Despite its rapid development in the last decade, facilities management (FM) stills suffers from an identity crisis as the definition and scope of FM remains a contentious issue…
Abstract
Despite its rapid development in the last decade, facilities management (FM) stills suffers from an identity crisis as the definition and scope of FM remains a contentious issue. To this end, three fundamental issues are re‐examined in this paper: what FM constitutes; what a facility manager is; and how the FM profession can be enhanced. These issues remain critical as they represent the building blocks of the FM discipline. Without a common platform, the development of FM is likely to be fragmented. An evaluation of the definitions of FM provided in the past suggests that the focus of FM is clearly on the workplace. The key issues confronting FM are the location, type, quantity, quality, content and allocation of the workspace. A professional facilities manager is one who is formally trained and whose main responsibility is the strategic management of the workplace. Three factors are suggested to be important for the development of FM as a professional discipline. They include a clear role and scope of FM in the industry and firm, contribution to the bottom‐line of the firm, and development of specialist knowledge and toolbox for addressing the problems of strategic workplace management. Some potential areas for theoretical developments have been suggested in this paper.
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This paper aims to highlight how facilities can enhance the strategic competitive position of a business organisation.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to highlight how facilities can enhance the strategic competitive position of a business organisation.
Design/methodology/approach
The methods of investigation used in this study include observation, in‐depth interviews and secondary data.
Findings
This case study has shown that both hardware, i.e. facilities and software, i.e. business philosophy of the organisation are important to enhance its competitive position.
Research limitations/implications
This study has looked at only one case. Future research may use the same five‐force model to assess and determine the contribution of facilities to the competitive position of a business organisation.
Practical implications
This study hopes to create more awareness among senior management of the strategic importance of facilities to a business's bottom‐line.
Originality/value
Using a strategic management model, this paper illustrates the contribution of facilities management to the broader corporate goals.
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While many marketing issues have been covered in the existing services marketing literature, there has been a clear lack of investigation into the structural organisation of the…
Abstract
While many marketing issues have been covered in the existing services marketing literature, there has been a clear lack of investigation into the structural organisation of the marketing function. This study attempts to achieve two things: to define the marketing organisation and its construct; and to identify factors responsible for influencing the way marketing function is organised in professional property services (PPS) firms and develop research propositions in relation to the identified factors and their impacts on the PPS marketing organisation. An exploratory research method is employed involving comparisons between literature‐based findings and field‐based findings. The results of the study show that size of firm, environmental uncertainty, business strategy and management attitude to marketing are important factors affecting the marketing organisation in PPS firms.
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Linda H. Chen, Leslie Eldenburg and Theodore H. Goodman
The purpose of this study is to investigate how two types of drivers, namely, executive compensation and market competition, can affect hospital quality in the USA. Recently…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how two types of drivers, namely, executive compensation and market competition, can affect hospital quality in the USA. Recently, patients, insurers and regulators have increasingly focused on hospital quality. Understanding the interplay of incentives in this industry is important because in 2019, hospital treatment contributed $1.161bn to health-care costs in the USA. This study answers the call for more studies in the so-called “mixed” industry, where ownership differences can affect organizational objectives and operating constraints.
Design/methodology/approach
This study explores the roles of hospital executive compensation and industry competition as determinants of health-care quality. Specifically, the study probes the heterogeneity in the factors that influence quality across hospital types in the USA.
Findings
Using California hospital data from 2006 through 2020, the findings show that the effects of compensation and competition on hospital quality differ by ownership type. Executive compensation is positively associated with quality in for-profit hospitals but is not associated with that of nonprofit hospitals, suggesting for-profit hospitals are more likely to use higher levels of compensation to attract managers with higher ability, whereas the utility function for nonprofit managers may be multidimensional. Within the nonprofit hospital group, competition is more positively associated with quality for religious nonprofits relative to secular nonprofits, suggesting that competition provides more monitoring for religious hospitals.
Originality/value
Taken together, the findings provide evidence that the drivers of quality vary across hospitals in ways consistent with differences in constraints and objectives across ownership types. The findings are important for regulators seeking to incentivize higher quality. For example, Medicare in the USA has incorporated quality measures into its new hospital reimbursement scheme (value-based purchasing) to incentivize quality. This study proposes that regulators should consider differences across ownership types when evaluating the best ways to incentivize hospital quality.
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Linda Ryan Bengtsson and Jessica Edlom
This article examines the ways in which the popular music industry markets artists through integrated transmedia marketing campaigns. These campaigns unfold across multiple media…
Abstract
Purpose
This article examines the ways in which the popular music industry markets artists through integrated transmedia marketing campaigns. These campaigns unfold across multiple media and create multiple pathways for audience engagement, particularly fan engagement, across social media platforms. The purpose is to further theorise the relationship between artists, the music industry and audiences.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used digital ethnography to scrutinise the activities within a contemporary music transmedia marketing campaign, focusing on the release of Taylor Swift's album Reputation as an illustrative case.
Findings
The study demonstrates how strategically curated activities encompass platforms' affordances and industry events by making use of fan engagement across social media platforms and streaming services. Fans shift through platforms, as well as across digital and physical spaces, through defined marketing activities at specific times. This article proposes the concept of choreographed engagement to specifically address the ways in which the temporal and spatial aspects of social media marketing are used at the intersection of platform logic, algorithm economy and fan engagement to reach wider audiences.
Originality/value
By proposing the concept of choreographed engagement, the authors bridge the gap between fan practices and marketing practices, providing insight into how commodification of fan engagement is utilised spatially and temporally within the contemporary platform economy. Choreographed engagement constitutes a significant aspect of strategic communication and marketing. The term expands the vocabulary used in the debate on the commodification of artistic work, and audience engagement in the platform era.
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Arne De Keyser, Sarah Köcher, Linda Alkire (née Nasr), Cédric Verbeeck and Jay Kandampully
Smart technologies and connected objects are rapidly changing the organizational frontline. Yet, our understanding of how these technologies infuse service encounters remains…
Abstract
Purpose
Smart technologies and connected objects are rapidly changing the organizational frontline. Yet, our understanding of how these technologies infuse service encounters remains limited. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to update existing classifications of Frontline Service Technology (FST) infusion. Moreover, the authors discuss three promising smart and connected technologies – conversational agents, extended reality (XR) and blockchain technology – and their respective implications for customers, frontline employees and service organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a conceptual approach integrating existing work on FST infusion with artificial intelligence, robotics, XR and blockchain literature, while also building on insights gathered through expert interviews and focus group conversations with members of two service research centers.
Findings
The authors define FST and propose a set of FST infusion archetypes at the organizational frontline. Additionally, the authors develop future research directions focused on understanding how conversational agents, XR and blockchain technology will impact service.
Originality/value
This paper updates and extends existing classifications of FST, while paving the road for further work on FST infusion.
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VALERIE STEWART and ANDREW STEWART
This article is a humorous attempt to chronicle the progress of a fictitious course — in this case an assessment course, but many of the gaffes which we record are common to all…
Abstract
This article is a humorous attempt to chronicle the progress of a fictitious course — in this case an assessment course, but many of the gaffes which we record are common to all kinds of courses and conferences. We have tried to include as many as possible of the avoidable errors which can be committed; we have footnoted some of the more obvious and common errors. The reader may find some that have slipped our net. As a rough distinction, there are four kinds of error illustrated here: administrative errors, errors in planning and design, errors arising from lack of interpersonal skills, and misalignments in the organisational climate. Some conference or course designs may be more robust than others in the degree to which they are affected aby these different kinds of error; an assessment course is probably more susceptible than most to most of them — which is why we chose it. The account is of course purely fictitious. We rather hope that this article will help to ensure that it stays that way. Any resemblance to persons living or dead should probably be a matter for regret.