Search results

The purpose of this paper is to provide managers with suitable strategic KPIs in decision-making processes, which aim to integrate the environmental dimension of sustainability at a business level in manufacturing organisations.

In view of the research proposal addressed, semi-structured interviews were conducted, based on theoretical milestones of the performance management system (PMS), with 48 managers that work in Italian manufacturing firms and specialise in green practices.

The authors developed a novel environmentally performed framework to adequately integrate environmental value drivers at a strategic level.

The resulting issues addressed in this paper, and their integration in the business strategy for managing environmental complexity, allows contributing, firstly, to the existing literature by suggesting the relevant key value drivers that need to be mostly studied from an accounting point of view. In addition, from these results, though their experience managers will have up-to-date key measures that could, in the future, help the integration process between the environmental aspect of the sustainability dimension and the PMS.

The results generate a robust roadmap for future analysis in this research field. Accordingly, the paper engenders a strategic alignment in the green transition process, providing scholars and practitioners with a clear view of the key sustainable drivers, metrics and potential solutions that have not been addressed to date.

The global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has largely transformed the higher education ecosystem and shifted the modes of delivery around the world. The rapid shift from traditional face-to-face teaching to online delivery was accompanied by a set of significant challenges. In Lebanon, the situation was exacerbated by a plethora of political, economic, and humanitarian crises. Even the most well-prepared Lebanese higher education institutions were facing an insurmountable challenge to maintain education quality under extremely strenuous circumstances and limited resources. The challenges included the absence of clear quality assurance mechanisms, problems associated with limited internet connectivity due to frequent electric power outages, the lack of teacher and student preparedness for online delivery, and the absence of online-ready curricula. Nevertheless, Lebanese universities were able to make the necessary adjustments for their students to complete their education using available resources and minimal training. The current chapter explores the challenges faced by private and public universities in Lebanon and the approaches utilized to overcome tremendous limitations. We discuss the lessons learned during the process of adopting online and hybrid classroom learning, and the opportunities for growth that were brought about by unforeseen circumstances. We also introduce the changes needed on the institutional, national, and regional levels to prepare for the post-pandemic era in higher education.

A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify the lean principles and the challenges of building refurbishment. To have an in-depth investigation of the application of lean principles to address the challenges of refurbishment projects, ten expert interviews following a qualitative research approach were utilised in this research. Data were analysed using manual content analysis to derive the framework.

The refurbishment of buildings has attracted the attention of the present construction industry. However, uncertain project characteristics, information deficiency, limited space for construction activities and less stakeholder involvement make it complex. Since the lean concept effectively deals with complex and uncertain projects, this study focusses to investigate the application of lean principles to overcome the challenges of refurbishment projects in Sri Lanka by developing a framework.

It was found that the five main lean principles of customer value, value stream, value flow, pull and perfection are appropriate for building refurbishment projects in Sri Lanka. Precise identification of clients and end-users, value adding and non-value adding activities, interruptions and stakeholder communication chains, setting scope, examining the possible technologies and taking measures to deliver the exact product to ensure the successful application of lean principles for refurbishment projects. Further, 27 benefits of five lean principles were identified which can be used to address the 13 identified challenges of building refurbishment of projects. Finally, a framework has developed portraying the application of lean principles in building refurbishment.

The framework developed is beneficial for the building refurbishment project team to address the barriers of refurbishment projects by applying lean principles.

This framework can be used as a guideline for the implementation of building refurbishment projects by addressing their challenges with lean principles.

Lean construction (LC) consists of very effective techniques; however, its implementation varies considerably from one industry to another. Although numerous lean initiatives do exist in the construction industry, the research topic related to LC implementation is still unexplored due to the scarcity of validated assessment frameworks. This study aims to provide the first attempt in developing a structural model for successful LC implementation.

This study developed a Lean construction model (LCM) by critically reviewing seven previous LC frameworks from different countries, defining 18 subprinciples grouped into 6 major principles and formulating testable hypotheses. The questionnaire was pre-tested with 12 construction management experts and revised by 4 specialized academics. A pilot study with 20 construction units enhanced content reliability. Data from 307 Moroccan construction companies were collected to develop a measurement model. SPSS V. 26 was used for Exploratory Factor Analysis, followed by confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS version 23. Finally, a structural equation model statistically assessed each construct's contribution to the success of LC implementation.

This work led to the development of an original LCM based on valid and reliable LC constructs, consisting of 18 measurement items grouped into 6 LC principles: Process Transparency, People involvement, Waste elimination, Planning and Continuous improvement, Client Focus and Material/information flow and pull. According to the structural model, LC implementation success is positively influenced by Planning and Scheduling/continuous improvement (β = 0.930), followed by Elimination of waste (β = 0.896). Process transparency ranks third (β = 0.858). The study demonstrates that all these factors are mutually complementary, highlighting a positive relationship between LC implementation success and the holistic application of all LC principles.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to develop a statistically proven model of LC based on structural equation modelling analysis, which is promising for stimulating construction practitioners and researchers for more empirical studies in different countries to obtain a more accurate reflection of LC implementation. Moreover, the paper proposes recommendations to help policymakers, academics and practitioners anticipate the key success drivers for more successful LC implementation.

This study empirically examines the moderating role of geopolitical risk on the tourism–economic growth nexus by applying a recent geopolitical risk indicator developed by Caldara and Iacoviello (2022) in a cross-country panel data growth model context for a sample of 24 countries.

A Dummy Variable Least Squares panel data model, nonparametric covariance matrix estimator and SYS-GMM estimation techniques are employed for the analysis. The authors capture the GPR moderating effect by disaggregating the cross-country sample according to low versus high country GPR score and through a GPR interaction coefficient. Several controls are included in the models such as gross fixed capital formation and—consistent with Barro (1990)—government consumption. Trade openness is used to account for the export-led growth effect. In line with neoclassical growth theory (e.g. Barro, 1991), the authors also include the real interest rate, to account for policy makers' commitment to macroeconomic stability, financial depth, as a proxy for financial development, population growth and the level of secondary school education. The authors also control for unobserved country-specific and time-invariant effects.

The research finds that the interaction term of geopolitical risk significantly contributes to the predictive ability of the regression and provides empirical evidence that confirms that only in low geopolitical risk countries international tourism positively and significantly contributes to economic growth. Important theoretical and policy implications flow from these findings.

The study not only contributes to advancing academic knowledge on the tourism–growth nexus, it also has impact beyond academia. Many countries have in the past pursued and many continue to pursue, tourism specialization and/or tourism-led growth strategies based on the theoretically well-established and empirically validated positive link between inbound tourism and economic growth. The findings alert policy makers in such countries to the significant moderating role that geopolitical risk plays in affecting the above-mentioned relationship and to the importance of prioritizing geopolitical stability as a policy precursor for the successful implementation of such strategies.

Tourism–economy relationship in India has been studied extensively in the past literature using a single equation approach. However, the present paper diverted from this trend and examined the tourism–economy relationship using the specific to general modelling approach over the 1990–2018 time period. The study also accounts for the influence of merchandise trade, capital formation, foreign investment inflows and inflation on economic growth to achieve the robustness of the coefficient estimates.

To achieve the objective, the study utilised a specific to general modelling strategy. First, the regression equation includes only three core variables: gross domestic product (GDP), international tourist receipts and international tourist expenditures. Next, the authors include other control variables in the regression equation one by one, leading us to test five model types for investigating the cointegration among the variables. As for the estimation technique, the authors employed autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach.

The paper's findings highlight that tourism receipts and expenditures exert a positively significant impact on economic growth. Moreover, including the additional independent variables does not substantially change the tourism and economic growth relationship. The existence of one-way causality from tourism expenditures to economic growth supports the tourism-led growth hypothesis. These findings highlight the rationale for intervention by the government and policymakers to promote tourism potential and facilities to accelerate the overall growth performance of the country. While the existence of one-way causal effect from economic growth to tourism revenues supports the growth-led tourism development hypothesis, implying that economic expansion is necessary for tourism development.

This research article tried to present a comprehensive picture of India's tourism–economy relationship. However, the present study is organised as an aggregate economy-level analysis. It assumed that the aggregate tourism sector is homogenous. However, different tourism sectors exert different levels of influence on the economy. The authors expect future research can take the disaggregated analysis of the tourism–economy relationship.

This study provides valuable insights into the tourism-led growth hypothesis in India. The study highlights comprehensive intervention by the government and policymakers for accelerating tourism development to invigorate the overall growth performance of the country over the long run. The principal recommendation emerging from the present research is that the tourism growth potential can be depended upon to stimulate the economic performance of the Indian economy.

The present study diverted from the previous empirical studies by following a specific to general modelling strategy. First, the regression model includes only three core variables such as economic growth, tourism receipts and tourism expenditure. Next, the authors include other control variables in the regression equation one by one, leading us to test five model types for investigating the cointegrating relationship among the variables. GDP growth rate is used as a dependent variable in all five specifications. The idea is to expand the model to capture every feature of the data generating process.

Petroleum hydrocarbons are naturally occurring flammable fossil fuels used as conventional energy sources. It has carcinogenic, mutagenic properties and is considered a hazardous pollutant. Soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons adversely affects the properties of soil. This paper aim to remove pollutants from the environment is an urgent need of the hour to maintain the proper functioning of soil ecosystems.

The ability of micro-organisms to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons makes it possible to use these microorganisms to clean the environment from petroleum pollution. For preparing this review, research papers and review articles related to petroleum hydrocarbons degradation by micro-organisms were collected from journals and various search engines.

Various physical and chemical methods are used for remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons contaminants. However, these methods have several disadvantages. This paper will discuss a novel understanding of petroleum hydrocarbons degradation and how micro-organisms help in petroleum-contaminated soil restoration. Bioremediation is recognized as the most environment-friendly technique for remediation. The research studies demonstrated that bacterial consortium have high biodegradation rate of petroleum hydrocarbons ranging from 83% to 89%.

Proper management of petroleum hydrocarbons pollutants from the environment is necessary because of their toxicity effects on human and environmental health.

This paper discussed novel mechanisms adopted by bacteria for biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation pathways, genes and enzymes involved in petroleum hydrocarbons biodegradation.

The migration of physicians is a global interest, causing imbalances between developed and developing countries. Romania is one of Europe's major providers of physicians, not because there is a surplus, but because physicians are drawn to places with better living and working conditions. Medicine in Romania is increasingly highly advanced, and Romanian physicians are well appreciated all over the world. Despite being one of the countries with the most medical graduates in the world, Romania is suffering a doctor exodus. After joining the EU, the problem of physician migration became widespread, resulting in a deficient and inefficient healthcare system. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to estimate the losses registered by Romania because of physicians' decision to migrate.

These losses were calculated in two ways: utilizing the statistical life value and the amount of money invested in training a medical graduate.

According to the findings, the losses in 2018 were 104.16 million euros, approximately 0.12% of GDP.

The originality of this paper consists in data, being provided by the College of Physicians from Romania and the method used, this study being the only one that estimates the cost of Romanian physicians' migration. The paper adds to existing knowledge an empirical results regarding quantifying the value reflecting the departure of physicians, using value of statistical life and the amount of money invested in preparing a medical graduate.