Search results

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to unprecedented mental health repercussions in the lives of every individual including university students. Therefore, study on students’ psychological state and its associated factors during the pandemic are of importance. This study aims to discuss the aforementioned issue.

An online survey was done on a total of 207 university students of Pakistan to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics, concerns or fears amidst COVID-19 and mental distress. Validated tools; Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)-Depression were used to assess stress, anxiety and depression, respectively.

Around 14% of the university students were experiencing severe stress and anxiety, while 8.2% had severe depression. The authors found that stress among university students was related to psychiatric illness or symptoms (OR = 5.1: 1.1, 22.9) and unpredictability due to the pandemic (OR = 3.7: 1.2, 11.2). The significant determinants of anxiety were psychiatric illness/symptoms (OR = 6.6: 3.4, 12.9), implementation of public health measures (OR = 3.7: 1.1, 11.6), employed mothers (OR = 2.4: 1.1, 5.0) and lack of support from university administration (OR = 2.2: 1.0, 5.0). While the factors associated with depression included psychiatric illness or symptoms (OR = 8.4: 3.3, 21.5), unpredictability due to pandemic (OR = 6.8: 2.2, 20.7), impaired social support system (OR = 3.7: 1.3, 10.4) and studying without a scholarship (OR = 2.1: 1.0, 4.4).

These findings call for an urgent need to develop appropriate interventions and educational programs that could address the psychological needs of students.

The study directs the role of university and faculty in dealing the mental health needs of the student in COVID-19 pandemic time.

Educational programs are important that could address the psychological needs of students in COVID-19 pandemic.

University students reported mental distress during COVID-19 pandemic which shows that younger people are at risk of COVID-19 repercussions. Moreover, several stressors (i.e. impaired social support system and lack of support from universities) were revealed that could be mitigated by implementing appropriate strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the barriers militating against the adoption of robotics in the construction industry.

Robotics implementation barriers were obtained from the previous studies and then through questionnaire survey construction stakeholders in Nigeria evaluate these barriers. Consequently, these barriers were examined via the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) technique. Furthermore, a model of these barriers was implemented by means of a partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The EFA results showed that these barriers could be categorized into two: cost and technology. Results obtained from the proposed model showed that platform tools were crucial tools for implementing cloud computing.

The novelty of this research work will be provided a solid foundation for critically assessing and appreciating the different barriers affecting the adoption of robotics.

A sense of collective free-thinking with tangible goals makes co-creation an enlightening experience. Yet despite the freedom and organic flow of the methodology, there remain barriers to deploying co-creation in the real-world context. The aim was to understand the barriers and solutions to co-creation, reflect on applying co-creation in practice and co-create an applicable framework for co-creation.

These reflections and conceptual developments were completed using a Participatory Action Research Approach through the co-creation of the Erasmus+ funded Co-creating Welfare course.

Results presented are centric to the experiences in the United Kingdom but led to application at an international level. Problem formulation led to solutions devised about who should co-create, what co-creation aims to achieve, how to receive management buy-in, co-creating beyond the local face to face context and evaluation.

The Three Co’s Framework is proposed using the outline of: Co-Define, Co-Design and Co-Refine. Those who take part in co-creation processes are recommended to be called co-creators, with less focus on “empowerment” and more about facilitating people to harness the power they already have. Utilising online and hybrid delivery methods can be more inclusive, especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of co-creation needs to be evaluated more moving forwards, as well as the output co-created.

To investigate the influence of logistics and transportation workers’ perceptions of their management’s simultaneous safety and operations focus (or lack thereof) on related worker safety and operational perceptions and behaviors.

This multi-method research consisted of two studies. Study 1 aimed to establish correlational relationships by evaluating the impact of individual-level worker perceptions of operationally focused routines (as a moderator) on the relationship between worker perceptions of safety-related routines and workers’ self-reported safety and in-role operational behaviors using a survey. Study 2 aimed to establish causal relationships by evaluating the same conceptual relationships in a behavioral-type experiment utilizing vehicle simulators. After receiving one of four pre-task briefings, participants completed a driving task scenario in a driving simulator.

In Study 1, the relationship between perceived safety focus and safety behavior/in-role operational behavior was strengthened at higher levels of perceived operations focus. In Study 2, participants who received the balanced pre-task briefing committed significantly fewer safety violations than the other 3 treatment groups. However, in-role driving deviations were not impacted as hypothesized.

This research is conducted at the individual (worker) level of analysis to capture the little-known perspectives of logistics and transportation workers and explore the influence of balanced safety and operational routines from a more micro perspective, thus contributing to a deeper understanding of how balanced routines might influence worker behavior when conducting dynamic tasks to ensure safe, effective outcomes.

Debates regarding climate change risk perception (CCRP), particularly its scale and impact on social and environmental sustainability, have continued for decades. CCRP is experiencing a renaissance with an increased focus on environmentally relevant behaviors to mitigate the effects of climate change. However, CCRP lacks investigation from the employee perspective. Supported by the social exchange and value–belief–norm theories, this study aims to address the impact of employees’ CCRP on their proenvironmental behavior (PEB) via the moderating roles of environmental values and psychological contract breach.

The nonprobability convenience sampling technique was used to collect survey data from a sample of 299 employees across 138 manufacturing firms in Pakistan.

The results show that employees’ CCRP positively impacts their PEB and that this relationship is moderated by their environmental values and psychological contract breach. Specifically, environmental values strengthen the CCRP–PEB relationship, while psychological contract breach weakens it.

The findings of the study emphasize useful guidance for managers and practitioners as a future avenue to restructure the climate change framework by emphasizing the conditions (i.e. environmental values and psychological contract breach). In doing so, the study is beneficial for managers and practitioners in helping to increase employees’ PEB through the development of climate change action plans.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first investigations into CCRP–employees’ PEB nexus in the developing country context. The study incorporates social exchange and value–belief–norm theory, which serve as the CCRP’s theoretical underpinnings. The findings advance the new knowledge about a firm’s social responsibility to achieve the sustainable development goals outlined in the UN’s 2030 Agenda.

Managerial practices are essential in the success of information technology (IT) projects of digital transformation (DT). However, the literature has not yet specified all these managerial practices. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the influence of change management on the success of IT projects of DT. Additionally, the author examines the consequences on SMEs in the economic context of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

This study draws on a research model that elucidates aspects of the resource-based view (RBV) framework, notably the transformation of human resources based on change management. This model demonstrates the relationship between change management, DT and IT project success, which facilitates the performance and resilience of SMEs. To empirically validate and test the developed research model, we gathered 299 responses from SME managers in the DRC through cross-sectional data collection using a structured questionnaire. The author performed statistical analyses using variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with the help of SmartPLS 3.0.

This paper reveals how SME managers can succeed in DT projects with the change management of human resources. Furthermore, it establishes that the success of IT projects of DT is an essential for enhancing the performance and resilience of SMEs in the DRC.

This study contributes to the information systems (IS) literature on developing countries by highlighting the DRC context. Little research deals with the success factors of DT projects and their organizational impact on SMEs in developing countries. This study thus enriches the IS literature by filling this void.

This paper delves into a pivotal juncture within the co-production literature, intersecting with the ongoing debate about performance challenges in public sector accounting scholarship. It explores how public managers conceive and measure the performance of co-produced public services.

A case study is conducted on three instances of neighbourhood watching – that is, a type of collective co-production – in a homogeneous institutional setting. The analysis and interpretation of empirical data are guided by a systematic conceptual space delineating the qualities that performance criteria can take in contexts where public services are produced.

Findings reveal that when the co-production activation is driven by both state and lay actors, public managers tend to conceptualise and measure its performance in a way that contributes to building a more structured co-productive space, where the roles to play, how to interact and what to achieve are clearly defined.

This paper breaks new ground by scrutinising the conceptualisation of performance in settings where public services involve actors beyond traditional public administrations. By exploring the diverse “shapes” and meanings that performance can take in co-production arrangements, this paper enriches discussions on how public sector accounting can inform co-production literature.

Purpose: The business world has become more turbulent than ever. Organisations must be proactive to meet the challenges of the increasingly disruptive, dynamic, and unpredictable world. One technique that has supported leaders and organisations under challenging circumstances is ‘backcasting’, which works by envisioning a desirable future state and then working backwards to attain it. The current study aims to extend an understanding of the backcasting practices and strategic approaches that can be used by leadership teams in different industries in order to survive in turbulent times and can be adapted within and beyond any pandemic.

Methodology: The research employs a desktop research method to review and compare the most commonly used strategies that leaders from different sectors can use for their respective organisations to thrive in the VUCA world.

Findings: There needs to be more research on the applicability and relevance of backcasting that the leaders of different sectors can employ. The study would provide insights that would bridge the existing research gap and come up with suitable strategies that can be employed for dealing with VUCA challenges in the Indian context.

Significance: The outcome of the study will be helpful to the leaders in designing and aligning ‘out of the box’ backcasting strategies to survive in the highly disruptive world.

The study aims to estimate the short- and long-run effects of monetary policy on residential property prices in South Africa. Over the past decades, there has been a monetary policy shift, from targeting money supply and exchange rate to inflation. The shifts have affected residential property market dynamics.

The Johansen cointegration approach was used to estimate the effects of changes in monetary policy proxies on residential property prices using quarterly data from 1980 to 2022.

Mortgage finance and economic growth have a significant positive long-run effect on residential property prices. The consumer price index, the inflation targeting framework, interest rates and exchange rates have a significant negative long-run effect on residential property prices. The Granger causality test has depicted that exchange rate significantly influences residential property prices in the short run, and interest rates, inflation targeting framework, gross domestic product, money supply consumer price index and exchange rate can quickly return to equilibrium when they are in disequilibrium.

There are limited arguments whether the inflation targeting monetary policy framework in South Africa has prevented residential property market boom and bust scenarios. The study has found that the implementation of inflation targeting framework has successfully reduced booms in residential property prices in South Africa.

This paper critically evaluates regional development through the lens of well-being and purpose. The paper provides insight into the key roles that well-being and purpose play in regional development and the way in which various actors are engaged in this process. This paper focuses on the Swansea Bay City Region within Wales, a country at the forefront of well-being legislation.

This paper analyses a case study of 4theRegion, a membership organisation that undertakes regional development activities underpinned by a social purpose and well-being across the Swansea Bay city region. 4theRegion has been selected due to (1) its unique business model; (2) its clear focus on well-being and purpose; and (3) the influence of its regional development actions bringing together various stakeholder groups under a common aim.

This paper extends existing debates on collaborative development approaches and underlines the unique emphasis on asset-based local development influenced by well-being, which seeks to engage with a variety of community stakeholders to derive “holistic flourishing”. This emphasises inclusive development activities across the region, through people, place, process and purpose, underpinned by well-being. The research also underlines debates about the subjectivity of well-being and how the impact of well-being legislation can be evaluated.

This research provides a new way of looking at regional development, through the lens of well-being and purpose and provides insight into the way in which various actors are engaged in this process. Implications of this research could influence policymaking in supporting regional development activities, as well as practical lessons for those involved in place-based development.