This paper illustrates the potential of a decision-support system developed for Belgium by a consortium of universities and a private firm, in the framework of a public call made by the Ministry of the Interior. The system is designed to provide the Belgian emergency management administration with a complete decision-aid tool for the location of fire stations. The originality of the project is that it includes a risk-modeling approach developed at a national scale. This analysis involves a multiscale GIS that includes a thorough representation of the physical, human and economic spatial realities, a risk-modeling approach, an adequate optimal location and allocation model (taking into account both queuing and staffing problems). The final result is an interactive operational tool for defining locations, equipment allocations, staffing, response times, the cost/efficiency trade-off, etc. This flexible tool can be used in an assessment as well as a prospective context. It has been used to draw a national reorganization plan for fire stations that started being implemented in 2010. 相似文献
This study seeks to investigate differences exhibited by bank customers and members of financial cooperatives respecting website characteristics (website design, convenience, information quality, ease of use and security/confidentiality) and their impact on online relationship quality (composed of trust, commitment and satisfaction). An online survey was conducted with 476 banking sector customers (banks and financial cooperatives), followed by a confirmatory factors analysis and multigroup analysis using EQS 6.2 software. Results evidence a significant difference in terms of website design and security/confidentiality. The impact of these variables on relationship quality proves significantly higher in the case of banks. This study submits that web strategies used by banks and financial cooperatives to develop online relationship quality may vary based on the type of organization. 相似文献
This article reports a multimethod study of product innovation processes in small manufacturing firms. Prior studies found that small firms do not deploy the formalized processes identified as best practice for the management of new product development (NPD) in large firms. To explicate small firms' product innovation, this study uses effectuation theory, which emerged from entrepreneurship research. Effectuation theory discerns two logics of decision‐making: causation, assuming that means are selected to attain goals; and effectuation, assuming that goals are created based upon available means. The study used a process research approach, investigating product innovation trajectories in five small firms across 352 total events. Quantitative analyses revealed early effectuation logic, which increasingly turned toward causation logic over time. Further qualitative analyses confirmed the use of both logics, with effectual logic rendering product innovation resource‐driven, stepwise, and open‐ended, and with causal logic used especially in later stages to set objectives and to plan activities and invest resources to attain objectives. Because the application of effectuation logic differentiates the small firm approaches from mainstream NPD best practices, this study examined how small firms' product innovation processes deployed effectuation logic in further detail. The small firms: (1) made creative use of existing resources; (2) scoped innovations to be realizable with available resources; (3) used external resources whenever and wherever these became available; (4) prioritized existing business over product innovation projects; (5) used loose project planning; (6) worked in steps toward tangible outcomes; (7) iterated the generation, selection, and modification of goals and ideas; and (8) relied on their own customer knowledge and market probing, rather than early market research. Using effectuation theory thus helps us understand how small firm product innovation both resembles and differs from NPD best practices observed in larger firms. Because the combination of effectual and causal principles leverages small firm characteristics and resources, this article concludes that product innovation research should more explicitly differentiate between firms of different sizes, rather than prescribing large firm best practices to small firms. 相似文献
This paper focuses on customers' participation in a product development process through crowdsourcing practices. Results from five case studies of consumer goods companies suggest that the implementation of crowdsourcing operations affects the components of an existing business model and requires rethinking the marketing function. Moreover, despite some organizational constraints and fears, crowdsourcing generates a win–win relationship, creating value for both firms and customers. However, the findings reveal two negative consumer reactions to crowdsourcing practices, i.e., feelings of exploitation and being cheated, that may jeopardize their success. The results suggest the need to establish an open business model based on crowdsourcing. 相似文献
For entrepreneurs who intend to exploit university‐owned technologies, a cooperative relationship with the university is critical. This study aims to better understand this entrepreneur–university cooperation. A key factor influencing the quality of this cooperation is the fairness perception of the entrepreneur. However, little is known about how these fairness perceptions are formed in this context. Therefore, to increase insight in entrepreneur–university cooperation, this study explores the formation of fairness perceptions by entrepreneurs who cooperate with universities (in so‐called university spin‐offs). This study assesses how the rules these entrepreneurs employ to form fairness perceptions differ from fairness rules that have been established in previous studies on organizational justice. The results show that, in addition to established fairness rules, there are also fairness rules that are more specific to this entrepreneurial setting. These specific rules complement the established fairness rules to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the formation of fairness perceptions by entrepreneurs cooperating with a university. Moreover, this study explores to what extent different entrepreneurs form fairness perceptions differently and finds that both experience and relational capital of the entrepreneurs within the university are two key sources of heterogeneity. Overall, this study contributes to the literature by conceptualizing how entrepreneurs form fairness perceptions in cooperating with universities and how this extends established wisdom in organizational justice theory. Moreover, the rules identified in this study provide clues for entrepreneurs who wish to improve their collaboration with universities, and may also apply to the relationships between entrepreneurs and large corporations and between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. 相似文献
International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal - This paper examines how entrepreneurs develop the intention to make their venture green, even when “being green” doesn’t... 相似文献
The purpose of this article is twofold: (1) to investigate the emotions experienced by banking customers when using live chat services and their impact on positive word-of-mouth intentions; and, (2) to identify which dimensions of e-service quality (accessibility, customer service and support, perceived security/privacy and design) impact these emotions. A survey was conducted with 682 members of a Web-based panel. Findings demonstrate that emotions, both positive and negative, significantly impact word of mouth. Results further reveal that customer service and support followed by design of live chat services mostly influence consumer emotions. On a practical level, the recommendations provided will improve consumer experience and encourage consumers to use live chat services. This is all the more important since such services are now part of the promotion and contribution of a sustainable mode of consumption that is accessible to all.
This paper investigates the everyday lived realities of Southeast Asian migrant workers who left the formal sector of the labour market and entered the informal agricultural sector before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan. Drawing on observations of migrants' daily lives and farm work and 19 in-depth interviews, it delves into migrants' subjective experiences of vulnerability, paternalism, exploitation, and control at work due to a lack of legal protection and the illegality of their employment. Although the literature has identified a link between ‘running away’ from formal employment and seeking freedom, this research suggests a continuum between experiences of work in the formal and informal economic sectors. The paper sheds new light on mobility, work, illegality, and informality and how these have constantly shaped ‘runaway’ workers' subjective experiences of freedom and unfreedom during the pandemic. 相似文献