Vendor selection strategy for IT outsourcing: the weighted-criteria evaluation technique

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boonlert Watjatrakul
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
It Outsourcing ◽  
Selection Strategy ◽  
Vendor Selection ◽  
Evaluation Technique ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Bid Price ◽  
Spreadsheet Template

Purpose – Most firms select their information technology outsourcing (ITO) vendors based on the two methods of the weighted-criteria evaluation technique – the “qualification score plus the lowest bid price for the highest price score (QS-LBHPS)” and the “qualification score plus the average bid price for the middle price score (QS-ABMPS).” This paper aims to understand whether these two methods provide the same or different results of vendor selection and how the proportional weights of a vendor's qualification and bid price affect the vendor selection results under the two methods. Design/methodology/approach –In total, 1,000 experimental tests were carried out using the developed spreadsheet template to examine vendor selection results of the two methods (QS-LBHPS and QS-ABMPS) and compare the vendor selection results under three conditions of vendors’ qualification and price weights. A correspondence analysis was also used to determine the proximal relationships among the selection results of the weighted criteria technique under the comparable methods. Findings – The results indicate that, when using the two methods of the weighted criteria technique for a vendor selection, the selection results are significantly correspondent. In addition, the proportions of qualification and price weights affect the selection results under the two methods. The different proportions of qualification and price weights under the two methods yield the same selection results rather than different results. Originality/value – This study fills the gap in ITO literatures concerning the vendor selection strategy. No empirical studies have been undertaken to compare the results of vendor selection under the two methods of the weighted-criteria evaluation technique. The findings enable a firm's selection team to apply the weighted-criteria evaluation technique effectively and realize that vendor selection results are altered based on the predefined proportions of qualification and price weights.

How would you like your Turkish coffee? Tourist experiences of Turkish coffee houses in Istanbul

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Serkan Yiğit ◽  
Nilüfer Şahin Perçin
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Culture Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Place Satisfaction

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine and understand the experiences of tourists in the Turkish coffee houses in Istanbul, Turkey. Design/methodology/approach In this study, a qualitative case study method was used to analyze tourists’ comments with user-generated content technique by analyzing tourists’ comments. The data used in the study was collected through TripAdvisor, which is considered one of the most famous websites with tourist reviews and comments, between 20 May and 10 June 2020 from tourists’ reviews (n:219). Findings The findings show that Turkish coffee house experiences are heterogeneous based on the dimensions of coffee characteristics, place, satisfaction, recommendation and revisit intention, value/price and value-added experience. Moreover, value-added experience includes some sub-themes such as a memorable experience, authentic experience and culture learning experience. Originality/value There are some studies on Turkish coffee and Turkish coffee culture in the literature, but there have been no empirical studies investigating the Turkish coffee house experiences of tourists. For this reason, this study aims to examine and understand the experiences of tourists in Turkish coffee houses. Therefore, it is believed that this study will fill the current gap in the literature on tourists’ experiences of Turkish coffee houses.

Managing employees with chronic illness

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maninder Singh ◽  
P.S. James ◽  
Shirshendu Ganguli
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Illness ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Chronically Ill ◽  
Human Resource Managers ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify future directions for human resource managers to provide work accommodations to chronically ill employees. Design/methodology/approach The authors researched empirical studies in management, occupational health journals, and reports on chronically ill employees. Findings The paper provides research-based practical insights for human resource practitioners to deal with the growing number of chronically ill employees. Practical implications The paper highlights solutions for human resource managers to create an inclusive workplace for employees with chronic illness. Originality/value The authors identified effective human resource and health practices for chronically ill employees, which would help to increase their productivity.

Tax aggressiveness and sustainable welfare: the roles of corruption and tax allocation inefficiency

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Rudyanto ◽  
Sidharta Utama ◽  
Dwi Martani ◽  
Desi Adhariani
Keyword(s):  
Public Choice ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tax Aggressiveness ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Sustainability Issue ◽  
Private Investments ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the roles of corruption and tax allocation inefficiency in moderating the effect of tax aggressiveness on sustainable welfare. Design/methodology/approach This research uses a fixed-effect multiple regression analysis for 55,438 firm-year observations covering 22 countries from 2007 to 2017. Findings For less (more) tax-aggressive observations, corruption and tax allocation inefficiency strengthen the negative (positive) effect of tax aggressiveness on sustainable welfare. The results are in line with public choice and functionalism theories that suggest that private investments can increase welfare when governments are dysfunctional. Practical implications This paper shows that the effect of tax aggressiveness on sustainable welfare depends on tax aggressiveness, corruption and tax allocation inefficiency. Social implications This paper implies that governments should reduce their corruption levels and increase tax allocation efficiency because private investments are ineffective in the long run. Originality/value Because of increasing awareness of sustainability issue, sustainable welfare is considered more relevant than traditional welfare. Hence, empirical studies on the effect of tax aggressiveness on sustainable welfare are crucial. This paper adds the literature by combining public choice and functionalism theories to investigate the moderating roles of corruption and tax allocation inefficiency in this issue.

The future is now: calling for a focus on temporal issues in information system research

2021 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-47
Author(s):  
Viswanath Venkatesh ◽  
Tracy Ann Sykes ◽  
Ruba Aljafari ◽  
Marshall Scott Poole
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
System Research ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information System Research ◽  
Study Designs

PurposeAs information systems (IS) phenomena continue to emerge and evolve in our ever-changing economic and social contexts, researchers need to increase their focus on time in order to enrich our theories. The purpose of this paper is to present broad suggestions for IS researchers about how they can direct some of their research efforts to consider, conceptualize and incorporate time into research endeavors and how they might be mindful about considering and specifying time-related scope conditions of their research efforts.Design/methodology/approachThe authors synthesize empirical studies and discuss three distinct yet related frameworks of time and the benefits they can provide. The authors choose two research streams that reflect dynamic economic and social contexts – namely, enterprise systems and social networks – to illustrate how time and frameworks of time can be leveraged in our theory development and research design.FindingsThe authors demonstrate that limited research in IS has incorporated a rich conceptualization and/or discussion of time. The authors build on this gap to highlight guidelines that researchers can adopt to enrich their view of time.Originality/valueGiven the dynamic nature of IS phenomena and the increased availability of longitudinal data, the authors’ suggestions aim to urge and guide IS researchers about ways in which they can incorporate time into their theory and study designs.

Factors explaining a cost-based pricing essence

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 1850-1865
Author(s):  
Juliana Ventura Amaral ◽  
Reinaldo Guerreiro
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Pricing Strategy ◽  
Company Size ◽  
Price Setting ◽  
Marketing Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Industrial Companies ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
The Cost

Purpose Empirical studies have found that cost-based pricing remains dominant in pricing practice and suggest that practice conflicts with marketing theory, which recommends value-based prices. However, empirical studies have yet to examine whether cost-plus formulas represent the pricing approach or essence. Design/methodology/approach This study aims to address the factors that explain price setting whereby the cost-plus formula is not just the pricing approach but also the pricing essence. This examination is grounded in a survey conducted on 380 Brazilian industrial companies. Findings The results show that, for price-makers, the cost-based pricing essence is positively associated with four factors (two obstacles to deploying value-based pricing, company size and differentiation), but it is negatively related to one factor (premium pricing strategy). For price-takers, the cost-based pricing essence is positively associated with four factors (two obstacles to deploying value-based pricing, coercive isomorphism and use of full costs), but it is negatively related to five factors (one obstacle to deploying value-based pricing, company size, competitors’ ability to copy, normative isomorphism and experience). Originality/value The key contribution of this paper is demonstrating that cost-plus formulas do not go against the incorporation of competitors and value information. This study reveals that it is possible to set prices based on either value or competitors’ prices while simultaneously preserving the simplicity of the cost-plus formulas. Via the margin, firms may connect costs to information about competition and value. The authors also demonstrate the drawbacks of not segregating companies into price-makers and price-takers and an excessive focus on the pricing approach at the expense of pricing essence.

Reviewing the “Valley of Death” between management research and management practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (8) ◽  
pp. 926-953
Author(s):  
Jesús De Frutos-Belizón ◽  
Fernando Martín-Alcázar ◽  
Gonzalo Sánchez-Gardey
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Management Science ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practice Gap ◽  
Valley Of Death

Purpose The knowledge generated by academics in the field of management is often criticized because of its reduced relevance for professionals. In the review of the literature, the authors distinguish between three streams of thought. The review of the literature and the understanding of the research streams that have been addressed by the academic–practitioner gap in management has allowed to clarify that what truly underlies each of these approaches is a different assumption or paradigm from which the management science focusses. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews the main approaches that have analysed this topic, drawing a number of conclusions. Findings The knowledge generated by academics in the field of management is often criticized because of its reduced relevance for professionals. In the review of the literature, the authors distinguish between three main perspectives. The review of the literature and the understanding of the research streams that have been addressed by the academic–practitioner gap in management has allowed us to clarify that what truly underlies each of these approaches is a different assumption or paradigm from which the management science focusses. To represent the findings of the literature review in this sense, the authors will present, first, a model that serves as a framework to interpret the different solutions proposed in the literature to close the gap from a positivist paradigm. Subsequently, they question this view through a reflection that brings us closer to a more pragmatic and interpretive paradigm of management science to bridge the research–practice gap. Originality/value In recent studies, researchers agree that there is an important gap between management research and practice, which may bear little resemblance to each other. However, the literature on this topic does not seem to be guided by a rigorously structured discourse and, for the most part, is not based on empirical studies. Moreover, a sizeable body of literature has been developed with the objective of analysing and contributing solutions that reconcile management researchers and professionals. To offer a more systematic view of the literature on this topic, the paper classifies previous approaches into three different perspectives based on the ideas on which they are supported. Finally, the paper concludes with some reflections that could help to reorient the paradigm from which the management research is carried out.

The early bird catches the retirement savings

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucía Rey-Ares ◽  
Sara Fernández-López ◽  
María Milagros Vivel-Búa ◽  
Rubén Lado-Sestayo
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Planning Horizon ◽  
Retirement Savings ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Relevant Variable ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This paper aims to investigate whether individuals’ planning horizon influences their decision to save privately for their retirement. Design/methodology/approach Focussing on Spain, this empirical research uses the fifth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)[1]. Logit models are estimated considering variables related to demographic characteristics, economic situation, education and cognitive abilities and psychological and social factors. Findings The results confirm that the planning horizon significantly influences the decision to save for retirement. Long-term planners are more likely to save for retirement than short-term planners. Originality/value Although previous literature has identified the planning horizon as a relevant variable in the decision to save for retirement, few empirical studies have evaluated their impact. This paper shows that it is important to develop habits of financial planning in societies, especially in societies with a prominent orientation towards the present.

Developing substantive theories into formal theories via disruption

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 572-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Scott Rosenbaum ◽  
Rebekah Russell-Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Services Marketing ◽  
Conceptual Frameworks ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Stage Process ◽  
Formal Theories

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to encourage service researchers to engage in “theoretical disruption” by purposefully adding variance to existing substantive theories, and conceptual frameworks, to construct formal theories of buyer–seller marketplace behaviors. The authors put forth an original four-stage process that illustrates the way substantive theories may be developed into formal theories. Design/methodology/approach The authors provide their opinions regarding theoretical creation and their interpretations of Grounded Theory methodological techniques that support the development of general theories within the social sciences. Findings In general, the services marketing discipline is based on a foundation of substantive theories, and proposed conceptual frameworks, which emerged from samples, contexts and conditions that ensue within industrialized, upper-income locales. Rather than seek to expand substantive theories by generating new categories and relationships between categories, most researchers limit their verification studies within the scope of original theoretical frameworks. Resultantly, the services marketing domain has not developed a set of formal theories. Research limitations/implications The editors encourage researchers to reconsider the discipline’s substantive theories and to transform them into formal theories. Substantive theories expand into formal theories when researchers question original theoretical frameworks and show situations in which they require modification. Theoretical verification does not transform substantive theories into formal theories; rather, the discovery of negative cases suggests the need for theoretical modification. Originality/value This work suggests that researchers may be over-emphasizing the generalizability of their proposed theories in papers because of a lack of sample variance in empirical studies.

scholarly journals The United Nations’ (UN) decision to adopt International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS)

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny Chow ◽  
Caroline Aggestam Pontoppidan
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Accounting Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse and understand the UN System’s adoption of IPSAS from a legitimacy perspective. Design/methodology/approach A content analysis of publicly accessible documents from the UN System archives was conducted. The analysis was framed through the broader lens of legitimacy theory, drawing attention to the rationalities of decisions taken. Findings This study illustrated how the need for accounting reforms was rationalised throughout the UN System of organisations. Decision-making processes were reflective of political concerns and the accompanying need to continually demonstrate accountability. The discursive strategies observed associated the need to improve accountability with the adoption of globally recognised accounting systems. However, such logic assumed that existing accountability deficits were intrinsically linked to accounting failures, which overemphasises accounting’s role. Social implications The UN System’s decision to adopt IPSAS in 2006 has been followed by a substantial increase in the number of Member States following suit. However, governments and other organisations considering IPSAS adoption should be aware of the historical context in which the UN System’s decision was made. Originality/value This study addresses a lacuna in empirical studies providing an understanding of the role of accounting reforms within international organisations such as the UN System.

Internship and employability prospects: assessing student’s work readiness

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 538-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilias Kapareliotis ◽  
Katerina Voutsina ◽  
Athanasios Patsiotis
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Academic Programs ◽  
Work Readiness ◽  
Role Clarity ◽  
Sampling Frame ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Graduates ◽  
Internship Programs

Purpose Changes in the workplace have raised serious concerns about the future of work and the effectiveness of undergraduate academic programs to sufficiently prepare students for business. The purpose of this paper is to address this concern by exploring how internship employment (placement) is implicated in the young business graduates’ employability prospects. Design/methodology/approach This research explored the students’ perceptions regarding their degree of “work readiness” after completing an internship program. The concept of “work readiness” is conceptualized in terms of role clarity, ability and motivation. An institution of higher education in Greece provided the sampling frame for this research. Online survey data have been used. Findings Students who attend internship programs assessed positively all aspects of the work readiness construct. They knew what it was expected by employers from them to do at work. They were able to effectively apply basic academic skills, high-order skills and professional skills required by employers on the job and placed greater importance to the intrinsic rewards than the extrinsic ones. Research limitations/implications This is an exploratory study and is designed as a foundation for future empirical studies. Further research could examine the dimensions of the work readiness concept in other geographic contexts and validate the scale measurement with larger samples. Originality/value The integration of scattered pieces of literature on graduates’ employability through the lenses of “work readiness” is a novel theoretical approach to explore the effectiveness of internship programs on employability prospects in the Greek context.

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