Nursing compensation: the realities of seeking equity

The importance of equitable salary compensation has been identified as a key factor in recruitment and retention. Costing out nursing care can identify revenues, improve budget negotiation leverage, and perhaps supply data needed to readjust hospital reimbursement rates.     

Measurement of trend growth in European industrial output before 1914: Methodological issues and new estimates

The paper uses a structural time series model to reconsider growth in industrial output in 19th-century Europe. The approach is based on an unobserved components methodology in which there is no ex-ante specification of dates at which the trend is hypothesized to have changed and both trend and cycle are stochastic. We find that trend growth was variable over time in several cases but in general was less volatile than has been claimed and also that in general these times series of industrial output are difference rather than trend stationary.     

“I'd like to thank the academy”: An analysis of the awards discourse at the Atlantic Schools of Business Conference

The awarding of prizes has become embedded in all aspects of our society, including academic conferences. At the same time, the reputation economy, an economy where individual standing is based on the opinions of end users, is growing in strength and validity. We analyzed the way in which the awards discourse has been recontextualized within a small academic conference that is struggling to find legitimacy—the Atlantic Schools of Business Conference. With a focus on language and the different meanings words hold in different discourses, we have determined that recontextualization of the discourse within the conference has resulted in two distinct discourses—the discourse of the award giving body and the discourse of the potential award recipient. Copyright © 2008 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The selection and evaluation of word processing equipment in a research organization

. This paper is concerned with the selection, evaluation and subsequent implementation of shared logic word processing equipment in an R & D environment. The authors formed a multidisciplinary team in order to carry out the project from the stages of problem definition to final evaluation in all its aspects of the chosen equipment.     

Zero acquaintance benchmarking at travel destination websites: what is the first impression that national tourism organizations try to make?

This paper examines the marketing effectiveness of hospitality and tourism websites. An extensive review of literature on website effectiveness in hospitality and tourism revealed a total of 47 different instruments that have been used to evaluate hospitality and tourism websites. Using the grounded theory technique, a website evaluation tool called the online promotion evaluation instrument was developed with the aim of condensing the 47 existing tools into one benchmarked instrument with applicability across the various hospitality and tourism sectors. The developed online promotion evaluation instrument comprised three main features—aesthetics features (destination visualisation and Web design); informative features (uniqueness, monetary value and cultural promotion); and interactive features (e‐travel planners and online communities). The instrument was tested using a random sample of 25 National Tourism Organization websites worldwide. The results of the instrument development and testing process are presented in this paper with directions for future research in website evaluation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Creativity in buyer–seller relationships: The role of governance

This research proposes a framework for relating governance mechanisms (power, contracts, and trust) to the generation of creative approaches to business activities in buyer–seller relationships. The framework is tested with a survey of 262 purchasing agents. The results indicate that trust and contract affect the three facilitators of inter-organizational creativity: (1) knowledge-sharing routines (resources), (2) learning orientation (motivation), and (3) managerial support and open-mindedness (managerial practices). Also, the effects of trust and contract on the creativity in buyer–seller relationships are fully mediated by the above three facilitators. In particular, trust plays a more influential role in stimulating creativity. While power is not significantly associated with any of the facilitators, its overall effect on creativity is negative.