Stephen J Kelly

What impacts do different forms of customer involvement have on the development of services? the identification of team- and customer-related factors

Jakob Trischler et al. — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:12:37 PDT

In service design and innovation research active customer involvement has been suggested as a critical factor for developing successful services. Hence, the approach to service design and innovation has been argued to be necessarily open, cross-disciplinary and collaborative rather than closed R&D processes. Drawing upon extensive team research literature, however, it seems that the effective development of a service is affected by a number of factors and cannot be reduced to the composition of teams only. Additional impacting factors have been found to be task design and interdependence, internal team processes including bonding, conflicts and communication, and numerous external players such as length of a project, team leadership, management support and context-related factors. Further, by emphasizing on the examination of different forms of customer involvement, it appears that not only the form of customer involvement but also specific customer characteristics matter. We conclude with recommendations for future research that sets out to study different forms of customer involvement in a controlled environment.

Questioning the epistemic virtue of strategy: the emperor has no clothes!

Steven French et al. — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:31:05 PDT

A critical analysis of contemporary strategic management theory and practice suggests that modernist, linear thinking has facilitated the development of an abstracted reality which is misleading to managers and fundamentally flawed. It is argued that formulaic strategic tools such as those propounded by Porter fail to capture the reality of the complex environments that confront firms and falsely suggest that an answer can be derived from a predetermined toolbox. As an alternative to this dominant paradigm, the complexity of markets is presented not as something to be feared and ignored, but rather as a truth to be embraced. As a basis of taking this step, current knowledge on how complex environments work, perspectives on how they can be better understood and how people and organizations can engage within them, is presented. Ultimately it is recognised that both theoretical and practical foundations need significant, further development.

Creating an index of local software economy maturity: driving innovation and productivity

Malcolm Fraser et al. — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:01:31 PDT

Exploring the perceived influence of safety management practices on project performance in the construction industry

Eddie WL Cheng et al. — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:40:59 PDT

Although safety management is known to be vital to construction projects, very few studies have solicited views from construction practitioners about their perceptions of which safety management practices (SMPs) are important to construction projects and related to project performance. An empirical study was undertaken in Hong Kong in order to shed more light on this topic. In the study, the importance levels of 15 popular SMPs and five project performance criteria were rated by 232 respondents. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted, and three SMP categories – information, process, and committees – were extracted. Of these three categories, safety management process was perceived by the construction practitioners as being the most important, followed by safety management information and committees. Moreover, the effect of the three SMP categories on a composite project performance variable was tested using hierarchical regression analysis. Results indicate that the “information” and “committees” categories were associated with project performance positively and significantly. One of the major conclusions of the study is that the construction industry has paid relatively less attention to safety management committees, which were empirically analyzed as having a strong perceived impact on project performance. In order to improve project performance, construction companies should promote the criticality of safety management committees.

Relationship benefits: conceptualization and measurement in a business-to-business environment

Stephen J. Kelly et al. — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 22:35:51 PDT

This article offers both a conceptually valid measure of the relationship benefits derived from the relationship marketing, networks, services marketing and strategy literature and demonstrates the concept’s effect on business-to-business bonds. Four types of relationship benefit labelled cost, service, flexibility and image benefits are identified and their measures tested for reliability and validity. A structural model incorporating associations between a second-order relationship benefits construct and other salient relationship concepts is also tested, with significant direct associations between relationship benefits, trust and relationship investments evident, together with indirect associations between relationship benefits and instrumental, affective and normative commitment, absence of conflict, acquiescence, satisfaction and switching. The article calls for further refinement of the concept and evaluation of its associations in other contexts and in light of noted shortcomings in the literature.

The role of strategic planning in the performance of small professional service firms: a research note

Steven NJ French et al. — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:20:37 PST

Using a sample of small, regional professional service firms, this paper investigates relationships between firm performance and aspects of strategic planning. Constructs measuring vision, mission, latent abilities, competitor orientation and market orientation are identified using exploratory factor analysis and respondents categorised as non-planners, informal planners, formal planners and sophisticated planners. Multiple performance measures were used to assess the relationship between these factors and categories and firm performance. While no significant relationship between the performance measures and factors is identified, a significant relationship between net profit and informal planning emerges. These mixed results bring into question the value of the classical strategic planning process as a means of achieving a sustainable competitive advantage in the market analysed.

Human resource development and 'casualisation' in hotels and resorts in Eastern Australia: getting the best to the customer?

Grant Cairncross et al. — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:20:36 PST

This paper provides an analysis of human resource development and knowledge capital management relations practices used by hotels and resorts in 2007. The study examined the employment instruments used, methods of employee recruitment, selection, staff turnover trends, remuneration policies, attitudes to knowledge capital and the application of service quality measurement. The findings indicate that larger foreign-owned organisations have adopted more innovative approaches than smaller Australian-owned hotels and resorts, while skill shortages and generational attitude changes have driven more inventive retention strategies in both groups. It was also found that in spite of the adoption of more enlightened human resource strategies, staff turnover, particularly casual staff turnover, remains problematic and could negatively impact upon customer satisfaction.

Image formation information sources and an iconic Australian tourist destination

Janet Hanlan et al. — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:20:35 PST

Tourist destination brand image is a major influencing factor in traveller destination choice. This exploaratory research into the information sources form which destination brand image evolves provides insights which have the potential to improve tourism destination brand development strategies. In-depth interview with 21 international backpackers on Australia's northern NSW coast indicate that mainstream media play little or no part in the formation of respondents' image of the coastal destination of Byron Bay. Rather, word of mouth and autonomous independent information sources were the key media through which respondents formed their image of this iconic Australian tourist destination. Findings also show the importance of destination experience in the image formation process and suggest that destination marketing organizations can and should go beyond traditional mainstream media to communicate their brand message. Additionally, findings suggest the need for DMOs to provide leadership within the destination's tourism industry to improve service delivery and exceed the 'brand promise'.

Venture capital in regional New South Wales

Margaret F. Drever et al. — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:07:47 PST

Delving into agility: its components and impact among small ICT firms in Australia

Jennifer L. Harrison et al. — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:07:45 PST

Entrepreneurs and venture capital: attitudes and understanding in New Zealand and Australia

Dean R. Prebble et al. — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:07:44 PST

Operationalising vision and mission

Steven NJ French et al. — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:07:43 PST

This paper discusses an exploratory investigation into vision and mission, the starting points of the classical strategic planning process (Ginter, Rucks and Duncan 1985). Constructs measuring vision and mission are identified, as well as three other items that are frequently cited in the literature as being critical for effective formulation and implementation of vision and mission statements (latent abilities, market focus and competitor focus). It is argued that clearer definitions of these constructs and others discussed in strategic literature are a necessary step to allow empirical investigation into the interactions inherent in the strategic process.

Venture capital across the ditch: how Australian and New Zealand firms view the VC option

Stephen J. Kelly et al. — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:07:42 PST

Foreign market entry and sustained competitiveness by Australian SMEs

Stephen J. Kelly — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:07:41 PST

Develops a model for foreign market entry and sustained competitiveness by Australian small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly in relation to Indonesia.

Measuring attitudinal commitment in business-to-business channels

Stephen J. Kelly — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:07:39 PST

While organizational behaviourists have largely adopted a three-component conceptualisation of attitudinal commitment, marketers continue exclusively to apply one- or two-component models. In this paper, the reliability and validity of one-, two- and three-component models of commitment are examined within a business-to-business context. The results indicate that the three-component model incorporating instrumental, affective and normative dimensions is superior on both substantive and empirical grounds. It is subsequently argued that marketing planners need to demand that marketing researchers are more precise when incorporating commitment into conceptual and empirical studies, and account for these distinct components either by explicitly including or omitting them. It is also argued that marketing managers can enhance channel relationships if they are cognisant of the three distinct types of attitudinal commitments when formulating channel management tactics and strategies.

An exploratory investigation into e-tail image attributes important to repeat, internet savvy customers

Simon J. Wilde et al. — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:07:36 PST

This paper offers results from an exploratory study investigating e-tail store image attributes important to repeat, internet savvy customers of a major Australian grocery e-tailer. The study was undertaken in response to a perceived need on the part of the e-tailer for a better understanding of how image operated on-line, and a review of extant literature which indicated that while retail store image in traditional bricks-and-mortar environments had been extensively investigated; limited empirical work involving consumers had been undertaken within the e-tail environment. Three components incorporating traditional and e-tail specific attributes were identified; core demands, institutional factors and information.

A preliminary investigation into associations between components of attitudinal commitment and relationship benefits

Stephen J. Kelly et al. — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:07:35 PST

Findings from exploratory research examining antecedents and outcomes of instrumental, affective and normative commitment in a business-to-business setting are reported. Results suggest supplier generated relationship benefits that offer retailers a competitive advantage through cost leadership or differentiation influence instrumental commitment, while interpersonal relationship antecedents such as trust, satisfaction and absence of conflict influence affective and normative commitment. A theoretical model is offered illustrating these relationships and it is proposed that enhanced outcomes will be derived from channel strategies that focus with greater intent on maximising each dimension of commitment through identified antecedents. The vehicle for the study is relationships between Australian retail pharmacies and pharmaceutical wholesalers and banner groups.

Competition and collaboration

Stephen J. Kelly — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:07:34 PST

Developing a relationship orientation

Stephen J. Kelly — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:07:31 PST

Evaluating lapsed clients in the health and weight loss industry: the challenge of a mature market and the need for a relational approach

Stephen J. Kelly et al. — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:07:30 PST