Search results

Integrating the theory of consumption value into the stimulus-organism-response framework, this study aims to analyse the influence of external and internal factors on the customers’ perceptions of utilitarian, hedonic, social and epistemic values as drivers of the overall perceived value and customers’ continuance use of mobile banking (m-banking).

An online survey was conducted with 252 actual m-banking users, and the partial least squares structural equations modelling was applied to analyse the data.

The results reveal that ubiquity and gamification positively influence the perceived usefulness and entertainment, that is the utilitarian and hedonic perceived values. Furthermore, users’ self-congruence and innovativeness affect subjective norms and novelty-seeking, representing social and epistemic values. Except for the hedonic value, each value element impacts the overall perceived value, which in turn incites clients’ intention to continue using m-banking services.

By exploring the simultaneous effect of service-related and personal factors (stimuli) on different elements of perceived value (organism), this study contributes to the existing knowledge of consumption reactions (response) in the context of m-banking. The research of the Macedonian m-banking offers a closer insight into Western Balkan mobile commerce.

Integrando la Teoría del Valor de Consumo (TCV) en el marco Estímulo-Organismo-Respuesta (S-O-R), este estudio pretende analizar la influencia de factores externos e internos en las percepciones de valor utilitario, hedónico, social y epistémico de los clientes, como impulsores del valor percibido global y del uso continuado del m-banking por parte de los clientes.

Se realizó una encuesta en línea a 252 usuarios reales de banca móvil y se aplicó el modelo de ecuaciones estructurales por mínimos cuadrados parciales (PLS-SEM) para analizar los datos.

Los resultados revelan que la ubicuidad y la gamificación influyen positivamente en la utilidad y el entretenimiento percibidos, es decir, en los valores utilitarios y hedónicos percibidos. Además, la autocongruencia y la capacidad de innovación de los usuarios afectan a las normas subjetivas y a la búsqueda de novedades, que representan el valor social y epistémico. A excepción del valor hedónico, cada elemento de valor influye en el valor percibido global, que a su vez incita a los clientes a seguir utilizando los servicios de banca móvil.

Al explorar el efecto simultáneo de factores personales y relacionados con el servicio (estímulos) sobre diferentes elementos del valor percibido (organismo), contribuimos al conocimiento existente sobre las reacciones de consumo (respuesta) en el contexto del m-banking. La investigación del m-banking macedonio ofrece una visión más cercana del comercio móvil de los Balcanes Occidentales.

本研究将消费价值理论（TCV）纳入刺激-组织-反应（S-O-R）框架, 旨在分析外部和内部因素对客户感知功利价值、享乐价值、社会价值和认识价值的影响, 这些因素是客户整体感知价值和持续使用移动银行的驱动因素。

对 252 名实际移动银行用户进行了在线调查, 并采用偏最小二乘法结构方程模型（PLS-SEM）分析数据。

结果表明, 普遍性和游戏化对用户的有用性和娱乐性感知, 即功利性和享乐性感知价值有积极影响。此外, 用户的自我一致性和创新性也会影响主观规范和新奇寻求, 这代表了社会价值和认识价值。除享乐价值外, 每个价值要素都会影响整体感知价值, 进而激发客户继续使用移动银行服务的意愿。

通过探索服务相关因素和个人因素（刺激）对感知价值不同要素（有机体）的同时影响, 我们为现有的有关移动银行背景下消费反应（响应）的知识做出了贡献。通过对马其顿移动银行的研究, 我们可以更深入地了解西巴尔干移动商务。

This study investigates a novel educational strategy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching that integrates the engineering design process (EDP) as a framework. The strategy aims to help teachers explain STEM concepts in a simplified way. We employed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology to enable a systematic review that evaluated the effectiveness of this approach in improving both teaching and learning in STEM subjects.

In order to fulfill the objectives of the review, key data were extracted from each of the 400 articles that were reviewed from three databases: Scopus, ProQuest Central and EBSCO. Two types of analysis were conducted, namely descriptive analysis and literature classification.

This systematic review analyzed 44 articles on the EDP, focusing on 18 detailed studies mainly from ProQuest, SCOPUS and EBSCO. It revealed a limited focus on gender’s impact on EDP and a trend toward interdisciplinary use and integrated research approaches. The study underscores the need for further exploration of demographic influences and preparation programs in EDP across various disciplines, aiming to inform future research and educational policies.

The study’s value lies in its comprehensive assessment of engineering design (ED) research over the past decade, serving as a key reference point. It highlights progress in the field, consolidates findings and provides insights into the field’s evolution, guiding future research directions in ED.

The paper aims at addressing the following research questions: does institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency? And which pillars of institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency?

By specifying a directional distance function in the context of stochastic frontier method where GHG emissions are considered as the bad output and the GDP is referred as the desirable one, the work computes the environmental efficiency into the appraisal of a production function for the European countries over three decades.

According to the countries' performance, the findings confirm that high and upper middle-income countries have higher environmental efficiency compared to low middle-income countries. In this environmental context, the role of institutional quality turns out to be really important in improving the environmental efficiency for high income countries.

This article attempts to analyze the role of different dimensions of institutional quality in different European countries' performance – in terms of mitigating GHGs (undesirable output) – while trying to raise their economic performance through their GDP (desirable output).

1. The paper aims at addressing the following research question: does institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency?

2. We adopt a directional distance function in the context of stochastic frontier method, considering 40 European economies over a 30-year time interval.

3. The findings confirm that high and upper middle-income countries have higher environmental efficiency compared to low middle-income countries.

4. The role of institutional quality turns out to be really important in improving the environmental efficiency for high income countries, while the performance decreases for the low middle-income countries.

The paper aims at addressing the following research question: does institutional quality improve countries' environmental efficiency?

We adopt a directional distance function in the context of stochastic frontier method, considering 40 European economies over a 30-year time interval.

The findings confirm that high and upper middle-income countries have higher environmental efficiency compared to low middle-income countries.

The role of institutional quality turns out to be really important in improving the environmental efficiency for high income countries, while the performance decreases for the low middle-income countries.

The purpose of the current study is to assess Omani teachers’ performance on tasks related to the stages of engineering design. To achieve this, data from an engineering design test was used, and demographic variables that are correlated with this performance were identified.

This descriptive study employed a cross-sectional design and the collection of quantitative data. A sample of preservice science teachers from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) (n = 70) participated in this study.

Findings showed low and moderate levels of proficiency related to the stages of engineering design. Differences between males and females in terms of performance on engineering design tasks were found, with females scoring higher overall on the assessment. Biology preservice teachers scored higher than teachers from the other two majors (physics and chemistry) in two subscales. There were also differences between teachers studying in the Bachelor of Science (BSc) program and the teacher qualification diploma (TQD) program.

This study provides an overview, in an Arab setting, of preservice science teachers’ proficiency with engineering design process (EDP) tasks. It is hoped that the results may lead to improved instruction in science teacher training programs in similar contexts. Additionally, this research demonstrates how EDP competency relates to preservice teacher gender, major and preparation program. Findings from this study will contribute to the growing body of research investigating the strengths and shortcomings of teacher education programs in relation to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

This study aims to build on social capital theory (SCT) and its dimensions by examining the role of social capital in the public procurement process and by identifying related contingencies that may influence procurement performance.

A systematic literature review and a thematic analysis regarding social capital in procurement are conducted. The antecedent–behaviour–consequence (ABC) model is used for illuminating linkages between social capital, contingencies and procurement performance.

The dimensions of social capital are investigated in the procurement process; however, the extent of social capital role can vary between the phases of the process. It is concluded that the contingencies of social dynamics are linked with social capital and may influence the outcomes and performance of the procurement process.

Social capital can ease interactions between public buyers and private suppliers by contributing to effective tendering, improving social interaction in negotiations and balancing rigidity in contract management, supporting the interests of both parties. The provided framework helps decision makers to comprehend the social dynamics in public procurement.

Improving social dynamics and solutions in public procurement.

This study extends social capital research in the field of public procurement and creates a framework connecting social capital and prevailing contingency factors to procurement process performance.

In the developing field of nano-materials synthesis, copper oxide nanoparticles (NPs) are deemed to be one of the most significant transition metal oxides because of their intriguing characteristics. Its synthesis employing green chemistry principles has become a key source for next-generation antibiotics attributed to its features such as environmental friendliness, ease of use and affordability. Because they are more environmentally benign, plants have been employed to create metallic NPs. These plant extracts serve as capping, stabilising or hydrolytic agents and enable a regulated synthesis as well.

Organic chemical solvents are harmful and entail intense conditions during nanoparticle synthesis. The copper oxide NPs (CuO-NPs) synthesised by employing the green chemistry principle showed potential antitumor properties. Green synthesised CuO-NPs are regarded to be a strong contender for applications in the pharmacological, biomedical and environmental fields.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the anticancer potential of CuO-NPs plant extracts to isolate and characterise the active anticancer principles as well as to yield more effective, affordable, and safer cancer therapies.

This review article highlights the copper oxide nanoparticle's biomedical applications such as anticancer, antimicrobial, dental and drug delivery properties, future research perspectives and direction are also discussed.

The study aims to explore the validity of the modern renewable energy-environmental Kuznets curve (REKC) while considering the relevance of financial development in the consumption of modern renewable energy in East Africa Community (EAC). Modern renewable energy in this study includes all other forms of renewable energy except traditional use of biomass. The authors controlled for the effects of urbanization, governance, foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade openness.

Panel data of the five EAC countries of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda for the period 1996–2019 were used. The analysis relied on the use of the autoregressive distributed lag–pooled mean group (ARDL-PMG) model, and the data were sourced from the World Development Indicators (WDI), World Governance Indicators (WGI) and International Energy Agency (IEA).

The REKC hypothesis is supported for modern renewable energy consumption in the EAC region. Financial development positively and significantly affects modern renewable energy consumption, whereas urbanization, FDI and trade openness reduce modern renewable energy consumption. Governance is insignificant.

The concept of the REKC, although explored in other contexts such as aggregate renewable energy and in other regions, has not been used to explain the consumption of modern renewable energy in the EAC.

Global developmental delay (GDD) is highly prevalent among patients at child psychiatry clinics. However, preschool day treatment centers are currently scarce. As such, this study aimed to evaluate a program that was designed for children with GDD in order to improve their global skills and prepare them to join the school system.

This study utilized an observation retrospective design with a comparative group sample and included all children aged between 3 and 6 years who participated in the program for at least one academic year (experimental group). Their GDD diagnoses were based on the DSM-5 criteria (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Children with similar diagnoses who were on the waiting list constituted the control group. Pre- and post-scoring of the Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) were conducted by the children’s teacher and blinded investigator for the experimental group, while the children’s mothers conducted the post-CGAS scoring for the control group.

The pre- and post-CGAS scores for the experimental group were 49.5 ± 12.8 and 58.3 ± 12.7 and 47.3 ± 17.3 and 66.6 ± 17.3 for the control group, respectively (p = 0.001). The children in the experimental group scored significantly better than the control group with respect to securing places in integrated, regular classes in the education system (p = 0.001).

This study had certain limitations. First, the number of children in the control group was relatively small. Second, the baseline skill levels of some of the children in the control group may have been lower than those of the children in the experimental group at the beginning of the evaluation; this may explain why they had been put on the waiting list. Third, the information was gathered retrospectively; this is a method that is known to have its own limitations.

The clinical implications of the study are that the early identification and referral of GDD are key elements in the rehabilitation of these children and that early intervention programs are necessary for cases of moderate and severe GDD. Primary care physicians should follow up with GDD patients to ensure that referrals are being appropriately sought (Choo et al., 2019).

The program was effective in both increasing the general functioning skills of the children in the experimental group and preparing them to attend regular, integrated classes. The program should be expanded and made available to more children with GDD.

Responding to calls for deeper analysis of the conceptual foundations of service infusion in manufacturing, this paper examines the underlying assumptions that: (i) manufacturing firms incorporating services follow a pathway, moving from pure-product to pure-service offerings, and (ii) profits increase linearly with this process. We propose that these assumptions are inconsistent with the premises of behavioural and learning theories.

Machine learning algorithms are applied to test whether a successive process, from a basic to a more advanced offering, creates optimal performance. The data were gathered through two surveys administered to USA manufacturing firms in 2021 and 2023. The first included a training sample comprising 225 firms, whilst the second encompassed a testing sample of 105 firms.

Analysis shows that following the base-intermediate-advanced services pathway is not the best predictor of optimal performance. Developing advanced services and then later adding less complex offerings supports better performance.

Manufacturing firms follow heterogeneous pathways in their service development journey. Non-servitised firms need to carefully consider their contextual conditions when selecting their initial service offering. Starting with a single service offering appears to be a superior strategy over providing multiple services.

The machine learning approach is novel to the field and captures the key conditions for manufacturers to successfully servitise. Insight is derived from the adoption and implementation year datasets for 17 types of services described in previous qualitative studies. The methods proposed can be extended to assess other process-based models in related management fields (e.g., sand cone).