Search results

Rapid technological change in the transport sector is leading to a growing range of potential and actual ‘business models’ deployable for the movement of goods and people. Two key uncertainties arise from this proliferation: first, concerning which ones can be economically viable, and, second, whether they can be both simultaneously economically viable and contribute to the imperatives of more sustainable mobility. The present chapter reviews and appraises the emergence of these new business models, drawing on both literature review and empirical research with entrepreneurs involved in the new mobility sector. Specifically, the potential of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN, n.d.) as a device to structure and frame the debate about what constitutes a valuable contribution to sustainable mobility is considered. A framework is developed which captures how mobility and transport have dependencies with the SDGs. From this analysis, key sustainability concepts are derived which have either a subsistence function (maintaining the basics of human life) or an enhancement function (enabling citizens to realise their potential whilst reducing impacts on the planet). Five different innovations involving mobility sector business entrepreneurship are then characterised using this framework to exemplify its ability to deconstruct and test claims that ‘smart mobility’ is also good for sustainability as well as good for business. It is concluded that the framework could contribute to a wider architecture of sustainability interrogation. It could promote discourse around a wide range of actors, posing questions and surfacing tensions and contingencies effectively, whilst providing a holistic, strategic assessment to inform more targeted, scientific evaluations of sustainability metrics.

The purpose of this study is to highlight the need to develop and expand specialized support for people with ASD, examining the effect of these services on their families' quality of life. Despite efforts to promote diversity and equal opportunities for people with disabilities, Cyprus faces challenges in various levels such as in society, education, and employment. Unlike other countries, there is limited literature and data on adults with ASD in Cyprus, which prevents from forming an accurate assessment of their needs and the impact on their quality of life. Further, as a European Union Member State, Cyprus has restrictions on specialized programs and benefits, which makes it difficult to fully implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). This led to a lack of effective support services for adults with ASD and their families. Consequently, parents express concerns about the support that will be available for their adult children in the future. This study uses qualitative data obtained through the constant comparative method and is part of a larger project that includes both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The study presents important issues such as the positive impact of services on these adults and their families, families' concerns about specialized support and programs for people with ASD, and their relationships with their parents. The results are expected to raise awareness, promote social policy development, and improve the quality of life of people with ASD and their families in Cyprus.

Service providers and tourism players have introduced the green hotels concept to mitigate detrimental environmental impact. This study aimed to review the literature on green hotels based on bibliometric analysis.

In analyzing the potential and significant subject of the tourism industry and concern on environmental issues, this study evaluates the themes based on the past, present and future trends in green hotels from a bibliographic database retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS).

Several themes were identified from the role of the theory of planned behavior and predictors of consumers' intention to visit green hotels.

Implications were discussed mainly related to green hotels contribution towards sustainable tourism and its role in shaping the tourism sector's landscape. Among the practical implications include rewards by the authorities in the form of incentives or tax relief to green hotel operators, which will encourage conventional hotel transformation into green hotels. Furthermore, green hotels will be at the forefront of tourism and hospitality brands, requiring substantial green marketing initiatives. Sooner or later, opting for green hotels while traveling will be the norm among travelers.

The green hotels have emerged as a way to tackle the environmental issues related to tourism and hospitality while at the same time, allowing the industry to flourish. This research is one of the scant studies that provide a comprehensive overview about green hotel studies and offer future research agendas.

The rapid expansion of internet usage and device connectivity has underscored the importance of understanding the public’s cyber behavior and knowledge. Despite this, there is little research that examines the public’s objective knowledge of secure information security practices. The purpose of this study is to examine how objective cyber awareness is distributed throughout society.

This study draws on a large national survey of adults to examine the relationship between individual factors – such as demographic attributes and socioeconomic resources – and information security awareness. The study estimates several statistical models using weighted logistic regression to model objective information security awareness.

The results indicate that socioeconomic resources such as income and education have a significant effect on individuals’ information security awareness with richer and more highly educated individuals exhibiting greater awareness of important security practices and tools. Additionally, age and gender represent consistent and clear informational gaps in society as older individuals and females are significantly less knowledgeable about an array of information security practices than younger individuals and males, respectively.

The findings have important implications for our understanding of information security behavior and user vulnerability in an increasingly digital and connected society. Despite the growing importance of cybersecurity for all individuals in nearly all domains of daily life, there is substantial inequality in awareness about secure cyber practices and the tools and techniques used to protect one’s self from attacks. While digital technology will continue to permeate many aspects of daily life – from financial transactions to health services to social interactions – the findings here indicate that some users may be far more exposed and vulnerable to attack than others.

This study contributes to our understanding of general user information security awareness using a large survey and statistical models to generalize about the public’s information security awareness across multiple domains and stimulates future research on public knowledge of information security. The findings indicate that some users may be far more exposed and vulnerable to attack than others. Despite the growing importance of cybersecurity for all individuals in nearly all domains of daily life, there is substantial inequality in awareness about secure cyber practices and the tools and techniques used to protect one’s self from attacks.

This paper analyses J1 League and J2 League clubs during the period 2011–2020 to anticipate financial distress.

Data were collected for 29 professional football clubs competing in the J1 and J2 League for the financial years ending 2011–2020. Analysis was conducted using Altman’s Z-score methodology and additional statistical tests were conducted to measure differences between groups.

The results show significant cases of financial distress amongst clubs in both divisions and that clubs that have played predominantly in the J1 League are in significantly poorer financial health than clubs that have played predominantly in the J2 League. Overall, the financial situation in Japanese professional football needs to be monitored, a position that could be exacerbated by the economic crisis, caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

While the financial situation for a majority of the clubs in the J-League presents an austere picture, comparison with clubs in other leagues across Asia and Europe and understanding the different policies set by these leagues would enable us to understand whether the phenomenon of financial distress is common to other clubs and leagues across different countries and continents.

The paper recommends that J-League visit the existing club licensing criteria and implement equitable cost-control measures, such as implementing a cap on acceptable losses over a specified period or restricting overall expenditures as a percentage of the club’s revenue.

The paper extends the evidence base of measuring financial distress in professional team sports and is also the first paper of its kind to examine this in relation to Asian professional football.

Technology-enhanced learning (TEL), particularly in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM), revolutionizes educational approaches by fostering active, transformative learning and expediting the learning process. TEL employs various tools like online courses, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, virtual reality (VR), simulations, makerspaces, visual learning, and project-based learning, all contributing to accelerated learning in STEAM. A notable TEL innovation is the emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI chatbots, exemplified by the release of GPT-3 in December 2022. These tools utilize extensive parameters to generate natural language and perform tasks such as classification and prediction, thereby offering personalized and collaborative learning experiences essential for STEAM education. The generative pre-training transformer (GPT), a leading model in natural language processing (NLP), excels in generating human-like text and handling complex tasks like translation, summarization, and question answering. This chapter explores TEL environments that support transformative learning in STEAM, focusing on AI models. It reviews research on TEL’s impact on STEAM education, discussing the constructionism theory and emphasizing TEL’s role in creating engaging, student-centered learning experiences. However, challenges like technology access, instructor training, infrastructure, internet connectivity, and hardware resources are crucial. Additionally, the rise of AI brings ethical concerns regarding privacy, security, and potential biases in AI algorithms. Despite these hurdles, TEL’s potential to enhance STEAM learning experiences and accelerate the educational process is significant. By effectively implementing TEL strategies and leveraging LLMs and AI tools, educators can substantially improve learning outcomes in STEAM education.

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the agri-food sector are continuously transforming their global value chains (GVCs) to address sustainable development challenges of food security (SDG2) and climate change (SDG13). However, the central role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in (re)creating GVCs across multilevel stakeholders through innovative approaches to solve sustainability challenges remains under investigated. This explorative study investigates how international NGOs influence the transformation of large-scale industrial animal agriculture to a more sustainable (cell-based) agri-food GVC. The authors conducted a case study on the Good Food Institute (GFI), an international NGO, that has been an active player in the transition to alternative sources of protein to solve animal-based agriculture sustainability issues. The results show that an international NGO can contribute to the transition to a more sustainable GVC and can enhance the GVC’s innovation capabilities.

In academia, assessment is often narrow in its focus on research productivity, its application of a limited number of standardised metrics and its summative approach aimed at selection. This approach, corresponding to an exclusive, subject-oriented concept of talent management, can be thought of as at odds with a broader view of the role of academic institutions as accelerating and improving science and scholarship and its societal impact. In recent years, open science practices as well as research integrity issues have increased awareness of the need for a more inclusive approach to assessment and talent management in academia, broadening assessment to reward the full spectrum of academic activities and, within that spectrum, deepening assessment by critically reflecting on the processes and indicators involved (both qualitative and quantitative). In terms of talent management, this would mean a move from research-focused assessment to assessment including all academic activities (including education, professional performance and leadership), a shift from focus on the individual to a focus on collaboration in teams (recognising contributions of both academic and support staff), increased attention for formative assessment and greater agency for those being evaluated, as well as around the data, tools and platforms used in assessment. Together, this represents a more inclusive, subject-oriented approach to talent management. Implementation of such changes requires involvement from university management, human resource management and academic and support staff at all career levels, and universities would benefit from participation in mutual learning initiatives currently taking shape in various regions of the world.

How can large international financial firms go green in authentic ways? What enhances ‘Net Zero action’? Changes in global banks, fund managers, and insurance firms are at the heart of green finance. External change pressures – combined with problematic firm predispositions – exacerbate barriers to change and promote scepticism about authentic Net Zero change. Field research reveals main elements, connections, and interactions of this question by considering financial firms as complex socio-technical systems (Mitleton-Kelly, 2003). An interdisciplinary/holistic narrative approach (De Bakker et al., 2019) is adopted to design a conceptual framework that can support a green ‘behavioural theory of the financial firm’ (green BTFF). The BTFF presents an international version (Peng, 2001) of the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm (Barney, 1991; Hart, 1995; Teece et al., 1997).

The approach of this chapter is aimed at closing knowledge gaps and realign values in financial markets and society. By raising awareness about organised hypocrisy and facades (Brunsson, 1993; Cho et al., 2015; Schoeneborn et al., 2020) in financial firms the chapter aims at overcoming the gap between ‘talking’ and ‘walking’ in the financial sector. The chapter defines testable firm-level hypotheses for ‘Green Finance’ (Poterba, 2021) as well as – by implication – tests for ‘greenwashing’.