Samford University

About: Samford University is a education organization based out in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Pharmacy & Population. The organization has 618 authors who have published 1001 publications receiving 17422 citations.

Local Literacies: Reading and Writing in One Community

Abstract: Local Literacies is a unique detailed study of the role of reading and writing in people’s everyday lives. By concentrating on a selection of people in a particular community in Lancaster, England, the authors analyse how they use literacy in their day-to-day lives. It follows four people in detail examining how they use local media, their participation in public life, the role of literacy in family activities and in leisure pursuits. Links are made between everyday learning and education. The study is based on an ethnographic approach to studying everyday activities and is framed in the theory of literacy as a social practice. This Routledge Linguistics Classic includes a new foreword by Deborah Brandt and a new framing chapter, in which David Barton and Mary Hamilton look at the connections between local and global activities, interfaces with institutional literacies, and the growing significance of digital literacies in everyday life. A seminal text, Local Literacies provides an explicit usable methodology for both teachers and researchers, and clear theorising around a set of six propositions. Clearly written and engaging, this is a deeply absorbing study and is essential reading for all those involved in literacy and literacy education.

The development of a supply chain management process maturity model using the concepts of business process orientation

Abstract: The concept of process maturity proposes that a process has a lifecycle that is assessed by the extent to which the process is explicitly defined, managed, measured and controlled. A maturity model assumes that progress towards goal achievement comes in stages. The supply chain maturity model presented in this paper is based on concepts developed by researchers over the past two decades. The Software Engineering Institute has also applied the concept of process maturity to the software development process in the form of the capability maturity model. This paper examines the relationship between supply chain management process maturity and performance, and provides a supply chain management process maturity model for enhanced supply chain performance.

Linking SCOR planning practices to supply chain performance: An exploratory study

Abstract: As supply chains continue to replace individual firms as the economic engine for creating value during the twenty‐first century, understanding the relationship between supply‐chain management practices and supply chain performance becomes increasingly important. The Supply‐Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model developed by the Supply Chain Council provides a framework for characterizing supply‐chain management practices and processes that result in best‐in‐class performance. However, which of these practices have the most influence on supply chain performance? This exploratory study investigates the relationship between supply‐chain management planning practices and supply chain performance based on the four decision areas provided in SCOR Model Version 4.0 (PLAN, SOURCE, MAKE, DELIVER) and nine key supply‐chain management planning practices derived from supply‐chain management experts and practitioners. The results show that planning processes are important in all SCOR supply chain planning decision areas. Collaboration was found to be most important in the Plan, Source and Make planning decision areas, while teaming was most important in supporting the Plan and Source planning decision areas. Process measures, process credibility, process integration, and information technology were found to be most critical in supporting the Deliver planning decision area. Using these results, the study discusses the implications of the findings and suggests several avenues for future research.

Interprofessional education: Definitions, student competencies, and guidelines for implementation

Abstract: Interprofessional education (IPE) is an important step in advancing health professional education for many years and has been endorsed by the Institute of Medicine as a mechanism to improve the overall quality of health care. IPE has also become an area of focus for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), with several groups, including these authors from the AACP Interprofessional Education Task Force, working on developing resources to promote and support IPE planning and development. This review provides background on the definition of IPE, evidence to support IPE, the need for IPE, student competencies and objectives for IPE, barriers to implementation of IPE, and elements critical for successfully implementing IPE.

Brand equity: is it more important in services?

Abstract: While the brand equity associated with tangible goods has received a great deal of attention in the literature, a basic understanding of the nature of brand equity for services has yet to emerge. Most of what is known about brand equity for services is based on theoretical or anecdotal evidence. In addition, the presumed differences in brand equity associated with search‐dominant, experience‐dominant, and credence‐dominant services has yet to be empirically examined. The objectives of this study are threefold: to empirically test whether brand equity is more important for services than for tangible goods, to test whether the presumed differences in brand equity for search‐, experience‐, and credence‐dominant services can be confirmed in an empirical examination, and to assess whether consumer knowledge of a product category has an effect on the importance of brand equity across product types. Contrary to suppositions in the literature, the results indicate that brand equity is more important for tangible ...