This paper outlines the development of a value co-creation framework for the management of service quality in the animal healthcare sector. A mixed-methods approach that combined depth interviews and a survey (n=663) was utilised. The research found that the key dimensions of value co-creation in the animal healthcare sector are Interaction, Access, and Location and that there are statistically significant relationships between service quality and a number of underlying value co-creation variables. The paper makes an original contribution to knowledge regarding value co-creation, client centric servicer, and management in the animal healthcare sector. Its findings will be of value to practitioners responsible for managing service provision in the animal healthcare sector and academics interested in high involvement service provision.

Municipal government planning is challenging in the extreme being characterised by ill-structured and messy problems, the complexity of which is compounded by often conflicting views and priorities of multiple stakeholders. In South America, Situational Strategic Planning (SSP) is a wide spread method of such planning. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of a proposed multi-methodological approach, Soft Situational Strategic Planning (SSSP) in a South American municipal government. SSSP is a variant of SSP enhanced with elements of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and Strategic Choice Approach (SCA). Through an action research case study in a Brazilian municipality, we implemented SSSP through a strategic planning cycle. The findings suggest that SSSP complement the SSP process regarding the implementation and monitoring of strategy. The application also indicated that SSSP has the potential to make government planning processes more structured for policy makers.

Changes in client behaviour and expectations, and a dynamic business landscape, amplify the already complex nature of veterinary and animal health service provision. Drawing on prior experiences, veterinary clients increasingly pursue enhanced involvement in services and have expectations of relationship-centred care. Co-production as a conceptualisation of reciprocity in service provision is a fundamental offering in the services sector, including human medicine, yet the role of co-production in veterinary services has been minimally explored. Utilising a service satisfaction framework, semi-structured interviews (n = 13) were completed with three veterinary stakeholder groups, veterinarians, allied animal health practitioners, and veterinary clients. Interview transcript data were subject to the qualitative data analysis techniques, thematic analysis and grounded theory, to explore relationship-centred care and subsequently conceptualise co-production service for the sector. Six latent dimensions of service were emergent, defined as: empathy, bespoke care, professional integrity, value for money, confident relationships, and accessibility. The dimensions strongly advocate wider sector adoption of a co-produced service, and a contextualised co-production framework is presented. Pragmatic challenges associated with integration of active veterinary clients in a practitioner–client partnership are evident. However, adopting a people-centric approach to veterinary services and partnerships with clients can confer the advantages of improved client satisfaction, enhanced treatment adherence and outcomes, and business sustainability.

Organisations appreciate green project management leads to competitive advantage and expect project managers to be effective in this respect. This research emphasizes the identification and evaluation of skills that project managers require to make the activity of project management safe for the environment while also ensuring that it does not contribute negatively to natural surroundings. This should be of interest to executives and project managers working in the construction industry. This paper provides understanding of how project managers react to this requirement and evaluates their skills. The literature indicates that effective green project managers have a strong profile of schedule management skills, stakeholder communication and human resources management. The research approach is based on a survey of 33 project managers in the United Arab Emirates country of Dubai, followed by semi-structured interviews to delve further into the survey responses. Our findings indicate awareness of green project management is in its infancy, the focus is budget compliance. Stakeholder management and communications management skills are not considered as important as problem solving or schedule management. Fluctuating prices of materials and difficulty in sourcing sub-contractors hinder sustainable project management. While some organisations train and develop project managers, helping them acquire green project management skills, many do not and a dearth of industry standards further hampers green project management. Since this exploratory study dealt with a small sample (30+) the biggest limitation of the study was that the sample population was not reflective of the wider population. Though the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates country of Dubai, the location for this fieldwork is a thriving multi-billion dollar industry, the research could benefit from verification across a wider geographical area. A further area for future research is to investigate the differences between project managers in their attitudes to green project management. The initial findings should be of interest to executives and green project managers working in the construction industry wishing to become more involved in green practices and be more environmentally aware. This paper provides some empirical evidence as to how project managers react to this requirement and evaluates their skills.

This chapter explores the meanings that human service workers employed in the airline industry and in higher education give to workplace fear, the ways it is expressed, and perceptions of its consequences. The findings reveal that fear is not a wholly "negative" emotion, as it can contribute to the achievement of desirable outcomes when openly expressed, suggesting that simplistic evaluations of discrete emotions (i.e. positive or negative) and prescriptive organizational norms of emotional expression may block positive as well as negative outcomes (organizationally and personally). This chapter concludes that permitting a greater range of emotional displays at work could significantly improve workers' wellbeing and the effectiveness of their organizations.

The paper illustrates and discusses how the performance management systems in a UK local authority are transformed into a surveillance system. A case study analysis reveals that the surveillance is engendered by central government and enacted by senior managers who conform to policies demanding the introduction of strict performance management systems that dehumanize work processes because employees are deemed untrustworthy. The paper shows that employees resist this government rendered surveillance because they believe it undermines their interests as well as the interests of the public by damaging the quality of the services delivered.

This chapter considers how knowledge management (KM) and associated management systems impact on, and are impacted by, organisational culture. It considers the raison d’etre of knowledge management systems (KMS) and the components of organisational culture. We suggest that at the heart of KM is a culture of knowledge-sharing and so explore the cultural antecedents to this and the relationship between technology and culture. Based on a case study following an organisation’s implementation of a KMS, we examine in detail how it was used for performance management by gathering intelligence about the workforce through observation and managing targets and deadlines. In this context, we explore KM and the enactment of power. We conclude that although a KMS may be thought by managers potentially to leverage information to improve performance through efficiency, it can alternatively be seen as a way to monitor and control the workforce through data-driven sanctions and rewards that are more concerned with a one-straightjacket-fits-all approach to efficiency rather than effectiveness and the concomitant impact that this has on organisational culture. We propose a checklist of ten considerations regarding organisational culture that management needs to be cognisant of when it seeks to implement and leverage a KMS.

This chapter explores factors affecting the development of corporate board teams within complex and hybrid public sector organisations through a period of continuous transformation. It takes executive board members for English Primary Care Groups (PCGs) as its unit of analysis for the period 1999 to 2002. The chapter explores the ways PCGs see their structure and objectives. It reviews the process of the formation of PCGs and presents an agenda arising from their nature which makes them a particularly interesting focus of research. The chapter summarises relevant literature, describes the research methods to be employed in the programme and presents results from the first phase of the study. The level of complexity within most PCGs is made apparent by the large number of GP practices working within their boundaries. The sampling exercise for the postal survey would have to take account of the possible examples in PCT applications for mergers between existing PCGs.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the significance of value co-creation to the UK animal healthcare sector from the perspective of the key industry stakeholders: clients, veterinarians and paraprofessionals. Design/methodology/approach Value co-creation constructs in the sector were identified and measured using a mixed methods approach comprised of qualitative NVivo© thematic analysis of depth interviews (n=13) and quantitative exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (n=271). Findings Qualitative results revealed nine underlying dimensions regarding service delivery in the sector: trustworthiness, communication, value for money, empathy, bespoke, integrated care, tangibles, accessibility and outcome driven service. EFA of professional survey data loaded onto seven latent factors, with strong value co-creation dimensions identified. Research limitations/implications The sampling process is sufficiently representative and diverse to present meaningful and valuable results, however, surveying should be extended to include the client group. Due to the originality of the research replication of the study will be beneficial to the broader understanding and application of value co-creation to the high-involvement services of animal healthcare. Practical implications Recognition of the importance of value co-creation to the sector should encourage professional stakeholders to develop and adopt integrated models of service provision and to provide improved levels of service quality. Originality/value The paper makes an original contribution to knowledge regarding value co-creation in respect of high-involvement service provision. Its findings should be of value to academics interested in value co-creation in service sectors as well as animal healthcare practitioners seeking to offer better value and quality service provision.

Acceleration of the search for environmental excellence is done by managing a 'holy trinity of challenges': Public credibility, money making and new product development. New products are an important part of environmental marketing, and the focus of environmental new product development (NPD) must be in improving the primary and environmental performance of a product rather than merely introducing cosmetic changes. Companies should regard the introduction of environmental NPD as a process-oriented change in the mental attitude of a business and in the way things are done in that business, embedded in the process of product innovation. W. Coddington explains that, in developing environmental new product concepts, three sets of issues must be addressed. They are concept issues; pipeline issues; and strategic issues. Management must adopt a broader perspective of a product's characteristics when addressing environmental issues, and examining the complete life-cycle impact.

The potential impacts of Global Climate Change (GCC) in zones where water is scarce, such as along the US-Mexico border is, and will continue to be, a key concern for the future sustainability of humanity. This paper estimates the variation in quality/quantity water due to climate change and assesses its impact on community development in the US-Mexico border region of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Water Basin. To estimate variation in different water quality parameters, we use a conservative model with most probable scenarios for temperature/precipitation produced by the International Panel on Climate Change. We propose a system dynamics model to understand the complex interaction of factors governing the quantity/quality of water and their effects on social and economic conditions. The model simulates, for a 70-year period, policies and decisions that have the potential to improve conditions and prevent risks that may lead to social unrest and hinder economic development. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Purpose - There is an extensive research literature on servitisation and the related field of product-service systems that has emerged independently from different fields including engineering, management, design and environmental studies. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a structured literature review to explore, identify and synthesise the multi-disciplinary research challenges in the journey towards servitisation.Design/methodology/approach - The research approach is a systematic literature review using key word searches and citation tracking for research reported between 1990 and 2013 in research databases that cover the fields which have generated the body of knowledge. Findings - One of the key findings from the extant literature on servitisation is that it suffers from three fundamental weaknesses. First, numerous studies are conceptual in nature with limited practicality. Second, there are relatively few empirical studies, and often the findings relate to a single case study based on the insights of a limited number of senior managers. Third, often the dynamics are insufficiently studied in these organisations because data for most cases are collected post-event.Research limitations/implications - Based on the literature review and its shortfalls, this paper proposes a holistic framework of eight themes that require further attention from academic researchers in order that a more complete conceptual understanding of servitisation is developed to support practice.Practical implications - Each theme in the framework has an associated list of questions that can be addressed through research and presented to managers as a challenge agenda to improve their servitisation efforts. That servitisation is associated with differentiation and competitive advantage makes this a valuable approach for managing corporate performance.Originality/value - Research from multi-disciplinary sources is synergised in order to develop an overarching servitisation agenda that transcends domain-based boundaries. This paves the way for an approach to servitisation that is coherent and harmonious.

Online customer reviews have been shown to have a powerful impact on the sales of a given product or service. However, the qualities of a 'credible' online customer review are still subject to debate. Existing research has highlighted the potential influence of a range of factors on the credibility of an online customer review, but relies heavily on quantitative methods and a 'top down' approach. In turn, this can reduce our understanding of the influence of these factors into merely discerning whether one pre-determined factor is more influential than another is. This paper adopted a 'bottom up' thematic analysis of individual qualitative interviews with a purposeful sample of consumers who regularly utilised online customer reviews. The findings uncovered a range of factors that influenced the credibility of an online customer review that were attached to a reader's personal experience and to the content of a specific review, and inferred the existence of a reciprocal relationship between the constructs of review helpfulness and review credibility.

This chapter explores how Cypriot lecturers perceive and experience fear while being at work. Drawing on the lens of interpretive inquiry, data were collected through interviews with 19 lecturers. Analysis focused on experiences of workplace fear offering rich insights into characteristics of fear, eliciting events, and coping ways. Findings help to unveil the specific events that lead to fear in the Cypriot universities, and the ways lecturers manage their fearful experiences. The study contributes to the study of discrete emotions, by empirically examining fear's own storyline through the workers' own perspectives, within a specific context.

This paper explores the application of innovation and innovativeness in the practice of marketing. It draws insights on the activities and processes involved from an exploratory case study of acknowledged innovative marketers. Key findings include, the iterative nature of innovative marketing processes and the need to: (1) complement the original competitive advantage gained with other multidimensional competitive advantages; (2) thoroughly understand the original innovative concept and its application; (3) effectively communicate the advantages of the innovation and facilitate brand awareness in the market place; and, (4) meaningfully differentiate the product or service. Several areas of knowledge gaps for further research are also identified.

This study investigates how consumers behave in a newly emerging consumer society. The study’s most notable findings reveal distinctive shopping orientations based on psycho-social segmentation. The differences were arranged along a social/hedonistic -utilitarian orientation spectrum. Factor analysis and cluster analyze were utilized to determine how these consumers differ with respect to shopping orientation and demographic variables. The findings have specific implications for retailers and public policy, particularly since consumer research is relatively new to Indonesia, where companies tend to “import” tried and tested products and impose them on consumers.

The environment for Health Care managers in the UK has recently changed due to governmnet policy demanding more accountability and an increasing customer orientation in this sector. This paper reviews the influences on these managers and goes on to describe research which assess their knowledge and skills regarding their ability to become customer oriented The paper concludes that Health Care managers are not currently have the infrastructure to react to customer needs and wants although they do acknoeledge the need for the application of marketing tecniques and skills in this field Viewed in the context of the former medical emphasis as opposed to performance/management emphasis of UK healthcare, this new environment is radically differernt and is proving a major challenge for managers in this sector.

In the context of the demographic imperative of the worldwide ageing population, this paper proposes a framework to understand the dimensions for service quality in stakeholder perceptions of elderly nursing home care. Using extant theory on service quality and satisfaction, we explore, through semi-structured interviews, the expectations and experience of service from the perspectives of residents, family/friends and service managers. Our conceptualisation has resonance with generic notions of service quality: responsiveness, tangibles, assurance and empathy. However, systems orientation is an additional important element of experience. Expectations included issues concerning the room, care comparable to home and service outcome (returning home).

Information systems (IS) is a field that influences and is influenced by the work of many different academics and practitioners. The influence of IS to other areas of knowledge (i.e. management) has led to debate as to whether IS has become a reference field of knowledge. Focusing on either knowledge elements or knowledge activities of a reference field leaves out consideration of relationships and interactions through time between both. Following Abbott’s sociology of professional knowledge, this paper proposes a triad of analytical categories: ‘Diagnoses’; ‘Treatments’ and ‘Inferences’ to examine and advance a more comprehensive understanding of the development of IS. Our analysis, based on a pilot survey of five IS journals, suggests that the key focus of IS activity has been on refining methodologies (treatments). The field has been less explicit and inclusive in generating and disseminating diagnoses and inferences. Those people working in the field can and should make available untapped stocks of knowledge in relation to these two elements whilst attempting to expand the jurisdiction (ownership) of IS over different problems. They can do so by relating more strongly methodologies to how IS problems can be defined and theorized upon. As this is work in progress, we propose a number of implications that we intend to explore in further research.

This paper explores the relationship between communication and team effectiveness within the context of global virtual teams, arguing that a range of communication methods may impact upon the team’s effectiveness. To explore this relationship empirically, we present a key informant insights based on the activities deployed by a participant in a global team. The paper reports on the team’s effectiveness, their communication strategies and the team’s psychological traits: trust, shared understanding and co-operation. Findings from the pattern matching analysis indicate that the limited range of communication methods available to a global virtual team was not a major contributing factor to a team’s effectiveness. The paper offers communication/management techniques that could be beneficial to the global virtual team leader in facilitating team effectiveness, highlighting some issues surrounding the level of dispersion within teams that could be further explored in future research.