Market-based capabilities, perceived quality and firm performance

The historical roots of the marketing concept are traceable to the early 1950s (Drucker, 1954). However, the field of strategic marketing did not begin to bloom until late 1980s and begin 1990s. In this period various scholars begin to develop a better and more precise understanding of the marketing concept, its antecedents and consequences (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990; Narver and Slater, 1990). Some even suggest that the intellectual foundation for today’s strategic marketing starts early 1980s with the writings of Day and Wensley (1983, 1988). During the late 1990s and early 2000s, various critics begin to rebel at the widespread use of present conceptualizations of market orientation.1 In this thesis, we argue that the present market orientation conceptualizations are becoming outdated (after more than 15 years). We use herebyWeiner’s (2000, p. 382) philosophical words, that a marketing: “theory, like a cat or a dog, has a life of about 10-12 years, which is the equivalent of around 70-84 years of human existence. Longevity in part depends on the size of the pet (the bigger the theory, the earlier the demise), its level of activity, breed, and so on. At around the age of 10, the theory begins to weaken, does not see things too well, and is unable to adapt to the new circumstances and to the many obstacles in life. It can remember and account for the distant past better than recent events, and it acts with rigidity.” The diminishing attractiveness of the present conceptualizations of the marketing concept lead some researchers to look for or move off into new directions, such as (1) the market-based capabilities perspective, where market orientation only represents one of the components (Day, 1994), and (2) the strategic orientation construct, where market orientation is also incorporated as a dimension (Gatignon and Xuereb, 1997). The first perspective deals with the classification of market-based capabilities, which suggests a balanced perspective of inside-out and outside-in capabilities (e.g., Day 1994; Mizik and Jacobson 2003; Noble, Sinha and Kumar 2002; Slack and Lewis 2003; Srivastava, Fahey and Christensen 2001; Vargo and Lusch 2004; Zwart and Postma, 1998). Although a number of classifications exists, these models 1 Especially the Nordic Schools (i.e., Gummesson and Gr¨onroos) go rather far in their criticism. largely incorporate market-driven, relationship-driven and supply-chain capabilities as relevant market-based resources. Another perspective that gains popularity in recent years is the strategic orientation model. The strategic orientation direction incorporates variables like customer orientation, competitor orientation, technology orientation and relational orientation. This perspective integrates the classical strategic management literature with that of market orientation. Although we do not claim that the classical market orientation movement begins to fully lose its early enthusiasm, energy and adherents, we believe it is a good time to explore, synthesize, integrate and extend the previously mentioned directions. By doing so, we also provide evidence whether firms with (several) strong marketing capabilities are in a better position to satisfy the needs of their customers and shareholders. To investigate the propositions we use a dyadic approach, data generated from both customers of wholesalers and suppliers/wholesalers. Furthermore, we investigate, using several statistical methods, the effectiveness of attempting to develop several marketing capabilities simultaneously. In short, the primary purpose of this study is theory building, extension of previous research in the field of market orientation and applying several recently proposed statistical methods to further explore the developed frameworks. However, this study is not only useful from the point of view of advancement of science in marketing, but also from the point of view of advancing managerial decision making. The results derived from the developed models and proposed methods form an essential piece of information to improve marketing decisions. This enables (top) managers faced with the problem of how to trade off competing strategic marketing initiatives to further optimize their decision-making process.

Exploring consultant interview skills within the employment process in sport psychology

Academic interest in the professional practice of sport psychology has meant a proliferation in models, theories, and guides to successful service provision, from gaining entry into practice to the evaluation and/or termination of service. However, there is an absence of research that examines the stage before practice can begin, and in particular, the formal employment interview. In order to address this gap in the literature, this thesis developed an understanding of the skills necessary to navigate the employment interview as a sport psychology consultant (SPC). The first study identified the features of experience that influenced gatekeepers to sport psychology s previous hiring decisions (study one). Assuming an interpretative phenomenological approach, data were collected through interviews with seven gatekeepers in positions directly responsible for hiring SPCs within United Kingdom elite sport organisations. The participants experiences were interpreted to be influenced by four key features of the sport psychologists; (a) consultant affability, (b) consultant confidence versus arrogance, (c) consultant collaboration, and (d) presentation of consultant competencies. These features of experience were then used to create two short video vignettes simulating the employment interview between gatekeeper and practitioner (study two). Utilising these vignettes to stimulate discussion, Trainee Sport Psychologists were interviewed (n=31) concerning their ability to identify interview skills, their perception of their own skills, the sources of such skills and how they could be developed. Findings revealed that despite possessing desirable levels of both affability and collaboration skills, participants reported low levels of confidence in sport psychology and the ability to present their competencies. Parent and peer attachment, educational background and specific experiential features were proposed as sources of these skills. In an attempt to further examine the potential interactions between these proposed sources of interview skills, currently accredited, practicing Sport Psychologists and those undertaking practical training routes (n=214) were surveyed (study three). The findings of this study indicated that a SPC s peer attachment, educational background, applied experience, and interview experience variably relate to self-perceived levels of consultant affability, confidence in sport psychology, collaboration, and presentation of competencies. However, there was no significant effect observed for parent attachment, as suggested within study two. Together, the studies within this thesis provide the first examination of the features of experience that have influenced historic consumer decisions within the hiring of SPCs, the skills which SPCs should possess in order to gain entry through an employment interview, and the sources from which these skills may be derived

Equity, need and access in health care: a mixed methods investigation of specialist palliative care use in relation to age

The equitable provision of care is a core principle of the NHS. Previous research suggests that older cancer patients may be less likely to use specialist palliative care than younger patients, but studies have failed to fully define and measure clinical need. The aim of this study was to examine use of specialist palliative care in relation to age, after controlling for need. I used a mixed methods approach, grounded in a pragmatic philosophy and drawing upon a health capability account of equitable healthcare. I undertook a focused ethnography of three specialist palliative care services, using documentary evidence, observation of meetings, and interviews to investigate conceptualisations of need for care. I derived two models of need. The first ‘aspirational’ model encompassed physical, psychological, social and spiritual care for patients and carers. However, with limited resources, a predominantly physical model of need was applied. Additionally, observations suggested that care may vary in relation to patient characteristics including age. To locate a suitable measure of need, I conducted a systematic literature review and critical and content appraisal of health-related quality of life instruments. I chose the EORTC QLQ-C30 instrument as the indicator of need in a cross-sectional survey of patients and carers, conducted to measure use of specialist palliative care in relation to age. 252 patients and 137 carers attending four outpatient lung cancer clinics participated. 39% received specialist palliative care. Age was not associated with use of specialist palliative care; metastatic disease, global quality of life (‘need’) and the clinic where treatment was provided were. These findings suggest equitable use of specialist palliative care. However, a comprehensive account of equity must consider both use and quality of care. There were some suggestions that, within a resource-limited context, the quality of care may vary. Future equity research should prospectively consider variations in use and quality of specialist palliative care for different patient groups across all care settings, and from diagnosis to death

Workplace innovation and new product development in Vietnamese manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises

Workplace innovation (WI) and new product development (NPD) is essential for organisations to ensure their market positioning. Vietnam is at the starting point of innovation. The purpose of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of senior management practices in NPD projects in the Vietnamese manufacturing industry and the status of the NPD process, strategic planning, resource allocation and success measure in Vietnamese manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); identify NPD success factors in Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs at the project level; investigate the relationship between WI, NPD capability, strategic planning and performance in Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs at the project level; and determine the moderating effect of two groups (manager and employee) on the relationship between WI, NPD capability and NPD strategic planning on NPD performance in Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs. A total of 795 questionnaires were sent to manufacturing SMEs in Hanoi, with a response rate of 42.77% yielding 340 usable responses. Using IBM SPSS AMOS (v.25) software (hereafter AMOS) to test the research model of the relationship between WI, NPD capability, NPD strategic planning and NPD performance, the findings confirmed the simultaneous relationship between WI, NPD capability, NPD strategic planning and NPD performance in Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs at the project level. This thesis makes a significant contribution to the field of WI and NPD research from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Theoretically, this thesis contributes to the existing literature in the field of WI and NPD in organisations by 1) integrating the framework of contingency theory, the dynamic capability view and resource-based view theory in the study of the relationship between WI, NPD capability, NPD strategic planning and NPD performance; 2) developing a validated conceptual framework for examining the relationship between WI, NPD capability, NPD strategic planning and NPD performance in Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs; 3) observing a difference of perspective on the relationship between employee and managers, with the thesis findings confirming for the first time the simultaneous relationship between WI, NPD capability, NPD strategic planning and NPD performance, thereby expanding the contingency theory (Miller and Friesen, 1983) to a new environment¿capability¿strategic planning¿performance paradigm; and 4) recognition of moderating effect of manager and employee on WI and NPD capability. Practically, the findings enhance current understanding of senior management practices in NPD projects and NPD success factors within Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs and discuss for the first time NPD process, strategic planning, resource allocation and success measures in Vietnamese manufacturing SMEs. These results are hugely beneficial, for manufacturing SMEs in Vietnam in particular and for other industries and countries in general, in assisting successful NPD

Advanced Process Monitoring for Industry 4.0

This book reports recent advances on Process Monitoring (PM) to cope with the many challenges raised by the new production systems, sensors and “extreme data” conditions that emerged with Industry 4.0. Concepts such as digital-twins and deep learning are brought to the PM arena, pushing forward the capabilities of existing methodologies to handle more complex scenarios. The evolution of classical paradigms such as Latent Variable modeling, Six Sigma and FMEA are also covered. Applications span a wide range of domains such as microelectronics, semiconductors, chemicals, materials, agriculture, as well as the monitoring of rotating equipment, combustion systems and membrane separation processes

Data fusion for system modeling, performance assessment and improvement

Due to rapid advancements in sensing and computation technology, multiple types of sensors have been embedded in various applications, on-line automatically collecting massive production information. Although this data-rich environment provides great opportunity for more effective process control, it also raises new research challenges on data analysis and decision making due to the complex data structures, such as heterogeneous data dependency, and large-volume and high-dimensional characteristics. This thesis contributes to the area of System Informatics and Control (SIAC) to develop systematic data fusion methodologies for effective quality control and performance improvement in complex systems. These advanced methodologies enable (1) a better handling of the rich data environment communicated by complex engineering systems, (2) a closer monitoring of the system status, and (3) a more accurate forecasting of future trends and behaviors. The research bridges the gaps in methodologies among advanced statistics, engineering domain knowledge and operation research. It also forms close linkage to various application areas such as manufacturing, health care, energy and service systems. This thesis started from investigating the optimal sensor system design and conducting multiple sensor data fusion analysis for process monitoring and diagnosis in different applications. In Chapter 2, we first studied the couplings or interactions between the optimal design of a sensor system in a Bayesian Network and quality management of a manufacturing system, which can improve cost-effectiveness and production yield by considering sensor cost, process change detection speed, and fault diagnosis accuracy in an integrated manner. An algorithm named “Best Allocation Subsets by Intelligent Search” (BASIS) with optimality proof is developed to obtain the optimal sensor allocation design at minimum cost under different user specified detection requirements. Chapter 3 extended this line of research by proposing a novel adaptive sensor allocation framework, which can greatly improve the monitoring and diagnosis capabilities of the previous method. A max-min criterion is developed to manage sensor reallocation and process change detection in an integrated manner. The methodology was tested and validated based on a hot forming process and a cap alignment process. Next in Chapter 4, we proposed a Scalable-Robust-Efficient Adaptive (SERA) sensor allocation strategy for online high-dimensional process monitoring in a general network. A monitoring scheme of using the sum of top-r local detection statistics is developed, which is scalable, effective and robust in detecting a wide range of possible shifts in all directions. This research provides a generic guideline for practitioners on determining (1) the appropriate sensor layout; (2) the “ON” and “OFF” states of different sensors; and (3) which part of the acquired data should be transmitted to and analyzed at the fusion center, when only limited resources are available. To improve the accuracy of remaining lifetime prediction, Chapter 5 proposed a data-level fusion methodology for degradation modeling and prognostics. When multiple sensors are available to measure the degradation mechanism of a same system, it becomes a high dimensional and challenging problem to determine which sensors to use and how to combine them together for better data analysis. To address this issue, we first defined two essential properties if present in a degradation signal, can enhance the effectiveness for prognostics. Then, we proposed a generic data-level fusion algorithm to construct a composite health index to achieve those two identified properties. The methodology was tested using the degradation signals of aircraft gas turbine engine, which demonstrated a much better prognostic result compared to relying solely on the data from an individual sensor. In summary, this thesis is the research drawing attention to the area of data fusion for effective employment of the underlying data gathering capabilities for system modeling, performance assessment and improvement. The fundamental data fusion methodologies are developed and further applied to various applications, which can facilitate resources planning, real-time monitoring, diagnosis and prognostics.Ph.D

Quality deviation requirements in residential buildings: predictive modeling of the interaction between deviation and cause

To address construction defects, sub-task requirements (STRs) were generated alongside a Bayesian belief network-BBN quantification, towards the modelling of a unique causation pattern. The study found that the patterns of direct causes of deviation from quality norms are unique for each STR, and that causation patterns cannot be generalised. The work conducted provides Building-Quality-Managers with a new visualization tool to clarify the STR-specific cause of quality deviation pathways when creating the built environment