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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the influences of total quality management (TQM) and supply chain integration (SCI) practices on firm performance (FP) of container shipping industry in Singapore.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted with 159 container shipping companies in Singapore to examine the interrelationships between SCI and TQM practices and FP. A stepwise multiple regression analysis using SPSS version 14.0 was performed on the data.FindingsStatistical results suggest that both TQM and SCI practices have positive effects on service quality and FP but at different extents, while TQM also contributes positively to SCI.Research limitations/implicationsThe small sample is the main limitation. The findings bear important implications for further research as understanding these dimensions can help to position key changes and industry improvement that will increase revenue and reduce cost to the container shipping companies in Singapore.Practical implicationsThis research provides guidelines for shipping managers on how to implement the SCI and TQM practices appropriately to boost their FP to the fullest extent.Social implicationsThis study has unique implications for social sustainability especially the container shipping industry, which is hard pressed to combat the challenges within the logistics/transportation sector.Originality/valueThis is perhaps the first study that examines the influence of SCI and TQM practices on the performance of container shipping firms that helps them see beyond the silo mentality and focus on greater value addition in FP.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a targeted outreach program that referred World Trade Center Health Registry (Registry) enrollees, to specific post-disaster health care available through the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) and evaluate differences in outreach effectiveness based on demographic and health characteristics.


Design/methodology/approach
The Registry's Treatment Referral Program (TRP) targeted 22,981 enrollees based on symptoms and conditions known to be related to 9/11, reported on a 2011-2012 follow-up survey. A call vendor was utilized for the initial outreach phone call. Enrollees who requested a WTCHP application had follow-up from TRP staff, which typically included 4-6 interactions per enrollee until outreach was completed.


Findings
As of 12/31/2015, the vendor had reached 8,778 (38 percent) of the targeted sample. TRP staff spoke to 6,016 (68 percent) enrollees reached by the vendor, 5,554 (92 percent) of whom requested a WTCHP application, and 2,425 (43 percent) reported having submitted the WTCHP application. Application requests and submissions differed by survivor or responder status, race, income and health symptoms.


Originality/value
Registries created for surveillance and research among disaster-exposed populations provide a unique and effective outreach approach. A dedicated treatment referral unit within a disaster registry is an effective means for conducting post-disaster outreach to a large, diverse sample of exposed individuals.

PurposeThrough examining the two constructs of inter-organizational complementarity and inter-organizational compatibility in supply chains, the purpose of this paper is to develop a taxonomy of focal firms' inter-organizational fit (IOF) configurations with their suppliers and customers, and examine the relationship between these configurations and environmental innovation (EI) in order to answer the question of "with whom" to collaborate for EI development.Design/methodology/approachA survey instrument was elaborated and data from a sample of 171 US firms were collected. The authors adopted cluster analysis to identify the IOF taxonomy. Canonical discriminant analysis was employed to uncover underlying dimensions between clustering variables and cluster membership. Then, ANOVA tests were conducted to investigate relationships between IOF configurations in the context of EI in supply chains.FindingsThree configurations were identified based on the complementarity and compatibility between focal firms and their supply chain partners. It is observed that the overall IOF level is positively related to firms' EI outcomes. Moreover, inter-organizational complementarity facilitates incremental EI while inter-organizational compatibility plays a more crucial role in radical EI. Both are required to achieve the best innovation outcome.Originality/valueThis research develops the first taxonomy for depicting IOF in a supply chain innovation context and also clarifies different rationale behind the development of incremental and radical EI through examining distinctive effects of the complementarity and compatibility with supply chain partners.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss different approaches of performance measurement and benchmarking as "reflexive institutions" for local governments in England, Germany and Sweden from a comparative perspective.


Design/methodology/approach
These three countries have been selected because they represent typical (most different) cases of European local government systems and reforms. The existing theories on "institutional reflexivity" point to the potential contribution of benchmarking to public sector innovation and organizational learning. Based on survey findings, in-depth case studies, interviews and document analyses in these three countries, the paper addresses the major research question as to what extent and why benchmarking regimes vary across countries. It derives hypotheses about the impacts of benchmarking on institutional learning and innovation.


Findings
The outcomes suggest that the combination of three key features of benchmarking, namely – "obligation", "sanctions" and "benchmarking authority" – in conjunction with country-specific administrative context conditions and local actor constellations – influences the impact of benchmarking as a reflexive institution.


Originality/value
It is shown in the paper that compulsory benchmarking on its own does not lead to reflexivity and learning, but that there is a need for autonomy and leeway for local actors to cope with benchmarking results. These findings are relevant because policy makers must decide upon the specific "governance mix" of benchmarking exercises taking their national and local contexts into account if they want them to promote institutional learning and innovation.

Purpose
There is an increasing interest in the role of business orientations in relation to why organizations vary in e-marketing adoption. Nevertheless, there is still scant evidence on electronic marketing orientation (EMO) within the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SMEs) context. This paper aims to shed light on the key factors that affect the degree of e-marketing adoption among SMEs from an organizational orientation perspective.

Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a cross-sectional survey of just over 135 European SMEs. The constructs are measured using multi-item indicators to capture the underlying theoretical domains.

Findings
The results show that EMO in SMEs is a high order construct that consists of three main components, principally: management beliefs, initiation and implementation activities. The degree of EMO is primarily affected by perceived relative advantage and customer pressure.

Research limitations/implications
The study focuses on for-profit SMEs in developed economies. Future researchers may replicate this study using qualitative methods in different contexts (i.e. developing countries) across several technologies and platforms (i.e. websites, internet of things, mobile applications and social media networks).

Originality/value
This study further extends the literature on EMO and provides answers to the questions related to the variation in SMEs' e-marketing adoption. Practitioners can apply the EMO construct to evaluate their orientation towards e-marketing, and most importantly, to take the required remedial action to improve their performance in digital commerce.

Purpose
Using insights from theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study aims to examine the determinants and their relative importance in predicting green buying behavior among young educated consumers in India.


Design/methodology/approach
Data are collected from 202 young Indian consumers using online questionnaire survey. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to ensure the reliability and validity of study measures in the present context. Structural equation modeling is used to test the proposed research model.


Findings
Findings confirm perceived value and willingness to pay premium as significant predictors of the green purchase intention. In turn, green purchase intention significantly influenced green buying behavior.


Practical implications
This study by advancing the understanding on the factors influencing green product purchase intention and behavior among Indian youths will help the policymakers to design policies and programs to encourage the adoption of green purchase behaviors, which in turn will help in addressing the problem of environmental sustainability, which the whole world is struggling with.


Originality/value
This study validates the importance of TPB framework in comprehending consumer green product purchase intention and behavior in a culturally different context of India. Thus, this study contributes to the green marketing literature by examining the unique combination of variables in predicting green buying behavior in an integrated framework. It also extends the TPB by demonstrating the importance of additional constructs, perceived value and willingness to pay in predicting green purchase intention and behavior among young millennials in India.

Purpose
Few scholars have so far explored how healthcare service quality affects patient dissatisfaction, leading to negative behavior responses when a healthcare service fails. The purpose of this paper is to examine how different service quality attributes affect patient dissatisfaction leading to a variety of asymmetric negative behavior responses.


Design/methodology/approach
Following a survey of 453 dissatisfied outpatients in Korea, structural equation modeling with a series of post hoc analyses is used to test the research model. It consists of five hypotheses.


Findings
Outcome quality is found to be the most significant variable affecting patient dissatisfaction, followed by administrative quality, interactive quality, and environmental quality. Dissatisfied patients tend to engage more in active behaviors (e.g. negative word-of-mouth, switching, and complaining) than in remaining passive in a non-linear way. Also, the mediating role of dissatisfaction is found to be significant.


Research limitations/implications
This paper has empirically identified the most significant service quality attributes that lead to dissatisfied patients and negative behaviors on their part. These findings indicate that different quality attributes of service failure lead to different actions. However, this study has suffered from a few limitations as a result of its research context and scope.


Originality/value
This paper is one of the very few empirical studies examining the relationships among the output and process quality attributes, patient dissatisfaction, and actual behaviors in a healthcare service failure context.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the gendered double standards of exploiting physical appearance in Finland. Drawing from literature on physical appearance as a form of capital, four hypotheses on role of gender in endorsing double standards are put forth, and then empirically tested. The focus is on whether women or men are more disapproving of women exploiting their appearance. The paper also explores whether self-perceived attractiveness has an influence on the gendered endorsement of double standards.


Design/methodology/approach
The study utilises unique survey data with a split-ballot design to study gendered double standards at a societal level by means of ordered logistic regression. The data are nationally representative of 15-74-year-old Finns (n=1,600).


Findings
The main finding is that women are more prone to endorse the double standards against each other. It is particularly women who do not perceive themselves as attractive who are likely to hold double standards. Experienced unattractiveness is associated with disapproving attitudes towards the exploitation of physical appearance-related assets for both women and men. Men are overall more approving compared to women, and do not generally hold double standards.


Originality/value
Research on double standards in different spheres of life in a relatively gender equal country like Finland gives an intriguing example of gendered social inequality. The information provided by this paper deepens our understanding of gendered social stratification related to physical appearance.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to further adaptive structuration theory (AST) by associating technological appropriations with health information technology workarounds. The author argues that appropriating electronic health record (EHR) technology ironically – in a way other than it is designed to be used – and divergently across an organization results in enhanced perceptions of EHR technology and its implementation.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 345 healthcare employees in a single healthcare organization that was switching to EHRs from paper records. Two major constructs of AST – unfaithfulness and dissension in appropriation – were operationalized and analyzed using multivariate regressions to test the relationship between the type of appropriation and perceptions of EHR technology's relative advantage and implementation success.FindingsResults reveal that both ironic (unfaithful) technological appropriation and dissension in technological appropriation across the organization predicted employees' perceptions of EHR's relative advantage and perceptions of EHR implementation success. Furthermore, physicians are the least likely to perceive EHR's relative advantage or EHR implementation success. These results exemplify that EHR workarounds are taking place and reaffirm AST's principle that employees evolve technology to better suit their working environments and preferences.Originality/valueThe survey and scales used in this study further demonstrate that there are meaningful statistical measures to accompany the qualitative methods frequently used in the AST literature. In addition, this paper expands AST research by exploring the positive outcomes that follow ironic and divergent technology appropriations.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically test the relations among different knowledge management (KM) factors, such as human capital (HC), processes and information systems (IS) on organizational sustainable competitive advantage (CA), within the SMEs context.Design/methodology/approachStructured questionnaires were distributed to CEOs and managers of Portuguese organizations through an electronic survey. Partial least squares software was utilized to analyze the data.FindingsThe measurement model results identify and validate the dimensions of HC, processes and IS representing the KM construct. The structural model results demonstrate that HC and processes have a direct and significant impact on organizational CA, on the customer and financial dimensions, respectively. IS indirectly and significantly influence organizational CA, mediated by HC and processes.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size includes mostly service business and SMEs. Other organizations sectors, such as industry, should be analyzed in order to develop a comparative cross-sectorial study.Practical implicationsThis study establishes suggestions for managers to make legitimate decisions concerning investments on knowledge assets and organizational capabilities that can foster business growth and sustainable CA within a SMEs context.Originality/valueThe authors propose a mediation mechanism showing that the relationship between IS and sustainable CA is not direct, but it is mediated by HC and processes. This mechanism points out some critical issues for the strategic knowledge and intellectual capital assets, as a source of organizational CA.

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the adherence of social responsibility management (SRM) in Brazilian organizations and to identify the driving and the resistance forces to implement it.Design/methodology/approachThis article presents a deep literature review on SRM, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stakeholder management, which aim to support a survey research to define, according to experts, the market perception of adherence of SRM.FindingsThe paper presents evidence that there is adherence on the part of the practices of organizations that adhere to the theoretical foundations of SRM in Brazil. It was found that organizations should seek to improve nine areas to implement SRM and can use each of these areas strategically or all together.Practical implicationsThis study provides an opportunity for employees whose perceptions are aligned based on educational programs and engagement in CSR, and these gains favor the improvement of their own management and the quality of relationships.Social implicationsThe research provides an opportunity to recast actions and the possibility of being recognized by stakeholders as active agents in this process.Originality/valueThis study sheds new light on both SRM and the CSR literature because of its attempt to bridge the theoretical foundations and market practices, which was performed to verify the gaps in corporative SRM process of Brazilian organizations. This study highlights for researchers and practitioners a relevant field of study whose importance is widely recognized but whose results remain scarce and limited.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a thorough understanding of the adoption of logistics and supply chain management (SCM) in practice, particularly at a strategic level, through an investigation of the four perspectives taxonomy of the relationship between logistics and SCM.Design/methodology/approachBased on a comprehensive literature review, three specific research questions are proposed. The empirical work addresses these questions and comprised three phases: focussed interviews, a questionnaire survey and focus groups.FindingsThe findings provide a usage profile of the four perspectives and indicate a divergence between the understanding and adoption of logistics and SCM principles and concepts at a strategic level in firms. The findings also identify the critical success factors (CSFs) and inhibitors to success in addressing this divergence.Research limitations/implicationsThe insights generated using the authors' methodologically pluralist research design could be built upon to include case studies, grounded theory and action research. Replicating the research in other geographical areas could facilitate international comparisons.Practical implicationsThe findings allow practitioners to compare their perspectives on the relationship between logistics and SCM with those of their peers. The CSFs and inhibitors to success provide a rational basis for realising the strategic potential of logistics and SCM in practice.Originality/valueNew insights are generated into practitioner perspectivesvis-à-vislogistics vs SCM. A fresh understanding of those factors which drive and hinder the adoption of strategic SCM is also developed and presented.

Human CYPs are important in physiology, drug metabolism, and pathogenesis of certain diseases, and there is a strong need to explore the genetic variations and regulatory mechanisms of these enzymes. Mutations in CYP genes leading to deficiency in the enzymes result in a wide spectrum of human diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate, the importance of CYP2E1 genetic polymorphisms in the health population in Goiânia. The study was performed acording approved by the ethics committee of Federal University of Goias (approval CEP: 895.552). In the current survey, 100 patients (35M/65F) of both genders and aged 18-90 (M: 30.2) years old were enrolled after receiving their informed consent. The Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) was performed using the P128 CYP450 MLPA kit (Version C1; MRC-Holland, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) according to the manufacturer's instructions. This gene is located on chromossome 10 and has 9 exons, but only 3 (5, 6 and 8) were analyzed. In the exon 5 was found (2 duplications and 3 deletions), exon 6 (2 duplications and 2 deletions) and the exon 8 (3 duplications and 2 deletions). This gene is the second responsible for the metabolism of alcohol in the body, after the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase and therefore the importance of checking what these deletions and duplications can cause in the body. Is the first time this methodology is used, and we believe it is a great tool for future studies with other genes.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw on the employment situation of postdoctoral researchers (postdocs) in the Netherlands, concerning their career prospects and embeddedness within their organisation, in order to discuss theoretical perspectives on academic careers.


Design/methodology/approach
This multi-method study consists of three parts: a survey, in-depth interviews, and three focus group meetings with postdocs as well as representatives of the human resource staff and the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This paper reports on the findings from the focus group meetings, which concentrated on how postdoctoral researchers consider their employment situation and career prospects.


Findings
The three focus group discussions revealed that postdocs are caught within a dual controversy, the first involves their lack of clarity concerning their career prospects and developments despite their highly valued work, the second regards the fact that they are specialized staff, contributing to the primary process of their employing organisation but faintly connected. Although the postdocs' formal position seems weak, their situation in terms of academic socialising is much stronger and active than appears at first sight, particularly due to their personal agency.


Practical implications
The postdocs require and appreciate guidance and support, particularly when they must leave academia.


Originality/value
The paper provides new and additional insights into the position of postdocs and their career prospects. Their personal agency in pursuing further career steps is more active than expected in previous studies.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the associations between the skill-, motivation- and opportunity-enhancing dimensions of human resource (HR) practices and in-role and innovative job performance. Furthermore, it considers the mediating effects of psychological, physical and social employee well-being on these associations.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modeling was utilized to analyze multi-source survey data from a sample of 300 employees and 34 immediate supervisors in a professional service company in Finland.FindingsThe results indicate that whereas physical and social employee well-being partially mediate the association between skill- and opportunity-enhancing HR practices and in-role job performance, psychological employee well-being partially mediates the association between motivation-enhancing HR practices and innovative job performance.Research limitations/implicationsGiven its cross-sectional nature, the authors cannot completely exclude the possibility of common method bias influencing the study results. The authors thus call for longitudinal research to examine the nature of causality within the associations analyzed in the study.Originality/valueThis study does not support the notion of trade-offs between HR practices, employee well-being and employee performance. Instead, it illustrates that even though different dimensions of HR practices enhance different dimensions of employee well-being, which, in turn, increase different types of employee performance, the different dimensions of HR practices work in the same direction and do not generate any unintended consequences in terms of reduced employee physical well-being.