Jukka Mattila, Sampo Tukiainen and Sami Kajalo
The paper advances research on the heterogeneity of client behavior and the understanding of “the client” as a key topic in the research of management consulting. First, this…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper advances research on the heterogeneity of client behavior and the understanding of “the client” as a key topic in the research of management consulting. First, this issue is addressed by summarizing the clients’ reasons for acquiring and utilizing management consulting services. Second, the purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which these reasons vary in four key client groups.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on 1,127 responses to a survey questionnaire, the clients’ motives for acquiring and using management consulting are examined in four different client groups. Principal component analysis with an eigenvalue greater than one and varimax rotation method was used to discern the motives for acquiring and using consulting.
Findings
The analysis identifies two co-existing factors as key reasons for acquiring and utilizing management consulting: “Impact” and “Significance.” This typology is used to show that the reasons for acquiring management consulting services are dependent on the hierarchical level of the client. While reasons related to “Impact” are consistently emphasized in the four examined client groups, reasons related to “Significance” show greater variance and are emphasized less higher up in the organizational hierarchy.
Research limitations/implications
The paper argues for the need to reconsider the conventionally marginal and subordinate position of subjective motivations in the management consulting literature. The paper creates bridges between previously contending paradigms by developing a holistic and comprehensive framework of the client motives for utilizing management consulting.
Practical implications
For practitioners, the results complement prior understandings of client purchase decision making. More fundamentally, this paper provides elements for restructuring the overall discourse on the roles and uses of consultants.
Originality/value
The paper is the first large-sample examination of client heterogeneity, developing an empirically verified typology of the reasons for utilizing management consulting. More importantly, the paper specifies how these reasons vary among four key client groups. The primary contributions of the paper are: the paper posits a robust typology on the previously multivocal and fragmented reasons for utilizing management consulting. The paper specifies how the reasons vary in four key client groups, developing a more nuanced understanding of the heterogeneity of “the client.”
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Toni A. Pakkala, Arto Köliö, Jukka Lahdensivu and Matti Pentti
A significant part of Finnish concrete building stock is relatively young. Thus methods to adopt the existing building stock to climate change are needed. To plan and correctly…
Abstract
Purpose
A significant part of Finnish concrete building stock is relatively young. Thus methods to adopt the existing building stock to climate change are needed. To plan and correctly timing the service actions there is a need to study the rates of different deterioration mechanisms. The reinforcement corrosion in Finnish outdoor exposed concrete structures is almost solely carbonation-induced corrosion. In former studies, it has been shown that active corrosion phase can also have a major effect on the total service life of the structure. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the effect of climate change on predicted corrosion rate of concrete reinforcement in projected 2050 and 2100 climates compared to present climate were studied to consider adaptation methods for the climate change. The calculations are based on a corrosion propagation model, which takes into account four different climatic factors: wind-driven rain, temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation.
Findings
A significantly higher corrosion rates and thus faster corrosion-induced damage can be expected in the future climate. The increase in corrosion rate is the highest in the late autumn and winter because of the increasing amount of precipitation and weaker conditions for concrete structures to dry. In addition, the duration of high corrosion rate periods is increasing which may shorten the propagation phase. However, corrosion rate is highly dependent on the direction of the greatest climate load and the grade of sheltering which can be taken into account in service life calculations and while planning service actions.
Research limitations/implications
There are different sources of error because of the uncertainties with both the used model and the climate change scenarios. That is why the results are discussed in more general way than comparing the actual numbers with each other.
Originality/value
The propagation model used in this study has not been used before in adaptation studies. The climate change effect on carbonation-induced corrosion has also been limited while the studies have focused on chloride-induced corrosion.
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Viitanen Elina, Lehto Juhani, Tampsi‐Jarvala Tiina, Mattila Kari, Virjo Irma, Isokoski Mauri, Hyppölä Harri, Kumpusalo Esko, Halila Hannu, Kujala Santero and Vänskä Jukka
This paper describes factors influencing doctor‐managers' decision making in specialised health care, health centres and at different levels of management.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper describes factors influencing doctor‐managers' decision making in specialised health care, health centres and at different levels of management.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected as part of a survey on physicians graduating in 1977‐1991 as drawn from the register of the Finnish Medical Association. The study sample was formed by selecting all physicians born on odd days (n=4,144) from the baseline group (n=8,232). The category of doctor‐managers comprised physicians reporting as their main occupation: principal or assistant principal physician of hospital, medical director or principal physician of health centre, senior ward physician of hospital, and health centre physician in charge of a population area.
Findings
Independent of gender, all doctor‐managers responding to the survey reported that the most important base for decision making was personal professional experience. Position in organisation (first‐line manager, principal physician) had no impact on the base of decision making. Doctor‐managers in primary health care utilised knowledge on norms and knowledge available from their organisation in support of their decision making to a greater degree compared with doctor‐managers in specialised health care.
Research implications
Evolution discourse from public administration is not yet receiving much response in Finnish doctor‐managers' activities, instead, they still act as clinicians.
Originality/value
Facing the growing challenges of the future, the paper shows that doctor‐managers should reconstruct their orientation and to act more like managers.
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Pekka Leviäkangas, Raine Hautala, Virpi Britschgi and Risto Öörni
The aim of this research was to evaluate the new procurement practices of information and communication technology (ICT) services in Finnish-speaking schools in the City of…
Abstract
The aim of this research was to evaluate the new procurement practices of information and communication technology (ICT) services in Finnish-speaking schools in the City of Kauniainen. In the new model, schools define their needs and school administration mandates the procurement through tendering. The research included a review of the problems associated with procurement practices and the assessment of the procurement model. The results show that service levels have been improved and unit costs as well as the environmental load have been reduced. The new model requires the schools to have the skills and expertise to define their needs and the competencies to prepare and execute the procurement process. The case analysis of the Finnish “Dream School” in Kauniainen shows that administrative and governance aspects are equally important in successful deployment of technology.
Anusha Sreeram, Ankit Kesharwani and Sneha Desai
This paper aims to conceptualize and test an integrated model of online grocery buying intention by extending technology acceptance model by adding several antecedents of online…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to conceptualize and test an integrated model of online grocery buying intention by extending technology acceptance model by adding several antecedents of online grocery shopping behaviour such as physical effort, time pressure, entertainment value, product assortment, economic values, website design aesthetics, etc. The ultimate dependent variable was consumer’s satisfaction with buying process of grocery product via online platform.
Design/methodology/approach
The model was tested over online grocery shoppers using structural equation modelling approach. To enhance the validity of the finding, common method bias and social desirability bias were also assessed.
Findings
As product assortment was found to have a significant impact on both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, it supports the notion of one-stop solution as a major driver to attract buyers to buy groceries online. Findings also highlight the importance of entertainment value and economic value as key variables which shape the buyer’s satisfaction and purchase loyalty behaviour. Overall, the results support the proposed model.
Practical/implications
The findings of this study would be helpful for online marketers to get more website visits and to increase conversion rates, i.e. getting their visitors to spend more time on the website and to make purchase.
Originality/value
This integrated framework tested here is quite comprehensive in nature, as it includes the influence of time pressure, physical effort and product assortment on online buying behaviour. These basic yet important variables to study, especially when the industry (online grocery shopping) is still in its nascent stage, are missing from the literature. The present study also involves a rigorous data analysis process followed by assessment of common method bias and psychometric property test. Such approach is rare in existing body of knowledge. The study uses S-O-R framework for hypothesis and model development, which is also rare in context of online grocery shopping.
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Mukta Srivastava, Sreeram Sivaramakrishnan and Neeraj Pandey
The increased digital interactions in the B2B industry have enhanced the importance of customer engagement as a measure of firm performance. This study aims to map and analyze…
Abstract
Purpose
The increased digital interactions in the B2B industry have enhanced the importance of customer engagement as a measure of firm performance. This study aims to map and analyze temporal and spatial journeys for customer engagement in B2B markets from a bibliometric perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The extant literature on customer engagement research in the B2B context was analyzed using bibliometric analysis. The citation analysis, keyword analysis, cluster analysis, three-field plot and bibliographic coupling were used to map the intellectual structure of customer engagement in B2B markets.
Findings
The research on customer engagement in the B2B context was studied more in western countries. The analysis suggests that customer engagement in B2B markets will take centre stage in the coming times as digital channels make it easier to track critical metrics besides other key factors. Issues like digital transformation, the use of artificial intelligence for virtual engagement, personalization, innovation and salesforce management by leveraging technology would be critical for improved B2B customer engagement.
Practical implications
The study provides a comprehensive reference to scholars working in this domain.
Originality/value
The study makes a pioneering effort to comprehensively analyze the vast corpus of literature on customer engagement in B2B markets for business insights.