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User acceptance is a necessary precondition to implementing self-driving buses as a solution to public transport challenges. Focusing on potential users in a real-life setting, this paper aims to analyze the factors that affect their willingness to use public autonomous shuttles (PASs) as well as their word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions.

Grounded on Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2), the study was carried out on a sample of 318 potential users in a real-life setting. The hypothesized relationships were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The study reveals that performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation and trust are significant predictors of PAS usage intention, which is, in turn, related to WOM communication. Additionally, the factors that impact the intention to use a PAS are found to exert an indirect effect on WOM, mediated by usage intention.

This study includes practical insights for transport decision-makers on PAS service design, marketing campaigns and WOM monitoring.

While extant research focuses on passengers who have tried autonomous shuttles in experimental settings, this article adopts the perspective of potential users who have no previous experience with these vehicles and identifies the link between usage intention and WOM communication in a real-life traffic environment.

若要引入自動駕駛巴士來解決公共交通的問題和挑戰,一個必不可少的先決條件是得到用戶的認可。本研究透過重點分析活在真實生活環境中的潛在用戶,來探討影響他們使用公共自動交通工具的意願和口碑動機的各個因素。

本研究以延伸整合型科技接受模式為基礎,對一個涵蓋處身於真實生活環境中318名潛在用戶的樣本進行分析和探討。研究人員以偏最小平方法的結構方程模型 (PLS-SEM), 去測試各個被假設的關聯。

研究結果顯示,績效期望、有利條件、享樂動機和信任均明顯能夠預測人們使用公共自動交通工具的意願,而人們使用公共自動交通工具的意願又反過來與口碑溝通有所相關。另外,研究人員發現,影響人們使用公共自動交通工具意願的各個因素,對口碑會產生間接的影響,而使用意願是會起著調節作用的。

現存的學術研究均聚焦分析那些曾於實驗設置下坐過自動交通工具的人士,而本研究卻採用從未坐過自動交通工具人士的角度來進行分析與探討,並且找出了於實際的交通環境裡、使用意願與口碑溝通之間的關聯。

本研究提供的啟示,對有關公共自動交通工具服務設計、市場營銷活動和口碑監督工作的運輸決策者來說頗具實務意義。

The purpose of this study is to introduce new tools to develop a more precise and focused bibliometric analysis on the field of digitalization in healthcare management. Furthermore, this study aims to provide an overview of the existing resources in healthcare management and education and other developing interdisciplinary fields.

This work uses bibliometric analysis to conduct a comprehensive review to map the use of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT2) research models in healthcare academic studies. Bibliometric studies are considered an important tool to evaluate research studies and to gain a comprehensive view of the state of the art.

Although UTAUT dates to 2003, our bibliometric analysis reveals that only since 2016 has the model, together with UTAUT2 (2012), had relevant application in the literature. Nonetheless, studies have shown that UTAUT and UTAUT2 are particularly suitable for understanding the reasons that underlie the adoption and non-adoption choices of eHealth services. Further, this study highlights the lack of a multidisciplinary approach in the implementation of eHealth services. Equally significant is the fact that many studies have focused on the acceptance and the adoption of eHealth services by end users, whereas very few have focused on the level of acceptance of healthcare professionals.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to conduct a bibliometric analysis of technology acceptance and adoption by using advanced tools that were conceived specifically for this purpose. In addition, the examination was not limited to a certain era and aimed to give a worldwide overview of eHealth service acceptance and adoption.

The traditional models of economic development are being challenged and the role of stakeholders is being reprioritised, resulting in an increased emphasis on the SMME sector. A practical strategy is needed in South Africa for reducing input costs and promoting the implementation and sustainability of a technology transfer initiative aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of the small/micro manufacturing enterprises. However, there is insufficient knowledge to inform this process. The aim of this paper is to understand the constraints to manufacturing competitiveness and to proffer a model for inter‐firm linkages appropriate to the South African context.

Small traditional industry has been recognized as an important local economy that support cultural industry and is significant in many parts of the world, particularly in developing countries. The significance of this type industry as a poverty barrier, enables jobs for local rural villagers, and their role in continuing local community based cultural activities have become obvious. However, as the current modern days global pressures affecting many traditional people in developing countries, pathways of small traditional industry toward local sustainable development remain unclear. Further continuous investigations are still required on how this industry provide the platform for greater local, regional and global sustainability. Literatures and debates on the sustainability of the rural developing country concerning small traditional industries may even begin from the establishment of Brundtland sustainability commission in 1987. The conflict between brown and green agenda in Brundtland commission may also point to small-scale traditional industry growth in the developing world. Cultural traditional industries in developing countries could better lead to local sustainability pathway. On the other hand, conflict of the use of natural resources and competition may create different stories. How traditional industry in developing country survive and further innovate for development is a significant knowledge to understand. This chapter uses Jepara traditional furniture industry in Central Java – Indonesia which has been the subject of prolonged study on how small-scale industry implicated to global competition and pressures of raw material resources decline. This chapter further reviews previous research and recent study on Jepara industry upgrade and innovation, and how likely innovation may prosper for the future sustainability of this type of industry.

Domestic demand for walnuts has been on the rise for the last decades. Consumption outstrips domestic production capacities, which led to increasing prices until recently. Small-scale farmers are at the centre of walnut tree planting and walnut collection efforts. Farmers are now integrated into rapidly expanding agrifood value chains. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the walnut value chain originating in Yunnan (the dominant producer of walnuts in China). The authors are especially interested in the position of small-scale farmers in the chain and the factors affecting the price that they receive.

Price and intra-chain governance information were collected through structured interviews with value chain actors like certified and conventional small-scale farmers, traders, processors, food manufacturers and wholesalers. The resultant price data set was analysed using a multiple regression analysis.

Timing of harvest, distance to market and sales volume are correlated with the village-level price. Farmers are in a market governance segment of the chain. Lead firms (e.g. supermarkets) are price-setters and determine the value distribution, with farmers receiving a smaller share relative to downstream actors’ shares.

Improved connectivity to markets, transparency of standards and price (formation), processing and certification could improve farmers’ profits.

The authors contribute to the growing literature of value chain studies focussing on farmers’ integration into food systems at different scales. The authors investigated the price determinants at the village level and additionally provide information on an organic marketing arrangement.

The purpose of this paper is to posit that orthodox analysis of government–business and business–business organizations in Vietnam involves subtle constituency and “beneath-the-surface” relationships, largely ignored in reviews of the post-Fixed graphic economy, but are nevertheless worthy of inspection.

Following a review of the theoretical terrain regarding Vietnamese political-business-economy, the authors provide an alternative view showing how the business sector has developed net(work)s of cooperative mechanisms to work with the Vietnamese Government and its bureaucrats.

While a delicate interplay of politics can be identified in the net(work) relationships, such constituency politics do not seek to challenge the existing authority of the state or the ruling elite. Rather, the small-scale constituency politics are constructed to operate within the dominant polity and work with corporatist strategies to secure personal and group gain. The strategies used are unique in that they exhibit sympathy with socialism, yet succeed in exploiting the pro-entrepreneur characteristics of Fixed graphic.

This paper supports the analysis that the dominant political culture in Vietnam is, and will continue to be, dominated by the Communist Party of Vietnam machine. However, the authors have shed light on the “below-the-surface” political activity that exists and persists throughout the business–business and government–business relationships in Vietnam and present evidence of the pluralist behaviors in these relationships that have hitherto been bypassed in orthodox state-qua-state analysis of Vietnamese polity. Taken as a whole, the existence and persistence of the net(work)s encourages a conclusion that the polity of Vietnam is a more complex process than previously thought.

Purpose: This chapter investigates the current skill gap in small-scale industries, the need for skill development and digital training in micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME), and reviews policies for skill development and solutions.

Need for the Study: While the legislature and organisations have initiated various considerations for the successful implementation of the Skill Development System in the country’s MSMEs, there are significant challenges that must be addressed quickly to fill the skill gap in workers in this digital era.

Research Methodology: Secondary data has been used for the chapter review. Analysis has been done based on review data from women handloom and handicraft workers in the micro or craft industry who received a Star rating from the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) partners in Lucknow. For data collection, a questionnaire based on random sampling was used. The data were analysed using a rudimentary weighted average and a percentage technique.

Findings: The studies provide answers to some fundamental problems: are small industry employees indeed mobilised to be skilled outside the official schooling system? Is the training delivery mechanism adequate to prepare pupils for employment? Would industries be willing to reduce minimum qualification criteria to foster skill development?

Practical Implication: Non-technical aptitudes digital and soft skills for workers in this sector should be emphasised in MSMEs, and significant reforms in MSME sectors and capacity-building education and training programmes should be implemented in the Indian industry to generate small and medium enterprises production and employment.

Teachers are exposed to many stressors. Compared to other occupational groups, they are more frequently affected by psychosomatic complaints. In recent decades, numerous prevention and intervention measures for promoting health have been developed and implemented for this target group. However, it remains unclear how the uptake of health-promotion measures (HPMs) by teachers can be increased in order to prevent stress-related disorders. This paper examines two facets of health literacy—health awareness and health value—in terms of their importance in both the take-up and intended take-up of HPMs.

In the 2017/2018 school year, data were collected by paper and pencil from a representative sample of 830 teachers across all school types in the German State of Brandenburg.

Teachers who place great value on their own health show significantly higher levels of take-up and intended take-up of HPMs. The findings regarding health awareness are more heterogeneous. Further associations were found with age and psychosocial stress.

While there has been growing academic interest in developing HPMs for teachers, there has been relatively little focus on the factors that may influence the implementation and uptake of these measures. The paper contributes to addressing this gap by shedding light on the relevance of two facets of health literacy. Strengthening the perceived importance of health could be a starting point for increasing the use of HPMs by teachers and thus improving their health.

Neuroleptic non-compliance remains a serious challenge for the treatment of psychosis. Non-compliance is predominantly attributed to side effects, lack of illness insight, reduced well-being or poor therapeutic alliance. However, other still neglected factors may also play a role. Further, little is known about whether psychiatric patients without psychosis who are increasingly prescribed neuroleptics differ in terms of medication compliance or about reasons for non-compliance by psychosis patients. As direct questioning is notoriously prone to social desirability biases, we conducted an anonymous survey. After a strict selection process blind to results, 95 psychiatric patients were retained for the final analyses (69 participants with a presumed diagnosis of schizophrenia psychosis, 26 without psychosis). Self-reported neuroleptic non-compliance was more prevalent in psychosis patients than non-psychosis patients. Apart from side effects and illness insight, main reasons for non-compliance in both groups were forgetfulness, distrust in therapist, and no subjective need for treatment. Other notable reasons were stigma and advice of relatives/acquaintances against neuroleptic medication. Gain from illness was a reason for non-compliance in 11-18% of the psychosis patients. Only 9% of all patients reported no side effects and full compliance and at the same time acknowledged that neuroleptics worked well for them. While pills were preferred over depot injections by the majority of patients, depot was judged as an alternative by a substantial subgroup. Although many patients acknowledge the need and benefits of neuroleptic medication, non-compliance was the norm rather than the exception in our samples.

Conventional wisdom regarding the gains from globalization states that, if managed correctly, it can lead to increased market opportunities for firms to grow and prosper, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Nevertheless, some sectoral case studies raise questions regarding the terms under which SMEs in developing countries participate in global production systems and the scope of opportunities that globalized markets actually do offer for industrial development and SME upgrading in developing countries.