Strategic Directions for Service-Learning Research: A Presidential Perspective

Discusses service learning research, emphasizing: why institutions are interested in service learning; service learning to promote community involvement; college presidents\u27 role in promoting service learning; creating the capacity for change; and a research agenda. Emphasizes how much can be gained from communication between higher education researchers, program managers, and campus leaders, with the scholar/president as the bridge between them

Feedback information and consumer motivation: The moderating role of positive and negative reference values in self-regulation

Marketers spend considerable resources to motivate people to consume their products and services as a means of goal attainment (Bagozzi and Dholakia, 1999). Why people increase, decrease, or stop consuming some products is based largely on how well they perceive they are doing in pursuit of their goals (Carver and Scheier, 1992). Yet despite the importance for marketers in understanding how current performance influences a consumer’s future efforts, this topic has received little attention in marketing research. Goal researchers generally agree that feedback about how well or how poorly people are doing in achieving their goals affects their motivation (Bandura and Cervone, 1986; Locke and Latham, 1990). Yet there is less agreement about whether positive and negative performance feedback increases or decreases future effort (Locke and Latham, 1990). For instance, while a customer of a gym might cancel his membership after receiving negative feedback about his fitness, the same negative feedback might cause another customer to visit the gym more often to achieve better results. A similar logic can apply to many products and services from the use of cosmetics to investing in mutual funds. The present research offers managers key insights into how to engage customers and keep them motivated. Given that connecting customers with the company is a top research priority for managers (Marketing Science Institute, 2006), this article provides suggestions for performance metrics including four questions that managers can use to apply the findings

Effective communication to improve udder health: can social science help?

Improved udder health requires consistent application of appropriate management practices by those involved in managing dairy herds and the milking process. Designing effective communication requires that we understand why dairy herd managers behave in the way they do and also how the means of communication can be used both to inform and to influence. Social sciences- ranging from economics to anthropology - have been used to shed light on the behaviour of those who manage farm animals. Communication science tells us that influencing behaviour is not simply a question of „getting the message across‟ but of addressing the complex of factors that influence an individual‟s behavioural decisions. A review of recent studies in the animal health literature shows that different social science frameworks and methodologies offer complementary insights into livestock managers‟ behaviour but that the diversity of conceptual and methodological frameworks presents a challenge for animal health practitioners and policy makers who seek to make sense of the findings – and for researchers looking for helpful starting points. Data from a recent study in England illustrate the potential of „home-made‟ conceptual frameworks to help unravel the complexity of farmer behaviour. At the same time, though, the data indicate the difficulties facing those designing communication strategies in a context where farmers believe strongly that they are already doing all they can reasonably be expected to do to minimise animal health risks

A Multi-Level Process Model for Understanding Diversity Practice Effectiveness

Key Findings: The issue of workforce diversity has been at the forefront of organizational concerns for many years. Not surprisingly, this topic has generated reams of research aimed at shedding light not only on the challenges involved, but also on ways these challenges have been and can be addressed. This paper reports on a comprehensive survey of the most recent studies in an effort to uncover what has been learned and what remains to be examined. While the paper is aimed primarily at researchers, it also offers a number of insights of relevance to managers and others who are responsible for designing and administering diversity-related initiatives in today’s organizations. Initially, the review focused on studies examining particular types of diversity- related policies and practices (affirmative action, targeted recruiting, training, work-life integration, mentoring, etc.) to ascertain what could be said about their general effectiveness. The results were disappointing. No activity was found to be consistently effective; some studies turned up positive relationships, but more often the results were mixed or inconclusive and occasionally even negative. If, as these findings suggest, organizations cannot rely on specific diversity- related activities to consistently produce favorable results, the logical question to ask is: “Why?” While the authors offer several reasons for this state of affairs, the overall theme that emerges relates to the absence of a holistic view of the situation. To wit: Organizations tend to focus too much on popular programs and too little on specific, desired outcome(s). When initiatives are undertaken with no clear goals in mind, it should not be surprising to find that quite often very little is accomplished. In too many cases diversity-related activities are studied (and implemented) in isolation and, thus, inadequate attention is given to how new procedures might interact with those already in place to affect outcomes. This is unfortunate, since HR strategy researchers have thoroughly documented the power of mutually-reinforcing “bundles” of activities in numerous studies across a wide variety of settings. Many factors come into play between the formal announcement of diversity- related initiatives, bundled or otherwise, and relevant organizational outcomes. To understand why initiatives do or do not work requires that these factors be carefully considered. Are espoused initiatives implemented as planned? Do implemented initiatives result in desired employee behaviors? Do the new employee behaviors produce positive organizational outcomes? And in each case, why or why not? Clearly studies that address all of these questions are difficult to do, but they must be done if we are to have any chance of acquiring the information and insights needed to make the most of current and future diversity-related initiatives. acquiring the information and insights and future diversity-related initiatives

Entrepreneurial decision-making in internationalization: propositions from mid-size firms

Research into international entrepreneurship tends to focus on new ventures rather than larger established firms. Few studies have considered why an entrepreneurial manager in an established firm is motivated to undertake international market entry. Propositions relating to factors motivating the international market entry decision of entrepreneurial managers in mid-sized firms are created and evaluated through in-depth interviews with entrepreneurial managers. We find contrary to extant theory that cultural context, industry environment and resource constraints do not motivate or hinder an entrepreneurial manager's decision to internationalize. Rather, the entrepreneurial manager's connection with the customer, tacit knowledge and vision and product-service complexity are the strongest influences on the decision to internationalize, which is moderated by the strength of the business case and resource-based risk tolerance. This implies a much greater strategic approach by entrepreneurial managers than typically portrayed in current literature. Our research provides researchers with grounded propositions for further empirical testing

A System Dynamics based Perspective to Help to Understand the Managerial Big Picture in Respect of Urban Event Dynamics

AbstractIn the PED-community, a lot of conducted work focuses on a detailed aspect of the big picture in respect of pedestrian dynamics and disaster avoidance. Surprisingly, the field of research does not offer a lot of models including a managerial macro perspective to explain – for example – why there are mass gatherings that result in high density pedestrian conditions. To improve the mental models of researchers, managers and policy makers, this paper tries to tackle this research gap, by using the methodology of System Dynamics to explain with causal loop diagrams occurring dynamics of urban events to avoid critical situations beforehand

Exploring the use of enterprise content management systems in different types of Organisations

Researchers and practitioners are starting to realize that it is unlikely that the full advantage of Electronic Content Management Systems (ECMS) can be realized unless both the technology capabilities and organisational context are taken into consideration. This study explores ECMS use in Replication, Diversification, Unification and Coordination type of organisations. A framework of ECMS-use is proposed suggesting different ways of using ECMS to support diverse organisational needs. Following a qualitative case study research approach, interviews were conducted with IT and business managers and ECMS users from each of the four types of organisations. Results suggest that, depending on the organisation&rsquo;s business needs, ECMS use in organisations can be categorized as 1) Minimal-use, 2) Standard Adoption-use, 3) Customized-use or 4) Leveraged-use. Findings suggest that managers can gain more realistic benefits from ECMS use by understanding why and how different types of ECMS-use can support the way in which their businesses operate.<br /

Designing a Comprehensive Understanding of Digital Transformation and its Impact

Many researchers, managers, and companies are currently dealing with digital transformation. Yet, there exists a research gap on the exact meaning and scope of this transformation. In this paper, an in-depth literature study was performed and synthesized to inductively construct a conceptual framework that reconciles the distinct definitions and aspects of digital transformation. From the framework, we derived a novel and comprehensive definition of digital transformation which was validated against the literature and shown to be exhaustive. Furthermore, our definition explicitly explains why digital transformation is happening and accelerating. Researchers and practitioners can use the framework to position their work and to gain a better understanding of its wide scope and impacts. This work can be among the first steps towards a unified understanding of digital transformation

The medium-term sustainability of organisational innovations in the national health service

Background: There is a growing recognition of the importance of introducing new ways of working into the UK's National Health Service (NHS) and other health systems, in order to ensure that patient care is provided as effectively and efficiently as possible. Researchers have examined the challenges of introducing new ways of working-'organisational innovations'-into complex organisations such as the NHS, and this has given rise to a much better understanding of how this takes place-and why seemingly good ideas do not always result in changes in practice. However, there has been less research on the medium-and longer-term outcomes for organisational innovations and on the question of how new ways of working, introduced by frontline clinicians and managers, are sustained and become established in day-to-day practice. Clearly, this question of sustainability is crucial if the gains in patient care that derive from organisational innovations are to be maintained, rather than lost to what the NHS Institute has called the 'improvement-evaporation effect'. Methods: The study will involve research in four case-study sites around England, each of which was successful in sustaining its new model of service provision beyond an initial period of pilot funding for new genetics services provided by the Department of Health. Building on findings relating to the introduction and sustainability of these services already gained from an earlier study, the research will use qualitative methods-in-depth interviews, observation of key meetings, and analysis of relevant documents-to understand the longer-term challenges involved in each case and how these were surmounted. The research will provide lessons for those seeking to sustain their own organisational innovations in wide-ranging clinical areas and for those designing the systems and organisations that make up the NHS, to make them more receptive contexts for the sustainment of innovation. Discussion: Through comparison and contrast across four sites, each involving different organisational innovations, different forms of leadership, and different organisational contexts to contend with, the findings of the study will have wide relevance. The research will produce outputs that are useful for managers and clinicians responsible for organisational innovation, policy makers and senior managers, and academics