Lee Roy Beach and Lawton R. Burns
The quality improvement strategy (QIS) helps managers decide wherechanges in an organization′s services will improve its competitiveness.The QIS measures customer perceptions of…
Abstract
The quality improvement strategy (QIS) helps managers decide where changes in an organization′s services will improve its competitiveness. The QIS measures customer perceptions of the organization′s services relative to its competitors′ offerings (competitiveness) and relative to what its offerings ought to be (satisfaction). The QIS logic uses the intersection of competitiveness and satisfaction data for each service to identify and prioritize improvements that will result in a competitive advantage.
Details
Keywords
David G. Schwartz and Dov Te’eni
Image theory has been used, in numerous studies, as a basis for understanding and describing the decision‐making activity of managers in both cooperative and competitive…
Abstract
Image theory has been used, in numerous studies, as a basis for understanding and describing the decision‐making activity of managers in both cooperative and competitive environments. The fundamental division of duties prescribed by image theory – namely adoption decisions and progress decision – maps very well to the adaptability requirements of intelligent agents. The issues of adaptive planning and execution monitoring in agents can be well served by applying the empirical lessons learned from the application of image theory across groups of decision makers. This paper explores the concepts of adoption and progress decisions in the context of image theory and provides a basis for creating image‐theoretic agents. This paper sets the foundation for an interdisciplinary bridge between Beach and Mitchell’s Image Theory for human decision making, and the construction of intelligent agents. We begin by presenting image theory and describing its use among human decision makers. We then show how the mechanisms of image theory can be implemented in an agent‐based architecture to implement both execution monitoring and adaptive planning. This is done through the image‐theoretic constructs of progress decisions and adoption decisions. We conclude by presenting logic‐programming implementation of the Imaginal Agent Architecture that supports the adaptive planning and execution monitoring of agents through the use of meta‐level constructs for adoption and progress decisions.
Details
Keywords
Milorad M. Novicevic, Thomas J. Hench and Daniel A. Wren
In the closing decades of the twentieth, and at the start of the twenty‐first, centuries, attention has again turned to the critical role of intuition in effective managerial…
Abstract
In the closing decades of the twentieth, and at the start of the twenty‐first, centuries, attention has again turned to the critical role of intuition in effective managerial decision making. This paper examines the history of intuition in management thought by tracing its origins to Chester I. Barnard. This paper reveals not only the intellectual roots linking Barnard’s conceptualization of intuition in management thought to, among others, the influential works of the economist and sociologist, Vilfredo Pareto; Lawrence Henderson’s influence on Barnard through Henderson’s leadership and direction of the Harvard Pareto Circle; the works of the early pragmatist John Dewey; Humphrey’s The Nature of Learning; and Koffka’s Principles of Gestalt Psychology. Further, Barnard’s conceptualization of intuition foreshadowed by nearly two decades nearly all of Polanyi’s thinking and elaboration of tacit knowledge. This paper also examines Barnard’s and Simon’s differing views on intuition and provides a brief overview of contemporary research on intuition in managerial decision making.
Details
Keywords
Discusses those cultural and managerial elements of an organization which can assure vitality and adaption of an organization in difficult times. Managerial radialism, product…
Abstract
Discusses those cultural and managerial elements of an organization which can assure vitality and adaption of an organization in difficult times. Managerial radialism, product development, risk, and the creation of a nurturing environment are among the elements discussed in support of an adaptive organization.
Details
Keywords
Ute-Christine Klehe, Jelena Zikic, Annelies E.M. van Vianen, Jessie Koen and Maximilian Buyken
Economic stressors such as job insecurity, job loss, unemployment, and underemployment cause severe difficulties for the workers affected, their families, organizations, and…
Abstract
Economic stressors such as job insecurity, job loss, unemployment, and underemployment cause severe difficulties for the workers affected, their families, organizations, and societies overall. Consequently, most past research has taken a thoroughly negative perspective on economic stress, addressing its diverse negative consequences and the ways that people try to cope with them. And even when following the advice provided by the scientific literature, people affected by economic stress will usually end up being off worse than they were before the onset of the stressor.
The current chapter pays credit to this perspective yet also tries to counterbalance it with an alternative one. While acknowledging the vast amount of literature outlining the negative consequences of economic stress on peoples’ well-being and careers, some literature also points at opportunities for a more positive perspective. More specifically, we argue that affected people can use a wide repertoire of behaviors for handling their current situation. Of particular promise in this regard is the concept of career adaptability, generally defined as the ability to change to fit into new career-related circumstances. Indeed, studies show that under certain conditions, career adaptability can facilitate people's search for not just any job but for a qualitatively better job, thus breaking through the spiral of losses usually associated with economic stress.
For the purpose of this argument, we link career adaptability to the concept of proactive coping, analyzing how and under which conditions career adaptability may present a contextualized form of proactive coping. We then address known personal and situational antecedents of career adaptability and show how career adaptability may be fostered and trained among different types of job seekers. We end this chapter with a discussion of open questions as well as directions for future research.
Details
Keywords
Johanna Innerhofer, Luigi Nasta and Anita Zehrer
Although the role of human capital in the hospitality sector is critical, the industry faces challenges in attracting workers with a poor industry image frequently mentioned…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the role of human capital in the hospitality sector is critical, the industry faces challenges in attracting workers with a poor industry image frequently mentioned regarding labor shortages. This research paper attempts to investigate the factors influencing labor shortages by presenting the perspectives of employees and employers.
Design/methodology/approach
Precisely 232 rural hospitality industry employees (n = 128) and employers (n = 104) in Northern Italy were surveyed using a written close-ended online survey and a quantitative research design as part of a convenience sampling approach. For hypotheses testing, Spearman's rho was used.
Findings
A relationship between the shortage of professional workers and a variety of factors was found, including professional, digital, social and green skills, industry-intrinsic characteristics and symbolic image attributes of the industry. The findings show that some factors are more important for employees, while others are more significant for employers.
Practical implications
This study demonstrates several practical implications for the hospitality sector by addressing the under-researched stakeholder group of existing hospitality employees, e.g. improving working conditions, reduction of manual operations through digital technologies, realistic career planning, employer branding, identification of skill deficiencies and provision of specialized trainings.
Originality/value
Most research on labor shortages in the hospitality industry has focused on the perspective of either employees or employers. This study compares both perspectives, including the industry image, to gain a realistic picture of the relevant factors for a rural tourism destination in Northern Italy.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of regulatory focus (promotion vs prevention) and mixed valence attributes (positive imagery and negative analytical vs…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of regulatory focus (promotion vs prevention) and mixed valence attributes (positive imagery and negative analytical vs negative imagery and positive analytical) on consumers’ evaluation and purchase intention for a product.
Design/methodology/approach
A pre-test followed by a single between subject’s experiment was conducted to test the major hypotheses in the study.
Findings
Results show that promotion (prevention) focus prefers the product when it is described in terms of positive imagery but negative analytical (positive analytical but negative imagery) attributes in terms of both evaluation and purchase intention.
Research limitations/implications
Future research may validate and extend the current findings with other product or service categories, and study the underlying processes that guide decision making.
Practical implications
Findings from this study will help managers devise a range of marketing strategies in the areas of advertising, segmentation and product positioning.
Originality/value
The current research is novel as it addresses lack of research that engages imagery and analytical attributes with different valences, and fills in a gap as to how regulatory focus will rely on imagery (analytical) attributes with different valences while making product decisions.
Details
Keywords
The following is an introductory profile of the fastest growing firms over the three-year period of the study listed by corporate reputation ranking order. The business activities…
Abstract
The following is an introductory profile of the fastest growing firms over the three-year period of the study listed by corporate reputation ranking order. The business activities in which the firms are engaged are outlined to provide background information for the reader.
Jung Eun Lee, Eonyou Shin and Doris H. Kincade
This study aims to investigate how image-presentation-order influences mental imagery (MI) processing and purchase intentions. This study also examines the moderating effect of a…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how image-presentation-order influences mental imagery (MI) processing and purchase intentions. This study also examines the moderating effect of a series of images on the relationship between image-presentation-order and MI processing.
Design/methodology/approach
This research conducted two studies using an experimental approach.
Findings
Two studies showed that MI processing was higher, when an apparel product image worn by a model with a background was shown after rather than before a simple product image (SPI), indicating the recency effect. In contrast, examining a series of images, consumers were more engaged in MI processing, when product image(s) worn by a model with a background were presented first, followed by the four SPIs, than the reversed order (primacy effect). The level of MI in two studies subsequently increased purchase intentions.
Research limitations/implications
Results of this study have the potential to provide guidance to online retailers for how to best order their product images on a website to help consumers form elaborated MI about the product and thus increase purchasing intentions.
Originality/value
Although past research has examined presentation-order effect using textual information, very limited studies have explored presentation-order effect of pictorial information. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is in the forefront of investigations about the joint effect of image-presentation-order and the number of images on individuals’ perceptions.