Marta Mas-Machuca

Exploring critical success factors of knowledge management projects in the consulting sector

Knowledge management (KM) and critical success factors (CSFs) are interesting issues in the current business world. Knowledge is an important driving force for business success and competiveness, especially in the consulting industry whose core business is to sell knowledge itself. Previous works suggested a positive relation between the CSF and the success of a KM project, but only few of them related it in a quantitative way. This paper aims to identify the CSF in a consulting firm (strategic, cultural and technological factors) and to build a success model for designing KM projects based on these CSF identified. This model was tested using structured equation model. With this study we contribute to recognising the importance of these success factors in a KM project in the consulting industry to achieve the maximum success.

Work-life balance and its relationship with organizational pride and job satisfaction

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between work-life balance, organizational pride and job satisfaction. When evaluating employee work-life balance the present paper takes into consideration two relevant antecedents: supervisor support and job autonomy; and explores their link with organizational pride and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – To verify the hypothesis, a questionnaire survey was used to collect data in a Spanish pharmaceutical organization; 374 responses were obtained. Structural equation modeling was used for the data analysis. Findings – Data confirms the relationship between the analyzed constructs. The results support the hypothesized relationships of supervisor work-life balance support and autonomy with employee work-life balance. In addition, employee work-life balance is positively related with organizational pride and job satisfaction. Practical implications – This study provides a useful measurement model that employers and employees can...

Antecedents of online purchasing behaviour in the tourism sector

– The purpose of the paper is twofold. First, it investigates antecedents of online purchasing behaviour, taking into account the relationships between the constructs of service quality, perceived value and loyalty. Second, the study analyses up to what point men’s and women’s behaviours are similar. , – A survey was sent to the general public in Spain. Respondents were required to be consumers of online travel agencies. In total, 1,201 valid questionnaires were collected. No gender bias was detected in the sample. The data were analysed through Structural Equation Modelling to assess the proposed model. To determine non-invariant parameters across the two groups (men and women), a test for invariance was conducted. , – Both functional quality and hedonic quality are shown as antecedents for perceived value, and, in turn, perceived value impacts loyalty. The impact of loyalty on purchasing behaviour is significant, though weak. Gender differences are also examined and all parameters of the model are found to operate equivalently among men and women, indicating that both groups perform similarly. , – This paper highlights that the hedonic dimension of quality is important in adding value for customers. Accordingly, managers should reinforce this dimension and include it in their business strategy. , – Although the link between perceived quality and value-loyalty is well-established, there are still few studies that expand this link upstream or downstream. This paper analyses the next link in this chain.

An integral planning model that includes production, selling price, cash flow management and flexible capacity

Many authors consider that production and marketing decisions should be integrated. In this paper, we discuss an aggregate planning problem that includes production, selling price, cash management and flexible capacity (by means of hiring and firing and with the possibility of unlimited production subcontracting). The demand is considered to be a nonlinear function of the product selling price. The problem, which is modelled as a mixed integer linear program, can be solved using standard optimisation software. The results of a computational experiment and a numerical example are shown to illustrate the performance of the proposed model and obtain some managerial insights.

Integration of marketing and production decisions in aggregate planning: a review and prospects

This paper focuses on the integration of marketing and production decisions regarding aggregate planning in industrial companies. The main contributions to the literature are described briefly and used to present a summary of the state of the art. This review will enable the study of the interrelations between the key variables of marketing decision-making (price and/or promotion) and production decision-making (product quantity, staff size, working hours and inventory level) and thereby contribute to the development of integrated decision models. These contributions are then analysed in relation to mathematical programming models that include marketing and production variables in aggregate planning. Finally, future lines of research are proposed.

Assessing the internalization of the mission

– Many companies have a mission statement that they disseminate through corporate communication to stakeholders and particularly to employees. However, the communication action alone does not ensure that employees take true “ownership” of the mission. Having a mission and internalizing that mission are quite different. The purpose of this paper is to provide a scale to assess the internalization of the mission (IM). Additionally, the authors explore the relationship between IM and organizational alignment. , – Based on previous research on mission internalization, the authors test the conditions necessary for reaching true mission internalization. A first sample of 132 managers from two companies was used for an exploratory analysis: thereafter, a second universal sample of 400 people was used to confirm the scale. Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze the dimensions deployed in the latent IM construct. This construct has been examined as a second-order factor. A multi-group analysis across these two companies provides nomological validation of the IM scale. , – A scale of 18 items gathered under five dimensions is proposed. Accordingly, the findings are that IM comprises five dimensions: leadership, importance, knowledge, co-workers’ engagement and implication. The five dimensions count equally for the IM. , – This study provides a useful measure to assess the IM. To achieve a good degree of internalization across employees, the employees must feel that the mission is worthy of engagement and that it is aligned with their personal values. , – The paper addresses gaps in the current literature on mission statements regarding the effective implementation of the corporate mission. The results can serve as criteria for managers to obtain better IM for all employees.

Is research mediating the relationship between teaching experience and student satisfaction

ABSTRACT Universities must ensure that academic staff are qualified and competent for performing their job. Teaching and research are two key activities in which lecturers should excel. While some authors suggest teaching and research complement each other and positively influence student satisfaction, some others point to a rivalry effect between the two. This study aims at shedding new light on this debate. We first examine the relationship between teaching experience and student satisfaction. In a second stage we explore the mediating effect of research intensity in this relationship. Lastly, we examine potential differences due to contract status. Data gathered in 2014 come from 229 different subjects offered at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (Spain). Our results support the thesis that teaching experience is a determinant of student satisfaction. We also found evidence that current incentive systems at universities are research-biased, negatively impacting on students’ perceptions of the teaching received (student satisfaction).

UnivQual: a holistic scale to assess student perceptions of service quality at universities

The aim of this study is twofold. First, we validate a scale to assess the quality of the university experienced by students (UnivQual). Three main dimensions are envisioned: (i) ‘curriculum’, which refers to the quality of the learning methods and the coordination efforts throughout the whole study period; (ii) ‘skills development’, referring to the skills that students might acquire and (iii) ‘services and facilities’ of the university. Second, we analyse the role of the aforementioned dimensions and their impact on student satisfaction. Results reveal that the ‘curriculum’ dimension is the main antecedent of student satisfaction, whereas ‘services and facilities’ do not play a significant role, although they are necessary to provide good service. The empirical application considers a survey of 2557 undergraduate students who finished their degrees in 2013 at universities located in the region of Catalonia (Spain). The paper ends with recommendations for university managers and public administration authorities.

Is it worth having focused values

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of a specific category of organizational values on organizational effectiveness. Specifically, the aim of the paper is twofold: to propose a metric scale for assessing the organizational values, and to find the impact that different categories of values have on the overall effectiveness of the organization, as an overall measure of organizational success. Moreover, this second objective is expanded with the moderation between values and effectiveness when different balanced scorecard (BSC) perspectives are attended in a balanced way. Design/methodology/approach The methodological approach is empirical, based on surveying employees – in total 813 valid responses were obtained, alongside with other information sources within 24 companies in the Republic of Croatia. A set of analyses using structural equation modelling were conducted in order to: define a scale to assess organizational values, assess the impact of different categories of values on organizational effectiveness, and assess the moderator role of the balancing attention to stakeholders. Findings The findings show that construct of organizational values is multifactorial, composed by business, relational, development, and contribution values. These values categories (except relational values) are significant antecedents of effectiveness. Moreover, the balancing of the attention paid to different BSC perspectives moderates the impact of the contribution values on effectiveness. Originality/value The present study sought to expand the understanding of organizational values and their impact on performance and to ask if focussing on a specific category of values can increase the overall level of organizational effectiveness.

Fulfilment of expectations on students’ perceived quality in the Catalan higher education system

This study provides an innovative approach to the analysis of the antecedents of satisfaction. A discussion about different types of expectations and their configurations is presented, providing a new classification of services according to two temporal dimensions that affect expectations: (i) how the length of the service lead time has an impact on the assessment of fulfilment of expectations and (ii) how the repetitive purchasing over time updates expectations. We focus the analysis on the study of those cases where expectations cannot be directly assessed. The empirical application considers the case of higher education services. Using a survey of 2557 undergraduate students who finished their degrees in 2013 at universities located in Catalonia (Spain), we test a model where fulfilment of expectations is proposed as an antecedent of students’ satisfaction, alongside with perceived quality. The methodological approach uses structural equation modelling technique. Results reveal that fulfilment of expectations has a high explanatory power and that this antecedent of satisfaction is well explained by the dimensions of perceived quality, evidencing its mediation role between quality and satisfaction.