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1 – 10 of 38Juan Guio, Álvaro Choi and Josep-Oriol Escardíbul
The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the links between labor market conditions and academic performance by disentangling the effects of unemployment…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the links between labor market conditions and academic performance by disentangling the effects of unemployment. The contribution of this study is, therefore, threefold: first, it provides new evidence on the link between labor market conditions and educational decisions; second, it quantifies separately the two separate effects of unemployment on academic performance at age 15; and third, it analyses heterogeneous effects of the “family” and “local labor market” – proxied through the unemployment rate of the school community – effects.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis of the impact of unemployment on academic performance is performed through hierarchical linear regressions.
Findings
The results show that academic performance at age 15 is affected by labor market conditions, and, at the same time, previous performance determines future educational decisions. Thus, these results highlight the sensitivity of students’ educational decisions and academic performance to shifts in the labor market.
Practical implications
This suggests that strategies aimed at reducing early school dropout rates should not be restricted solely to the education system. In other words, school failure is not only dependent on schools and, hence, on education policies.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the existing literature by providing new evidence on the relationship between short-term labor market dynamics and academic performance. More specifically, this paper represents a significant step forward in comparison to the previous literature as it has provided responses to three key questions faced by countries with high unemployment and high early school dropout.
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Andreia Ferreira, Graça Miranda Silva and Álvaro Lopes Dias
Retailers are increasingly using self-service technologies to improve customer experience and reduce costs. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that could explain the…
Abstract
Purpose
Retailers are increasingly using self-service technologies to improve customer experience and reduce costs. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that could explain the level of continuance intention of mobile self-scanning applications in retail. Based on previous theoretical streams, the present study integrates technology readiness (TR) and service quality into the technology acceptance model.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data collected through an online survey of 217 users of a mobile self-scanning application of a large supermarket chain operating in Portugal, the study uses partial least squares structural equation modeling to test the proposed hypotheses.
Findings
The results indicate that the continuance usage of the self-scanning apps is directly driven by users' satisfaction and perceived usefulness. Findings also show that TR has a positive and significant impact on ease of use and perceived usefulness. Ease of use has a positive impact on users' satisfaction and perceived usefulness but has no direct effect on the continuance intention to use the application. Perceived quality has a positive direct effect on satisfaction and a positive indirect effect on continuance intention. Finally, need for interaction has a negative effect on TR.
Originality/value
This work contributes to a better understanding of the emerging market for mobile self-scanning applications in retail applications, particularly relevant in a digital transition context.
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Inês Silva, Álvaro Dias and Leandro F. Pereira
The purpose of the study is to investigate the differences between generational groups (specifically Generations X, Y and Z) in terms of variables that influence organisational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to investigate the differences between generational groups (specifically Generations X, Y and Z) in terms of variables that influence organisational commitment and intention to stay within an organisation. The aim is to fill the research gap in understanding how different factors influence commitment and retention across different generations.
Design/methodology/approach
This study follows a quantitative approach based on cross-sectional survey data. The respondents were employees of Generations X, Y and Z. The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling and multigroup analysis.
Findings
The results of the study indicate several relationships between variables and organisational commitment/intention to stay. Person-organisation fit is positively related to organisational commitment, and work-life balance is positively related to both organisational commitment and intention to stay. The mediation of organisational commitment shows a positive relationship with person-organisation fit and work-life balance. In addition, there are positive relationships between organisational culture and both organisational commitment and intention to stay, as well as a positive relationship between person-organisation fit and intention to stay. Furthermore, all three Generations (X, Y and Z) show positive relationships between organisational commitment and intention to stay.
Research limitations/implications
The implications of the study are twofold. First, it provides theoretical contributions by uncovering the relationships between various variables and organisational commitment/retention. Second, it provides practical implications for organisations by highlighting the importance of person-organisation fit, work-life balance and organisational culture in fostering commitment and retention among employees of different generations.
Originality/value
The originality and value of this study lies in its exploration of the differences between generational groups in terms of variables affecting organisational commitment and intention to stay. By addressing this research gap, the study contributes to the existing literature on organisational commitment and retention. The detailed presentation of theoretical contributions, practical implications, limitations and suggestions for future research enhances the overall value of the study.
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Francisco Rincon-Roldan and Alvaro Lopez-Cabrales
The aim of this study was to analyse the influence of different employment relationships (ERs) on the sustainability results of cooperatives. The authors approached the type of ER…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to analyse the influence of different employment relationships (ERs) on the sustainability results of cooperatives. The authors approached the type of ER comparing the inducements offered by the firm with the contributions that the manager expects from employees. In this way, the authors study how the orientation toward the employment relationship influences the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the firm.
Design/methodology/approach
This article presents a theoretical and empirical research model about the relationship between ERs and sustainability. The necessary information was obtained through a questionnaire that was completed by the human resource (HR) managers and chief executive officers (CEOs) of 124 cooperative companies, and structural equation modelling was applied to evaluate the relationships between the proposed constructs, using the partial least squares technique (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The obtained results suggest that mutual investment and overinvestment ERs favour economic, social and environmental sustainability, whereas quasi spot contract and underinvestment ERs have a negative influence on all three types of sustainability. Therefore, it is confirmed that the type of ER adopted can condition the sustainability of the company, either favouring or worsening it.
Originality/value
This work contributes to covering the lack of studies about which ERs impact the sustainability of organisations, and it provides information on the role of ERs in the search for a more sustainable organisation, demonstrating that the type of employment relationship developed by the firm has a relevant impact on its sustainability.
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Federico R. León, Oswaldo Morales, Juan D. Ramos, Álvaro Goyenechea, Paul A. Rojas, José Meza and Andrés Burga-León
Call centers generate stress and absenteeism in staff and the literature suggests that people-oriented leadership is the right way of supervision for such a situation. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
Call centers generate stress and absenteeism in staff and the literature suggests that people-oriented leadership is the right way of supervision for such a situation. This study compared its effects versus those of other types of leadership.
Methodology
Absentee data of 379 representatives of customer services of a Peruvian call center were analyzed and the representatives answered a questionnaire about the Framework of Values in Competition and its four types of leadership. Day and night work shifts were compared.
Results
It was observed that absenteeism declines with people-oriented leadership, although only during the day shift, and the addition of leadership oriented to change, results and control devalues models.
Limitations/implications
Future studies should cover the performance of the worker. The findings suggest a need to re-focus the theoretical focus on environmental contingencies that affect leadership effectiveness.
Originality/value
Leadership theorists will ask themselves in what circumstances the multiple leadership is effective. Call center managers will appreciate the organizational value of people-oriented leadership at the first level of supervision.
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Georg Dutschke, Lia Jacobsohn, Alvaro Dias and Jaime Combadão
The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that individuals consider necessary to be happy in their job. Based on these factors, a measure of job design happiness (JDH…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that individuals consider necessary to be happy in their job. Based on these factors, a measure of job design happiness (JDH) is proposed.
Design/methodology/approach
Two methods were applied: a qualitative study with content analyses (n=969) to develop an exploratory questionnaire; and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis by applying structural equations models. In this second study the questionnaire was sent to a second sample (n=1,079).
Findings
Five first-order factors were identified: self-fulfillment; group working, attaining goals; leadership; and sustainability and job/family balance. These factors are explained by a second order factor: JDH.
Research limitations/implications
Further research is needed to determine how the identified “job design happiness” components may interact with one another. Testing the measure of different industries and national cultures is also suggested.
Practical implications
Managers and human resources practitioners can improve job and organizational performance by applying the scale in several moments in time measuring the job happiness “pulse,” monitoring their decisions.
Social implications
The adoption of this measure for decision making in organizational and job design can contribute to the improvement of living standards and firm sustainability.
Originality/value
Research on organizational happiness has been increasing but instruments to measure JDH, considering organizational factors, are limited.
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Colin C Williams, Alvaro Martinez-Perez and Abbi Kedir
Reflecting the moral theorisation of bribery as a negative phenomenon, bribery has been widely shown to have a deleterious impact at the national level on economic development and…
Abstract
Purpose
Reflecting the moral theorisation of bribery as a negative phenomenon, bribery has been widely shown to have a deleterious impact at the national level on economic development and growth. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether it is also the case at the firm level that bribery has negative impacts on firm performance. Until now, the few studies conducted in individual nations and regions have produced mixed results. Here, therefore, a more comprehensive evaluation of the relationship between bribery and firm performance is undertaken across the developing world.
Design/methodology/approach
To do so, World Bank Enterprise Survey data on 106,805 enterprises across 132 developing countries is used to provide a firm-level analysis of the relationship between bribery and firm performance.
Findings
The finding is that bribery enhances firm performance. Firms asserting that it is necessary for enterprises like theirs to give gifts or payments to public officials in order to get things done have 13.9 per cent higher average annual sales growth rates and 48 per cent higher annual productivity growth rates, after controlling for other determinants of firm performance.
Practical implications
Given that engaging in bribery at the firm level results in higher firm performance, despite bribery having an overall detrimental negative impact at the country level, public authorities will need to develop measures to alter not only the cost-benefit ratio confronting individual enterprises but also the institutional deficiencies that result in the prevalence of bribery.
Originality/value
This is the first firm-level evaluation of the relationship between bribery and firm performance across the developing world.
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Álvaro Rodríguez-Sanz and Luis Rubio-Andrada
An important and challenging question for air transportation regulators and airport operators is the definition and specification of airport capacity. Annual capacity is used for…
Abstract
Purpose
An important and challenging question for air transportation regulators and airport operators is the definition and specification of airport capacity. Annual capacity is used for long-term planning purposes as a degree of available service volume, but it poses several inefficiencies when measuring the true throughput of the system because of seasonal and daily variations of traffic. Instead, airport throughput is calculated or estimated for a short period of time, usually one hour. This brings about a mismatch: air traffic forecasts typically yield annual volumes, whereas capacity is measured on hourly figures. To manage the right balance between airport capacity and demand, annual traffic volumes must be converted into design hour volumes, so that they can be compared with the true throughput of the system. This comparison is a cornerstone in planning new airport infrastructures, as design-period parameters are important for airport planners in anticipating where and when congestion occurs. Although the design hour for airport traffic has historically had a number of definitions, it is necessary to improve the way air traffic design hours are selected. This study aims to provide an empirical analysis of airport capacity and demand, specifically focusing on insights related to air traffic design hours and the relationship between capacity and delay.
Design/methodology/approach
By reviewing the empirical relationships between hourly and annual air traffic volumes and between practical capacity and delay at 50 European airports during the period 2004–2021, this paper discusses the problem of defining a suitable peak hour for capacity evaluation purposes. The authors use information from several data sources, including EUROCONTROL, ACI and OAG. This study provides functional links between design hours and annual volumes for different airport clusters. Additionally, the authors appraise different daily traffic distribution patterns and their variation by hour of the day.
Findings
The clustering of airports with respect to their capacity, operational and traffic characteristics allows us to discover functional relationships between annual traffic and the percentage of traffic in the design hour. These relationships help the authors to propose empirical methods to derive expected traffic in design hours from annual volumes. The main conclusion is that the percentage of total annual traffic that is concentrated at the design hour maintains a predictable behavior through a “potential” adjustment with respect to the volume of annual traffic. Moreover, the authors provide an experimental link between capacity and delay so that peak hour figures can be related to factors that describe the quality of traffic operations.
Originality/value
The functional relationships between hourly and annual air traffic volumes and between capacity and delay, can be used to properly assess airport expansion projects or to optimize resource allocation tasks. This study offers new evidence on the nature of airport capacity and the dynamics of air traffic design hours and delay.
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María Paula Florez-Jimenez, Alvaro Lleo, Ignacio Danvila-del-Valle and Gregorio Sánchez-Marín
This paper aims to narrow the gap caused by the lack of literature relating the three concepts of corporate sustainability, organizational resilience and corporate purpose in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to narrow the gap caused by the lack of literature relating the three concepts of corporate sustainability, organizational resilience and corporate purpose in the context of corporations. A framework that explains how these three concepts are related and effectively merged for long-term corporate survival are proposed.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review is carried out. It is explained, first, initial search strategies to identify those documents that define each concept and to identify concepts with which each concept is associated. Subsequently, it is designed a search strategy combining all three concepts and their associated concepts to gather and analyze all the possible studies that have tried to connect these concepts. Finally, it is identified some gaps in the understanding of how these three concepts are related.
Findings
Results indicate that corporate sustainability, organizational resilience and corporate purpose merge to achieve long-term corporate survival. There exists a two-way relationship between these three variables. Findings also present gaps and future directions that should be addressed to foster an increase in knowledge about the relationships between corporate sustainability, organizational resilience and corporate purpose.
Originality/value
Nowadays, some authors endeavor to explain how aspects such as corporate sustainability, organizational resilience and corporate purpose are crucial in the dynamic environment facing corporations every day. Nevertheless, there needs to be more understanding of how these three concepts are related and effectively merged for long-term corporate survival. This paper contributes to the literature by closing this gap.
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Alvaro Luis Lamas Cassago, Mateus Manfrin Artêncio, Daniele Ribeiro Contin, Beatriz Costa de Souza, Guilherme Silva Dias, Leonardo Gobbo Neto, Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi and Fernando Batista Da Costa
This paper aims to explore the impact of the origin of hops on the sensory and hedonic evaluation of highly involved craft beer consumers.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the impact of the origin of hops on the sensory and hedonic evaluation of highly involved craft beer consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected through a between-subject tasting experiment, where the origin of hop was manipulated (imported vs locally grown). The craft beer samples used in the experiment were produced using hops of similar age but grown in two distinct places: USA (imported hop) and in the city of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, where the experiment was conducted (locally grown hop). The sensory and hedonic evaluations of highly involved craft beer consumers (n = 100) were collected after tasting the samples.
Findings
The origin of hop proved to be significant in affecting participants’ sensory and hedonic evaluations. It was observed that women were more sensitive than men to the origin information: when information was given, differences were found only on men’s scores of dryness/astringency; while in women, significant differences were found not only in dryness/astringency, but also in bitterness and refreshing, which are important attributes in the sensory profile of craft beer. It was also confirmed the effect of localness in hop cultivation, once men’ and women’s scores on liking were higher for the sample brewed with locally grown hop.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work using craft beer brewed with hops cultivated in Brazil and a sample of Brazilian craft beer consumers, therefore, providing a significant contribution to the field of consumer behavior. Furthermore, it adds to the discussion on sex-/gender-related differences regarding sensory expectation and perception of foods.
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