Point of Sales Promotions and Buying Stimulation in Retail Stores

This paper analyzes drivers of compulsive buying behavior induced by store based promotion through empirical investigation in Mexico. The buying behavior in reference to point of sales promotions offered by retailing firms and determinants of sensitivity towards stimulating shopping arousal and satisfaction among customer in building store loyalty have been discussed in the paper. This study also builds arguments around convergence of attractiveness of point of sales promotions and effectiveness of customer services as a tool for gaining competitive advantage in the retail business environment. The results indicate that point of sales promotion programs have become the principal tool of retailing in Mexico to acquire new customers and retain the loyal customers. It is also found during the study that loyal customers are attracted to the store brands during the promotional offers while new shoppers are price sensitive and are attracted by the in-store ambience of sales promotions and volume discounts.Sales promotion, shopping arousal, store loyalty, buying behavior, retailing, customer relations

Ensuring sustainability in supply chains: A competence model for purchasing professionals

Implementing sustainability into global supply chains remains a challenge for companies. Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) interacts closely with supply network actors, thus influencing how the firm’s value creation is delivered. While previous sustainable PSM (SPSM) research has shed light on how to manage sustainability on an organisational level, the role and impact of individual purchasing professionals on SPSM is less well understood. Their contribution to SPSM depends on both: they must be qualified, and they must be allowed to integrate sustainability in their daily work. Models from organisational psychology consider individual competence as one determinant for behaviour in organisations, together with motivational factors and enablers through the organisation. Transferred to the SPSM context, competences of purchasing professionals contribute to sustainable behaviour in the organisation. This thesis set out to understand individual SPSM competences, with the aim to foster their integration in the daily work of purchasing professionals, finally contributing to the implementation of sustainability in supply chains. It strived for an answer to the central research question: “Which individual competences of PSM professionals are required to implement SPSM?”, with the objectives to develop a SPSM competence model and to design a SPSM training module. A multi-method approach rarely applied so far in the PSM field was used to gather SPSM competences. First, a systematic literature review (SLR) determined the current research coverage of SPSM competences. Second, a Delphi study was conducted with 16 experts in the field of PSM and sustainability, applying the critical incident technique (CIT). A systematic qualitative data analysis led to a set of 26 SPSM competences. These were consolidated in a competence model, highlighting functional, cognition-oriented, social and meta-oriented competences. Familiar denominations of competences were corroborated with specific descriptions in terms of their application in the specific SPSM context. Third, the SPSM competences were transferred into a training module, which was tested in an action research approach with students and purchasing professionals. The findings of this research help companies to better cope with the implementation of sustainability in global supply chains, as individual SPSM competences, being one major determinant of SPSM behaviour, are now much more transparent. Firms may use the competence model and the training module as blueprints and adapt them to the individual organisational context. For Higher Education, the thesis offers inspiration how to integrate sustainability into PSM curricula by focusing on the most important competence areas. In addition, by applying models from educational sciences and organisational psychology in the PSM context, the research intends to foster an interdisciplinary debate on SPSM competences. Finally, future research might look for answers to the hypothesis that SPSM competences point towards a general competence profile for PSM professionals that is necessary to be able to cope with future challenges in the field

“Breaking Free”: A Grounded Theory Study of Atheist Women in the United States

Using a critical, grounded theory approach, we interviewed 31 atheist-identified women to ascertain the ways in which women develop and navigate an atheist identity and how their experience is influenced by patriarchal, hegemonic Christianity in the United States using a concealable stigmatized identity framework. Qualitative analysis resulted in six core categories: (1) Embracing Atheism as Liberation, (2) Escaping Christian Patriarchy, Challenging Atheist Patriarchy, (3) Low Identity Salience Provides Protection from Anti-Atheist Discrimination, (4) Expectations to Conform to Christian Norms, (5) Disclosure Requires Thoughtfulness and Purpose, and (6) Connecting with Other Atheists is Valuable and Elusive. Although atheist women experienced sexism within atheist communities that made connecting with other atheists challenging, participants viewed atheism as liberating them from religious patriarchy. Anti-atheist discrimination was common early in women’s atheist identity development, but not as frequent or salient over time. Rather, Christian hegemony and the expectation to adapt to Christian norms were more distressing than individual acts of anti-atheist discrimination. Therefore, concealment and disclosure were used to reduce personal discomfort and protect others’ feelings, rather than to avoid overt anti-atheist stigma. Integration with previous concealable stigmatized identity and atheism literature is discussed. In the interest of more equitable and healthy atheist communities for women atheists, community members and leaders are encouraged to dismantle patriarchy within secular organizations and center women’s voices and experiences. Clinicians and researchers can increase awareness of how hegemonic, patriarchal Christianity influences their professional work and the women they serve and eradicate such bias from their methods

Analyzing Avoidance: Judicial Strategy in Comparative Perspective

Courts sometimes avoid deciding contentious issues. One prominent justification for this practice is that, by employing avoidance strategically, a court can postpone reaching decisions that might threaten its institutional viability. Avoidance creates delay, which can allow for productive dialogue with and among the political branches. That dialogue, in turn, may result in the democratic resolution of—or the evolution of popular societal consensus around—a contested question, relieving the court of its duty. Many scholars and judges assume that, by creating and deferring to this dialogue, a court can safeguard its institutional legitimacy and security. Accepting this assumption arguendo, this Article seeks to evaluate avoidance as it relates to dialogue. It identifies two key factors in the avoidance decision that might affect dialogue with the political branches: first, the timing of avoidance (i.e., when in the life cycle of a case does a high court choose to avoid); and, second, a court’s candor about the decision (i.e., to what degree does a court openly acknowledge its choice to avoid). The Article draws on a series of avoidance strategies from apex courts around the world to tease out the relationships among timing, candor, and dialogue. As the first study to analyze avoidance from a comparative perspective, the Article generates a new framework for assessing avoidance by highlighting the impact of timing on the quality of dialogue, the possible unintended consequences of candor, and the critical trade-offs between avoidance and power

Assessing data quality in survey with healthcare providers on COVID-19 and the measures for improving

Background: Social surveys have also been transformed with the advancements in research methods. However, only through appropriate methods, proper planning and procedures the data quality can be ensured.Aim: The aim of the current research is to present the measures taken up in doing survey with healthcare providers of primary health care facilities during the time of COVID-19 and to assess the data quality.Method: The survey was conducted with all 280 medical and paramedical staff in 24 primary healthcare centers of government to understand the preparedness of primary health care facilities in terms of providing a safe working environment to healthcare providers and to prevent the spread of infection while discharging duties during COVID-19. The study used mix mode of data collection by administering telephonic and self-administered questionnaire.  It is a descriptive study based on review of secondary literature and the different measures adopted in the survey to ensure data quality.Result: The variation found in responses to questions related to training, personal fears, challenges and coping mechanism was low, when asked differently in telephonic and self-administered questionnaire. It shows that the measures taken in conducting survey through mix mode of data collection at the time of COVID-19 were effective in overcoming the data quality challenges of COVID-19 to conduct face-to-face study and maintaining data quality of the survey.Conclusion: It can be concluded that proper planning, preparations and precautions were effective in ascertaining the data quality

Research, careers, and greed: An IS perspective on a human failing and how it threatens the future of the discipline

The demand for greater societal impact and participation of science in public discourse is at odds with the current “publish or perish” culture. A major factor why such a culture could be established in the first place is the excessive desire for complaisance, recognition, and status, which at some point turns into greed. There are two forms of greed that we will explore. Personal greed refers to short-term self- maximization behaviours that researchers engage in to secure academic positions and maintain a certain status within their community. Vicarious greed is rooted in the desire to please corporations by conducting research that helps extend surveillance capitalism, over-consumerism, and other harmful practices to civil society. The objective of this article is to catalyse a discourse on strategies to mitigate the influence of greed on IS research and careers. This discourse is crucial for the IS discipline to uphold its positive influence on society

Generic Ethics Principles in Social Science Research

The written output of a series of three symposia held in the spring of 2013 on the topic of Generic Ethics Principles in Social Science Research. The format for each symposium was the same: a main speaker introduced a paper that had been circulated in advance and this was followed by two formal discussants and then participation from the floor. Discussion in groups took place in the afternoon and there was then a brief plenary session. The stimulus paper from each event is reproduced in this publication along with papers from discussants and a summary of each discussion

The case for citizen duty

This article defends a novel type of institutionalized mass deliberation: Citizen Duty. Citizen Duty would legally require every citizen to engage in one day of diverse, moderated political deliberation prior to major elections. This deliberation would realize a variety of benefits, including wiser electoral decisions and a more respectful electoral process, while avoiding the dangers of citizen deliberation. A comparison with jury duty and with non- deliberative alternatives suggests that Citizen Duty’s substantial economic and liberty costs are justified. Finally, an examination of citizen attitudes towards politics and deliberation suggests that Citizen Duty is not as quixotic as it first appears

Doing Evaluation in Service of Racial Equity: Diagnose Biases and Systems

Why focus on biases and systems? Everyone has racial biases, whether they like to admit it or not. They can have a stereotype positive or negative about a racial or ethnic group and when they meet someone from that group, they often treat that person differently without even realizing it. It is important to recognize that implicit biases are deeply rooted and that even individuals with the best intentions can have them. Good intention or not, racial biases can cause harm. And it is up to the individual feeling the bias to decide if it is harmful saying "that wasn't my intention" does not change the outcome for the person or community on the receiving end. This is why it is so important for us, as evaluators, to put in the time and work to uncover and address our implicit biases so we can better understand ourselves so can make better decisions and bring attention to others in our circles.