Investigation of factors influencing loyalty – The role of involvement, perceived risk and knowledge

Our research aimed to reveal the effects that can be observed during the buying process of food products and can influence the decisions of customers. We focused on the role of enduring involvement in customers’ behavioural loyalty, that is, the repurchase of food brands. To understand this relationship in a more sophisticated way, we involved two mediating constructs in our conceptual model: perceived risk and perceived knowledge of food products. The data collection was carried out among undergraduate students in frame of an online survey, and we used SPSS/AMOS software to test the model. The results only partly supported our hypothesis, although the involvement effects on loyalty and the two mediating constructs were strong enough, loyalty couldn’t be explained well by perceived risk and knowledge. The roles of further mediating/moderating variables should be determined and investigated in the next section of the research series.

Factors influencing employee perceptions in lean transformations

The purpose of the study was to investigate employee perceptions during a lean transformation1. The combination of case study and survey methodologies was used to define elements influencing the perceived lean success of shop floor employees. According to our findings, belief, commitment, work method and communication all have a considerable direct impact on workers’ perceptions of lean success. However, their effects are very different based on the scope and focus of changes that is influenced by process characteristics. Perceptions regarding successful lean transformation during a moderate reorganisation of the company’s welding plant, where mainly males work, are affected only by commitment and work method, whereas the deep reorganisation of the sewing plant (populated by female employees) is only influenced by belief and communication.

Munkahelyi tanulást befolyásoló tényezők – humán-számítógép együttműködés vizsgálata (Influencing factors of on-the-job learning – Analysis of human-computer collaboration)

A komplex, dinamikus, tudásalapú társadalomban nemcsak a tanulás formái, hanem a tanulás helyszínei is módosulnak, s a munkahely tanulásban betöltött szerepe felértékelődött. A munkahelyi környezet is számos átalakuláson esett át, az információs és kommunikációs technológiák (IKT) fejlődésével egyidejűleg lehetővé vált többek között a távmunka, jelentősen átformálva a munkavégzés és a munkahelyi interakciók módját. A kutatók arra keresték a választ kutatásukban, hogy a szervezeten belül milyen tényezők támogatják vagy gátolják a munkahelyi tanulást. A kutatás fő üzenete, hogy a tanulás keretrendszere, az egyéni képességek és az észlelt tanulási szituáció együttesen határozza meg a munkahelyi tanulást. A kutatók eredményüket kvalitatív kutatással feltárt három esettanulmányon keresztül ismertetik. ____ In a knowledge-based society not only the forms of learning have been changed but also the places of learning. The role of workplace in the learning process is becoming more important. Meantime, there has been a substantial change in the working conditions as the development in information and communication technologies (ICTs) makes it possible to telecommute transforming remarkably the way of working and the interactions at the workplace. The central question of the research is which intra-organizational factors support or hinder onthe- job learning. The main message of the research is that the learning framework, the individual cognitive competences and the perceived learning situation influence collectively on-the-job learning. Authors present the results of the qualitative research though three case studies.