Business Commons^™

Electronic Tendering: Recognising A More Effective Use Of Information Communications Technology In The Irish Construction Industry, Larry O'Connell

Masters

When undertaking a traditional tender in Ireland, computer applications are heavily relied upon. Documents, from drawings to Bills of Quantities, are created with an array of computer applications. These documents are subsequently exchanged from surveying firms to a number of main contractors and, additionally, from the main contractors to subcontractors. However, even though the documents have originated in an electronic
form, the majority of the documents are communicated in a paper format. Therefore, with each new communication between the parties more paperwork is created. This system of communication is inefficient and process gains can be made through the utilization of …

Consumer Awareness In The Adoption Of Microgeneration Technologies: An Empirical Investigation In The Republic Of Ireland, Marius Claudy, Claus Michelsen, Aidan O'Driscoll, Michael Mullen

Articles

Despite major policy and marketing efforts, the uptake of microgeneration technologies in most European countries remains low. Whereas most academic studies and policy reports aim to identify the underlying reasons why people buy these new technologies, they often fail to assess the general level of consumer awareness. The process of adopting an innovation, however, shows that awareness is a prerequisite which needs to be understood before adoption can be addressed. This paper takes a closer look at awareness of microgeneration and presents the results from a nationally representative study conducted in the Republic of Ireland. Findings from logistic regressions clearly …

Young People's Use Of Online Social Networking Sites :A Uses And Gratifications Perspective, Aine Dunne, Margaret-Anne Lawlor, Jennifer Rowley

Articles

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore why young people use and participate in social networking sites (SNS) with specific reference to Bebo. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach is employed in this study with a view to exploring the uses and gratifications that girls aged 12 to 14 years, both seek and obtain from the Bebo social networking site. The research was conducted in a school setting in Ireland. Findings – The findings indicate that the participants are actively using Bebo for their own personal motives and gratifications in terms of presenting and managing a certain …

A Qualitative Study Of The Nascent Entrepreneurial Process Of An Immigrant Within An Irish Context Of A Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Lucia Walsh

Doctoral

This thesis intersects the theoretical fields of nascent entrepreneurship and cross-cultural adaptation. The key research question that guides this research is: What is the nascent entrepreneurial journey of an immigrant within an Irish context of cross cultural adaptation? The study explores the notion that the nascent entrepreneurial and cross-cultural adaptation journeys of immigrants in this study are intertwined and dynamically interact with each other.

Despite much academic interest in nascent entrepreneurship, there is a lack of qualitative studies that focus on understanding the nascent entrepreneurial process of immigrants on a longitudinal basis. Additionally, the immigrant/ethnic specific entrepreneurship theories frequently overlook …

Threshold Lives: Exploring The Liminal Consumption Of Tweens, Kevina Cody, Katrina Lawlor, Pauline Maclaren

Articles

The intervening spaces of socio-cultural organisation have proved sources of fascination and powerful theory development in the fields of sociology, psychology and anthropology (e.g. Douglas, 1966; Van Gennep, 1961; Freud, 1950, Foucault, 1977). Consumer culture research has hitherto acknowledged the potency of studying transitional phenomena, spaces and places and the interactions of varied ontologies with the consumption experiences of the individuals or group in flux and evolution (e.g. Davies and Fitchett, 2004; Maldonado and Tansuhaj, 1999; Gentry, 1997; Schouten, 1991). But what of those whose reality is the threshold between two ordered and defined worlds, the centre of nowhere? This …

The Context Matters: Understanding The Evolution Of Finnish And Irish Entrepreneurship Policies, Jarna Heinonen, Ulla Hytti, Thomas M. Cooney

Articles

Purpose – The paper aims to describe the manner in which entrepreneurship policies are embedded in the national contexts and then through analysis offers a deeper understanding of the development of Finnish and Irish entrepreneurship policies. It seeks to focus on three questions: What is the context for entrepreneurship policies in the studied countries?; What kind of governance structure for entrepreneurship policy can be identified and derived from theoretical perspectives?; and What policy instruments and content are associated with governance rationale?

Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data involve primary data on national entrepreneurship policy documents illustrating the governance structure for policy …

No Longer, But Not Yet: Tweens And The Mediating Of Liminal Selves Through Metaconsumption, Kevina Cody, Katrina Lawlor, Pauline Mcclaren

Articles

Using the anthropological theory of liminality as a lens of analysis, the following paper outlines specific elements of a research project exploring the consumer culture of a liminal group – tweens. The lived experience of a tween is explored using a multi-method approach incorporating personal diaries, in-depth interviews and accompanied shopping trips. Outcomes of one aspect of this longitudinal research project – the theory of metaconsumption - are presented, suggesting an important divergent theoretical path from the ‘effects’ - dominated consumer socialization approach to researching young people and their relationships with consumption. We conclude that those in a shadowed reality, …

Simulation Model To Investigate Flexible Workload Management For Healthcare And Servicescape Environment, Michael Thorwarth, Paul Harper, Amr Arisha

Conference papers

High demand and poor staffing conditions cause avoidable pressure and stress among healthcare personnel which results in burnout symptoms and unplanned absenteeism which are hidden cost drivers. The work environment within an emergency department is commonly arranged in a flexible workload which is highly dynamic and complex for the outside observer. Using detailed simulation modeling within structured modeling methods, a comprehensive model to characterize the nurses' time utilization in such flexible dynamic workload environment was investigated. The results have been used to derive a generalized analytic expression that describes certain settings that lead to an instable queuing system with serious …

Ict Innovation Diffusion In Small Logistics Service Providers: An Empirical Survey, Pietro Evangelista, Edward Sweeney, Claudia-Maria Wagner

Conference papers

For companies competing in highly dynamic markets, innovation is considered a fundamental component of a successful business as it allows companies to sustain profit margins, sales growth and reduce competitors’ pressures. Information and communication technology (ICT) is essential innovation enablers especially in service companies. The focus of the paper is on the analysis of the role of ICT in innovation processes of small third-party logistics service providers (3PLs). On the basis of quantitative evidence emerging from a recent survey carried out on the Italian 3PL market, the paper analyses how ICT is used to support innovation and the factors the …

Supply Chain Learning:The Role Of Games, John Cotter, Gerry Forster, Edward Sweeney

Practitioner Journals

No abstract provided.

The Development Of Tourism Areas: A Comparative Case Study Of The Factors Underpinning Tourism Development In Killarney And Clifden In Ireland, Theresa Ryan

Doctoral

This research investigates the local, place-based factors that influence tourism development, and asks why some tourism areas develop more than others. It provides important insights into the dynamics that occur at the local level, and contributes to the existing literature on destination development by investigating the influence of local tourist influentials; the presence of a social and professional milieu and the propensity for co-operation. Taking an inter-disciplinary approach, the research draws from existing tourism literature on models of tourism development, as well as literatures on entrepreneurship and industrial district theory. Underpinned by a pragmatic philosophy, it adopts a mixed-methods approach …

A Study Of Current Practice Of Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr) And An Examination Of The Relationship Between Csr And Financial Performance Using Structural Equation Modelling (Sem), Lorraine Sweeney

Doctoral

There has been a significant increase in interest in CSR in recent years (Gulyas, 2009; McGehee et al, 2009) and it is regarded as an important topic for research (Burton and Goldsby, 2009). Not only has this topic received academic attention but it is becoming a mainstream issue for many organisations (Renneboog et al, 2008; Nijof and Brujin, 2008). However, it has been noted that research on CSR in SMEs is quite scant (Burton and Goldsby, 2008; Cilberti et al, 2008). A second area of literature that remains unresolved is the relationship between CSR and financial performance (Park and Lee, …

The Ceecs’ Banking System: A Risk Study During The Global Financial Crisis, Bernadette Andreosso-O'Callaghan, Lucia Morales, Valentina Tarkovska

Conference papers

We consider operational risk and market integration in the banking system of the Central and East European Countries’ (CEECs). The analysis provides an interesting framework in relation to the effects of the global financial crisis in some European emerging banks. We implement an econometric model that takes into account the level of integration of these banks in relation to a number of most developed institutions, which are represented by the Dow Jones STOXX 600 index, with the objective of analyzing how this could be impacting the level of operational risk in the region. This paper provides new evidence that links …

Examining The Inseparability Of Enterprise And Strategy Discourse, Brendan O'Rourke

Conference papers

Small owner-managed firms are an interesting site in which to examine the deployment of strategy discourse. On the one hand, small firms offer a location where the holistic nature of strategy (Clegg et al., 2004:24; Liedtka, 1998:122; Lilley,2001: 75) is more likely to feature in daily practice On the other hand, owner-managed firms lack a key reason for the original emergence of the strategy discourse i.e. strategy as a discourse of accountability by professional managers to shareholders (Knights & Morgan, 1991). Small firm owner-managers are the ideological heroes of the enterprise discourse (Carr, 2000:101). This work looks at how owner-managers …

Enabling Rfid Technology In Irish Hospitals, Khaled Ismail, Amr Arisha

Conference papers

Hospitals represent a significant part of healthcare systems and account for no less than 60% of the entire healthcare service in most of developed countries. Therefore, improving service in hospitals is an important element to the process of healthcare reform. Better use of resources, more consistent quality, and a higher service level are the keys to rationalise the huge expenditure in healthcare systems due to higher growth in demand. Even though massive spending has been directed towards hospital improvement in Ireland, services provided in Irish hospitals are ranked relatively low comparing to the other European countries. Growth of population, aging, …

The Current Global Financial Crisis: Do Asian Stock Markets Show Contagious Or Interdependency Effects?, Lucia Morales, Bernadette Andreosso-O'Callaghan

Conference Papers

In the framework of the current global economic crisis, a pertinent question is whether the world economies are suffering from contagion or interdependency effects. With its origins in the US sub-prime mortgage market crisis starting at the end of 2007, when a loss of confidence by investors in the value of securitized mortgages resulted in a liquidity crisis, hard-hitting the banking system and rapidly spreading into the financial markets, the effects of the crisis were automatically reflected in the rest of the world economies. These effects that become severe as the rest of the world has been facing its economic …

Revitalisation, Rigour And Relevance: The Citizen-Client And Planning In The Health Services., Vivienne Byers

Conference Papers

Whereas, in many OECD countries strategic planning in health care has been in evidence since the 1970s, in Ireland the emergence of strategic management processes in health care planning didn’t occur until the 1990s.

This paper reports on part of a comparative study of health services planning in Ireland and in Canada. How can the strategic management of the Irish health services in the form of service planning be implemented? The focus of this paper is the identification of two key stumbling blocks to success in this endeavour. These include the limitations of the control mechanism, the legislation, underpinning service …

Strategic Change In The Irish Health Services: Comparative Case Studies In Planning, Vivienne Byers

Conference Papers

This paper reports on a study of the implementation of service planning in the Irish health services in the context of significant organisational change. One of the central mechanisms of the Strategic Management Initiative (SMI) is the devolution of accountability and responsibility from the centre to executive agencies. Service planning in the Irish health care sector is seen as part of this strategic planning ethos.

This study in examining the function and implementation of the service plan in the Irish health care system drew comparisons with the Canadian experience. A multiple case study design was utilised. Key research questions were …

Visitscotland.Com Effectiveness Study, Patrick Horan, Andrew Frew

Reports / Surveys

This report is a culmination of a comprehensive piece of research that studied the effectiveness of Visitscotland.com on a longitudinal basis over an eight month period from January 2009 up until August 2009. The purpose of the research is twofold. Firstly, the main purpose of the study was to evaluate how effectively VisitScotland.com serves its many stakeholders from a wide variety of perspectives. The second reason for conducting this research was to validate an expert system created specifically to evaluate the effectiveness of Destination Management Systems (DMS) from Macro, Meso, and Micro viewpoints.

Risk Assessment Model For Emergency Departments In Dublin Hospitals, Michael Thorwarth, Amr Arisha

Conference papers

The internal dynamics of emergency departments (ED) in Irish hospitals represent complex non-linear stochastic systems with an environment of uncertainty, variability and limited resources. Planning and managing such systems pose overwhelming demands. To improve operations, patient service, resource planning, and real-time reaction to unexpected events, sophisticated tools to efficiently achieve these goals must be applied.

Advanced solution techniques (e.g. simulation and optimisation) have been successfully applied in manufacturing operations to improve the delivery, cost-effectiveness and service quality. Yet, random arrival of patients, limited resources and multitasking are challenges in EDs that add more complexity to this critical area. This study …

Optimisation Methods In Supply Chain Applications: A Review, Amr Arisha, Waleed Abo Hamad

Conference papers

The competitiveness and dynamic nature of today’s marketplace is due to rapid advances in information technology, short product life cycles and the continuing trend in global outsourcing. Managing the resulting supply chain networks effectively is a complex and challenging task which is imputable to high level of uncertainty in supply-demand, conflict objectives, vagueness of information, numerous decision variables and constraints. With such level of complexity in the environment, supply chain optimisation has a potential to make a significant contribution to resolve the challenges. In this paper, a literature review – based on more than one hundred peer-reviewed articles – of …

Benefits Of Continuing Professional Development In The Visual Communications Sector In Ireland, Con Kennedy

Other resources

This research is concerned with identifying the benefits of Continuous Professional Development for the Visual Communications sector in Ireland, with the aim of establishing what benefits exist for both the employee and employer. Research is undertaken to identify CPD programmes that currently exist in other industries in Ireland for the purpose of establishing commonalities and how this may apply to the Visual Communications sector. This is achieved through a combination of literature review, desk research, surveys of employees and employers in the Visual Communications sector and a number of semi-formal interviews with representatives from various industry sectors with established CPD …

Subsidiaries, Competencies And The Implementation Of Dynamic Capabilities, Marty Reilly, Pamela Sharkey Scott

Conference Papers

Practitioners are increasingly urged by popular press and academia to add value and develop their business units by building dynamic capabilities; but both the academic theory and press fail to give a comprehensive definition as to what constitutes a dynamic capability and how they can be developed. The purpose of this paper is to explore and ultimately build upon the current literature in addressing this need, thereby contributing to managerial and academic thinking on dynamic capabilities and then to discuss the potential managerial implications in a subsidiary context. This is in response to identifying the gap both theoretically and empirically …

An Analysis Of Freight Logistics Requirements For The Island Of Ireland, Claudia-Maria Wagner, Edward Sweeney, Colm Ryan, Pietro Evangelista

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

The Role Of The Middle Manager In The Strategy Development Process Of The Multinational Subsidiary, Donal O'Brien, Pamela Sharkey Scott

Conference Papers

As multinational corporations (MNC) strive for long term competitiveness in complex business environments the Strategic Development Process has emerged as a potential source of competitive advantage (Grant, 2003). Despite this recognition there is limited knowledge of the strategy development process and the contributors to strategy development at the subsidiary level of the MNC. The essence of strategy development is contributing to competitive advantage through management activities (Papadakis et al, 1998), but much of the focus of research up to this point has been on the strategic relationship between subsidiary top management and corporate headquarters with little attention being paid to …

Investigating The Factors Impacting Retailers Evaluations Of Web Solution Providers, Roisin Vize, Aileen Kennedy, Joseph Coughlan, Fiona Ellis-Chadwick

Conference papers

Relationship marketing has emerged as a central tenet in the B2B literature (Athanasopoulou, 2009). Research indicates that firms will be more successful if they build long term, mutually supportive relationships with their business customers (Rauyruen and Miller, 2007). Retailers are responding to ever increasing competitive challenges by building collaborative relationships with customers, suppliers and service providers. Increasingly SME retailers have been adopting third party web services to help them leverage the technical expertise and knowledge required to become more strategic in their e-business ventures (Ray and Ray, 2006). Such arrangements rely on relational exchange characterized by high levels of trust …

The Effect Of Hedonic Motivations, Socialibility And Shyness On The Implusive Buying Tendencies Of The Irish Consumer, Mayank Dhaundiyal, Joseph Coughlan

Conference papers

Previous empirical studies have shown that consumers' hedonic shopping motivations can reliably predict their impulsive buying tendencies (IBT). Impulsivity has been shown to have strong roots in people’s personality (Verplanken and Herabadi 2001). This study extended current research to include two other personality constructs - shyness and sociability - that have not been tested against impulsivity in the literature. A questionnaire comprising of subscales of IBT, hedonic shopping motivations, shyness and sociability as developed by Verplanken and Herabadi (2001), Arnold and Reynolds (2003) and Cheek and Buss (1981) respectively was administered to 194 respondents in two prominent Dublin city centre …

Lean, Agile And Resilient Pharmaceutical Supply Chains: Jargon Or Action?, Edward Sweeney

Practitioner Journals

No abstract provided.

Learning Without Default: A Study Of One-Class Classification And The Low-Default Portfolio Problem, Kenneth Kennedy, Brian Mac Namee, Sarah Jane Delany

Conference papers

This paper asks at what level of class imbalance one-class classifiers outperform two-class classifiers in credit scoring problems in which class imbalance, referred to as the low-default portfolio problem, is a serious issue. The question is answered by comparing the performance of a variety of one-class and two-class classifiers on a selection of credit scoring datasets as the class imbalance is manipulated. We also include random oversampling as this is one of the most common approaches to addressing class imbalance. This study analyses the suitability and performance of recognised two-class classifiers and one-class classifiers. Based on our study we conclude …

Objectivist Problematics: Planning For Leisure From An Experiential Perspective?, Ross Neville

Articles

Despite the fact that the experiential perspective has had a profound impact on the way we view leisure behaviour, experiential matters have been renounced for being overtly subjective. As a corollary, experiential matters have been castigated for their inability to offer concrete criteria for leisure policy and the provisions of services. This paper argues that this dismissal of experiential matters is based on an overinflated dichotomy – the fact/value dichotomy – and that, by valorising objectivist approaches to managing leisure resources, experiential matters have become nothing more than a policy-making faux pas. The paper argues that while experiential matters bring …