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This paper aims to examine whether consumers’ appreciation of promotional gifts exceeds firms’ cost of providing these gifts. The paper also compares characteristics of appreciated and unappreciated gifts.

The authors surveyed 1,289 college students in five European countries. The authors use willingness to accept cash (WTA) for an item to assess consumers’ appreciation of promotional gifts. They then compare WTA to firms’ estimated cost of providing the gifts.

On average, consumers’ appreciation of promotional gifts is 2.4 times the estimated cost of these gifts to sellers. Appreciated gifts tend to be less costly, tend to accompany more expensive purchased items and are more likely to complement these items. The results also reveal that more expensive items come with more costly gifts, although the gifts’ cost increases less than proportionally with the associated items’ price. The gift items are appreciated by men more than women.

This study enriches the literature on promotional gifting by introducing a simple measurement that can help firms decide whether to use gifts or discounts to promote their products.

This study aims to focus on verifying the possibility of monitoring the condition of a turboprop engine using data recorded by on-board avionics Garmin G1000. This approach has potential benefits for operators without the need to invest in specialised equipment. The main focus was on the inter-turbine temperature (ITT). An unexpected increase in temperature above the usual value may indicate an issue with the engine. The problem lies in the detection of small deviations when the absolute value of the ITT is affected by several external variables.

The ITT is monitored by engine sensors and stored by avionics 1× per second onto an SD card. This process generates large amount of data that needs to be processed. Therefore, an algorithm was created to detect the steady states of the engine parameters. The ITT value also depends on the flight parameters and surrounding environment. As a solution to these effects, the division of data into clusters that represent the usual flight profiles was tested. This ensures a comparison at comparable ambient pressures. The dominant environmental influence then remain at the ambient air temperature (OAT). Three OAT compensation methods were tested in this study. Compensation for the standard atmosphere, compensation for the standard temperature of the given flight level and compensation for the speed of the generator, where the regression analysis proved the dependence between the ambient temperature and the speed of the generator.

The influence of ambient temperature on the corrected ITT values is noticeable. The best method for correcting the OAT appears to be the use of compensation through the revolutions of the compressor turbine NG. The speed of the generator depends on several parameters, and can refine the corrected ITT value. During the long-term follow-up, the ITT differences (delta values) were within the expected range. The tested data did not include the behaviour of the engine with a malfunction or other damage that would clearly verify this approach. Therefore, the engine monitoring will continue.

This study presents a possible approach to turbine engine condition monitoring using limited on board avionic data. These findings can support the development of an engine condition monitoring system with automatic abnormality detection and low operating costs.

This article represent a practical description of problems in monitoring the condition of a turboprop engine in an aircraft with variable flight profiles. The authors are not aware of a similar method that uses monitoring of engine parameters at defined flight levels. Described findings should limit the influence of ambient air pressure on engine parameters.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce e-mindfulness as a tourism trend. Mindfulness meditation is becoming increasingly mainstream, which is reflected in a rapidly growing number of related technology applications. Such technology-assisted mindfulness is typically referred to as e-mindfulness. The e-mindfulness trend creates opportunities for the tourism industry but also implies changed consumer perspectives on tourist experiences.

The paper is based on a general review of academic literature, news reports and online resources regarding the offerings of related technologies.

Implications of e-mindfulness for consumers, tourism service providers and designers of future tourism experiences are outlined.

This is the first paper to conceptualize e-mindfulness as a tourism trend.

The article explores the current as well as the future concepts of university teaching by the academics/the “leaders of educational sciences” in the context of the changes of the academia that have affected the academic professionalization.

The Delphi method was implemented to answer a research question dealing with the possible change in academics' concept of teaching as part of their current and future work. In this study, the experienced academics in the area of educational science are seen as the “leaders” since through their intensive teaching activities on all three levels (bachelor, master and doctoral) as well as through the high-quality research, they “lead” the concept of a particular science as well as the educational policy. Four rounds were used for consensus building among “leaders” based on a multiple interaction in an anonymous setting.

The research points out that academic professionalization in research is at its maximum. The currently perceived concept of teaching is content-oriented. However, the results also indicate the need for a gradual change in training Czech academics, should they accept their role also as university teachers in the future and be able to highlight the predicted change of teaching to support learning. Whether the strategy of a particular university will or will not accept all the academics' diverse roles seems to become the crucial factor.

Several rounds with the same group of experts, which is the principle of Delphi method, is at the same time a limitation of the study, as in most of the research based on this method. The participation in the expert panel dropped throughout the rounds; however, geographic (in terms of university) dispersion of participating experts remained. The final fourth round confirmed the collective judgments of academics.

The article broadens the understanding of changes in the content of academics' professionalization with respect to changes in the academia. It emphasizes the role of an academic as an educator and concludes with the need of institutional reform in the context of a single university in a decentralized system.

The article questions the trends of (national) educational policy in the sense that academics at universities are not only scientists but also teachers. However, the study also shows that the acceptance of their teaching abilities remains mainly on the organizational level.

A less common method of data collection among rather rarely involved group of experts in educational sciences brings a different view of the profession of academics, who (not only in the Czech context) are seen mainly as researchers and not as teachers. Humboldt's ideal regarding the unity of diverse roles is, thus, threatened due to narrower focus on academics' professionalization.

This study aims to show the relationship between competition, financial stability and ownership structure of banks in the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries.

This study uses the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators to generate research results. This study uses an unbalanced panel dynamic data set. It covers the period 2011 to 2017 in MENA banks.

This study implies that there is a significant and positive relationship between market power and the financial stability of banks in MENA countries. It explains a competitive market focus on credit risk, which turns them risky. From the bank’s ownership view, Islamic banks are in a less risky position which means Islamic banks are more stable than other ownership structures. On the other hand, government specialized institute displays their poor financial stability and risky from other ownership structures. Unfortunately, there is no significant impact of ownership structure on competition unless Islamic banks prove that they (Islamic banks) perform better in market power.

The empirical findings of this study suggest that MENA banks should improve the process of managing and monitoring the non-performing loan (loan segment business). It reduces the level of credit risk, which leads to achieving more profit. It also recommends that loan quality should improve immediately in this region for declining financial disruption. Based on the ownership structure, policymakers and stakeholders should adjust their risk and financial stability. Notably, the stakeholders can focus on Islamic banks in this region as this type of ownership structure showing superiority over other ownership structures.

This study is based on the latest data set and produced outcomes by using a GMM estimator. It also uses multiple measures of competition and risk variables to get robust results. Moreover, to the best of the knowledge, this study is the pioneer to examine the competition, risk (financial stability) and ownership structure of banks in the MENA countries.

This study explores student sensemaking based on the creation and interpretation of sound on a public school bus, operating as a result of a desegregation settlement. To understand these multimodal literacy practices, the authors examined students’ journeys, sonically as passengers in mobile and adult-constructed space.

As a qualitative study, the authors used ethnographic methods for data collection. Additionally, the authors used a design-based research approach to work alongside students to capture and interpret sound levels on the bus.

Findings from this study illustrate how students used sounds as a means to create community, engage in agentic choices and make meaning of their surroundings. Moreover, students used sound as a way around the pervasive drone of the bus itself.

Research implications from this study speak to the need for research approaches that extend beyond visual observation. Sonic interpretation can offer researchers greater understanding into student learning as they spend time in interstitial spaces.

This manuscript illustrates possibilities that emerge if educators attune to the sounds that shape a learner’s day and the ways in which attention to sonic design can create more equitable spaces that are conducive to students’ learning and literacy needs.

This study demonstrates the use of sound as a means of sensemaking, calling attention to new ways of understanding student experiences in adult-governed spaces.

This research explores how protest events can change and develop over time, through an analysis of stakeholder perceptions of the EXIT festival in Serbia. In doing this, it builds on previous research into protest events from a critical events studies perspective and has implications for the management and understanding of events linked to social movements.

This research took a neo-institutionalist perspective and is based on 18 stakeholder interviews, which were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Purposive sampling in the highly-networked city of Novi Sad, Serbia, allowed for the inclusion of diverse participants from politics, NGOs, media and the festival itself.

The findings reveal that the EXIT festival has departed significantly from its original protest roots. Although it is now perceived as part of the dominant political culture in Serbia, it still has the potential to campaign on issues of relevance to the region, which is unrealised. This research demonstrates that the neo-institutionalist perspective can offer fresh insights for research into protest events. Taking this perspective suggests practical implications for the managers of events with protest roots and for social movements seeking to use protestival-style methods to achieve social change.

This paper provides a new theoretical perspective on protest events and proposes a new model that can be used in future research into protest events that persist over time. It also suggests implications for the management and development of protest events within social movements.

This study aims to determine how much company participation in a type of cluster affects its economic performance.

This study includes companies operating in seven industries (automotive, engineering, textiles, information technology (IT) services, furniture, packaging and nanotechnology) in the Czech Republic. The companies are divided into three groups: members of institutionalized cluster, operating in the same region (natural clusters) and operating in other regions. Data envelopment window analysis is used to measure their performance for 2009–2019.

Results show that the effect of clustering differs among industries. Companies in three industries (automotive, engineering, nanotechnology) reveal a positive impact of the cluster initiative on performance growth. Two industries (textile, packaging) with companies operating in a natural cluster show better performance than those in an institutionalized cluster. Moreover, the IT services and the furniture industries show no positive effect of clustering on corporate performance.

This research includes 686 companies from seven industries and monitored for 11 years. On the one hand, the sample includes a relatively high number of companies overall; but on the other hand, the sample is relatively small, especially for nonclustered companies. The reason is the lack of available financial statements for small companies.

From the perspective of practical cluster policy, the authors can recommend that monitoring the performance of member companies in clusters must be one of the criteria for evaluating the success of a cluster, such as cluster initiatives.

This study distinguishes between long-standing natural clusters in a given industry and institutionalized ones that have emerged because of a top-down initiative. An original database is created for clustered and nonclustered companies in seven industries, covering the entire Czech Republic.

Modern unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) are usually equipped with rotors connected to electric motors that enable them to hover and fly in all directions. The purpose of the paper is to design optimal composite rotor blades for such small UAVs and investigate their aerodynamic performances both computationally and experimentally.

Artificial intelligence method (genetic algorithm) is used to optimize the blade airfoil described by six input parameters. Furthermore, different computational methods, e.g. vortex methods and computational fluid dynamics, blade element momentum theory and finite element method, are used to predict the aerodynamic performances of the optimized airfoil and complete rotor as well the structural behaviour of the blade, respectively. Finally, composite blade is manufactured and the rotor performance is also determined experimentally by thrust and torque measurements.

Complete process of blade design (including geometry definition and optimization, estimation of aerodynamic performances, structural analysis and blade manufacturing) is conducted and explained in detail. The correspondence between computed and measured thrust and torque curves of the optimal rotor is satisfactory (differences mostly remain below 15%), which validates and justifies the used design approach formulated specifically for low-cost, small-scale propeller blades. Furthermore, the proposed techniques can easily be applied to any kind of rotating lifting surfaces including helicopter or wind turbine blades.

Blade design methodology is simplified, shortened and made more flexible thus enabling the fast and economic production of propeller blades optimized for specific working conditions.

The purpose of this paper is to study the performance of the approximated model of biological tissue for development of complex 3 D models. The comparison of results from the complex model of liver tissue and results from the approximated model is provided to validate the proposed approximation method.

The proposed model of hepatic tissue (respecting its heterogeneous character up to the microstructure of hepatic lobules) is used for analysis of current field distribution within this tissue. Initially, the complex model of tissue structure (respecting the heterogenous structure) is presented, considering its complicated structure. Consequently, the procedure for the approximation of a complex model is being described. The main motivation is the need for simple, fast and accurate simulation model, which can be consequently used within more complex modeling of human organs for investigation of negative impacts of electrosurgical equipment on heterogenic tissue structure. For these purposes, the complex and approximated model are mutually compared and evaluated.

The obtained results are exploitable for the analysis of the probability of injury formation in sensitive tissue structures, and the approximated model shall serve for optimization of complex and time-consuming analyses.

Research limitations include development of precise and fast electro-magnetic simulation model of biological tissue.

Practical implications is focused on the optimization processes of the electro-surgical procedures.

The originality of the paper concerns the approximation method of organic tissue modeling.