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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 May 2019

Miranti Kartika Dewi, Melina Manochin and Ataur Belal

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of volunteers and its impact on related accountability practices towards beneficiaries by a large humanitarian non-governmental…

5274

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of volunteers and its impact on related accountability practices towards beneficiaries by a large humanitarian non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Indonesia.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors adopted a qualitative case study design. The empirical evidence comes from rich fieldwork carried out in an Indonesian NGO. The authors collected the evidence mainly via 46 interviews and five focus groups.

Findings

The authors found that the case NGO drew heavily on the social and cultural capitals of volunteers in the process of serving its beneficiaries, which, in turn, facilitated the enhancement of its accountability to the beneficiaries. The authors also found that volunteers play a bridging role to reduce the distance between NGOs and beneficiaries.

Research limitations/implications

For NGO managers, this study provides necessary empirical evidence on the positive role played by the volunteers in the development and operationalisation of accountability to the beneficiaries. In the authors’ case, beneficiary accountability is enhanced by the social conduct and practices performed by the NGO’s numerous volunteers. Beneficiary accountability is of significant concern to the policy makers too. This study shows that volunteers and NGO can work in a reciprocal relationship where social and cultural capital can be mobilised to each other’s advantage. To facilitate beneficiary accountability, NGOs can draw on the socio-cultural capitals held by the volunteers who appear to share the same norms and expectations with the beneficiaries. This process can also lead to the building of social and cultural capital by the volunteers themselves as they achieve great satisfaction and gain valuable experience in this process that could lead to greater satisfaction in their spiritual and material lives.

Originality/value

The authors extend the previous literature on beneficiary accountability by highlighting the under-researched role of volunteers in such accountability practices. In this paper, the authors first discuss the facilitating role of volunteers in enhancing NGOs’ accountability towards beneficiaries. Then, this is illustrated empirically. In addition, the authors argue that although Bourdieusian concepts like field and capital have been widely used in the analysis of various organisational practices the concept of habitus received limited attention particularly from the context of developing countries. The authors undertake an examination of the habitus of volunteers in the Indonesian case organisation and explore their linkages with the field and associated capitals.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 July 2023

Harry Edelman, Joel Stenroos, Jorge Peña Queralta, David Hästbacka, Jani Oksanen, Tomi Westerlund and Juha Röning

Connecting autonomous drones to ground operations and services is a prerequisite for the adoption of scalable and sustainable drone services in the built environment. Despite the…

Abstract

Purpose

Connecting autonomous drones to ground operations and services is a prerequisite for the adoption of scalable and sustainable drone services in the built environment. Despite the rapid advance in the field of autonomous drones, the development of ground infrastructure has received less attention. Contemporary airport design offers potential solutions for the infrastructure serving autonomous drone services. To that end, this paper aims to construct a framework for connecting air and ground operations for autonomous drone services. Furthermore, the paper defines the minimum facilities needed to support unmanned aerial vehicles for autonomous logistics and the collection of aerial data.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews the state-of-the-art in airport design literature as the basis for analysing the guidelines of manned aviation applicable to the development of ground infrastructure for autonomous drone services. Socio-technical system analysis was used for identifying the service needs of drones.

Findings

The key findings are functional modularity based on the principles of airport design applies to micro-airports and modular service functions can be connected efficiently with an autonomous ground handling system in a sustainable manner addressing the concerns on maintenance, reliability and lifecycle.

Research limitations/implications

As the study was limited to the airport design literature findings, the evolution of solutions may provide features supporting deviating approaches. The role of autonomy and cloud-based service processes are quintessentially different from the conventional airport design and are likely to impact real-life solutions as the area of future research.

Practical implications

The findings of this study provided a framework for establishing the connection between the airside and the landside for the operations of autonomous aerial services. The lack of such framework and ground infrastructure has hindered the large-scale adoption and easy-to-use solutions for sustainable logistics and aerial data collection for decision-making in the built environment.

Social implications

The evolution of future autonomous aerial services should be accessible to all users, “democratising” the use of drones. The data collected by drones should comply with the privacy-preserving use of the data. The proposed ground infrastructure can contribute to offloading, storing and handling aerial data to support drone services’ acceptability.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the paper describes the first design framework for creating a design concept for a modular and autonomous micro-airport system for unmanned aviation based on the applied functions of full-size conventional airports.

Details

Facilities , vol. 41 no. 15/16
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 February 2020

Matteo Corciolani, Kent Grayson and Ashlee Humphreys

Cultural intermediaries define the standards many consumers use when evaluating cultural products. Yet, little research has focused on whether cultural intermediaries may…

1789

Abstract

Purpose

Cultural intermediaries define the standards many consumers use when evaluating cultural products. Yet, little research has focused on whether cultural intermediaries may systematically differ from each other with regard to the standards they emphasize. The purpose of this paper is to build on Bourdieu’s theory of cultural production to examine how the type of subfield reviewed and/or the cultural intermediary’s expertise (or “field-specific cultural capital”) affect the standards an intermediary uses.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper employed a computer-aided content analysis of the full corpus of “Rolling Stone” music album reviews (1967-2014).

Findings

Critics with lower field-specific cultural capital reflect the same logic as the subfield they are critiquing. Critics with higher field-specific cultural capital reflect the opposite logic.

Research limitations/implications

Bourdieu was ambivalent about whether cultural intermediaries will reflect the logic of a subfield. Results show that the answer depends on the intermediary’s field-specific cultural capital. The results also reinforce previous findings that individuals with high field-specific cultural capital are more likely to break with the logic of a field.

Practical implications

Not all intermediaries are created equal. Producers and consumers who rely on cultural intermediaries should understand the intermediary’s critical analysis within the context of his/her experience.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies to examine how a cultural intermediary’s field-specific cultural capital impacts his or her work. The findings are based on a large review sample and include reviewers’ analyses as they developed from having lower to higher field-specific cultural capital.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 54 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 May 2023

Caterina Pesci, Paola Vola and Lorenzo Gelmini

This paper discusses the evolution of sustainability reporting and the role of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in relation to the social and environmental accounting (SEA…

1040

Abstract

Purpose

This paper discusses the evolution of sustainability reporting and the role of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in relation to the social and environmental accounting (SEA) literature calling for a revolution in the standardization of sustainability reporting and the inherent complexities. This paper focuses on the future role of GRI in light of the changes resulting from harmonization supported by the International Sustainability Standards Board and the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group’s draft European Sustainability Reporting Directive.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on Bourdieu (1983, 1992) and SEA studies, the authors adopt a critical and qualitative approach to theorize power dynamics in the sustainability reporting field. After identifying the main issues arising from the complexity of the sustainability reporting standards and practices according to SEA scholars, the authors connect them with Bourdieu’s (1992, 1983) field theory to discuss the future role of GRI.

Findings

The findings suggest two distinct but intertwined roles that GRI could play in the future, namely, power related and theoretical/technical, aimed at engendering revolutionary rather than evolutionary changes in sustainability reporting.

Practical implications

This study offers practical implications for GRI to strengthen its future role in sustainability reporting standardization.

Social implications

The limited time available to mitigate the disastrous consequences of non-sustainable business on society and the environment calls for urgently addressing the complexities of sustainability accounting to foster a positive impact on society and the environment.

Originality/value

The authors’ reflections reclaim the SEA literature as central to identifying sustainability complexity and Bourdieu’s (1983, 1992) notions of power as key to understanding the role of GRI in the sustainability field. Furthermore, this paper emphasizes the intersection of different critical concepts, including power, complexity, value, capital and materiality.

Details

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, vol. 14 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8021

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 July 2022

Zheng Xu, Yihai Fang, Nan Zheng and Hai L. Vu

With the aid of naturalistic simulations, this paper aims to investigate human behavior during manual and autonomous driving modes in complex scenarios.

Abstract

Purpose

With the aid of naturalistic simulations, this paper aims to investigate human behavior during manual and autonomous driving modes in complex scenarios.

Design/methodology/approach

The simulation environment is established by integrating virtual reality interface with a micro-simulation model. In the simulation, the vehicle autonomy is developed by a framework that integrates artificial neural networks and genetic algorithms. Human-subject experiments are carried, and participants are asked to virtually sit in the developed autonomous vehicle (AV) that allows for both human driving and autopilot functions within a mixed traffic environment.

Findings

Not surprisingly, the inconsistency is identified between two driving modes, in which the AV’s driving maneuver causes the cognitive bias and makes participants feel unsafe. Even though only a shallow portion of the cases that the AV ended up with an accident during the testing stage, participants still frequently intervened during the AV operation. On a similar note, even though the statistical results reflect that the AV drives under perceived high-risk conditions, rarely an actual crash can happen. This suggests that the classic safety surrogate measurement, e.g. time-to-collision, may require adjustment for the mixed traffic flow.

Research limitations/implications

Understanding the behavior of AVs and the behavioral difference between AVs and human drivers are important, where the developed platform is only the first effort to identify the critical scenarios where the AVs might fail to react.

Practical implications

This paper attempts to fill the existing research gap in preparing close-to-reality tools for AV experience and further understanding human behavior during high-level autonomous driving.

Social implications

This work aims to systematically analyze the inconsistency in driving patterns between manual and autopilot modes in various driving scenarios (i.e. multiple scenes and various traffic conditions) to facilitate user acceptance of AV technology.

Originality/value

A close-to-reality tool for AV experience and AV-related behavioral study. A systematic analysis in relation to the inconsistency in driving patterns between manual and autonomous driving. A foundation for identifying the critical scenarios where the AVs might fail to react.

Details

Journal of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2399-9802

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 February 2024

Chao Lu and Xiaohai Xin

The promotion of autonomous vehicles introduces privacy and security risks, underscoring the pressing need for responsible innovation implementation. To more effectively address…

Abstract

Purpose

The promotion of autonomous vehicles introduces privacy and security risks, underscoring the pressing need for responsible innovation implementation. To more effectively address the societal risks posed by autonomous vehicles, considering collaborative engagement of key stakeholders is essential. This study aims to provide insights into the governance of potential privacy and security issues in the innovation of autonomous driving technology by analyzing the micro-level decision-making processes of various stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

For this study, the authors use a nuanced approach, integrating key stakeholder theory, perceived value theory and prospect theory. The study constructs a model based on evolutionary game for the privacy and security governance mechanism of autonomous vehicles, involving enterprises, governments and consumers.

Findings

The governance of privacy and security in autonomous driving technology is influenced by key stakeholders’ decision-making behaviors and pivotal factors such as perceived value factors. The study finds that the governmental is influenced to a lesser extent by the decisions of other stakeholders, and factors such as risk preference coefficient, which contribute to perceived value, have a more significant influence than appearance factors like participation costs.

Research limitations/implications

This study lacks an investigation into the risk sensitivity of various stakeholders in different scenarios.

Originality/value

The study delineates the roles and behaviors of key stakeholders and contributes valuable insights toward addressing pertinent risk concerns within the governance of autonomous vehicles. Through the study, the practical application of Responsible Innovation theory has been enriched, addressing the shortcomings in the analysis of micro-level processes within the framework of evolutionary game.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2071-1395

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 March 2022

Yunfei Li, Shengbo Eben Li, Xingheng Jia, Shulin Zeng and Yu Wang

The purpose of this paper is to reduce the difficulty of model predictive control (MPC) deployment on FPGA so that researchers can make better use of FPGA technology for academic…

1327

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reduce the difficulty of model predictive control (MPC) deployment on FPGA so that researchers can make better use of FPGA technology for academic research.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the MPC algorithm is written into FPGA by combining hardware with software. Experiments have verified this method.

Findings

This paper implements a ZYNQ-based design method, which could significantly reduce the difficulty of development. The comparison with the CPU solution results proves that FPGA has a significant acceleration effect on the solution of MPC through the method.

Research limitations implications

Due to the limitation of practical conditions, this paper cannot carry out a hardware-in-the-loop experiment for the time being, instead of an open-loop experiment.

Originality value

This paper proposes a new design method to deploy the MPC algorithm to the FPGA, reducing the development difficulty of the algorithm implementation on FPGA. It greatly facilitates researchers in the field of autonomous driving to carry out FPGA algorithm hardware acceleration research.

Details

Journal of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2399-9802

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 August 2022

Bolin Gao, Kaiyuan Zheng, Fan Zhang, Ruiqi Su, Junying Zhang and Yimin Wu

Intelligent and connected vehicle technology is in the ascendant. High-level autonomous driving places more stringent requirements on the accuracy and reliability of environmental…

Abstract

Purpose

Intelligent and connected vehicle technology is in the ascendant. High-level autonomous driving places more stringent requirements on the accuracy and reliability of environmental perception. Existing research works on multitarget tracking based on multisensor fusion mostly focuses on the vehicle perspective, but limited by the principal defects of the vehicle sensor platform, it is difficult to comprehensively and accurately describe the surrounding environment information.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, a multitarget tracking method based on roadside multisensor fusion is proposed, including a multisensor fusion method based on measurement noise adaptive Kalman filtering, a global nearest neighbor data association method based on adaptive tracking gate, and a Track life cycle management method based on M/N logic rules.

Findings

Compared with fixed-size tracking gates, the adaptive tracking gates proposed in this paper can comprehensively improve the data association performance in the multitarget tracking process. Compared with single sensor measurement, the proposed method improves the position estimation accuracy by 13.5% and the velocity estimation accuracy by 22.2%. Compared with the control method, the proposed method improves the position estimation accuracy by 23.8% and the velocity estimation accuracy by 8.9%.

Originality/value

A multisensor fusion method with adaptive Kalman filtering of measurement noise is proposed to realize the adaptive adjustment of measurement noise. A global nearest neighbor data association method based on adaptive tracking gate is proposed to realize the adaptive adjustment of the tracking gate.

Details

Smart and Resilient Transportation, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2632-0487

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 April 2024

Raphael Lissillour and Minelle E. Silva

Despite the growing interest in the field of supply chain sustainability (SCS), little exploration of new theories exists. Therefore, this paper aims to introduce practice…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the growing interest in the field of supply chain sustainability (SCS), little exploration of new theories exists. Therefore, this paper aims to introduce practice theories to SCS studies through a practice turn.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper in nature. Hence, based on theoretical arguments, the authors elaborate on how the practice turn can arise in the SCS field.

Findings

The theoretical elaboration is rooted in the understanding that sustainability is not limited to the materiality of environmental and social issues, as often observed. Instead, there is a need to include immaterial, emotional and intangible elements to better comprehend SCS practice. The authors argue that a continuum exists for a practice turn, including practice-based view, practice-based studies and critical practice theory.

Research limitations/implications

The authors provide a research agenda with a comprehensive perspective of understanding the application and implications of practice theories to SCS.

Practical implications

The practice turn in SCS studies can support managers to better understand their practices not only through recognizing explicit activities but also mainly by reflecting on hidden elements that affect their performance.

Social implications

SCS studies can better engage with grand challenges through a practice turn, which helps increase its contribution to solving social problems.

Originality/value

Unlike previous literature, the paper elaborates on how practice theories are powerful in supporting both scholars and practitioners in moving away from an extremely economic focus to genuinely embrace sustainability practice. In doing so, the practice turn appears as an important phase for SCS field maturity.

Details

RAUSP Management Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2531-0488

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 May 2018

N.M. Fonseca Ferreira, André Araujo, M.S. Couceiro and David Portugal

This paper describes a two-month summer intensive course designed to introduce participants with a hands-on technical craft on robotics and to acquire experience in the low-level…

Abstract

This paper describes a two-month summer intensive course designed to introduce participants with a hands-on technical craft on robotics and to acquire experience in the low-level details of embedded systems. Attendants started this course with a brief introduction to robotics; learned to draw, design and create a personalized 3D structure for their mobile robotic platform and developed skills in embedded systems. They were familiarize with the practices used in robotics, learning to connect all sensors and actuator, developing a typical application on differential kinematic using Arduino, exploring ROS features under Raspberry Pi environment and Arduino – Raspberry Pi communication. Different paradigms and some real applications and programming were addressed on the topic of Artificial Intelligence. Throughout the course, participants were introduced to programming languages (including Python and C++), advanced programming concepts such as ROS, basic API development, system concepts such as I2C and UART serial interfaces, PWM motor control and sensor fusion to improve robotic navigation and localization. This paper describes not just the concept, layout and methodology used on RobotCraft 2017 but also presents the participants knowledge background and their overall opinions, leading to focus on lessons learned and suggestions for future editions.

Details

Applied Computing and Informatics, vol. 16 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2634-1964

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 1000