Magnus Söderlund, Veronica Liljander, Johanna Gummerus, Pia Hellman, Michaela Lipkin, Eeva-Liisa Oikarinen, Marianne Sepp and Karina T. Liljedal
The purpose of this paper is to examine reactions when customers in service encounters receive preferential treatment (i.e. something extra in relation to other customers). The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine reactions when customers in service encounters receive preferential treatment (i.e. something extra in relation to other customers). The examination is conducted in a social context that allows the customer to compare what he or she receives with what other customers receive. The main effect variables are perceived justice and customer satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
An experimental method is employed to examine the effects of providing customers with preferential treatment. The study involves four treatment groups with various combinations of receiving or not receiving preferential treatment.
Findings
Customers perceived preferential treatment as relatively unjust. This was true for customers who received the preferential treatment and for those who did not. However, customer satisfaction among those receiving preferential treatment was enhanced, thus signaling that preferential treatment affects perceived justice and satisfaction differently. In addition, different contexts for receiving preferential treatment (i.e. receiving it alone or sharing it with another customer) produced different levels of customer satisfaction.
Originality/value
The extant research on preferential treatment has failed to acknowledge that this treatment often occurs in the presence of several customers, which is likely to evoke perceptions of justice. At the same time, extant research on perceived justice in service situations has mainly focussed on service failures as antecedents of justice perceptions. This study attempts to extend theory on both preferential treatment and perceived justice in service-encounter settings.
Details
Keywords
Silvia De Simone and Jessica Pileri
Despite repeated attempts to implement gender education in schools, numerous forms of resistance still persist, maintaining the current gender order, especially in Italy. Thus, in…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite repeated attempts to implement gender education in schools, numerous forms of resistance still persist, maintaining the current gender order, especially in Italy. Thus, in this paper, the authors focus on the practices of resistance opposed to gender education in kindergarten.
Design/methodology/approach
This study takes a qualitative approach, and data collection was conducted using ethnographic observations, a focus group and an in-depth interview. The authors used critical discourse analysis (cf: Fairclough's three-dimensional model).
Findings
As per our findings, teachers' resistance is attributed to “hegemonic masculinity” and “essentialism”. In the case of “hegemonic masculinity”, the discourses emphasise that male feminisation is a threat and female masculinisation is harmless. On the “essentialist” side, teachers' discourses focus on the segregation of genders that justify naturalised gender differences.
Practical implications
This study emphasises the need for specific training for figures as important and authoritative as teachers. In addition to the training of teachers who currently work in kindergarten, it is also necessary to address the issue at the institutional level, adding to the university courses the teaching of specific subjects related to gender.
Social implications
This paper offers causes for reflection on a profession that has profound implications in our society and about the power of resistance to implementing gender education. The implications are discussed.
Originality/value
Different data sources are used simultaneously to disclose discursive practices of resistance to gender education in Italy.
Details
Keywords
Khaled Abdou and Paramita Gupta
This study aims to investigate limited partners’ (LPs) influence on venture capital (VC) fund returns.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate limited partners’ (LPs) influence on venture capital (VC) fund returns.
Design/methodology/approach
We merge data from Preqin and SDC’s VentureXpert spanning from 1993 to 2014 and conduct multiple regression analysis to examine the influence of LPs on VC fund performance. Additionally, we conduct three distinct robustness tests to verify the credibility of our findings.
Findings
Our empirical analysis demonstrates that newbie LPs consistently exert a significant positive influence on VC fund returns.
Research limitations/implications
VC and LP data is self-reported, and there is no comprehensive dataset as some LPs prefer to maintain anonymity.
Originality/value
Extant literature on LPs’ contribution to VC fund performance is limited. The general assumption is that the role of LPs in VC fund performance is confined to funding. We introduce a new variable, LP track record, as a proxy for LP experience to examine if this variable influences VC performance.
Details
Keywords
The aim of this paper is to analyse and examine the factors affecting the international expansion and market entry of foreign multinational banks (MNBs) in Malaysia. While…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to analyse and examine the factors affecting the international expansion and market entry of foreign multinational banks (MNBs) in Malaysia. While relevance of the theoretical perspectives is highlighted, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the present‐day phenomenon of emerging multinational banks.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs multi‐method approaches combining both questionnaires survey data and qualitative interviews.
Findings
The findings reveal the fact that profitability, trade financing, following the customers, diversifying the risk and pursuing new market opportunities are among important factors for the presence of foreign banks in the country.
Research limitations/implications
The paper highlights relevance of further research on multinational banking and outlines research avenues.
Practical implications
The paper offers important insight and practical implications for local regulators and policy makers and bankers to understand the behaviour of foreign multinational banking in emerging markets.
Originality/value
The objective of this paper is to fill in some gaps in the literature regarding this research area. The paper provides preliminary research evidence and a framework to suggest hypotheses for further research.
Details
Keywords
Yixiong Feng, Chuan He, Yicong Gao, Hao Zheng and Jianrong Tan
To find the system with minimum investment and best quality performance that is capable of producing all of the product variants, assessing the complexity of designing assembly…
Abstract
Purpose
To find the system with minimum investment and best quality performance that is capable of producing all of the product variants, assessing the complexity of designing assembly system at the early concept stage is an essential step, which helps and instructs a designer to create a product- and system-oriented assembly solution with the least complexity. The purpose of this paper is to propose a quantifying measurement of complexity in the design of a modular automated assembly system.
Design/methodology/approach
The configurable assembly system is becoming a trend, which enables companies to quickly respond to changes caused by different product variants but without a large investment. One of the enabling factors is the availability of modular solutions of assembly modules that can be configured according to different technical requirements. This paper develops a methodology using fuzzy evaluation to calculate the design complexity in the design phase for a modular automatic assembly system. Fuzzy linguistic variables are used to measure the interaction among the influence factors, to deal with the uncertainty of the judgement. The proposed method investigates three matrices to present how the function-based assembly modules, design complexity factors, part attributes and product components, which are regarded as the main influence factors, complicate the construction of a modular assembly system. The design complexity is derived and quantified based on these assessments.
Findings
The proposed approach presents a formal quantification to evaluate the design complexity with regard to a modular assembly system from beginning, which can be identified and used as criteria to indicate the quality of performance and investment cost in advance. A mathematical model based on the fuzzy logic is established to provide both theoretical and practical guidance for the paper. To validate the predictive model, the statistic relationships between the assessed system design complexity, real assembly defect rate and investment cost are estimated based on regression analysis. The application of the presented methodology is demonstrated with regard to a traditional rear drive unit in the automotive industry.
Originality/value
This paper presents a developed method, which addresses the measures of complexity found in the design of a modular assembly system. It would help to run the design process with better resource allocation and cost estimation in a quantitative approach.