Iris Bakker, Theo J.M. van der Voordt, Jan de Boon and Peter Vink
The purpose of this paper is to establish the influences of the colours red and blue on perceived well being, social cohesion and productivity in complex real life work conditions…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish the influences of the colours red and blue on perceived well being, social cohesion and productivity in complex real life work conditions during regular meetings.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, seven regular government teams held seven regular meetings in red, blue and reference meeting rooms. In literature it is often mentioned that red is a warm and blue a cool colour. To be able to test the warmth and coldness effects the authors have amplified the warm and cold qualities with light colour and colour of the table top desk. The employees were asked to complete questionnaires concerning perceived well being, social cohesion and productivity. In total, 52 subjects completed three questionnaires, at the start, the end and two or three days after the meeting. Data were analysed with SPSS 16.
Findings
The findings did not show any effects of the red and blue environment on perceived well being, social cohesion and productivity. The authors assume the processes in real life work situations are too complex to measure influences.
Research limitations/implications
The research focuses on individual perceptions and did not measure actual well being, social cohesion and productivity.
Practical implications
Practical implications are that statements frequently mentioned in literature concerning influences of red and blue might be not valid in real life meeting settings. New ways of testing the impact of colours should be reconsidered. Because lab situations are too simplified and artificial, the authors suggest testing influences of colour in an isolated setting in relation to art.
Originality/value
The originality of this research concerns testing colour influences in complex real life work settings, such as meetings.
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Maryna Tverdostup and Tiiu Paas
The purpose of this paper is to address the role of cognitive skills and extent of skill use at work in explaining the immigrant–native wage gap in Europe. The study targets…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the role of cognitive skills and extent of skill use at work in explaining the immigrant–native wage gap in Europe. The study targets immigrant–native disparities in literacy and numeracy cognitive skills, as important, yet not exhaustive factor behind immigrants’ wage penalty.
Design/methodology/approach
The research relies on the Program of International Assessment of Adult Competencies data for 15 European countries. The empirical analysis employs multivariate regression analysis and incorporates the full set of plausible values for each skill domain, to correctly measure cognitive skills. To estimate standard errors, the authors employ Jackknife replication methodology with 80 replication weights and final population weight.
Findings
The authors document that, on average, immigrants achieve substantially worse scores in literacy and numeracy test domains. Only highly educated immigrants tend to improve their skills over time in host countries. The results of wage gap analysis indicate that having cognitive skills, demographic profile and occupation category comparable to natives does not yield comparable wage rate. The remaining wage gap results from the systematic differences in skills application at work, as immigrants use their skills to lower extent, relative to natives.
Originality/value
The research employs a novel measure of productive human capital, which accounts for cognitive skills in literacy and numeracy domains, and frequencies of skill use at work. It allows to more precisely evaluate the immigrant–native disparity in human capital application and its reflection on the wage rate.
Jan De Leede and Jorien Kraijenbrink
The aim of the chapter is to understand the role of trust and social cohesion in the effects of New Ways of Working.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the chapter is to understand the role of trust and social cohesion in the effects of New Ways of Working.
Design
The study consists of a cross-sectional survey (N = 549) at a Dutch insurance company with four locations. NWW was introduced in one of the locations 15 years ago, the other locations only recently. We present and test a model in which trust and social cohesion are mediators between NWW and performance.
Findings
The implementation of NWW leads to better performance (Beta 0.16, p < 0.001). However, the main effect is explained completely by the mediating role of trust (between employees-managers and between colleagues) and social cohesion. The number of days working at home has no significant relationship to performance.
Research Implications
The theory and findings of this chapter call for further elaboration in research: more contextualization of these data is needed and more comprehensive theoretical models, such as the role of personality, task and function.
Practical Implications
If employees feel to be trusted by their supervisors and colleagues, the performance will increase, ‘even’ if they work at home or in flexible offices. The implementation of NWW will therefore only be beneficial if there are trustful relations and attention is paid to social cohesion of the group.
Originality
The study is among the first to prove the relationship between NWW and performance and more importantly, it is one of the first in explaining that relationship by pointing on the mediating role of trust and social cohesion.
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Goodness C. Aye, Rangan Gupta and Peter Wanke
The purpose of this paper is to assess the efficiency of agricultural production in South Africa from 1970 to 2014, using an integrated two-stage fuzzy approach.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the efficiency of agricultural production in South Africa from 1970 to 2014, using an integrated two-stage fuzzy approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution is used to assess the relative efficiency of agriculture in South Africa over the course of the years in the first stage. In the second stage, fuzzy regressions based on different rule-based systems are used to predict the impact of socio-economic and demographic variables on agricultural efficiency. They are compared with the bootstrapped truncated regressions with conditional α levels proposed in Wanke et al. (2016a).
Findings
The results show that the fuzzy efficiency estimates ranged from 0.40 to 0.68 implying inefficiency in South African agriculture. The results further reveal that research and development, land quality, health expenditure–population growth ratio have a significant, positive impact on efficiency levels, besides the GINI index. In terms of accuracy, fuzzy regressions outperformed the bootstrapped truncated regressions with conditional α levels proposed in Wanke et al. (2015).
Practical implications
Policies to increase social expenditure especially in terms of health and hence productivity should be prioritized. Also policies aimed at conserving the environment and hence the quality of land is needed.
Originality/value
The paper is original and has not been previously published elsewhere.
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Elizabeth Mansfield, Jane Sandercock, Penny Dowedoff, Sara Martel, Michelle Marcinow, Richard Shulman, Sheryl Parks, Mary-Lynn Peters, Judith Versloot, Jason Kerr and Ian Zenlea
In Canada, integrated care pilot projects are often implemented as a local reform strategy to improve the quality of patient care and system efficiencies. In the qualitative study…
Abstract
Purpose
In Canada, integrated care pilot projects are often implemented as a local reform strategy to improve the quality of patient care and system efficiencies. In the qualitative study reported here, the authors explored the experiences of healthcare professionals when first implementing integrated care pilot projects, bringing together physical and mental health services, in a community hospital setting.
Design/methodology/approach
Engaging a qualitative descriptive study design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 healthcare professionals who discussed their experiences with implementing three integrated care pilot projects one year following project launch. The thematic analysis captured early implementation issues and was informed by an institutional logics framework.
Findings
Three themes highlight disruptions to established logics reported by healthcare professionals during the early implementation phase: (1) integrated care practices increased workload and impacted clinical workflows; (2) integrating mental and physical health services altered patient and healthcare provider relationships; and (3) the introduction of integrated care practices disrupted healthcare team relations.
Originality/value
Study findings highlight the importance of considering existing logics in healthcare settings when planning integrated care initiatives. While integrated care pilot projects can contribute to organizational, team and individual practice changes, the priorities of healthcare stakeholders, relational work required and limited project resources can create significant implementation barriers.
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Allison R. Johnson, Matthew Thomson and Jennifer Jeffrey
Brand narratives are created to differentiate brands, and consumers base their assessments of a brand’s authenticity on this narrative. We propose that the default consumer…
Abstract
Purpose
Brand narratives are created to differentiate brands, and consumers base their assessments of a brand’s authenticity on this narrative. We propose that the default consumer position is to accept a brand’s narrative, and we find that consumers maintain belief in this narrative even when explicitly reminded that it is manufactured by firms with an underlying profit motive. Because belief seems to be the default position adopted by consumers, we investigate what factors act as disruptors to this default position, thereby reducing assessments of authenticity.
Methodology
This research uses a series of studies to investigate when and why consumers view some brand stories as authentic and others less so. In addition, we examine the impact of changes to authenticity assessments on managerially important brand outcomes.
Findings
Only when one or more authenticity disruptors are present do consumers begin to question the authenticity of the brand narrative. Disruption occurs when the focal brand is perceived to be nakedly copying a competitor, or when there is a gross mismatch between the brand narrative and reality. In the presence of one or both of these disruptors, consumers judge brands to be less authentic, report lower identification, lower assessments of brand quality and social responsibility, and are less likely to join the brand’s community.
Implications
Creating compelling brand stories is an important aspect of any marketing manager’s job; after all, these narratives help drive sales. Care must be taken when crafting narratives however, since consumers use these as the basis of their authenticity assessments, and brands deemed inauthentic are penalized.
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Stephen L. Vargo, Julia A. Fehrer, Heiko Wieland and Angeline Nariswari
This paper addresses the growing fragmentation between traditional and digital service innovation (DSI) research and offers a unifying metatheoretical framework.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper addresses the growing fragmentation between traditional and digital service innovation (DSI) research and offers a unifying metatheoretical framework.
Design/methodology/approach
Grounded in service-dominant (S-D) logic's service ecosystems perspective, this study builds on an institutional and systemic, rather than product-centric and linear, conceptualization of value creation to offer a unifying framework for (digital) service innovation that applies to both physical and digital service provisions.
Findings
This paper questions the commonly perpetuated idea that DSI fundamentally changes the nature of innovation. Instead, it highlights resource liquification—the decoupling of information from the technologies that store, transmit, or process this information—as a distinguishing characteristic of DSI. Liquification, however, does not affect the relational and institutional nature of service innovation, which is always characterized by (1) the emergence of novel outcomes, (2) distributed governance and (3) symbiotic design. Instead, liquification makes these three characteristics more salient.
Originality/value
In presenting a cohesive service innovation framework, this study underscores that all innovation processes are rooted in combinatorial evolution. Here, service-providing actors (re)combine technologies (or more generally, institutions) to adapt their value cocreation practices. This research demonstrates that such (re)combinations exhibit emergence, distributed governance and symbiotic design. While these characteristics may initially seem novel and unique to DSI, it reveals that their fundamental mechanisms are not limited to digital service ecosystems. They are, in fact, integral to service innovation across virtual, physical and blended contexts. The study highlights the importance of exercising caution in assuming that the emergence of novel technologies, including digital technologies, necessitates a concurrent rethinking of the fundamental processes of service innovation.
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Angela Carida', Maria Colurcio, Bo Edvardsson and Alberto Pastore
There is a need to understand value co-creation in service ecosystems that engage multiple actors with different goals. This study aims to extend the understanding of value…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a need to understand value co-creation in service ecosystems that engage multiple actors with different goals. This study aims to extend the understanding of value co-creation by considering the orchestration of service ecosystems with reference to resource-integration processes.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory case study approach is used to analyze actors' roles in resource orchestration within a service ecosystem, gathering data from the macro, meso and micro levels of an Italian hospitality and tourism services ecosystem.
Findings
A framework is devised that highlights the intersection between orchestration and resource integration for value co-creation processes across the macro, meso and micro levels in service ecosystems. This extends the understanding of service ecosystem dynamics, especially how new value co-creation structures emerge, by emphasizing the circular causality between system levels. Findings show how orchestrating resource integration activities initiate and institutionalize non-linear value co-creation processes.
Practical implications
Resource integration orchestration within and between ecosystem levels is a possible response to societal challenges and for creating economic, cultural and social value across the community. The study offers policymakers insights into developing new competencies for developing actions according to a logic of socially and sustainable value.
Originality/value
This study advances the understanding of service orchestration by expanding the concept and the feasibility of service ecosystem orchestration. It offers insights into the importance of orchestrating resource integration to the emergence and vitality of service ecosystems themselves. The study responds to the need for empirical studies on value co-creation.