored powdered food supplement enriched with mesquite pod flour, oak extract and agave fructans, with proper…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to development of a new chocolate-flavored powdered food supplement enriched with mesquite pod flour, oak extract and agave fructans, with proper sensory characteristics as well as its physicochemical and glycemic quality.
Design/methodology/approach
A powdered shake was formulated using experimental design (23) with mesquite (Prosopis laevigata) pod flour, oak (Quercus convallata) extracts, nonalkalinized cocoa, agave fructans, milk protein and xanthan gum. Sensory analysis (choice profile method, ranking test, focus group, quantitative descriptive analysis), moisture, ash, fiber, protein and lipids, pH, color, wettability, dispersibility and rheological tests were done. Phenolic profiling analysis to samples was done by ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled to photodiode array detection and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry, antioxidant activity was measured by 2,2’-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt radical cation, ferric reducing antioxidant power and oxygen radical absorbance capacity, glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load were evaluated.
Findings
The main sensory attributes in the powders were chocolate, bitter, astringent, grass/linseed flavors (p < 0.05). The product has protein [66.9%], carbohydrates [22.0%], lipids [1.6%], ash [2.7%] and moisture [6.8%], with wettability (23 s), and dispersibility of 77.9%. Catechin, epicatechin, gallocatechin, procyanidin B2, chlorogenic, coumaric and ferulic acids were identified. GI and caloric load not show differences between men (73.3±2.4, 4.4±0.1) and women (67.0±2.1, 4.1±0.1) (p > 0.05).
Originality/value
The use of mesquite pods, oak and agave fructans in powder food supplement is an alternative to obtain a product high in protein, with good sensory properties, antioxidant activity and moderate GI.