Predicting job satisfaction and workers’ intentions to leave at the bottom of the high value agricultural chain: evidence from the Ethiopian cut flower industry

While there is a large body of research focusing on working conditions in labour-intensive industries, none has yet considered how workers themselves perceive their own working conditions. This paper draws on a sample of workers from the cut flower sector industry in Ethiopia to examine the extent to which workers are satisfied with their jobs and to explore the relationship between job satisfaction and intention to leave. Results suggest that a positive evaluation of extrinsic organizational rewards (wage, job security and healthy environment) contributes to workers’ job satisfaction. Dissatisfied workers report higher intentions to leave their job in the flower farms. In addition to low levels of job satisfaction, having alternative livelihood strategies is a key determining factor in the intention to leave. Interestingly, being a member of an informal savings net organized at the work floor mitigates the intention to leave. The paper ends with some implications for managers and policy-makers, along with limitations and suggestions for future research.     

Autonomy in the industrial R&D lab

This article distinguishes between “strategic autonomy” (the freedom to set one's own research agenda) and “operational autonomy” (the freedom, once a problem has been set, to attack it by means determined by oneself, within given resource constraints). The article argues, and presents some preliminary corroborating data, that technical careers in the R&D lab should start lower on strategic than on operational autonomy, that operational autonomy should show initial fairly rapid increase, which should be followed by increases in strategic autonomy, and that thereafter a number of different career paths should be available for technical employees. Most labs, however, seem to espouse a philosophy of strategic autonomy combined with operational controls, which creates dilemmas and contradictions in the technical career, particularly at its start. It is proposed that these two aspects of autonomy can usefully be thought of as a two-dimensional grid. Different positions on this grid seem to fit with different orientations and different tasks, and require different strategies for career management. The article ends with a discussion of these management implications.     

Online Damage Control: The Effects of Proactive Versus Reactive Webcare Interventions in Consumer-generated and Brand-generated Platforms

Web 2.0 has empowered consumers to voice complaints with reduced costs (physical and psychological), and to share these with a multitude of other consumers on the Internet. As a public phenomenon, online complaints have a negative impact on consumers' evaluations of brands that are under attack in online complaints. By means of an experiment, we study the most effective means for companies to counter complaints as expressed in negative electronic word of mouth (NWOM). The results show that negative brand evaluations engendered by NWOM can be attenuated by webcare interventions dependent on type of strategy (proactive vs. reactive) and platform used (consumer-generated vs. brand-generated blog). This effect appeared to be mediated by conversational human voice. The findings are discussed in the light of practical implications for online complaint management.     

“Just trained to be a chef,not a leader”: A study of head chef practices

ABSTRACT

Hierarchical manners and taxing work complicate the picture of the restaurant industry, a sector in great need of personnel. There is little scientific research on daily work in restaurants. Through interviews and observations in restaurant kitchens, three head chef practices were detected: “Master the materiality” is a stipulation for leading kitchens, but does not imply leadership aspirations; “show and guide” is teambuilding through which standards are reinforced by the presence of leaders while allowing coworkers some freedom; and “overview and foresight” involves nonhierarchical supervision by head chefs during service. These practices make sense to head chefs as they enhance product quality and their reputations as professionals. The study points to a horizontal leadership in the restaurant industry and a possible new order for growth and development.     

Horizontal collaboration in logistics: decision framework and typology

Logistics service providers become increasingly aware of the need to collaborate to face challenges such as globalization and the heightened expectations of customers. This paper focuses on horizontal cooperation between logistics service providers in road transportation and introduces two novel conceptual models. Firstly, a decision framework for the development and management of horizontal logistics alliances is presented. This framework provides support to logistics service providers considering horizontal collaboration and allows for the analysis of the decision process underlying horizontal logistics alliances. The cyclical framework consists of five stages and attributes a central position to continuous evaluation. Secondly, an easy-to-use typology is proposed which defines six horizontal collaboration types based on their activity scope and degree of structural intertwinement. The typology provides logistics service providers with insights in the various horizontal collaboration types, including some key management questions. Both models are validated by knowledgeable practitioners and are applied to two real-life case studies.     

Early Bayesian modeling of a potassium lab-on-a-chip for monitoring of heart failure patients at increased risk of hyperkalaemia

ObjectivesInnovative point-of-care (POC) diagnostics are likely to have a strong impact on health care. The aim of this study is to conduct an early assessment of a point-of-care chip for the detection of a pathological deviation of the potassium levels in patients at increased risk, specifically in patients with heart failure (HF) requiring diuretics and ACE inhibitors that can both interfere with potassium levels, which may lead to serious clinical complications. This study also identifies the key factors that determine the success of the application under study.MethodsA Markov health state transition model was developed representing the disease process. Model parameters were obtained from various literature sources and estimated using interviews and related data. Simulation was carried out for 60 cycles of 1 month each. A discount rate of 3.5% was used, both for costs and utilities. In order to assess uncertainty a probabilistic sensitivity analysis was carried out from which a cost-effectiveness acceptability curve was derived.ResultsFor an anticipated number of 121 measurements per year with a cost of €16.60 per chip, an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of 34,856 €/QALY was found. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the threshold for the costs per chip was €19.30 in order to maintain a positive net monetary benefit. Also, model results are very sensitive to the utility of hyperkalaemia and to the probability to develop severe hyperkalaemia.ConclusionsThe question whether or not a POC chip to measure potassium concentrations in order to avoid a severe potassium imbalance is likely to be cost-effective cannot be definitively answered with the information at our disposal. Further research should focus on heart failure patients at particularly high risk of severe life-threatening hyperkalaemia, for instance in the presence of significant renal dysfunction. It may be expected that the use of the chip in such patient populations may render this point-of-care application very cost-effective.