This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/EUM0000000000613. When citing the…
Abstract
This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/EUM0000000000613. When citing the article, please cite: Geoffrey N. Soutar, Richard C. Bell, Yvonne M. Wallis, (1990), “Consumer Acquisition Patterns for Durable Goods: A Rasch Analysis”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 24 Iss: 8, pp. 31 - 39.
Geoffrey N. Soutar, Richard C. Bell and Yvonne M. Wallis
There has been considerable researchinto the pattern of consumer durablepurchase. Most of the research hasused Guttman scaling as the basis ofthe analysis but there are…
Abstract
There has been considerable research into the pattern of consumer durable purchase. Most of the research has used Guttman scaling as the basis of the analysis but there are some problems in using this method with durable ownership data. It is suggested that Rasch scaling is an alternative approach and the results of analysing a data set which had previously been analysed using Guttman scaling are analysed. The advantages of Rasch modelling are outlined and some implications of the results are discussed.
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Yvonne Lederer Antonucci, Annetta Fortune and Mathias Kirchmer
While organizations have learned to understand the importance of developing business process management (BPM) capabilities, digitalization now transforms business processes, and…
Abstract
Purpose
While organizations have learned to understand the importance of developing business process management (BPM) capabilities, digitalization now transforms business processes, and introduces new challenges. Extending prior research examining the value of BPM capabilities in organizations, this study examines the associations of BPM capabilities across direct and indirect digitalization benefits.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing from the capabilities perspective of strategic management, the dynamic versus ordinary classification was used to classify eight BPM capabilities. An empirical investigation of associations between the eight BPM capabilities and 20 digitalization benefits is presented based on data collected from 165 BPM professionals across four continents. Factor analyses were performed to verify the framework measures for BPM capabilities and digitalization benefits. The Kendall's tau-b (τb) correlation coefficient was used to measure the strength and direction of associations.
Findings
Overall results confirm positive associations between BPM capabilities and digitalization benefits, but the relationship was less dominant for ordinary BPM capabilities and indirect benefits. Furthermore, relationships between individual BPM capabilities and specific digitalization benefits vary both across and within the categories.
Practical implications
These findings support the moderate capability-based view that puts ordinary and dynamic capabilities on equal footing in dynamic environments, while also providing insight for managers focused on specific outcomes with digitalization efforts.
Originality/value
This study reveals that the strength of associations between BPM capabilities and digitalization benefits varies. This highlights the relevance of ordinary-dynamic and direct-indirect distinctions, and the value of a more fine-grained understanding to better inform practice.
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Charitable Choice Policy, the heart of President Bush’s Faith‐Based Initiative, is the direct government funding of religious organizations for the purpose of carrying out…
Abstract
Charitable Choice Policy, the heart of President Bush’s Faith‐Based Initiative, is the direct government funding of religious organizations for the purpose of carrying out government programs. The Bush presidential administration has called for the application of Charitable Choice Policy to all kinds of social services. Advocates for child‐abuse victims contend that the Bush Charitable Choice Policy would further dismantle essential social services provided to abused children. Others have argued Charitable Choice Policy is unconstitutional because it crosses the boundary separating church and state. Rather than drastically altering the US social‐policy landscape, this paper demonstrates that the Bush Charitable Choice Policy already is in place for childabuse services across many of the fifty states. One reason this phenomenon is ignored is due to the reliance on the public‐private dichotomy for studying social policies and services. This paper contends that relying on the public‐private dichotomy leads researchers to overlook important configurations of actors and institutions that provide services to abused children. It offers an alternate framework to the public‐private dichotomy useful for the analysis of social policy in general and, in particular, Charitable Choice Policy affecting services to abused children. Employing a new methodological approach, fuzzy‐sets analysis, demonstrates the degree to which social services for abused children match ideal types. It suggests relationships between religious organizations and governments are essential to the provision of services to abused children in the United States. Given the direction in which the Bush Charitable Choice Policy will push social‐policy programs, scholars should ask whether abused children will be placed in circumstances that other social groups will not and why.
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Yvonne Brunetto and Rod Farr‐Wharton
The purpose of this paper is to compare the impact of the quality of employee enablers (in this case measured by the quality of the communication relationship between local…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the impact of the quality of employee enablers (in this case measured by the quality of the communication relationship between local government employees and supervisors) with the ideal “high quality social capital network” on the quality of outputs (such as employees' level of ambiguity in relation to customers and/or their level of productivity).
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses a concurrent nested mixed methods strategy – gaining the majority of the data from a cross‐sectional, survey‐based, self‐report strategy and supporting these findings with qualitative data.
Findings
The findings suggest that the quality of employee enablers did affect the quality of outputs and these conditions were ideal for achieving high quality service delivery. Employees experienced some level of dissatisfaction with communication frequency, mode, content and bi‐direction and this significantly contributed to their experiencing some level of ambiguity in relation to customers, ethical issues and their supervisors.
Research limitations/implications
The sample is limited to local government employees that provided front‐line service to the public located within one state of Australia. Moreover, common methods bias is often cited as a problem of data obtained from self‐report surveys.
Practical implications
The implementation of NPM aimed to embed private sector practices within a public sector context so as to make the organisations more customer‐focused – however, the findings appear to be contrary to this aim.
Originality/value
The findings from this study provide another piece of evidence about the impact of recent reforms on the effectiveness of Australia's local government in providing the employee enablers to meet the needs of customers. As such, it provides a building‐block for further studies to review the impact of changes resulting from the implementation of NPM.
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The provision of library services to thehousebound in the United Kingdom isextremely diverse. Local authorities vary intheir attitudes to priorities just as demanditself varies…
Abstract
The provision of library services to the housebound in the United Kingdom is extremely diverse. Local authorities vary in their attitudes to priorities just as demand itself varies. The development of housebound reader services is discussed, along with staffing requirements and also the range and selection of reading material and other requirements such as music and books on cassette.
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THE idea of a central service and supplies organisation for libraries—a “Library Centre”— such as exist abroad and are described in Library Supply agencies in Europe, is like most…
Abstract
THE idea of a central service and supplies organisation for libraries—a “Library Centre”— such as exist abroad and are described in Library Supply agencies in Europe, is like most ideas in librarianship, not a new one, even taking into account the establishment of Norway's Biblioteksentralen over 60 years ago in 1902, which at that time was called Folkeboksamlingenes Ekspedisjon. This idea, like so so much else, seems to have originated in the fertile brain of Melvil Dewey, taking its final and lasting form as the Library Bureau, established by Dewey himself in 1882.
During recent years, the use of plastic materials for the packaging of foods has been increasing fairly rapidly, but with the more recent expansion of self‐service stores, and of…
Abstract
During recent years, the use of plastic materials for the packaging of foods has been increasing fairly rapidly, but with the more recent expansion of self‐service stores, and of pre‐packaging in general, the employment of plastic compounds for the wrapping, storage, and handling of food has assumed a volume far greater than might have been anticipated but a short time ago. There are obvious advantages in these materials, particularly from the aspect of food hygiene, and they offer a range in properties that can suit the requirements of nearly all foodstuffs. While plastics normally consist mainly of synthetic resins and their derivatives, there are also present other substances such as plasticisers, lubricants, stabilisers, colouring matters and fillers; some of these other ingredients are or could be toxic in themselves, or they could contain metals or other substances known to be toxic or potentially toxic. Food in a plastic wrapper that includes in its ingredients a toxic substance is not going to do the consumer of the food any harm unless some of the toxic factor passes into the food, or into one of the ingredients of the food.