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1 – 10 of 38Joyce Yen, Eve A. Riskin, Cara Margherio, Jan H. Spyridakis, Coleen M. Carrigan and Ana Mari Cauce
The advancement of equity, diversity and inclusion in higher education is dependent on institutional culture changes in academia. Faculty equity, diversity and inclusion efforts…
Abstract
Purpose
The advancement of equity, diversity and inclusion in higher education is dependent on institutional culture changes in academia. Faculty equity, diversity and inclusion efforts must engage departmental leadership. The purpose of this paper is to describe the growth and expansion of the ADVANCE leadership program at the University of Washington (UW) for department chairs that was designed to provide department chairs the skills, community and information needed to be agents of change within the academy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper chronicles the program’s growth from a campus-based workshop program to national workshops (LEAD) to a web-based toolkit (LiY!) to support institutions in running their own UW ADVANCE-inspired leadership workshops.
Findings
The paper demonstrates the success of each growth stage and the expansion of program impact.
Practical implications
The paper offers recommendations for growing a model from a local to national scale and adapting the described leadership development model at other institutions.
Originality/value
The paper shares a successful model for equipping department chairs to be advocates of gender equity, diversity and inclusion in STEM and to be change agents in higher education.
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Wen-Shan Lin, Hong-Ren Chen, Tony Szu-Hsieh Lee and Joyce Yen Feng
The purpose of this paper is to tackle the problem of technology addiction by investigating the differences between the antecedences of addictive (problematic technology usage…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to tackle the problem of technology addiction by investigating the differences between the antecedences of addictive (problematic technology usage) and high-engagement behavior (non-problematic technology usage). The case of social networking site usage (SNS, e.g. Facebook, Instagram or Twitter) is taken as the case out of the reason of prevalent user population.
Design/methodology/approach
It is revealed that people tend to use SNS not only for building a relationship, but also for communicating. In other words, there are inner needs of adopting the SNS technology. However, no clear definitions can be followed for determining the problematic SNS usage, addictive behavior and the high-engagement behavior. Therefore, this study adopts the notion of uses and gratification theory (U&G theory) for investigating the SNS usage behavior. Also, the social anxiety is also first introduced to integrate into the research for an empirical study.
Findings
Results reveal that gratification sought and relationship maintenance are associated with the addictive behavior, whereas the relationship maintenance is significantly related to high-engagement behavior.
Research limitations/implications
First, the selected data represents a sample of SNW users in the Asian Pacific region and mainly from the group of young college users. Therefore, caution must be taken when generalizing the findings to other SNW users or groups. Second, the time aspect related to social media dependence may need to be considered in future studies. Third, the authors found marginal support for the influence of intentions of high engagement¸ and future studies may consider applying other theories that could better explain these types of behavior.
Practical implications
The results of this study provide strong evidence that inner anxiety perceived by users should not be neglected while tackling the problematic internet use due to SNW addiction because it can strengthen the force for depending on SNW for seeking social support. Apart from the value of perceived enjoyment as asserted in previous studies, this study opens up a new opportunity to tackle SNW dependence.
Social implications
The key implication of this research is that the impact of the mental health of users on SNW problematic should not be overlooked . The higher the level of anxiety perceived, the more likely is the SNW dependence. Therefore, the online behavior depending on psychological health should be addressed because it may be a critical point for assisting users to adopt SNW wisely.
Originality/value
This study confirms that social anxiety people experience in real (offline) life has impacts on online behavior of SNS usage (online). It suggests that the difference between users as the perceived level of social anxiety can trigger different levels of SNS usage. Second, U&G theory is proven valid in understanding SNS addiction. Third, relationship maintenance through the use of SNS reveals its dissimilar effects on SNS addiction and high engagement.
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Russell Belk and Joyce Hsiu‐yen Yeh
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons that tourists capture images of their trips on cameras or camcorders.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons that tourists capture images of their trips on cameras or camcorders.
Design/methodology/approach
Over a period of approximately five years, the authors observed, photographed and interviewed tourists taking photos or videos in diverse international locations. Upon returning home, informants e‐mailed their trip photos together with descriptions of what the images meant and what they had done with them when at home. These data were archived and interpreted in line with the central research questions.
Findings
Why does almost every tourist carry a camera or camcorder? What are they doing making these images? And what do they do with them once they return home? The accompanying video conveys most of the findings, while the manuscript elaborates on certain theoretical points and provides contextualizing and supportive evidence from the literatures dealing with tourism and photography.
Originality/value
The paper suggests that the images form part of an identity project, serving as a means of conveying internal tales to the self rather than as a means of, beyond the immediate family, communicating with others. The images act as tools for displacing meanings that are too fragile and tenuous to be contained in the fragile present as Grant McCracken describes more generally with regard to tying hopes and dreams to places and times of the past and future.
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Stephanos Papadamou, Costas Siriopoulos and Nikolaos A. Kyriazis
This paper presents an integrated overview of the empirical literature on the impact of all forms of unconventional monetary policy on macroeconomic variables and on markets.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper presents an integrated overview of the empirical literature on the impact of all forms of unconventional monetary policy on macroeconomic variables and on markets.
Design/methodology/approach
This survey covers the findings concerning portfolio rebalancing, signaling, liquidity, bank lending and confidence channels.
Findings
The positive effect of QE announcements on stock and bond prices seems to be unified across studies. A contagion effect from US QE to other emerging markets is identified, while currency devaluation is present in most cases for the country that its central bank adopted such policies. Moreover, impacts of non-conventional practices on GDP, inflation and unemployment are examined. The studies presenting weak instead of strong positive effects on inflation are more, and these studies, also, present weak positive effects on GDP growth.
Originality/value
Based on the large body of research on non-conventional action taking, this is the first survey including effects of each country that adopted quantitative easing (QE) measures and that provides results from every methodology employed in order to estimate unconventional practices' impacts.
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Yun-Fang Tu, Gwo-Jen Hwang, Joyce Chao-Chen Chen and Chiulin Lai
This study aims to investigate the influences of task-technology fit on university students’ attitudes towards ubiquitous library-supported learning when they use a mobile library…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the influences of task-technology fit on university students’ attitudes towards ubiquitous library-supported learning when they use a mobile library app, Line@Library.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, structural equation modelling to examine 158 valid questionnaires are used. The study aims to examine the effects of task-technology fit (TTF) on university students’ attitudes towards mobile learning (AML) when using Line@Library.
Findings
The results show that task-technology fit is an important role that influences the students’ attitudes towards mobile learning. The factor “technology characteristics” is considered when the students attempted to use the mobile app to solve problems or complete tasks. This study also found that the students responded with positive perceptions of the task-technology fit and had positive perceptions of its ease of use. Furthermore, usefulness, ease of use and affection of AML were found to be the most influential predictors of mobile library adoption intention.
Originality/value
From the perspective of learners, this study investigates the relationships of the combination of social media and a mobile library between TTF and AML. This study further found that not only ease of use, usefulness and affection but also task-technology fit can be a predictor that influences students’ attitudes towards mobile learning.
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Rachel Ashman and Delia Vazquez
The purpose of this paper is to identify how pure‐play fashion retailers can simulate attachment to their web sites (through trust, loyalty and purchase intentions) by using…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify how pure‐play fashion retailers can simulate attachment to their web sites (through trust, loyalty and purchase intentions) by using different communication mediums (static image, moving image, and text/image combination) to overcome the intangible nature of the online sales environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling using AMOS 16.0 are used to test 12 hypothesized relationships generated from the literature review. A sample of 688 female young fashion consumers from The University of Manchester participated in this study.
Findings
There is a clear difference in the build up of attachment when a consumer shops for products communicated via a static or moving image. Static images have direct relationships with trust and purchase intention, whereas moving images are related to building loyalty. Analysis shows that product recommendations (using a combination of text and image) are found to be directly related to developing consumer trust and loyalty towards a pure‐play fashion retailer.
Research limitations/implications
Generalisation of results is limited due to the use of a student sample and the focus on the UK fashion industry. Further development of the constructs used in this study is needed to further test the conceptual model.
Originality/value
The study is one of the first to empirically study pure‐play fashion retailing, providing insightful and pragmatic advice by identifying which communication mediums foster trusting and loyal relationships with consumers.
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The Asian crisis, which exploded in Thailand in July 1997 initially, spilled to the other ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, and Philippines) and later it spreads to Korea and…
Abstract
The Asian crisis, which exploded in Thailand in July 1997 initially, spilled to the other ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, and Philippines) and later it spreads to Korea and even crossing the continent to Russia and Brazil. The chronological pattern seems to indicate the contagious behaviour of the crisis. However, the sequential economic down‐turns that occurred in the Asia Pacific do look like a contagion effect. The idea that currency speculators contributed to the depth of the crisis is agreeable but to conclude that they are the roots of the problem would be misleading. This paper argued that the roots of the problems lie in current account deficit and loss of competitiveness, and moral hazard and over‐investment This paper also argued that the currency crisis is a symptom and not the cause of the Asian crisis.
The concept of co-movement has witnessed a resurgence in the international finance literature in recent years after the black swan events. This might be due to a renewed focus on…
Abstract
Purpose
The concept of co-movement has witnessed a resurgence in the international finance literature in recent years after the black swan events. This might be due to a renewed focus on globalization and financial market integration in the world over. The purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamic linkages in the foreign exchange market resulting from recent globalization and financial market integration in Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual framework was adapted from the extant literature and was used as the basis of modeling foreign exchange market in Africa. This paper adopts a quantitative research approach and opted for dynamic panel data analysis to empirically unearth the determinants of foreign exchange market co-movement.
Findings
It is interesting to note that exchange rate co-movements were externally determined. Robust support was found for trade intensity, competition and world interest rate on foreign exchange rates co-movement, but regional interest rate differential decreased it. These findings clearly demonstrate the level of financial development and challenges that sometimes exist in exchange rate policy implementation by policy makers in Africa.
Research limitations/implications
Future research might incorporate bilateral investment into the model of exchange rate correlation.
Originality/value
Studies focussing on simultaneous consideration of intensity, trade competition and capital account openness to exchange rate correlations in the contexts of Africa are almost non-existent, and this study makes an important contribution in not only addressing this imbalance but also more importantly improving the relatively parsimonious literature on foreign exchange co-movement.
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Abduljalil Nasr Hazaea and Sultan Saleh Ahmed Almekhlafy
Students of mixed-ability learning together in one class is a challenge for all educators, especially in English as foreign language (EFL) contexts. Timed reading activity (TRA…
Abstract
Purpose
Students of mixed-ability learning together in one class is a challenge for all educators, especially in English as foreign language (EFL) contexts. Timed reading activity (TRA) is an activity that can help educators address the learning needs of students in such a context. The present study investigated the effectiveness of the TRA in enhancing EFL students' reading rate and reading comprehension as well as in making them aware of potentially wrong reading strategies that they may be using.
Design/methodology/approach
A classroom intervention was designed for a group of preparatory year (PY) students at a Saudi university. The study sample consisted of one intact class of 29 students. Data were collected from pre- and post-tests of students' reading rate and reading comprehension as well as progress charts. In addition, a questionnaire was used to identify the reading strategies used by the students.
Findings
The results showed that the TRA generally enhanced the reading comprehension and the reading rate of EFL mixed-ability students as well as raised their awareness of their use of wrong fast reading strategies.
Originality/value
The results of the study support the use of TRA as a remedial reading activity in EFL mixed-ability classes.
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