First, the theory of benchmarking competitor functions is outlined. Then, three cases show how benchmarking a competitor's value chain can determine your company's response…
Patrick Lo, Robert Sutherland, Wei-En Hsu and Russ Girsberger
Huy Gip, Priyanko Guchait and Juan M. Madera
Although existing literature emphasizes the significance of diversity and inclusion in management roles for employees, there is a notable absence of a standardized scale to assess…
Abstract
Purpose
Although existing literature emphasizes the significance of diversity and inclusion in management roles for employees, there is a notable absence of a standardized scale to assess employees’ perceptions of an inclusive climate, particularly in relation to practices that encourage acceptance of demographically diverse leaders. This study aims to bridge this gap by developing the perceived inclusion climate for leader diversity (PICLD) scale.
Design/methodology/approach
The scale development process was carried out in five phases which included: qualitative component (interviews); test for face validity; check for content validity; construct and criterion-related validity; and nomological network testing.
Findings
Following the first three phases of scale development, 12 measurement items were produced. Phase four results indicate that PICLD is distinct from both the intercultural group climate scale and diversity-oriented leadership scale, in which all three scales were found to be positively correlated with job satisfaction. Phase five results show that PICLD positively correlates with organizational justice. Organizational justice also mediates the relationship between PICLD and three employee outcomes (performance, engagement and turnover intention).
Practical implications
Organizations are encouraged to be open to suggestions made by managers from historically marginalized groups that motivate diverse leaders to voice their concerns to foster inclusionary climate perceptions among employees. Welcoming diverse managerial perspectives can dismantle systemic barriers, enabling marginalized leaders to thrive while fostering employees’ perceptions of an inclusionary workplace.
Originality/value
This study introduces the PICLD Scale to enhance comprehension of how policies supporting leader demographic diversity impact employee perceptions of inclusive climate. This research also contributes to the advancement of social exchange theory and literature on organizational justice, performance and engagement.
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This paper considers how archival accounting records may support truth-telling about past atrocities during Australia's frontier wars.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper considers how archival accounting records may support truth-telling about past atrocities during Australia's frontier wars.
Design/methodology/approach
The study examines two colonial accounting records – military muster payrolls and the ledger statements of a local tax fund – used during the British's punitive expeditions against the Aboriginal peoples of Sydney in 1816.
Findings
The accounting records reveal new information about the full scale of the campaign, the degree to which the violence was formally endorsed and acts of Aboriginal resistance. However, much of the human toll of the campaign remains obscured by the highly structured, monetary lens of financial records authored and archived by the British colonial regime.
Social implications
Australia's First Nations have called for greater truth-telling about the frontier wars to enable meaningful reconciliation and political recognition of Indigenous sovereignty. This study highlights the potential role of accounting records as a resource for contemporary truth-telling processes.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature about the dark history of accounting by explicating genre features in the content, form and context of archival accounting records, which can both render past atrocities more visible as well as perpetrate invisibilities, ambiguities and silences.
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This paper aims to examine how residues of ancient images have influenced one’s perspectives on management. Increased attention has been given to the absence of bodies within…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how residues of ancient images have influenced one’s perspectives on management. Increased attention has been given to the absence of bodies within discussions of organisations; however, far less attention has been given to the interplay between organisations and images of one’s body.
Design/methodology/approach
By comparing the perceived benefits of studying sport (e.g. passion, embodiment and action) with the tensions that existed between athletic performances and an ancient image of the body, this paper draws attention to residuals that exist within discussions of organisations.
Findings
In a context where an image of the body encouraged moderation, the appropriate levels of heat, and the development of an immaterial and eternal soul, athletic performances, which were physical, extreme, focused on the body and generated excessive heat, were often problematic. These problems are then examined within the literature discussing current issues in management.
Research limitations/implications
Sport has the potential to facilitate one’s understanding of issues that management, consistent with ancient images of the body, has traditionally neglected (i.e. extremes, passion) and the possibilities of using embodied cognition to enhance our understandings of performance, teams and leading are discussed.
Social implications
As scientists become increasingly concerned about the long-term consequences of the reduced opportunities for cultural programs (sport, art, music, etc.), revisiting one’s assumptions is increasingly important, especially as athletics and philosophy once shared the same physical space.
Originality/value
By describing how residues from historical images of the body have influenced the thinking about organizing, this paper highlights the connection between the social and the biological and demonstrates how vestiges from the past influence contemporary discussions.
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R. Dattakumar and R. Jagadeesh
Benchmarking is recognised as an essential tool for continuous improvement of quality. A large number of publications by various authors reflect the interest in this technique…
Abstract
Benchmarking is recognised as an essential tool for continuous improvement of quality. A large number of publications by various authors reflect the interest in this technique. Reviews of literature on benchmarking have been done in the past by a few authors. However, considering the contributions in the recent times, a more comprehensive review is attempted here. In this paper, the authors have reviewed benchmarking literature in a way that would help researchers, academicians and practitioners to take a closer look at the growth, development and applicability of this technique. The authors have examined various papers and have proposed a different scheme of classification. In addition, certain gaps that would provide hints for further research in benchmarking have been identified.
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Miriam Weismann, Sue Ganske and Osmel Delgado
The assignment is to design a plan that aligns patient satisfaction scores with quality care metrics. The instructor’s manual (IM) introduces models for designing and implementing…
Abstract
Theoretical basis
The assignment is to design a plan that aligns patient satisfaction scores with quality care metrics. The instructor’s manual (IM) introduces models for designing and implementing a strategic plan to approach the quality improvement process.
Research methodology
This is a field research case. The author(s) had access to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and other members of the management team, meeting with them on numerous occasions. Cleveland Clinic Florida (CCF) provided the data included in the appendices. Additionally, relevant hospital data, also included in the appendices, is required to be made public on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) databases. Accordingly, all data and information are provided by original sources.
Case overview/synopsis
Osmel “Ozzie” Delgado, MBA and COO of CCF was faced with a dilemma. Under the new CMS reimbursement formula, patient satisfaction survey scores directly impacted hospital reimbursement. However, the CCF patient satisfaction surveys revealed some very unhappy patients. Delgado pondered these results that really made no sense to him because CCF received the highest national and state rankings for its clinical quality at the same time. Clearly, patients were receiving the best medical care, but they were still unhappy. Leaning back in his chair, Delgado shook his head and wondered incredulously how one of the most famous hospitals in the world could deliver such great care but receive negative patient feedback on CMS surveys. What was going wrong and how was the hospital going to fix it?
Complexity academic level
This case is designed for graduate Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), Master’s in Health Sciences Administration (MHSA) and/or Public Health (PA) audiences. While a healthcare concentration is useful, the case raises the generic business problems of satisfying the customer to increase brand recognition in the marketplace and displacing competition to increase annual revenues. Indeed, the same analysis can be applied in other heavily regulated industries also suffering from a change in liquidity and growth occasioned by regulatory change.
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Metehan Feridun Sorkun and Noyan Alperen İdin
This study aims to reveal consumer purchase intentions for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) lifetime deals and the role of service offerings in shaping these intentions.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to reveal consumer purchase intentions for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) lifetime deals and the role of service offerings in shaping these intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
Lifetime deals − an aggressive market penetration strategy − have the potential to allow startups to gain market share, user base and the cash necessary for growth. However, startups need to mitigate consumer concerns for which service offering design plays a key role. Drawing on expectancy-value and signaling theories, this study developed a research model and then conducted empirical research on 2,173 consumers via choice-based conjoint analysis to reveal the critical service offering attributes for consumer utility in lifetime deals in the SaaS presentation tool market context. After using the hierarchical Bayes model to derive each respondent’s part-worth utilities for service offering attributes, the hypotheses were tested via the factor score regression method.
Findings
The results show that the service offering attributes of low price, refund option, human support and feature updates enhance consumer utility in SaaS lifetime deals. Three of these four attributes, namely, low price, refund option and feature updates, enhance consumers' purchase intentions by reducing their concerns about the service’s performance, seller and lifespan, respectively.
Originality/value
This study elucidates consumer purchase intentions for SaaS services in digital marketplaces. By investigating a widespread market entry strategy − lifetime deals − it shows consumer preferences and behavior for these deals in the fast-growing online tools market. This study also shows how startups can use lifetime deals through a well-designed service offering to mitigate various consumer concerns.