Manuel Trenz, Alexander Frey and Daniel Veit
The purpose of this paper is to develop a categorization of sharing practices from a structured interdisciplinary literature review on the Sharing Economy. Instead of striving for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a categorization of sharing practices from a structured interdisciplinary literature review on the Sharing Economy. Instead of striving for a new definition, the authors distinguish nine types of sharing practices and provide an overview of prior investigations on sharing practices across three levels of analysis and 15 research areas. The structured analysis is translated into opportunities for future research on the Sharing Economy.
Design/methodology/approach
The study follows a structured literature review approach to uncover practices related to the Sharing Economy and similar phenomena. The authors analyze 210 articles from a broad number of disciplines, and develop a categorizing framework for Sharing Economy practices.
Findings
The paper identifies nine different types of sharing practices and provides a structured way for analyzing, comparing and positioning research on the Sharing Economy and related phenomena.
Research limitations/implications
The categorization of sharing practices and the embedded interdisciplinary overview of studies on the Sharing Economy help to explain potentially contradictory research results and uncovers opportunities for future research in the topic area.
Originality/value
Given the variety of disciplines dealing with the Sharing Economy and the plenitude of definitions and related concepts, the categorization and research overview provides a consolidated view of the knowledge in the topic area and an effective tool for identifying paths for future research.
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KAMEL HAWWASH and MARTIN BARNES
The use of the private sector in the provision of public services under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is still a relatively new concept. The structure of a project under…
Abstract
The use of the private sector in the provision of public services under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is still a relatively new concept. The structure of a project under the PFI leads to the involvement of a number of parties and this necessitates the formation of a number of different contracts to regulate the relationships. These range in complexity from the main concession contract for the funding, supply, operation and maintenance of the asset, to subcontracts between the concessionaire and the various subcontractors. As the New Engineering Contract (NEC) has been designed to provide a contracting system which stimuates good management and is sufficiently flexible to be used for all the interfaces in a complex project, it is a strong candidate for adoption at all the interfaces in a PFI project. The paper concludes that there is potential for using the different contract forms in the NEC family for a number of the different relationships under a PFI project and more specifically DBFO projects.
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JOHN G. PERRY and MARTIN BARNES
Target cost contracts are growing in popularity but concerns remain about the interplay between fee, target, sharing ratios and the final price. This paper offers a fundamental…
Abstract
Target cost contracts are growing in popularity but concerns remain about the interplay between fee, target, sharing ratios and the final price. This paper offers a fundamental analysis of the principles under‐pinning target contracts. It shows that there is scope for manipulation of tenders and that suboptimal methods of tender evaluation are in use. The paper analyses both fixed fee and percentage fee contracts. Methods of tender evaluation are proposed that will both reduce the scope for manipulation by tenderers and increase the likelihood of the contract being awarded to the tenderer whose final price will be the lowest. The analysis reveals a strong case for setting the contractor's share of cost overrun or underrun at a value that is not less than 50%. Finally, the paper proposes two simplifications that would reduce the number of variables in target cost contracts of the future. One is for the employer to set the fee and the other requires only that a target be tendered but with the fee built into it.
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Malissa Alinor and Yvonne Chen
This study explores the coping strategies employed by people of color in response to racial discrimination and examines how cultural norms inform these strategies.
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the coping strategies employed by people of color in response to racial discrimination and examines how cultural norms inform these strategies.
Methodology
In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 34 Black and Asian Americans about their experiences with racial discrimination.
Findings
Findings reveal that participants cope through humor, seeking social support on social media, from family and friends, and through avoidant coping strategies. Seeking social support from empathetic others, especially when they shared the same racial background as participants, contributes to feelings of comfort, sanity, and a sense of community. Group differences emerge in seeking family support with Black Americans more likely to seek parental support, likely because of racial socialization practices by their parents that prepared them for experiencing bias. Asian Americans preferred talking to siblings or cousins, citing a cultural gap between them and their parents.
Research Implications
The study underscores the importance of considering the quality of social support, not just its use, as a buffer against harms related to discrimination.
Social Implications
Racial discrimination is a routine experience for many people of color. This study demonstrates how the type of coping strategy matters for coping with the distress that often accompanies these experiences.
Originality
In contrast to monoracial-focused studies, this research demonstrates the convergence and divergence of coping strategies among different racial groups.
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The paper begins with a brief history of the New Engineering Contract (NEC) and outlines the response by the NEC Panel to the proposals made in the Latham Report. The main…
Abstract
The paper begins with a brief history of the New Engineering Contract (NEC) and outlines the response by the NEC Panel to the proposals made in the Latham Report. The main principles adopted for the design of the contract are described and the main procedures which are used to implement the design principles are outlined. Emphasis is given to the way in which the procedures are intended to stimulate good management of contracts. The final section of the paper deals with risk allocation and management in NEC. The way in which the choice of contract strategy influences risk allocation is considered first and this is followed by a discussion of the principles used for the detailed allocation of risks in NEC. Risks which are carried by the employer are described and assessed through a novel procedure in NEC.
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Devaki Rau, Luis Flores and Aditya Simha
Planning is a perennially popular management tool with an ambiguous relationship to learning and performance. The purpose of this study attempts to resolve this ambiguity. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Planning is a perennially popular management tool with an ambiguous relationship to learning and performance. The purpose of this study attempts to resolve this ambiguity. The authors suggest that the critical question is not whether firms need learning for planning to influence performance, but when different firms experience different performance outcomes. The authors propose firms will benefit from strategic planning only when they learn from planning and have the resources to act on their learning.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data from a survey of 293 individuals from 191 publicly listed US firms.
Findings
Organizational learning mediates the relations between strategic planning and organizational performance. This mediated relationship is positively moderated by high levels of human resource slack and moderate to high levels of financial slack.
Research limitations/implications
The study provides evidence for previous theoretical arguments on the planning–learning relationship while extending this research by finding a complicated moderating effect of slack. The study also adds to the existing debate on optimal slack levels by suggesting that having bundles of slack resources may matter more than having uniformly high or low levels of slack. A cross-sectional study means the authors cannot infer causation.
Practical implications
While strategic planning is a common practice, companies may vary in their planning methodologies, influencing the outcomes of planning. Firms seeking to benefit from planning need to have both the mechanisms to learn from planning and slack to deploy these mechanisms.
Originality/value
These findings clarify the planning–learning–performance relationship while challenging the assumption of an average effect of planning on performance across firms.
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The very nature of serials, which are so often subject to changes in title, frequency, and format, poses considerable problems for bibliographic control. These problems are…
Abstract
The very nature of serials, which are so often subject to changes in title, frequency, and format, poses considerable problems for bibliographic control. These problems are accentuated when automation is introduced into libraries. The establishment of the UK National Serials Data Centre will become a focus for the development of serials processing both within the British Library and nationally. As the UK national centre of the International Serials Data System, the Centre is already registering serials published within the UK and assigning to them International Standard Serial Numbers (ISSN). The Centre is also establishing a national database of serials information, and will be able to provide a number of services for libraries.
This paper explains why Eskom, a large electrical utility, has decided to adopt the New Engineering Contract system of documents and assist the owners of the NEC with its further…
Abstract
This paper explains why Eskom, a large electrical utility, has decided to adopt the New Engineering Contract system of documents and assist the owners of the NEC with its further development. It describes the effect this decision is having on Eskom's ‘culture’, the benefits the introduction is providing through the opportunity to retrain all its contract practitioners and the response from South African industry. Types of project to which NEC has been applied are discussed. Examples of problems and successes with the introduction phase are given, with particular reference to the settlement of disputes. The paper concludes with a reference to the South African Government's Procurement Reform Initiative which is seeking standardization of conditions of contract used throughout the Republic.