On Elevating Strategic Design Research*

While the popular understanding of the influence of design is growing, academic research has largely been restricted to considering consumer‐level responses to design elements. This paper reviews this past work and proposes a more strategic research agenda for the field, with the potential to explicate linkages between design elements and strategies and outcomes related to innovation and corporate performance.     

The impact of organisational change on the nature and extent of training in Australian enterprises

This article reports on a study investigating the relationship between the introduction of new management practices and the training provided by Australian enterprises for their employees. The new management practices investigated include teamworking, total quality management, lean production, business process re‐engineering and the learning organisation. The study involved a survey of human resource managers in medium to large size Australian enterprises. The study models the impact of the introduction of new management practices and the extent of training provision in the enterprises and on the form and nature of the training. The article concludes that whereas new management practices have a significant impact on training provision in enterprises, the effect is highly differentiated and that a critical relationship is the integration of training with the business strategy of the enterprise.     

Aligning Manufacturing Strategy and Business-Level Competitive Strategy in New Competitive Environments: The Case for Strategic Resonance

abstract    In this paper we make the case for strategic resonance in the strategy making process within dynamic and highly volatile market conditions. We discuss how managers are faced with competing paradigms of resource-driven versus market-led approaches to strategy but we suggest that both paradigms have flaws and may cause strategic dissonance to occur. Moreover, we offer additional insights into why strategic dissonance can occur within the strategy process of the firm. We suggest that a key omission often lies in the neglect of operations managers' potentially important contributions to the strategy mainstream process.     

Are households ready to engage with smart home technology?

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes new knowledge regarding consumers’ preparedness for smart home technology adoption. This research bridges together three important frameworks – the technology readiness index (TRI) 2.0, consumer engagement, and perceived risk and trust – to understand consumers’ intentions to adopt smart home technology. We examine both direct and indirect effects, with results demonstrating the model explains 77% variance of consumers’ imagined engagement with smart home technology and 74% variance of intentions to adopt; hence, our model has greater predictive power than others proposed in the literature. Theoretically and managerially, we demonstrate a new pathway to consumers’ adoption of smart home technology in two ways. First, we depict the impact of consumers’ general perceptions of technology (TRI) on opinions and imagined engagement experiences with smart home technology. Second, we show how opinions and imagined experiences with smart home technology impact their intentions to adopt.     

Is there a labor shortage?

Business Economics - A panel discusses ongoing and prospective developments in the US labor market. Michael Horrigan points out that job losses in the COVID recession were heavily concentrated...     

Nutrition knowledge of caterers and constraints to offering more healthy meals

The study determined whether school and workplace caterers in the South East of England have the necessary knowledge to provide more healthy meals, and the constraints preventing them offering them. Results indicated that most caterers knew about current nutritional guidelines and sources of nutrients, and thus should be able to produce healthy meal choices. Most caterers believed that certain foods could be prepared successfully using alternative ingredients or cooking methods. The main constraints to offering more healthy options were taste, cost and what customers wanted. The main changes that had been made were the use of reduced-fat ingredients and cooking practices aimed at reducing the fat content of dishes.