Salford postgraduate annual research conference (SPARC) 2012 proceedings

These proceedings bring together a selection of papers from the 2012 Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference (SPARC). They reflect the breadth and diversity of research interests showcased at the conference, at which over 130 researchers from Salford, the North West and other UK universities presented their work. 21 papers are collated here from the humanities, arts, social sciences, health, engineering, environment and life sciences, built environment and business

Measuring perceived black economic empowerment in the South African wine industry

The aim of this study is to develop a scale to measure perceived black economic empowerment (BEE) as reported by beneficiaries themselves. Two scale development procedures were carried out on randomly selected samples of 213 and 322 previously disadvantaged individual respondents within 14 and 11wine business that cover the larger part of the wine industry chain. The results led to a 'feeling' self-report scale (5-dimensions) and an ‘evolution’ self-report scale (6-dimensions). The emerged dimensions are: Business ownership and control (BOC), Access to finance (ATF), Employment and Human Resources Management (EMP) [internal and external], Social capital/enabling environment (SOC) and Lobbying power and collective action (LOB). First measurement results indicate that respondents feel less empowered with respect to BOC and ATF as compared to EMP, SOC and LOB. There appears to be no gender or age differences, but there are geographical differences. The latter is mostly per farm, that is, a lot of variation in BEE is observed at the firm level. The scale can be used at the firm and industry level as a diagnostic tool to monitor BEE progress as a complementary and not a substitutive framework to the wine industry scorecard as an objective measure of BEE. Future research should focus on the gap between the two definitions and assessment tools in order to comprehensively capture BEE in its entirety. The scale can also be adapted to fit the context, for example, its use in the agricultural sector at large.Agribusiness,

Seasonal Climate Forecasts and Risk Management Among Georgia Farmers

Recent increases in the scientific robustness of seasonal climate forecasts have not led to substantial changes in farmers’ risk management strategies of actors, largely because there is poor integration of scientific forecasting into farmers’ decision-making processes. The goal of the research presented here is to explore the potentials and constraints for farmers’ application of seasonal climate forecasts through an analysis of the cultural contexts of their decision-making and information use. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 farmers in southern Georgia, examining their approaches, risk-management, to livelihood goals and strategies, and interactions with weather and climate information. Findings indicate that farmers’ management of risks associated with climate variability is embedded within a broad array of social factors, including subjective construction of social and personal identities, goals, and values. These cultural contexts affect the ways that farmers interpret and might apply seasonal climate forecasts to agricultural decisions. These findings indicate that, rather than simply acting as a technical information input, seasonal climate forecasts and forecasters must gradually work theirway into farmers’ trusted social networks before their potential as risk management tools will be realized. Furthermore, while seeking to produce scientific information to support farmers’ adaptive practices, scientists themselves must adapt their own practices to better fit a coproduction of knowledge approach

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND SERVICE QUALITY OF FACILITATORS’ INDONESIA HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (HRDA)

The model which was widely known and describes the concept of service quality is the Service Quality (SERVQUAL) model proposed by Parasuraman et al (1985). However, this model has a limitation, because its application merely for service providers in the business sector, not for service providers in the public sector and service providers in the education sector. In education sector, facilitators are always involved in interpersonal interaction with the training participants. Some researchers agree to uncover the relationship between the emotional intelligence of service providers and service quality. Based on the literature review, there are limited studies in the field of education and training of the Civil Service Apparatus, especially regarding the relationship between emotional intelligence and service quality. Thus, this study aims to reveal the effect of facilitators’ emotional intelligence on service quality with respondents from participants of Basic Education and Training (Diklatsar), Leadership Education and Training 3 (Diklatpim 3), and Leadership and Education Training 4 (Diklatpim 4) at HRDA Province. This study uses quantitative methods. The sample size in this study was 462 people who were collected through a survey with a purposive sampling technique. The data analysis technique used is SEM through a two-stage approach. The results showed that the facilitators’ emotional intelligence of  HRDA of Central Java, East Java, West Java,   Jakarta, Banten, Central Sulawesi, and North Sumatera Provinces,  had a significant positive effect on the quality of service with social awareness as the indicator with the highest effect

Customer retention and cross-buying in premium banking services : the roles of switching costs and interaction quality

The emergence of e-banking and intense competition in premium banking services have essentially evolved the way banks have conventionally conducted their business and the way customers interact with banks. Consequently, banks are increasingly confronted with the conundrum: customers may appreciate the convenience of e-banking but as they migrate away from conventional banking mediums, the extent of personal interaction with bank staff –and in the case of premium banking services their Relationship Managers –decreases as do switching costs and, ultimately, long-term customer commitment.While the constructs of commitment and trust have been widely applied in relationship marketing studies, there is a need for a more comprehensive model and more objective measurement of continuance commitment. In response, based on payment equity theory and social exchange theory, as well as logical arguments from previous research, this thesis extends Morgan and Hunt’s (1994) commitment–trust model into a single model that encompasses moderating effects such as switching costs and interaction quality as well as continuance commitment in the form of retention and cross-buying. It is important to study customer retention and cross-buying simultaneously, as they have been studied separately in previous research. The purpose of the study is thus to examine the roles of switching costs and interaction quality along with other key relational variables that influence customer retention and cross-buying behaviour in the premium banking services sector.Primary data for the study were collected from 525 bank customers in a large metropolitan area in Australia. The study identifies the importance of switching costs and interaction quality and their relationship with trust, reputation and expertise for continuance commitment (retention and cross-buying). Regression analysis and MANOVA were used to test the hypotheses. The analyses of the findings of this thesis provide support to the model and, in the main, support the hypotheses. The results confirm that while reputation and expertise have a positive impact on retention, they do not affect cross-buying. Only trust has a positive impact on both retention and cross-buying. To further investigate the roles of switching costs and interaction quality, investigation was carried out to examine if these two constructs moderate the relationship between trust and continuance commitment (retention and cross-buying). The results confirm that although switching costs have no impact on retention, they do affect cross-buying. Conversely, interaction quality has a positive impact on retention, but no effect on cross-buying. Hence, it can be concluded that customer retention is not necessarily translated into cross-buying.Primary data for the study were collected from 525 bank customers in a large metropolitan area in Australia. The study identifies the importance of switching costs and interaction quality and their relationship with trust, reputation and expertise for continuance commitment (retention and cross-buying). Regression analysis and MANOVA were used to test the hypotheses. The analyses of the findings of this thesis provide support to the model and, in the main, support the hypotheses. The results confirm that while reputation and expertise have a positive impact on retention, they do not affect cross-buying. Only trust has a positive impact on both retention and cross-buying. To further investigate the roles of switching costs and interaction quality, investigation was carried out to examine if these two constructs moderate the relationship between trust and continuance commitment (retention and cross-buying). The results confirm that although switching costs have no impact on retention, they do affect cross-buying. Conversely, interaction quality has a positive impact on retention, but no effect on cross-buying. Hence, it can be concluded that customer retention is not necessarily translated into cross-buying

Affect: knowledge, communication, creativity and emotion

Concerns about emotional well-being have recently become the focus of social policy, particularly in education settings. This is a sudden and unique development in placing new ideas about emotion and creativity and communication in curriculum content, pedagogy and assessment, but also in redefining fundamentally what it is to ‘know’. Our report charts the creation of what we call an ‘emotional epistemology’ that may undermine all previous ideas about epistemology, draws out implications for educational aspirations and purposes and evaluates potential implications for these aspirations and purposes if trends we identify here continue into the future.This document has been commissioned as part of the UK Department for Children, Schools and Families’ Beyond Current Horizons project, led by Futurelab. The views expressed do not represent the policy of any Government or organisation

A literature review of connectedness to nature and its potential for environmental management

Understanding how people's relationships with nature form, how they influence personal values and attitudes, and what behavioural implications they may have could provide more insight into how connectedness to nature (CNT) can effectively contribute to environmental management goals. This paper undertakes a review of literature published over the past decade (2002e2011) on SCOPUS; and describes the current state of knowledge regarding CNT, assesses any efforts towards the spatial mapping of CNT for environmental management, and identifies measures of CNT defined in the broader literature. This review suggests that there is quite some overlap in the literature on CNT concepts, and that more effort needs to be made towards multi-disciplinary research which explores how CNT can be useful to environmental planning and conservation research on the field. It also further corroborates the need and relevance of applying more social and affective strategies to promote conservation behaviour. The main progress in CNT theory seems to have been made in the development of measurement tools, and it is clear that there is a strong convergent validity amongst the different measures due to their similarity, and functional associations. Further efforts towards the exploration of multi-dimensional measures is recommended since they consistently stand out as showing better results. The geographic visualisation of CNT constructs is another area of research that deserves attention since it can provide a unique point of view towards guiding participatory protected area planning and management.peer-reviewe