Do the citizens of Europe trust their police?

Purpose - The maintenance of public order and the control of crime are clearly amongst the primary objectives of global law enforcement agencies. An important antecedent to this is the consideration of public trust in their police force. The purpose of this paper is to utilise data from the 5th Round European Social Survey (ESS), to investigate how public social indicators may highlight the level of trust in a country’s police force. Design/methodology/approach – The results from the ESS are analysed using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), multiply conjunctional causal configurations of the considered social indicators are then established and analysed. Findings - A consequence of using fsQCA, asymmetric causal configurations are identified for the relative high and low limiting levels of trust towards the police in the considered countries. The results offer novel insights into the relationship between social indicators and police trust, as well as expositing a nascent technique (fsQCA) that may offer future potential in this area. Originality/value – This paper introduces a novel technique to analyse a major European data set relating to citizens perceptions of the police. The findings might prove useful for policing organisations as they develop strategies to maintain/improve the level of trust and confidence of citizens in the policing services they provide

Paradoxes and Pitfalls in Using Fuzzy Set QCA: Illustrations from a Critical Review of a Study of Educational Inequality

Charles Ragin's crisp set and fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA and fsQCA) are being used by increasing numbers of social scientists interested in combining analytic rigour with case-based approaches. As with all techniques that become available in easy-to-use software packages, there is a danger that QCA will come to be used in a routinised manner, with not enough attention being paid to its particular strengths and weaknesses. Users of fsQCA in particular need to be very aware of particular problems that can arise when fuzzy logic lies behind their analyses. This paper aims to increase its readers' understanding of some of these problems and of some means by which they might be alleviated. We use a critical discussion of a recent paper by Freitag and Schlicht addressing social inequality in education in Germany as our vehicle. After summarising the substantive claims of the paper, we explain some key features of QCA. We subsequently discuss two main issues, (i) limited diversity and the various ways of using counterfactual reasoning to address it, and (ii) the logical paradoxes that can arise when using fsQCA. Making different choices than Freitag and Schlicht do in respect of dealing with these two issues, we undertake some reanalysis of their data, showing that their conclusions must be treated with some caution. We end by drawing some general lessons for users of QCA.Qualitative Comparative Analysis, FsQCA, Educational Inequality, German Educational Policy, Limited Diversity, Counterfactual Reasoning, Necessary and Sufficient Conditions, Case-Based Methods, Small n Methods, Fuzzy Logic

Make-or-buy configurational approaches in product-service ecosystems and performance

This research examines firm boundary configurations for manufacturers' product-service offerings. We argue that the building of a product-service ecosystem through collaboration with service providers in certain types of business services can increase performance as a result of the superior knowledge-based resources coming from specialized partners. By using fuzzy set qualitative analysis on a sample of 370 multinational manufacturing enterprises (MMNEs), the results reveal that effective servitization is heterogeneous across manufacturing industries and across business service offerings. The findings indicate that most industries achieve their highest performance through collaborations with value-added service providers in two out of three of the service continuum stages (Base and Intermediate services); while keeping the development of Advanced services in-house. The results help to contextualize the best practices for implementing service business models in MMNEs by detailing which service capabilities should be retained in-house and which should be outsourced to specialized partners in various industrial contexts.Peer ReviewedPreprin

Predictores emocionales y de personalidad que infl uyen en la aparición de las quejas somáticas en niños y en adultos

Personality and emotional factors may be contributing to the emergence of somatic complaints. The purpose of this study was to analyse the combined contribution of emotional awareness, moods and personality to somatic complaints in children and adults. Method: Participants were 1,476 children (M= 9.90 years, SD= 1.27, 52.10% girls) and 940 adults (M= 32.30 years, SD= 11.62, 64% women) who were administered self-reports. Analysis was performed using fuzzy qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), an analytical technique that enables in-depth analysis of how a series of causal conditions contribute to a given outcome. Results: Emotional awareness, moods and personality account for 59% of high levels of somatic complaints in children and 69% in adults. In both samples, interaction between low levels of emotional awareness, high levels of negative moods and low levels of positive mood, high levels of neuroticism and low levels of the other personality factors appear to lead to high levels of somatic complaints (children: raw coverage = .18, consistency = .95; adults: raw coverage = .15, consistency = .97). Conclusion: A similar contribution of emotional and personality components was found to explain somatic complaints in children and adultsla personalidad y los factores emocionales pueden estar contribuyendo a la aparición de quejas somáticas. El objetivo del estudio fue analizar la contribución combinada de la conciencia emocional, los estados de ánimo y la personalidad, a las quejas somáticas en niños y adultos. Método: los participantes fueron 1.476 niños (M= 9.90 años, DT= 1.27, 52.10% niñas) y 940 adultos (M= 32.30 años, DT= 11.62, 64% mujeres) y completaron auto-informes. Se utilizó fuzzy qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), una técnica analítica que permite un análisis en profundidad de cómo una serie de condiciones causales contribuyen a un resultado dado. Resultados: la conciencia emocional, los estados de ánimo y la personalidad explican el 59% de los altos niveles de quejas somáticas en niños y el 69% en adultos. En ambos, la interacción entre bajos niveles de conciencia emocional, altos niveles de estados de ánimo negativos y bajos niveles de estados de ánimo positivos, altos niveles de neuroticismo y bajos niveles de los otros factores de personalidad, parecen conducir a altos niveles de quejas somáticas (niños: raw coverage= .18, consistency= .95; adultos: raw coverage= .15, consistency= .97). Conclusión: se encontró una contribución similar de los componentes emocionales y de personalidad a la explicación de las quejas somáticas en niños y adulto

Service Quality and Customer Loyalty in a Post-Crisis Context. Prediction-Oriented Modeling to Enhance the Particular Importance of a Social and Sustainable Approach

Research into the influence of service quality on customer loyalty has typically focused on confirming isolated direct causal influences regarding particular dimensions of quality, usually undertaken in the context of positive, firm-customer relations. The present study extends analysis of these factors through a new lens. First, the study was undertaken in a market context following a crisis that has had far-reaching consequences for customers’ relational behaviors. We explore the case of the Spanish banking industry, a sector that accurately reflects these new relational conditions, including a rising demand for more socially responsible banking. Second, we propose a holistic model that combines the effects of four key factors associated with service quality (outcome, personnel, servicescape and social qualities). We also apply an innovative predictive methodological technique using partial least squares (PLS) and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) that enables us not only to determine the direct causal effects among variables, but also to consider different scenarios in which to predict customer loyalty. The results highlight the role of outcome and social qualities. The novelty of the social qualities factor helps to underscore the importance of social, ethical and sustainable practices to customer loyalty, although personnel and servicescape qualities must also be present to improve the predictive capability of service quality on loyalty

A configurational view on technology acceptance: the example of highly integrated collaboration platforms

Highly integrated software environments for various routine and non-routine tasks promise productivity gains for organizations. To fulfill this promise, users need to be willing to employ the new technology. A combined perspective of sufficient and necessary conditions in the form of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and, necessary condition analysis (NCA) is used to examine the technology acceptance of workstream collaboration tools, advancing examinations from a multivariate perspective to a more holistic view. One hundred thirty participants were trained in the software application Slack for three months. Following the training period, configurational analysis using fsQCA and NCA based on a unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) framework was conducted based on 116 qualified questionnaires. Necessity assessment shows that all influence factors exhibit necessity properties, with facilitating conditions and effort expectancy most substantially constraining an individual’s intention to use. Sufficiency evaluation confirms UTAUT’s variable choice and identifies social influence as a key condition that enables intention to use. Segmentation according to gender further reveals that effort expectancy and facilitating conditions are necessary conditions for female users but not for males

CONSUMERS’ PERCEPTIONS ON SMART HOME AND SMART LIVING

Internet of Things (IoT) is an umbrella term used for Internetworking physical devices such as vehicles, buildings, home appliances, and other physical objects to the Internet. This technology innovation allows for different objects or devices to be connected to each other, thus transforming the objects from “dumb” to “smart” devices. A central question for researchers and practitioners is whether and how the potential users of smart home technology, a subset of IoT technology, perceive this innovation. To address this question, the present paper seeks to empirically explore the relationships between determinant factors influencing users’ intentions. By drawing upon recent studies on smart home technology, this paper argues that multiple factors impact users’ perceptions and consequently their adoption decisions. By using a survey data from 156 individuals and applying structural equation modelling (SEM) and Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this research suggests that attitudes toward using technology, social influence, perceived usefulness and perceived innovativeness impact users’ adoption decisions. Moreover, fsQCA results, while reinforcing and refining findings from the SEM analysis, reveal that there is no single solution that lead to the outcome of interest—smart home technology adoption—but multiple configurations of conditions do. Theoretical and methodological contributions are discussed

Complexity, leadership, and megaproject performance: a configuration analysis

Purpose: Rapid worldwide growth in megaprojects has attracted academic interest. In practice, complexity is one of the main causes for the failure of megaprojects. This study proposes a system of project manager leadership to overcome problems of complexity in achieving success with a megaproject. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses configuration analysis, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), to investigate the combination of complexity and leadership competencies that promote megaproject success. This study analyzes three megaproject manager leadership competencies–technical, emotional–social, and adaptive–with three megaproject complexities–structural, social, and emergent–to determine the combinations and levels required to ensure a megaproject’s short- and long-term success. Seven Indonesian infrastructure megaprojects were involved in this explorative study. Findings: This study has identified four combinations between complexity and leadership competencies and three necessary conditions that can lead to a successful megaproject. This study also reports that insufficient project manager leadership competence in the technical, emotional-social, and adaptive aspects can lead to lower megaproject performance. Research limitations/implications: By using fsQCA, this study is sufficient to understand the combination of complexity and leadership competencies in the megaproject performance. However, configuration comparative analysis using small samples is unable to explain the results that are more rigorous compared with the statistical approach. Having higher cases and additional analytical approaches leading to a more robust quantitative analysis method is needed to address these limitations. Practical implications: For practitioners, this study proposes effective leadership competency combinations for managing various complexities of the megaproject. Originality/value: This study provides an insight into the competencies of megaproject management leadership. It contributes to the literature by providing fresh perspectives on megaproject management, especially in terms of complexity and leadership. This is an important research area for the development of megaproject management theory filling theoretical gaps in megaproject management in terms of the leadership aspectPeer Reviewe