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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 October 2023

Bartlomiej Gladysz, Davide Matteri, Krzysztof Ejsmont, Donatella Corti, Andrea Bettoni and Rodolfo Haber Guerra

Manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have already noticed the tangible benefits offered by artificial intelligence (AI). Several approaches have been proposed…

Abstract

Purpose

Manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have already noticed the tangible benefits offered by artificial intelligence (AI). Several approaches have been proposed with a view to support them in the processes entailed in this innovation path. These include multisided platforms created to enable the connection between SMEs and AI developers, making it easier for them to network each other. While such platforms are complex, they facilitate simultaneous interaction with several stakeholders and reaching out to new potential users (both SMEs and AI developers), through a collaboration with supporting ecosystems such as digital innovation hubs (DIHs).

Design/methodology/approach

Mixed methods were used. The literature review was performed to identify the existing approaches within and outside the manufacturing domain. Computer-assisted telephonic (in-depth) interviewing , was conducted to include perspectives of AI platform stakeholders and collect primary data from various European countries.

Findings

Several challenges and barriers for AI platform stakeholders were identified alongside the corresponding best practices and guidelines on how to address them.

Originality/value

An effective approach was proposed to provide support to the industrial platform managers in this field, by developing guidelines and best practices on how a platform should build its services to support the ecosystem.

Details

Central European Management Journal, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2658-0845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 February 2024

Pattanaporn Chatjuthamard, Pandej Chintrakarn, Pornsit Jiraporn, Weerapong Kitiwong and Sirithida Chaivisuttangkun

Exploiting a novel measure of hostile takeover exposure primarily based on the staggered adoption of state legislations, we explore a crucial, albeit largely overlooked, aspect of…

Abstract

Purpose

Exploiting a novel measure of hostile takeover exposure primarily based on the staggered adoption of state legislations, we explore a crucial, albeit largely overlooked, aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR). In particular, we investigate CSR inequality, which is the inequality across different CSR categories. Higher inequality suggests a less balanced, more lopsided, CSR policy.

Design/methodology/approach

In addition to the standard regression analysis, we perform several robustness checks including propensity score matching, entropy balancing and an instrumental-variable analysis.

Findings

Our results show that more takeover exposure exacerbates CSR inequality. Specifically, a rise in takeover vulnerability by one standard deviation results in an increase in CSR inequality by 4.53–5.40%. The findings support the managerial myopia hypothesis, where myopic managers promote some CSR activities that are useful to them in the short run more than others, leading to higher CSR inequality.

Originality/value

Our study is the first to exploit a unique measure of takeover vulnerability to investigate the impact of takeover threats on CSR inequality, which is an important aspect of CSR that is largely overlooked in the literature. We aptly fill this void in the literature.

Details

Managerial Finance, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4358

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2023

Tanakorn Likitapiwat, Pornsit Jiraporn and Sirimon Treepongkaruna

The authors investigate whether firm-specific vulnerability to climate change influences foreign exchange hedging, using a novel text-based measure of firm-level climate change…

Abstract

Purpose

The authors investigate whether firm-specific vulnerability to climate change influences foreign exchange hedging, using a novel text-based measure of firm-level climate change exposure generated by state-of-the-art machine-learning algorithms.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors' empirical analysis includes firm-fixed effects, random-effects regressions, propensity score matching (PSM), entropy balancing, an instrumental-variable analysis and using an exogenous shock as a quasi-natural experiment.

Findings

The authors' findings suggest that greater climate change exposure brings about a significant reduction in exchange rate hedging. Companies more exposed to climate change may invest significant resources to address climate change risk, such that they have fewer resources available for currency risk management. Additionally, firms seriously coping with climate change risk may view exchange rate risk as relatively less important in comparison to the risk posed by climate change. Notably, the authors also find that the negative effect of climate change exposure on currency hedging can be specifically attributed to the regulatory aspect of climate change risk rather than the physical dimension, suggesting that companies view the regulatory dimension of climate change as more critical.

Originality/value

Recent studies have demonstrated that climatic fluctuations represent one of the most recent sources of unpredictability, thereby impacting the economy and financial markets (Barnett et al., 2020; Bolton and Kacperczyk, 2020; Engle et al., 2020). The authors' study advances this field of research by revealing that company-specific exposure to climate change serves as a significant determinant of corporate currency hedging, thus expanding the existing knowledge base.

Details

Journal of Accounting Literature, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-4607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 May 2023

Andrea Szabó and András Déri

Political participation of young people has been examined, but there is a lack of research about how these participation forms are interpreted and what counts as participation for…

Abstract

Purpose

Political participation of young people has been examined, but there is a lack of research about how these participation forms are interpreted and what counts as participation for young people. The study aims to identify discourses of political participation in Hungary, where the COVID-19 restrictions during 2020–2021 have confined young people's everyday interactions and political activism to the online space for an extended period. The authors’ asteroid-effect hypothesis suggests that new discourses of political participation have become more widespread, which may have reinterpreted the previous dynamics between online and offline participation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analyse the results of six focus groups and eight interviews with young people conducted between 2021–2022 through discourse analysis.

Findings

The qualitative results show that to intellectualise the everyday discourses of youth political participation, extending its classical theories is worthwhile. While online participation has not emerged as a paramount, positive interpretational framework, a new discourse of political participation has emerged, making conversation a fundamental act.

Originality/value

While the results are limited to Hungarian youth, the strong appearance of participation as a communicative action can have consequences to theoretical approaches of political participation. The authors believe that COVID-19 restrictions had a significant role in this change, because family talks became more politicised.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 23 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 June 2023

Julia C. Duncheon, Dustin Hornbeck and Reid Sagara

This study examines how English teachers use culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to support postsecondary readiness for underrepresented students in the context of dual credit (DC…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines how English teachers use culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to support postsecondary readiness for underrepresented students in the context of dual credit (DC) coursework in the USA. Postsecondary readiness, termed “college readiness” in the USA, refers to the skills and knowledge students need to succeed at a university. DC courses are university-level classes delivered to high school students through partnerships with postsecondary institutions, most often two-year community colleges. The purpose of this study is to highlight practices and institutional conditions that enable English instructors to foster postsecondary opportunity for all.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an interpretive approach, this qualitative study analyzes data derived from in-depth interviews with five community college English instructors who teach DC to diverse high-school students and who apply CRP in their classroom practice.

Findings

Findings reveal that instructors used culturally relevant approaches not only to help students access dominant college-ready skills, but also to reimagine what constitutes college readiness to begin with. Instructors also took advantage of their unique positioning as postsecondary instructors working with secondary students, leaning on academic freedom to push boundaries with their curriculum.

Originality/value

This study shows how English instructors are uniquely positioned to enhance university preparation and build a more inclusive vision of postsecondary readiness for all students. The study also highlights institutional conditions, such as teacher autonomy, pedagogical training and administrator support, that can promote culturally relevant postsecondary preparation in English classrooms.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 October 2022

Andrea Lawlor, Tyler Girard, Philippe Wodnicki and Miranda Goode

Crises precipitate strong fiscal responses by government – sometimes toward austerity, other times toward renewed social spending. This variation in approaches to crisis handling…

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Abstract

Purpose

Crises precipitate strong fiscal responses by government – sometimes toward austerity, other times toward renewed social spending. This variation in approaches to crisis handling has the potential to highlight factors that drive public opinion toward government interventions that may be quite different from those in non-crisis times. This study aims to discuss the aforementioned issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This article brings together theories of government policymaking in crises, policy responsiveness and economic voting to assess how personal financial (egocentric) concerns and/or national financial (sociotropic) concerns may influence opinions toward government handling of direct financial supports in a crisis and, more generally, opinions toward social policy interventions. The authors assess this dynamic in the Canadian context using original national survey data collected in the initial stage of the pandemic-based crisis in June and July of 2020 (N = 1290).

Findings

The authors find strong evidence in support of sociotropic concerns shaping government approval and support for greater social policy interventions, but limited evidence to support egocentric concerns, suggesting that social policy attitudes may be more insulated from personal factors than anticipated.

Research limitations/implications

The authors’ findings suggest that crises may prompt enhanced support for interventionist social policy measures that may lack broad-based support in non-crisis times.

Originality/value

The authors’ findings speak to the ongoing discussion around the possibility for crises to function as policy windows for enhanced social spending and for entrenching targeted financial supports for vulnerable individuals.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 43 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 20 November 2023

Grădinaru Giani-Ionel, Țiţan Emilia, Bătrîncea Ana-Maria and Mihai Mihaela

Technological progress is a determining factor in the factors leading to economic and social well-being. Simultaneously, the development of a sustainable economy is based on the…

Abstract

Technological progress is a determining factor in the factors leading to economic and social well-being. Simultaneously, the development of a sustainable economy is based on the conservation of resources. In the energy sector, this fact can be corroborated with the reduction of energy consumption, thus increasing economic efficiency. On the one hand, improving energy efficiency contributes to increasing the quality of life, productivity, and, implicitly, the economy, but on the other hand, it leads to excess energy use – this behavioral change is known as rebound. The research estimates the rebound effect at the macroeconomic level for European countries in the period 2000–2019, referring the analysis to each country's gross domestic product (GDP) and energy consumption, as well as comparing the preaccession and postaccession periods of Romania in the EU space. The rebound effect is determined using multidimensional analysis methods, depending on the GDP of each country as well as the behavior of each in the use of energy resources in industry, agriculture, and services. Although the study results confirm the strong link between energy consumption and GDP at the level of each state, they did not show considerable changes between countries at the level of the two periods.

Details

Digitalization, Sustainable Development, and Industry 5.0
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-191-2

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 December 2023

U.D.R.E. Ruwanpura, B.A.K.S. Perera and Tharusha Ranadewa

Administrative processes play a crucial role in various sectors, often contributing to cost overruns and delays. While lean concept has been extensively applied in many…

Abstract

Purpose

Administrative processes play a crucial role in various sectors, often contributing to cost overruns and delays. While lean concept has been extensively applied in many industries, there is a recognized need for further research on the integration of lean in administrative processes. To address this research gap, this study aims to systematically analyse the implementation of lean in administrative processes, providing a sector-wise comparison to explore its prospects for the construction industry.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review was conducted by adapting the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses method. Eighty-six research papers are subjected to descriptive and content analysis on different tools applied in lean integrated administrative processes in health care, education, public administration and other sectors.

Findings

The research study reveals common lean tools irrespective of sector. Moreover, specific tools used for a particular sector are analysed. Out of the various lean tools and techniques, value stream mapping, 5S and Kaizen are highly acknowledged tools in every sector of lean intervention. Furthermore, ECRS is applied explicitly in the education sector. Furthermore, it is noted that Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs and Customers (SIPOC), 5whys, load levelling and control charts are identical to administrative processes in lean health care. Furthermore, Spaghetti charts and Kaikaku are only adapted to administrative processes in the public administration sector, and causal loop diagrams are used explicitly in administrative processes in the construction sector.

Originality/value

This study contributes to research by developing a guideline to design lean intervention for a lean-integrated administrative process in any sector which still needs to be transformed into lean. Hence, this study will be a cornerstone for incorporating lean principles for administrative processes in construction sector.

Details

Construction Innovation , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 October 2023

Muhammad Kazim Nur Sohad, Giuseppe Celi and Edgardo Sica

This article explores the migration intentions (MIs) embedded in population movements from rural to urban areas in Bangladesh. In this country, urban-centric development policies…

Abstract

Purpose

This article explores the migration intentions (MIs) embedded in population movements from rural to urban areas in Bangladesh. In this country, urban-centric development policies have made cities epicentres of commerce and industrialisation, offering significant employment and livelihood opportunities. This rapid transformation has generated several socio-psychological factors that are influencing the willingness of rural populations to migrate to cities for better jobs, lifestyles and services.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study adopted the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as a conceptual model to assess the behavioural and psychological factors underlying MIs.

Findings

The results of the structural equation modelling (SEM) indicate that MIs are mainly influenced by subjective norms (SN) and, to a lesser extent, attitudes towards migration (ATM) and perceived behavioural control (PBC).

Originality/value

The analysis drew on an original dataset built through interviews with migrants from rural areas employed in the ready-made garment (RMG) industry in four selective areas of the Metropolitan City of Chittagong.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 20 November 2023

Abstract

Details

Digitalization, Sustainable Development, and Industry 5.0
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-191-2

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