Mathew Johnson, Eva Herman and Ceri Hughes
The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter – a top-down soft regulation initiative that has been framed as a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter – a top-down soft regulation initiative that has been framed as a “movement” to promote good employment across the local area.
Design/methodology/approach
The research draws on 24 semi-structured interviews with policy officers, trade unions, employers and civil society actors and various professional and employer bodies who have been involved in the charter since its inception. The interview data are complemented by documentary analysis.
Findings
The findings underline the importance of institutional factors such as political access points and the mobilising structures of the state in creating a space for progressive employment policies such as charters to emerge. We also find that the framing of the charter as a mechanism to achieve both social justice and improved productivity allows diverse actors to engage, but at the same time this results in a degree of ambiguity over the normative and substantive reference points for “good employment”.
Originality/value
The article contributes to our understanding of the changing nature of top-down political initiatives that seek to change business practices by engaging a wide range of stakeholders as Allies not adversaries. We argue that while charters are a potentially useful demand side intervention, in the absence of significant workplace or grassroots engagement and without coordinated mechanisms of monitoring and enforcement, their effects on low wage labour markets will be limited.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of living wages on organisational pay systems.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of living wages on organisational pay systems.
Design/methodology/approach
The research draws on 23 semi-structured interviews with HR managers, trade union representatives, and politicians at four UK local government case study sites.
Findings
The findings suggest that living wages can have a positive impact on directly employed workers in cleaning, catering and care services, but the research also finds that the localised adoption of living wages can lead to significant wage compression, resulting in a broad band of “low skill-low wage jobs”.
Originality/value
The theoretical contribution is twofold. In-line with earlier research the “first-order” effects of living wages are clear: hourly wages for a large number of women in part-time roles increased sharply. However, this is only part of the story as “second-order” effects such as ripples and spill-overs are less extensive than suggested by other studies. This is due to the limited scope for trade unions to restore wage differentials through collective bargaining, the slow progress in extending the living wage to contracted staff, and parallel processes of downsizing and outsourcing.
Details
Keywords
Arthur Seakhoa-King, Marcjanna M Augustyn and Peter Mason
Evadio Pereira Filho, Miguel Eduardo Moreno Añez, Kleber Cavalcanti Nobrega and Leandro Trigueiro Fernandes
This article evaluates how consumer expectations evolve over time and if three antecedents (negative experiences, alternative attractiveness and level of visitation) explain…
Abstract
Purpose
This article evaluates how consumer expectations evolve over time and if three antecedents (negative experiences, alternative attractiveness and level of visitation) explain possible changes in expectations.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model is structured with six hypotheses that are tested through articulated studies. First, a study with a longitudinal approach is developed and applied to a sample of students. Data collection is carried out over three periods and a latent growth model (LGM) is applied. Further ahead, another essay is developed to reexamine the moderating role of corporate image and level of visitation on the effect of negative experiences on expectations. For this, the role-playing approach is applied.
Findings
Study 1 reveals that patterns of expectations change from one service meeting to another, and these mutations are influenced by negative experiences and alternative attractiveness. Three pieces of evidence are highlighted. First, negative experiences produce contradictory and simultaneous movements in consumer expectations. Negative experiences reduce desired expectations and, at the same time, increase adequate expectations. These effects change in magnitude because of the corporate image. This confirms the moderating role of the corporate image in the relationship between negative experiences and expectations. This does not happen with the level of visitation, in which the moderating function is not sustained. The findings about moderating effects are confirmed by Study 2. Second, as customers have alternative companies, the minimum level of expectation rises. Alternative attractiveness positively impacts only adequate expectations. Third, the results do not support the relationship between the level of visitation and expectations. This reveals that more frequent customers do not necessarily have higher expectations.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to provide empirical results about the moderating effects of corporate image and level of visitation on the relationship between negative experiences and expectations.
Details
Keywords
Cathy Johnson and Brian P. Mathews
States that expectations play an important part in service quality. Currently, the most widely adopted view of service quality results from customers’ expectations being met or…
Abstract
States that expectations play an important part in service quality. Currently, the most widely adopted view of service quality results from customers’ expectations being met or exceeded. Surprisingly there is no clear consensus of what expectations actually are or what they do. There is only one widely applied way to measure them (SERVQUAL), an approach that is also widely criticized. Although the possible effect of many “controllable” factors on expectations has been alluded to, the effect of “uncontrollable” factors has not been thoroughly researched. Starts to redress the balance by defining expectations as a mixture of shoulds and wills; a cognitive melting‐pot of what should, ideally, happen and what will realistically happen the next time the service is visited. Uses a reliable measuring instrument to measure these two different expectations and the effect of consumers’ experience of the service on them. The results of the study demonstrate that experience of the service has a clear influence on expectations, at least within the context of the fast‐food industry.
Details
Keywords
Mathew Johnson, John Saltmarsh, Georgina Manok and Gene Corbin
Reciprocal partnerships between institutions of higher education (IHEs) and communities provide opportunities for IHEs to fulfill their core mission while at the same time…
Abstract
Reciprocal partnerships between institutions of higher education (IHEs) and communities provide opportunities for IHEs to fulfill their core mission while at the same time benefiting communities. One model of institutional accountability for this type of partnership is the Elective Carnegie Community Engagement (CE) Classification. As a process is underway to internationalize the US-based classification, this chapter engages with a central guiding question: How can we best adapt the CE classification’s institutionalizing framework for CE – designed in the context of the United States – in a way that upholds the integrity of engagement practices, adheres to effective strategies for organizational change, and is sensitive to national, cultural, economic, political, social, and historical contexts? In addressing this question, the internationalization strategy is focused on careful adaptation of the application framework so that it can be applied in specific national higher education contexts. The adaptation seeks to incorporate nationally and culturally relevant CE approaches that are reflected in organizational strategies at the institutional level, consistent with the internal logic of the CE classification: valuing expertise of others, working against colonial knowledge regimes, and mindfully building toward increased epistemic justice. This strategy can be a model for internationalization of other processes for IHEs.
Details
Keywords
Michel Laroche, Maria Kalamas and Mark Cleveland
To examine the impact of culture on customer service expectations, specifically, how individualists and collectivists use internal and external sources of information to formulate…
Abstract
Purpose
To examine the impact of culture on customer service expectations, specifically, how individualists and collectivists use internal and external sources of information to formulate their service expectations.
Design/methodology/approach
The context was the airline industry and the subject pool consisted of experienced consumers. A survey was employed to measure individualism/collectivism, various internal/external information sources, and the functional and technical dimensions of “should” and “will” service expectations. Hypothesized relationships were tested using a structural equations modeling approach.
Findings
Both individualists and collectivists relied more on external information sources in formulating their service expectations, gave variable weight to the functional and technical components, and used more realistic “will” expectations to judge service offerings. Internal (external) information sources were relatively more important in forming expectations for collectivists (individualists) than for individualists (collectivists), and “will” (“should”) expectations were more diagnostic for collectivists (individualists) than for individualists (collectivists).
Research limitations/implications
Generalizability of the findings is limited due to the specific industry under study (airlines), the sample (two geographically‐proximate sub‐cultures), and the scope of the cultural variables considered (individualism/collectivism).
Practical implications
Whether managers should leverage the functional and/or technical components of services depends in part on the cultural orientation of their customers. Managers should also recognize that customers’ usage of various information sources in forming service expectations is also, in part, culturally determined.
Originality/value
In this era of globalization, researchers and managers alike need to consider the subtle influences of culture on marketing theories and the formulation of service expectations respectively.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating effects of brand familiarity on satisfaction evaluations and behavioral intentions.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating effects of brand familiarity on satisfaction evaluations and behavioral intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal survey involving pre‐purchase measures and post‐purchase measures was conducted with consumers in a restaurant setting. The hypotheses were assessed through LISREL methodology.
Findings
The results showed that there are some similarities and differences among customers with different levels of brand familiarity regarding satisfaction formation and behavioral intentions.
Research limitations/implications
A self‐reported item was used to measure brand familiarity. Although there was some evidence to support that the measure captured what it was intended to measure, it would be desirable to develop a multi‐item scale for this construct. There is also a need to extend the findings to other service industries.
Practical implications
Marketers should familiarize customers with a service while capturing opportunities to create a positive experience to gain customers' future purchases.
Originality/value
The study offers some insights into the effects of brand familiarity on satisfaction evaluations and behavioral intentions. It is particularly relevant for marketing services that are high in experience qualities.
Details
Keywords
Hiram Ting, Wee Ming Lau, Jun-Hwa Cheah, Yusman Yacob, Mumtaz Ali Memon and Evan Lau
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of perceived quality on intention to revisit coffee concept shops among regular and irregular consumers. Specifically, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of perceived quality on intention to revisit coffee concept shops among regular and irregular consumers. Specifically, the framework developed by Pine and Gilmore (2000) is adopted to look into the effect of product, service and experience qualities on intention to revisit.
Design/methodology/approach
The explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was used to articulate the intention of consumers to revisit coffee concept shops. A preliminary study was conducted to define regular and irregular consumers. Self-administered questionnaire was first administered before using interview to elicit more insights and triangulate the findings.
Findings
The combination of both quantitative and qualitative findings show that the experiences of regular consumers at coffee concept shops include personal routine activities, while the experiences of irregular customers are composed of occasions with specific and collective purposes. While the intention to revisit of the former is related to the product and service quality, the intention of the latter is largely affected by its service and experience quality.
Originality/value
Given the rapid rise of coffee concept shops in the developing markets, the use of a mixed-methods design provides more insights into the intention to revisit of the regular and irregular consumers. It underscores the importance for the organisations to know what really matters to the diverse consumers.