This article assesses a rational-choice model of bureaucratic behaviour - the bureau-shaping model - as an explanation of budget-making in British local government. The…
Abstract
This article assesses a rational-choice model of bureaucratic behaviour - the bureau-shaping model - as an explanation of budget-making in British local government. The bureau-shaping model is essentially a reconstructed rational-choice model of bureaucratic behaviour in liberal democratic states, which emerged from critiques of its rival budgetmaximising model. The explanatory power of the bureau-shaping model is significantly superior to the budget-maximising model. However, the explanatory power of the bureaushaping model is limited because, as a supply-side model, it cannot explain how budgets are demanded and controlled by political sponsors, who in turn are constrained politically. Budgetary decision-making takes place in a political arena where both supply and demand are mediated; a supply-side model, at best, can explain only half the budget-story.
Dewi Tojib and Saman Khajehzadeh
– This study aims to demonstrate that meta-perceptions play a contributing role in customers’ direct complaint intention.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to demonstrate that meta-perceptions play a contributing role in customers’ direct complaint intention.
Design/methodology/approach
In an exploratory study, we identified different types of meta-perceptions. In a scenario-based experiment, we tested the interaction effect of service failure attribution and the perceived service failure severity on meta-perceptions and direct complaint intention.
Findings
After experiencing service failure, customers amplify both positive and negative meta-perceptions. Depending on how customers attribute the service failure and perceive the magnitude of service failure, they evaluate these meta-perceptions differently which then determine their subsequent actions.
Research limitations/implications
The use of hypothetical scenarios may not capture the richness of an actual service encounter. The study is limited to two service failure contexts: cable TV connection and restaurant booking.
Practical implications
Service managers should design marketing strategies that can elevate customers’ positive social image associated with voicing complaints.
Originality/value
This study offers a new explanation, in that some customers do not engage in direct complaining behavior owing to meta-perceptions that they develop during service failure.
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John Rutaisire and Charles Gahima
The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between policy development and research evidence with specific reference to the Rwandan Teacher Development and Management…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between policy development and research evidence with specific reference to the Rwandan Teacher Development and Management Policy introduced in 2005. It aims to highlight the complexity of implementing large‐scale system wide change in the specific context of a small African nation emerging from a recent period of intense conflict.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper seeks to link analysis of teacher education policy in Rwanda with a review of international scholarship and research.
Findings
The paper argues that much has been achieved by the Rwandan Teacher Development and Management Policy, but that further work is necessary if the policy is to lead to tangible and meaningful change at school level. It also concludes that international research on teacher education and development can provide a useful rationale for Rwandan education policy, but it is vital that policy implementation reflects the specificity of the Rwandan context.
Research limitation/implications
The paper has implications for contexts seeking to adopt similar system wide policy changes, and seeking to link international research with specific national circumstances.
Originality/value
Education research into the specific contexts of sub‐Saharan African nations remains underdeveloped. This paper makes a small contribution to addressing this deficit.
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Stephen Cope, Frank Leishman and Peter Starie
Explores the links between processes of globalization and new public management (NPM), and examines their effects on the management of the police in particular. Assesses whether…
Abstract
Explores the links between processes of globalization and new public management (NPM), and examines their effects on the management of the police in particular. Assesses whether managerial unity or managerial disunity will characterize the future of police management. Looks at the effects of globalization on academic disciplines; the role of the State in an era of globalization; the rise of NPM; the effects of NPM on the management of the British police; the implications of police management reform for the police; and future scenarios of police management.
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Michael Kami, president of Corporate Planning Inc., recently said that “the success of an organization depends on the individual and collective knowledge of its people”. This is…
Abstract
Michael Kami, president of Corporate Planning Inc., recently said that “the success of an organization depends on the individual and collective knowledge of its people”. This is very true, and highlights the importance of staying ahead in your particular field. The difficulties lie in deciding how to stay ahead. What strategies should be used, where it should be done and how much it will cost, are just a few of the issues that need to be addressed before tackling the knowledge debate.
Frank Leishman, Stephen Cope and Peter Starie
Since the late 1970s the public sector in Britain has been subjectto major reforms, which have been consistent with the prominentinternational trend of bringing new public…
Abstract
Since the late 1970s the public sector in Britain has been subject to major reforms, which have been consistent with the prominent international trend of bringing new public management into government. The police service has escaped significant reform, particularly when compared with other policy areas. But in 1993 the Conservative government put forward a series of police reform measures, corresponding largely to the tenets of new public management. However, despite political commitment to reform, the implementation of many of the reform proposals has been successfully resisted by the police. Provides an explanation of the attempt to reform the police service by using a policy networks approach.
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The purpose of this paper is to focus on a partnership-based mentoring model and the learning experiences of participant mentees and mentors. As part of the project, newly…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on a partnership-based mentoring model and the learning experiences of participant mentees and mentors. As part of the project, newly qualified teachers (NQTs) were supported to develop and implement a practitioner enquiry (teacher/action research) in a learning community involving two local authorities and an initial teacher education institution.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative data were collected from five semi-structured focus group interviews with key participant groupings to uncover perceptions and experiences of the partnership and professional learning therein. Analysis using an inductive and iterative approach pinpointed a number of emerging themes used to frame key elements of the findings.
Findings
Findings suggested that the partnership-based model promoted the professional learning and development of NQTs and their mentors in various ways. The nature and shape of the partnership had an influence on the quality of mentoring and support experienced. The community effectively supported the implementation of meaningful enquiry projects, which had clear connections to the enhancement of professional practice and pupil learning. However, specific tensions and conflicts emerged as hindrances to successful partnership-based mentoring in the specific context.
Originality/value
New insights into the role of a partnership-based mentoring scheme supporting practitioner enquiry-based learning of NQTs emerged. The local, layered community defining the partnership, and operating within the frame of a national induction scheme, was analysed. Benefits for partners were identified and specific challenges and tensions highlighted, both providing new evidence with potential to impact policy and practice. Policy developments supporting teachers to be mentors and enquiring professionals need to recognise the structural and support tensions that exist in contextual practice.
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Min Gyung Kim, Chenya Wang and Anna S. Mattila
The goal of the present conceptual paper is to integrate two streams of literature related to service failures: customer complaining behaviors (CCB) and service recovery…
Abstract
Purpose
The goal of the present conceptual paper is to integrate two streams of literature related to service failures: customer complaining behaviors (CCB) and service recovery literature. The suggested conceptual framework intends to broaden the thinking on consumers' complaint handling processes for hospitality institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
A model is proposed that integrates the service recovery and CCB literatures under a single framework. A careful literature review is performed to justify the conceptual framework.
Findings
The framework offers a starting point for broadening the thinking on consumers' complaint handling processes.
Research limitations/implications
Systematic empirical research is needed to test the integrative model.
Originality/value
This paper offers insight for hospitality managers into how to effectively deal with dissatisfied customer experiences.
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Frederic B. Kraft, Devdeep Maity and Stephen Porter
It is well known that job stress is major cause of salesperson job dissatisfaction and turnover. Salespeople require the resources to cope adequately with a multitude of job…
Abstract
Purpose
It is well known that job stress is major cause of salesperson job dissatisfaction and turnover. Salespeople require the resources to cope adequately with a multitude of job stressors, and the purpose of this study is to demonstrate that salesperson wellness promotes the ability of salespeople to use effective coping strategies in the workplace and as a result decrease their intentions of leaving the firm.
Design/methodology/approach
Data including measures of coping strategies and a wellness lifestyle orientation were collected from a sample of 441 full-time professional salespeople in two metropolitan statistical areas of the USA. Structural equation modeling was used to demonstrate the relationship of a wellness lifestyle to coping strategies and in turn the relationship of coping strategies to job satisfaction and turnover intentions.
Findings
The study demonstrated the influence of the wellness lifestyle on salespeople’s ability to cope effectively with job stress. It extends previous research by demonstrating the direct influence of salesperson wellness on coping behaviors and demonstrates the nomological validity of the wellness lifestyle construct by modeling its relationship with job satisfaction and the intent to leave the organization.
Research limitations/implications
The study recommends new research on the synergies that might be produced by simultaneous consideration of the social, physical, and psychological elements of the multicomponent wellness lifestyle. This should be particularly valuable in the context of the Challenger Sale.
Practical implications
Wellness programs may be introduced or improved following an assessment of coping resource weaknesses of the sales force. New employees could be screened by examining their wellness profiles.
Originality/value
Major firms have promoted wellness lifestyle programs for years, but no studies have examined the influence of such programs on coping with job stress by salespeople. The paper demonstrates the value of the salesperson wellness lifestyle by showing that it promotes the most adjustive form of coping strategy, problem-focused coping.