Perceived Value of the Mass‐Customized Product and Mass Customization Experience for Individual Consumers

The operations management literature on mass customization mainly focuses on the questions of whether and how manufacturers can efficiently deliver customization. Researchers have analyzed the trade‐offs between customization and dimensions of operational performance such as delivery times, quality, and costs. However, we argue that providing efficient customization is not sufficient per se to assess the value of mass customization. From this perspective, this paper focuses on complementary mechanisms for creating value: the benefits perceived by individual consumers. Two global components of perceived value within the context of mass customization are identified: mass‐customized product, with three dimensions, and mass customization experience, with two dimensions. The Consumer‐Perceived Value Tool (CPVT) is proposed to empirically measure the five perceived benefits related to the mass‐customized product and to the codesign process from the consumer viewpoint. The psychometric properties of the CPVT are assessed using three samples. The implications of this approach are discussed, along with directions for further research.     

Evolution of product quality in European,Japanese and US automotive firms: An exploratory longitudinal analysis

For years we have been hearing that US automobile manufacturers have been losing market share to their Japanese rivals who are reputed to make better quality vehicles. Most such reports are based on the initial quality surveys on new automobiles. In this paper we address two exploratory questions: (1) how does the quality of an automobile change with its age, and, (2) can firm level variables help explain differences quality. To answer these questions, we collected Consumer Reports’ reliability ratings on approximately 300 automobile models made by European, Japanese and US automotive firms during the 1998–2007; and approximately 240 models made by these firms over period of 2008–2015. For both periods we found that not only do automobiles made by Japanese firms have higher initial quality, but, as automobiles get older the difference in the product quality between Japanese versus European and US firms increases. We also found that the more generalist a European or US automobile firm, i.e., the wider is the firm׳s product offering in the marketplace, the lower its overall automobile quality during the 1998–2007 period. Conversely, Japanese generalist firms were found to have higher quality than specialist firms over the same period. The result is partly explained by the fact that Japanese firms have taken a different path to broadening their product variety – they have ensured a high level of quality of their initial offerings before entering newer market segments. The rate of reliability decline was found to be slower for all firms, and the differences in reliability across the 3 groups of firms were much less pronounced during the 2008–2015 period. This improvement may be as result of restructuring done by US automobile firms.     

Risk and Benefit Perceptions of Mobile Phone and Base Station Technology in Bangladesh

Research in developed countries showed that many citizens perceive that radio signals transmitted by mobile phones and base stations represent potential health risks. Less research has been conducted in developing countries focused on citizen perceptions of risks and benefits, despite the recent and rapid introduction of mobile communication technologies. This study aims to identify factors that are influential in determining the tradeoffs that Bangladeshi citizens make between risks and benefits in terms of mobile phone technology acceptance and health concerns associated with the technology. Bangladesh was selected as representative of many developing countries inasmuch as terrestrial telephone infrastructure is insubstantial, and mobile phone use has expanded rapidly over the last decade, even among the poor. Issues of importance were identified in a small‐scale qualitative study among Bangladeshi citizens (n = 13), followed by a survey within a sample of Bangladeshi citizens (n = 500). The results demonstrate that, in general, the perceived benefits of mobile phone technology outweigh the risks. The perceived benefits are primarily related to the social and personal advantages of mobile phone use, including the ability to receive emergency news about floods, cyclones, and other natural disasters. Base stations were seen as a symbol of societal advance. The results furthermore suggest that overall risk perceptions are relatively low, in particular health risks, and are primarily driven by perceptions that related to crime and social inconvenience. Perceived health risks are relatively small. These findings show that risk communication and management may be particularly effective when contextual factors of the society where the system is implemented are taken into consideration.     

Media exposure,threat processing,and mitigation behaviors in Gulf Coast residents facing the co-occurring threats of COVID-19 and hurricanes

The 2020 hurricane season threatened millions of Americans concurrently grappling with COVID-19. Processes guiding individual-level mitigation for these conceptually distinct threats, one novel and chronic (COVID-19), the other familiar and episodic (hurricanes), are unknown. Theories of health protective behaviors suggest that inputs from external stimuli (e.g., traditional and social media) lead to threat processing, including perceived efficacy (self- and response) and perceived threat (susceptibility and severity), guiding mitigation behavior. We surveyed a representative sample of Florida and Texas residents (N = 1846) between April 14, 2020 and April 27, 2020; many had previous hurricane exposure; all were previously assessed between September 8, 2017 and September 11, 2017. Using preregistered analyses, two generalized structural equation models tested direct and indirect effects of media exposure (traditional media, social media) on self-reported (1) COVID-19 mitigation (handwashing, mask-wearing, social distancing) and (2) hurricane mitigation (preparation behaviors), as mediated through perceived efficacy (self- and response) and perceived threat (susceptibility and severity). Self-efficacy and response efficacy were associated with social distancing (p = .002), handwashing, mask-wearing, and hurricane preparation (ps < 0.001). Perceived susceptibility was positively associated with social distancing (p = 0.017) and hurricane preparation (p < 0.001). Perceived severity was positively associated with social distancing (p < 0.001). Traditional media exhibited indirect effects on COVID-19 mitigation through increased response efficacy (ps < 0.05), and to a lesser extent self-efficacy (p < 0.05), and on hurricane preparation through increased self-efficacy and response efficacy and perceived susceptibility (ps < 0.05). Social media did not exhibit indirect effects on COVID-19 or hurricane mitigation. Communications targeting efficacy and susceptibility may encourage mitigation behavior; research should explore how social media campaigns can more effectively target threat processing, guiding protective actions.     

Daily perceptions of relationship quality with leaders: implications for follower well-being

ABSTRACT

We examined how a key relationship at work, an employee’s relationship with their leader, affects employee daily well-being. In a study of 129 employees across a variety of industries, we examined how follower perceptions of their daily leader–member exchange (LMX) quality across a workweek influenced their well-being (n?=?468 observations). Results provided general support for our hypotheses. Specifically, we found that on days when employees perceived a higher quality LMX relationship with their leader, they were more likely to report a sense of belongingness, which was then positively associated with daily reports of vigor and negatively associated with emotional exhaustion. Lagged analyses showed that perceptions of LMX quality were also negatively associated with reports of emotional exhaustion the following workday suggesting that these effects may persist over time. Finally, we found that day-to-day variation in reports of LMX quality attenuated the beneficial effects of LMX on relatedness and vigor supporting our hypothesis that uncertainty related to resource availability may contribute to a threat mindset focused on resource conservation rather than engagement. Implications and future research on leadership and employee well-being are discussed.     

Australian evidence on corporate governance attributes and their association with forward-looking information in the annual report

We investigate the role played by a firm’s corporate governance framework in the decision to voluntarily disclose forward-looking information in the published financial reports of Australian companies in 2000 and 2002. With respect to the year 2000, the corporate governance category, audit quality, consisting of the presence and independence of the audit committee, its meeting frequency, the use of a big 6 auditor and the auditor’s independence, is positively associated with the disclosure of forward-looking information. The corporate governance category, board committees, consisting of the appointment and independence of a compensation committee and the creation of a nomination committee, and the overall efficacy of the corporate governance system are also positively associated with the disclosure of forward-looking information. However, corporate disclosure does not seem to be driven by the same factors in 2002 since in that year none of the governance categories is significantly associated with the firm’s decision to publish forward-looking information in financial reports.

PREFERENCE MAPPING OF PERCEIVED INFORMATION STRUCTURE: IMPLICATIONS FOR DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS DESIGN

In a recent issue of this journal, Watkins [13] presented an approach for discovery of decision-maker perceptions of the complexity (dimensionality) of information items that might be supplied by a decision support system. Through use of multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis, relatively homogeneous groups of decision makers, sharing common perceptions of various information items, were formed. This prior research was referred to as a first step in suggesting that information reports could be tailored to groups of decision makers classified on the basis of common perceptions of information. The current research extends the prior study by evaluating decision maker preferences for information in a variety of decision-making scenarios in relation to the previously identified perceptions of the information. Based on the results of the study, conclusions are made which suggest that the tailoring of information to groups of decision makers should be based on both perceptions and preferences for information. Even so, it is demonstrated that the decision tasks have an impact on the preferences for information which may affect the attempt to tailor information to groups of decision makers.     

AN EXPERIMENTAL COMPARISON OF STATISTICAL AND LINEAR PROGRAMMING APPROACHES TO THE DISCRIMINANT PROBLEM

This paper reports the results of an experimental comparison of three linear programming approaches and the Fisher procedure for the discriminant problem. The linear programming approaches include two formulations proposed by Freed and Glover and a newly proposed mixed-integer, linear goal programming formulation. Ten test problems were generated for each of the 36 cells in the three-factor, full-factorial experimental design. Each test problem consisted of a 30-case estimation sample and a 1,000-case holdout sample. Experimental results indicate that each of the four approaches was statistically preferable in certain cells of the experimental design. Sample-based rules are suggested for selecting an approach based on Hotelling's T² and Box's M statistics. Subject Areas: Statistical Techniques, Linear Statistical Models, and Linear Programming.     

On Confidence Intervals for Autoregressive Roots and Predictive Regression

Local to unity limit theory is used in applications to construct confidence intervals (CIs) for autoregressive roots through inversion of a unit root test (Stock (1991)). Such CIs are asymptotically valid when the true model has an autoregressive root that is local to unity (ρ = 1 + c/n), but are shown here to be invalid at the limits of the domain of definition of the localizing coefficient c because of a failure in tightness and the escape of probability mass. Failure at the boundary implies that these CIs have zero asymptotic coverage probability in the stationary case and vicinities of unity that are wider than O(n^−1/3). The inversion methods of Hansen (1999) and Mikusheva (2007) are asymptotically valid in such cases. Implications of these results for predictive regression tests are explored. When the predictive regressor is stationary, the popular Campbell and Yogo (2006) CIs for the regression coefficient have zero coverage probability asymptotically, and their predictive test statistic Q erroneously indicates predictability with probability approaching unity when the null of no predictability holds. These results have obvious cautionary implications for the use of the procedures in empirical practice.     

How People Perceive and Will Cope with Risks from the Diffusion of Ubiquitous Information and Communication Technologies

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly pervasive and continue to reshape our environment. This trend carries different risks. Therefore, the early sensitization of people to these risks, as well as improving their capacity for protective coping behavior, is essential. Based on the protection motivation theory (PMT), we examined with structural equation modeling the relationships between different components of threat and coping appraisal to explain protective and nonprotective responses. Calculations were performed with data from a representative survey on perception and use of ICT among German residents (N= 5,030). Our findings largely supported the proposed model: an increased perceived threat was positively related to the intentions to react protectively and nonprotectively. Perceived coping efficacy increased the protective and decreased the nonprotective responses. Negative affect enhanced the perceived threat and the nonprotective response, but inhibited protective intentions. The implications of these findings on how to sensitize people to the risks of these new technologies are outlined.     

Job insecurity,perceived employability and targets' and perpetrators' experiences of workplace bullying

Abstract

We aimed to investigate (1) the association between job insecurity and workplace bullying from the perspective of both targets and perpetrators and (2) perceived employability as a moderator of these relationships. We argue that job insecurity is associated with social or interpersonal strain as in the case of workplace bullying. Furthermore, workers who feel that they have alternative opportunities for employment may find it easier to cope with insecurity. Stated differently, we aimed to investigate whether the relationship between job insecurity and workplace bullying depended on the level of perceived employability. Hypotheses were tested among 693 workers who participated in a survey on the quality of working life. They were employed at establishments of two Belgian organizations from the textile industry (N=189) and financial services (N=505). We found that that job insecurity was associated with targets' and perpetrators' reports of workplace bullying. The interaction between job insecurity and perceived employability did not contribute to targets' reports of workplace bullying. However, it was related to perpetrators' reports of workplace bullying. Interestingly, the relationship between job insecurity and workplace bullying was stronger under the condition of high versus low employability. This hints at the idea that there could be a “dark side” to employability.     

Risk Information Seeking and Processing About Particulate Air Pollution in South Korea: The Roles of Cultural Worldview

This study integrates cultural theory of risk into the risk information seeking and processing model in the context of particulate air pollution in South Korea. Specifically, it examines how cultural worldviews (hierarchy, individualism, egalitarianism, and fatalism) influence the way people interpret risk about an environmental risk, which may in turn promote or deter their information seeking and processing about the risk. An online survey (N = 645) showed that egalitarianism was positively associated with perceptions of societal and personal risks, affective responses toward the risk, and informational subjective norms. Perceived societal risk, in particular, mediated the effect of egalitarianism on information insufficiency. Moreover, cultural worldview was a significant moderator of the relationships between information insufficiency and risk information seeking and processing. The positive relationship between information insufficiency and information seeking grew stronger with increasing egalitarianism. In contrast, the negative relationship between information insufficiency and heuristic processing was strengthened with increasing hierarchy. This study extends prior theories and models in risk communication by addressing the roles of cultural worldview, an important individual difference factor in interpreting environmental risks.     

Parameterized lower bound and inapproximability of polylogarithmic string barcoding

String barcoding is a method that can identify microorganisms by analyzing their genome sequences. In this paper, we study the polylogarithmic string barcoding problem, where the lengths of the substrings in the testing set are polylogarithmically bounded. In particular, we show that the polylogarithmic string barcoding problem remains NP-hard and moreover, for a problem instance with n sequences, it is NP-hard to achieve an approximate ratio within dln n in polynomial time, where d is some constant. We then consider the parameterized polylogarithmic string barcoding problem, where the number of substrings in the test set is considered to be a fixed parameter k. We show that, unless W[2]=FPT, there does not exist a 2 ^O(k) n ^c algorithm that can decide whether a test set of size k exists or not, where c is a constant independent of n and k.     

Setting Risk‐Informed Environmental Standards for Bacillus Anthracis Spores

In many cases, human health risk from biological agents is associated with aerosol exposures. Because air concentrations decline rapidly after a release, it may be necessary to use concentrations found in other environmental media to infer future or past aerosol exposures. This article presents an approach for linking environmental concentrations of Bacillus. anthracis (B. anthracis) spores on walls, floors, ventilation system filters, and in human nasal passages with human health risk from exposure to B. anthracis spores. This approach is then used to calculate example values of risk‐informed concentration standards for both retrospective risk mitigation (e.g., prophylactic antibiotics) and prospective risk mitigation (e.g., environmental clean up and reoccupancy). A large number of assumptions are required to calculate these values, and the resulting values have large uncertainties associated with them. The values calculated here suggest that documenting compliance with risks in the range of 10^?4 to 10^?6 would be challenging for small diameter (respirable) spore particles. For less stringent risk targets and for releases of larger diameter particles (which are less respirable and hence less hazardous), environmental sampling would be more promising.     

RISK SHARING,COMMITMENT, AND INFORMATION: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS

This paper describes and analyzes the results of a unique field experiment especially designed to test the effects of the level of commitment and information available to individuals when sharing risk. We find that limiting exogenously provided commitmentis associated with less risk sharing, whereas limiting information on defections can be associated with more risk sharing. These results can be understood by distinguishing between intrinsic and extrinsic incentives, and by recognizing that social sanctions are costly to inflict or that individuals suffer from time‐inconsistent preferences. Comparing the groups formed within our experiment with the real life risk‐sharing networks in a few villages allows us to test the external validity of our experiment and suggests that the results are salient to our understanding of risk‐sharing arrangements observed in developing countries. (JEL: C93, D71, D81, O12)     

Managerial Hubris,Trade Associations and Regulatory Knowledge in Micro‐Firms

To avoid breaking the law for regulatory non‐compliance, it is essential that micro‐firm owner‐managers are aware of deficiencies in their knowledge, so that they can seek improvement and avoid over‐confidence (i.e. hubris) in their knowledge levels. Using newly collected survey data from micro‐firms in the English accommodation sector and multivariate techniques, the authors explore the possibility of hubris by making a novel distinction between the Perceived‐Knowledge and Actual‐Knowledge of regulation held by micro‐firm owner‐managers. Both Perceived‐Knowledge (from self‐assessment) and Actual‐Knowledge (from a simple test) over four core areas of regulation are found to be different, generally poor and suggestive of hubris. The relationship between these knowledge levels is further explored by considering the role of trade association membership (since they support members) and attitude (since it effects learning). Attitude is found to be positively associated with both forms of knowledge, while trade association memberships are also found to be associated with enhanced Perceived‐Knowledge, but not Actual‐Knowledge. In light of the results, the authors suggest several priority areas for improving Actual‐Knowledge and self‐assessment skills, and areas for future research.     

Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment of Cryptosporidiosis and Giardiasis from Very Small Private Water Supplies

This article reports a quantitative microbial risk assessment of the risk of Giardia and Cryptosporidium in very small private water supplies. Both pathogens have been implicated in causing outbreaks of waterborne disease associated with such supplies, though the risk of endemic disease is not known. For exposure assessments, we used existing data to derive regression equations describing the relationships between the concentration of these pathogens and Escherichia coli in private water supplies. Pathogen concentrations were then estimated using national surveillance data of E. coli in private water supplies in England and France. The estimated risk of infection was very high with the median annual risk being of the order of 25–28% for Cryptosporidium and 0.4% to 0.7% for Giardia, though, in the poorer quality supplies the risk could be much higher. These risks are substantially greater than for public water supplies and well above the risk considered tolerable. The observation that observed infection rates are generally much lower may indicate increased immunity in people regularly consuming water from private supplies. However, this increased immunity is presumed to derive from increased disease risk in young children, the group most at risk from severe disease.     

Share,like, twitter,and connect: Ecological momentary assessment to examine the relationship between non-work social media use at work and work engagement

Non-work social media use at work has seen a dramatic increase in the last decade and is commonly deemed counterproductive work behaviour. However, we examined whether it may also serve as a micro-break and improve work engagement. We used ecological momentary assessment across 1 working day with up to 10 hourly measurements in 334 white-collar workers to measure non-work social media use and work engagement, resulting in 2235 hourly measurements. Multilevel modelling demonstrated that non-work social media use was associated with lower levels of work engagement between persons. Within persons, non-work social media use was also associated with lower concurrent work engagement. However, non-work social media use was related to higher levels of work engagement 1 hour later. While more extensive non-work social media use at work was generally associated with lower work engagement, our advanced study design revealed that the longer employees used social media for non-work purposes during 1 working hour, the more work engaged they were in the subsequent working hour, suggesting that employees turn to social media when energy levels are low and/or when they (temporarily) lose interest in their work. This behaviour may serve as a break, which in turn increases work engagement later during the day.     

Identifying design criteria for urban system ‘last-mile’ solutions – a multi-stakeholder perspective

Abstract

This study presents a novel approach to design and evaluate ‘last-mile’ solutions – encompassing the social and economic perspectives of key stakeholders. While urban system initiatives have been implemented in practice, theoretical gaps remain at the operational design level. A theoretical framework is developed, based on design criteria identified from a critical synthesis of supply chain and operations management literature, and ‘operationalised’ using an in-depth case study demonstrating implementation of a Consumer Choice Portal-Package Consolidation Centre solution, within a densely populated urban geography. Findings suggest that there is a need to re-define the role of institutional actors beyond that of the traditional governance task, to one of being able to facilitate performance outcomes. Similarly, industrial efficiency dimensions need to be reorientated to include consumer participation, social considerations and multi-stakeholder service outcomes. Finally, implications for operations theory and practising managers in city logistics are highlighted, with suggested directions for future research.