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The impact of employees' working relations in creating and retaining trust: the case of the Bahrain Olympic Committee
Introduction: This thesis investigates the impact of employees’ working relations in creating, maintaining and retaining trust in the Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC).
Aim: The main aim of this thesis is to determine how the three groups of Organisational Trust variables, namely Social System Elements (SSE), Factors of Trustworthiness (FoT) and Third-Party Gossip (TPG), affect employees’ Organisational Trust (OTR) in the BOC and promote Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB). To answer this main aim, a conceptual framework was created that focused on exploring the following research aims: (1) the interrelationship between SSE and FoT, (2) the effect of SSE on OTR, (3) the impact of TPG on OTR and (4) the effect of OTR on overall OCB.
Methodology: The study uses a mixed-method case study research style that included in-depth semi-structured interviews with 17 managers, an online questionnaire survey with 320 employees of the BOC and an analysis of the BOC’s Annual Reports from 2015 to 2018.
Results: The qualitative and quantitative findings indicate, firstly, that there is a significant interrelationship between SSE and FoT, establishing that SSE’s perception of organisational justice (OJ), including that FoTs benevolence and integrity as the most important factors in yielding employees’ trust in the BOC. Secondly, it has been established that SSEs have significant direct and indirect effects on OTR. Thirdly, negative and positive TPG concurrently occurred in the BOC and the prevalence of negative TPG poses more impact on OTR. Finally, this study’s findings demonstrated OTR’s effect in generating OCB, including that Civic Virtue was rated as the most preferred of the five OCB themes; this indicates the managers’ and the employees’ strong emotional attachment and support of the activities taking place at the BOC.
Contributions: Overall, this thesis substantially contributes to OTR literature, particularly in the context of the Middle East. It also proposes several insightful recommendations for future research and practical implications for practitioners in the field of Organisational Trust
Antecedents of customer loyalty in the manufacturing industry
This thesis concerns the study of customer loyalty and its antecedents in the UK
manufacturing sector. It adopts a critical realist perspective to the study of customer loyalty,
locating the concept in the relationship marketing and social psychology literatures. The
findings generated by the literature review and the results of an exploratory qualitative study
leads to the development of a conceptual framework in which functional, social and
emotional relationship value, customer satisfaction, and moderator variable, relationship age,
are believed to influence the level of customer loyalty in the manufacturing industry.
The conceptual framework is tested empirically using a quantitative survey design in the
context of the UK manufacturing industry. Data is analysed through application of the partial
least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling technique.
From a theoretical perspective, the study makes a number of valuable contributions to the
relationship marketing literature. The study confirms the importance of social and emotional
relationship value aspects on customer satisfaction and loyalty outcomes in the
manufacturing industry. The findings offer a new theoretical perspective of the role social and
emotional value play in creating loyal customers and the role emotional value performs in
buyer’s feelings of satisfaction in the B2B domain. The findings also suggest that customer
satisfaction acts as a partial mediator in the relationship between customer value and
customer loyalty. Moreover, a new theoretical concept of emotional value featuring frustration
and human touch in addition to interpersonal relationships is also evidenced from the
research results. Furthermore, the study also shows that the theory of consumption values
can be applied to the B2B manufacturing domain.
The results propose that behavioural loyalty can be expressed through customer satisfaction,
and functional and emotional elements of relationship value. Whereas, attitudinal loyalty can
be conveyed by customer satisfaction, and functional and social components of relationship
value. These relationships are in turn also partially mediated through customer satisfaction.
The results also indicate that all three dimensions of functional, social and emotional value
influence customer satisfaction outcomes.
Overall, the study provides recommendations on how to maximise customer loyalty through
strategic combinations of relationship value. It also provides guidance on how to improve
customer satisfaction through different elements of relationship value in the manufacturing
industry. From a practical viewpoint, the research study findings offer suppliers important
guidelines and a toolkit for establishing, developing, and maintaining successful relationships
with their customers in the manufacturing industry
Constitutions of Value
Gathering an interdisciplinary range of cutting-edge scholars, this book addresses legal constitutions of value.
Global value production and transnational value practices that rely on exploitation and extraction have left us with toxic commons and a damaged planet. Against this situation, the book examines law’s fundamental role in institutions of value production and valuation. Utilising pathbreaking theoretical approaches, it problematizes mainstream efforts to redeem institutions of value production by recoupling them with progressive values. Aiming beyond radical critique, the book opens up the possibility of imagining and enacting new and different value practices.
This wide-ranging and accessible book will appeal to international lawyers, socio-legal scholars, those working at the intersections of law and economy and others, in politics, economics, environmental studies and elsewhere, who are concerned with rethinking our current ideas of what has value, what does not, and whether and how value may be revalued
Science and Innovations for Food Systems Transformation
This Open Access book compiles the findings of the Scientific Group of the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021 and its research partners. The Scientific Group was an independent group of 28 food systems scientists from all over the world with a mandate from the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. The chapters provide science- and research-based, state-of-the-art, solution-oriented knowledge and evidence to inform the transformation of contemporary food systems in order to achieve more sustainable, equitable and resilient systems
Improving approaches to material inventory management in construction industry in the UK
Materials used in construction constitute a major proportion of the total cost of construction projects. An important factor of great concern that adversely affects construction projects is the location and tracking of materials, which normally come in bulk with minimal identification. There is inadequate integration of modern wireless technologies (such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or Just-in-Time (JIT)) into project management systems for easier and faster materials management and tracking and to overcome human error. This research focuses on improving approaches to material inventory management in the UK construction industry through the formulation of RFID-based materials management tracking process system with projects.
Existing literature review identified many challenges/problems in material inventory management on construction projects, such as supply delays, shortages, price fluctuations, wastage and damage, and insufficient storage space. Six construction projects were selected as exploratory case studies and cross-case analysis was used to investigate approaches to material inventory management practices: problems, implementation of ICT, and the potential for using emerging wireless technologies and systems (such as RFID and PDA) for materials tracking. Findings showed that there were similar problems of storage constraints and logistics with most of the construction projects. The synthesis of good practices required the implementation of RFID-facilitated construction management of materials tracking system to make material handling easier, quicker, more efficient and less paperwork. There was also a recommendation to implement Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools to integrate plant, labour and materials into one system.
The findings from the cases studies and the literature review were used to formulate a process for real-time material tracking using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) that can improve material inventory management in the UK construction industry. Testing and validation undertaken assisted in formulating a process that can be useful, functional and acceptable for a possible process system’s development. Finally, research achievements/contributions to knowledge, and limitations were discussed and some suggestions for further research were outlined
Financial reporting in Europe: Accounting for regulatory and technical challenges
This thesis explores the challenges facing financial reporting in Europe both regulatory and technical in nature. This has involved research into the background of European legislation and conducting face to face semi-structured interviews with senior elite actors from institutions governing the regulatory and technical arrangements of general-purpose financial reporting practice in Europe. European companies are required to disclose information about their financial affairs. The European legislation governing company financial reporting was delegated to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) by the EU institutions via Regulation 1606/2002. This thesis argues that European agencies (represented by EFRAG) are caught in a devolved regulatory relationship where the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has been able to assume a relatively strong self-regulatory position. This weakens the agency that European legislative institutions have over their own legislation with regards to financial reporting practice. This thesis argues this loss of agency by European institutions over their legislation governing accounting practice is not a fait accompli but is challenged and contested as European institutions seek and need a more co-regulated arrangement. A key argument developed in this thesis is that regulatory arrangements governing accounting practice are evolving in terms of the distribution of responsibilities and control over European financial reporting practice. To understand how the regulatory landscape governing European accounting practice is changing we employ an investigative lens that is grounded in accounting. This investigative lens employs three elements that are regarded in the literature review as significant technical challenges facing accounting practice in Europe. The first of these is retaining or not prudent accounting practice, the second is concerned with the development of non-financial reporting and the third, concerns with installing the public interest not just investor interests in financial disclosures. It is through this investigative lens that this thesis assesses the extent to which regulatory arrangements and agency governing accounting practice in Europe are shifting sands
Latin America in Times of Turbulence: Presidentialism under Stress
This book accounts for and analyses the latest developments in Latin American presidential democracies, with a special focus on political institutions. The stellar line-up of renowned scholars of Latin American politics and institutions from Latin America, Europe, and the United States offer new insights into how democratic institutions have operated within the critical context that marked the political and social life of the region in the last few years: the eruption of popular protest and discontent, the widespread distrust of political institutions, and, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic. Combining different methodological approaches, including cross-national studies, small-N studies, case studies, and quantitative and qualitative data, the contributions cluster around three themes: the problem with fixed terms and other features of presidentialism, inter-institutional relations and executive accountability, and old and new threats to democracy in these times of turmoil. The volume concludes with an assessment of the political consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America.
Beyond current scholars and students of comparative political scientists, Latin America in Times of Turbulence will be of great interest to a wide spectrum of readers interested in comparative systems of government, democracy studies, and Latin American politics more generally
Post-Growth Geographies: Spatial Relations of Diverse and Alternative Economies
Post-Growth Geographies examines the spatial relations of diverse and alternative economies between growth-oriented institutions and multiple socio-ecological crises. The book brings together conceptual and empirical contributions from geography and its neighbouring disciplines and offers different perspectives on the possibilities, demands and critiques of post-growth transformation. Through case studies and interviews, the contributions combine voices from activism, civil society, planning and politics with current theoretical debates on socio-ecological transformation
Delivering low carbon energy service demands: A UK case study: An examination of Local Authority level energy consumption and the potential for a disaggregated approach to energy demand reduction
Alongside decarbonising energy supply and greenhouse gas removal, energy demand reduction is expected to contribute significantly towards the achievement of the UK’s long-term climate goals. Many emission scenarios include ambitious improvements in energy efficiency, however, relying largely upon energy efficiency to deliver the level of energy demand reduction required for a 1.5°C future is considered a high risk strategy for demand-side mitigation.
The thesis has highlighted the role that local authorities can assume in the demand-side transition, through subsidiarity, and framed analysis around the concept of energy service demands. Using this broader framing of energy demand reduction, the current direct and embodied energy demand associated with delivering Great Britain’s household energy service demands was modelled. Four universal energy demand reduction strategies which considered consumption-based policy options for energy demand reduction were also modelled, and capacity index scores for each local authority were calculated to assess whether universal energy demand reduction strategies would be equitable, and effective at reducing Great Britain’s level of energy consumption in line with the levels required for a 1.5°C future.
This project found that energy service demands vary across Great Britain, driven primarily by heating and personal transport energy service demands, with households in London having the lowest energy service demands per capita across the majority of energy service categories. The energy demand reduction strategies demonstrate that energy consumption associated with household energy service demands can be significantly reduced while maintaining service levels and therefore not compromising wellbeing, however reduced service levels, and their associated energy demand reduction, need to be considered if Great Britain’s energy consumption is to be reduced to levels which align with estimates of the energy demand reduction required for a 1.5°C future. Finally, assessing the energy service demand and energy demand reduction results in the context of the capacity index scores showed that universal approaches to energy demand reduction which do not consider local context would not lead to an equitable demand-side transition, and that subsidiarity must play a larger role in energy demand reduction going forward
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