Enhancing Innovativeness:The Role of Dynamic Marketing Capabilities

The gap between the relatively static marketing resources of a firm and the turbulent marketplace is growing in importance for both practitioners and academics alike. This paper explores how marketing capabilities, specifically market orientation, work synergistically with other organizational capabilities to form dynamic marketing capabilities that enhance firm innovativeness. Findings indicate that a tight integration between the technical and marketing functions of a firm creates a fertile transformation point, where market orientation infuses the innovation process. Market orientation interacts with these integrated capabilities to form a dynamic marketing capability that enhances the organization\u27s innovativeness. Implications include how these dynamic marketing capabilities differ between service and manufacturing firms, where only the cultural aspects of market orientation enhance performance in service firms

A pragmatic effectiveness study of 10-session cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT-T) for eating disorders: Targeting barriers to treatment provision

Objective Ten‐session cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT‐T) for transdiagnostic eating disorders targets several barriers to treatment, including cost, therapist expertise, and lengthy wait lists. Method We used a case series design to investigate the effectiveness of CBT‐T delivered by trainee psychologists in a postgraduate training clinic. Participants were randomly allocated to commence treatment either immediately or after a 4‐week waitlist period. CBT‐T was delivered to 52 patients, by six different trainees under supervision. Measures of eating disorder cognitions and behaviours, quality of life, and general psychopathology were examined in completer and intention‐to‐treat analyses using multilevel modelling. Last observation carried forward was applied for abstinence, remission, and good outcome analyses to aid comparison with prior studies. Results Significant improvements, associated with medium to large effect sizes, were found for eating disorder cognitions, behaviours quality of life, and negative affect from baseline to posttreatment, and at 1‐ and 3‐month follow‐up. Attrition (38.5%) was comparable with other treatment studies. Conclusion Results provide evidence for the effectiveness of CBT‐T delivered by trainee psychologists for transdiagnostic eating disorder patients, thus tackling some important barriers for treatment. Longer follow‐up, randomised controlled trial designs, and moderator analyses will provide more robust evidence about which patients do best with a shorter therapy

Exploring the environmental strategy of big energy companies to drive sustainability

The purpose of this research is to provide an in-depth evaluation of the environmental strategy of the biggest energy companies to drive sustainability, i.e., for both business and the environment as a collective entity. Rooted in the theory of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a secondary data analysis was conducted on the top five energy companies (i.e., British Petroleum (BP), Exxon Mobil, Gazprom, Sinopec and Saudi Aramco) as published by Enercom (2016) to investigate their approach to sustainable development. To do so, each company's environmental strategy was evaluated in order to gain a clear understanding of their implemented procedures for sustainable development towards future. This research paper gives an insight in to the main energy companies' impact on nature and assesses how sustainable their strategies are towards environmental issues. Through this evaluation, we clearly identified how climate change forces companies to be responsible towards society, the economy, and the environment. This study's finding contributes to the present body of knowledge and highlights how the big energy companies have taken responsibility for their actions towards environmental issues

The psychometric characteristics of the revised depression attitude questionnaire (R-DAQ) in Pakistani medical practitioners: a cross-sectional study of doctors in Lahore

BACKGROUND: Depression is common mental health problem and leading contributor to the global burden of disease. The attitudes and beliefs of the public and of health professionals influence social acceptance and affect the esteem and help-seeking of people experiencing mental health problems. The attitudes of clinicians are particularly relevant to their role in accurately recognising and providing appropriate support and management of depression. This study examines the characteristics of the revised depression attitude questionnaire (R-DAQ) with doctors working in healthcare settings in Lahore, Pakistan. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2015 using the revised depression attitude questionnaire (R-DAQ). A convenience sample of 700 medical practitioners based in six hospitals in Lahore was approached to participate in the survey. The R-DAQ structure was examined using Parallel Analysis from polychoric correlations. Unweighted least squares analysis (ULSA) was used for factor extraction. Model fit was estimated using goodness-of-fit indices and the root mean square of standardized residuals (RMSR), and internal consistency reliability for the overall scale and subscales was assessed using reliability estimates based on Mislevy and Bock (BILOG 3 Item analysis and test scoring with binary logistic models. Mooresville: Scientific Software, 55) and the McDonald's Omega statistic. Findings using this approach were compared with principal axis factor analysis based on Pearson correlation matrix. RESULTS: 601 (86%) of the doctors approached consented to participate in the study. Exploratory factor analysis of R-DAQ scale responses demonstrated the same 3-factor structure as in the UK development study, though analyses indicated removal of 7 of the 22 items because of weak loading or poor model fit. The 3 factor solution accounted for 49.8% of the common variance. Scale reliability and internal consistency were adequate: total scale standardised alpha was 0.694; subscale reliability for professional confidence was 0.732, therapeutic optimism/pessimism was 0.638, and generalist perspective was 0.769. CONCLUSIONS: The R-DAQ was developed with a predominantly UK-based sample of health professionals. This study indicates that this scale functions adequately and provides a valid measure of depression attitudes for medical practitioners in Pakistan, with the same factor structure as in the scale development sample. However, optimal scale function necessitated removal of several items, with a 15-item scale enabling the most parsimonious factor solution for this population