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This study aims to understand client food preferences and how pantry offerings can be optimized by those preferences.

This study develops and administers customized surveys to study three food pantries within the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwestern North Carolina network. This study then categorizes food items by client preferences, identifies the key predictors of those preferences and obtains preference scores by fitting the data to a predictive model. The preference scores are subsequently used in an optimization model that suggests an ideal mix of food items to stock based upon client preferences and the item and weight limits imposed by the pantry.

This study found that food pantry clients prefer fresh and frozen foods over shelf-friendly options and that gender, age and religion were the primary predictors. The optimization model incorporates these preferences, yielding an optimal stocking strategy for the pantry.

This research is based on a specific food bank network, and therefore, the client preferences may not be generalizable to other food banks. However, the framework and corresponding optimization model is generalizable to other food aid supply chains.

This study provides insights for food pantry managers to make informed decisions about stocking the pantry shelves based on the client’s preferences.

An emerging topic within the humanitarian food aid community is better matching of food availability with food that is desired in a way that minimizes food waste. This is achieved by providing more choice to food pantry users. This work shows how pantries can incorporate client preferences in inventory stocking decisions.

This study contributes to the literature on food pantry operations by providing a novel decision support system for pantry managers to aid in stocking their shelves according to client preferences.

To gain a deeper understanding of users’ health information adoption and to promote the effectiveness of health information spread in the context of online limited information, this paper aims to examine how the information-motivation-behavioural (IMB) skills model can be used to organize online health information by experimenting how different IMB elements (information, motivation and behavioural skills) affect users’ intention to adopt health information.

The authors conducted an experiment with 48 participants who received health articles with various combinations and sequences of IMB elements, analysing the impact on information adoption intention to share and practice. The authors also examined the mediation effect of information usefulness and the moderating effect of perceived health status.

The authors found that: users’ adoption intention of information was influenced by the order of used IMB elements, not the number of elements used; users were more likely to adopt information that started with behavioural skills rather than the model-prescribed IMB sequence; and perceived usefulness mediated the relationship between IMB elements and users’ adoption intention, which means users with different levels of health status all pay more attention to information usefulness and practicability.

The study contributes to research on health communication by showing how the IMB model can be applied online to enhance the effectiveness of health information dissemination. It can also help online health communities arrange more effective and engaging health messages to promote users’ willingness to adopt.

The current movement toward digitisation has promoted the adoption of smart building technology globally. Despite its advantages, its usage in developing countries such as Nigeria is still very low. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate construction professionals' awareness of smart building concepts (SBCs) in the Nigerian construction industry and identify the parameters by which SBCs can be measured.

A quantitative survey was carried out using a questionnaire to gather relevant data in the study area. This paper was conducted on 363 registered construction professionals in the Nigerian construction industry. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Kruskal–Wallis H test analysis.

This paper indicated that the majority of Nigerian construction professionals are aware of SBCs. Furthermore, the Kruskal–Wallis H test shows no significant difference between the awareness level of the various construction professionals. This paper further revealed energy management systems, IT network connectivity, safety and security management systems and building automation systems as the most significant parameters in which SBCs can be measured.

This paper identified significant parameters influencing SBCs awareness in the Nigerian construction industry. These parameters can be integrated into the building during the design stage and can be incorporated into the policymaking process of construction firms to promote the awareness of SBCs and encourage practices related to construction sustainability.

This paper provides empirical evidence on the awareness of SBCs among construction professionals and significant parameters influencing awareness in the Nigerian construction industry.

Facilities management (FM) as a strategic management tool has been an attractive research topic among scholars and practitioners alike for decades. The primary purpose of this paper is threefold: to assess the extent of use of FM roles (strategic, tactical and operational); to examine user satisfaction of service quality performance; and to analyse the influence of FM roles on service quality performance using data from Nigeria’s banking sector.

Relying on exploratory cross-sectional survey, 350 copies of a structured questionnaire were purposively distributed to senior management staff, bank staff, FM supervisors and bank customers in Lagos, Nigeria. One hundred and forty valid responses were returned to give a response rate of 40%. Data collected were analysed using descriptive, Spearman rank correlation and Kruskal–Wallis tests.

It was discovered that strategic facilities planning, IT planning strategy and real estate decisions are the most important FM roles at the strategic level; resource management, data control and planning change at the tactical level; and implementations, building operations and emergencies at the operation level. Findings equally revealed that visual appealing of materials associated with services (tangibles), insisting on error-free records (reliability), willing to help (responsiveness), having the knowledge to answer questions (assurance) and giving individualised attention (empathy) were the most important service quality performance indicators. Furthermore, the study revealed that strategic FM roles significantly influenced tangibles, reliability and responsiveness of staff and the services. Besides, tactical FM roles significantly influenced all service quality indicators except assurance, while operational FM roles had significant influence on tangibles, responsiveness and empathy.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study has provided first ever insight into the extent of FM strategic roles in the banking sector and influence of FM roles on service quality performance.

The role of construction industry in harnessing human and material resources of a nation cannot be overemphasised; hence, the emergence of the requirement of leadership. This study aims to assess the usage of factors of transactional leadership style (TSLS) by the project managers (PMs) in the Nigeria construction industry.

A survey research design approach with questionnaire as an instrument of gathering data was adopted. Out of 1,233 questionnaires distributed, data from 975 received with acceptable feedback were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics.

This study revealed the following factors under active management by exception as the TSLS factors often employed by PMs in Nigeria. These factors are the three frequently used factors: they are: “always give clear and final instructions to be implemented in the project”; “always observed the progress of the project, assessed risk and took precaution to avoid mistakes in the project”; and “always closely monitor performance for errors needing correction”. This study concludes that it is imperative for PMs in the study area to adopt and incorporate these factors to ensure continuous successful delivery of construction projects.

Therefore, it is hoped that the findings of this research will help the construction industry managers to address the age-long but unrecognised leadership problem confronting the sector, thereby boosting project delivery.

The findings establish the appropriateness or otherwise of adoption of factors of transactional leadership, either in part or a whole.

Religion could drive development. Although Ghana is touted as the most religious country in the world, notably, some Charismatic/Pentecostal churches operate at the expense of community development and members’ welfare. This study sought to achieve three objectives: to determine whether there is an opportunity for organizing the various churches for interfaith cooperative collective action; to assess the association between people’s religiosity and the propensity to join interfaith cooperative collective action and to assess people’s perceptions of the institutional framework that could facilitate the organization of the religious community in Ghana for interfaith collective action.

Descriptive statistics and an ordered probit model (OPM) were used to analyze cross-sectional data from a representative sample of households in the Greater Accra Region. Thematic analysis was also used to analyze the qualitative data.

The study found that generally, there is a positive response to a proposal to mobilize churches in an interfaith cooperative collective action, but distrust poses a great threat to interfaith cooperative collective action. The study also found that affiliation with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and Pentecostal/Charismatic is negatively (positively) associated with the propensity to join a collective action, respectively. Finally, the results of the study found that accountability, proper management and fair distribution of the proceeds from a collective action will help in mobilizing churches in Ghana in an interfaith collective action.

This is the first major study to explore the possibility of interfaith collective action among religious denominations aimed at accelerating poverty reduction and wealth creation in any developing country.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2023-0670

To analyze the quality of transitional care for patients with COVID-19 at discharge from Brazilian university hospitals.

A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in five Brazilian university hospitals between April and December 2021. The sample consisted of 527 participants. Data collection consisted of a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Care Transitions Measure (CTM-15), a care transition assessment instrument, which was translated and validated in Portuguese.

Most participants were patients (n = 369; 70.0%), with primary school completion (n = 218; 43.4%), multiracial (n = 218; 43.5%) and with an income of up to two minimum wages (n = 182; 42.8%). Dimension 1 – management preparation – obtained the highest score (71.2 points, SD = 16.5), while Dimension 4 – care plan – obtained the lowest score (62.2 points, SD = 23.4). Among the participating hospitals, there was a difference in the overall mean with results ranging from 67.0 to 72.9 points.

A satisfactory quality of care transition was found, considering the context of a pandemic. The main weaknesses in the care transitions were related to the care planning after hospital discharge.

The aim of this study was to investigate consumer preferences and profile their food-related lifestyles, as well as to identify consumer groups with similar attitudes/behaviours in the Euro-Mediterranean fruit and vegetable market.

A structured questionnaire was designed drawing from the food related lifestyles instrument and including other factors relevant to fruit and vegetable consumer preferences. The data were collected in an online survey with 925 participants in France, Greece, and Italy. A principal component analysis was conducted to interpret and examine consumers' fruit and vegetable related lifestyles. In addition, a cluster analysis was performed to identify different consumer segments, based on the core dimensions of the food-related lifestyle approach.

In each country, three primary consumer segments were distinguished. Health-conscious individuals were predominant in France and Greece, while quality-conscious consumers were prevalent in Italy. These classifications were determined considering various factors such as purchase motivation, perception of product quality, health concerns, environmental certifications, and price sensitivity.

The food-related lifestyle approach has been adapted instrument to create a customised survey instrument specifically designed to capture the intricacies of fruit and vegetable consumer preferences and priorities in three Euro-Mediterranean Countries.

The purpose of this paper is to garner a deeper understanding of the site of influence of aspects of risk management for tax practitioners.

The research design is twofold. Phase one consisted of a wide-scale international survey with 1,061 tax experts across 59 jurisdictions. In phase two, the authors followed up with 68 semi-structured interviews with tax practitioners working in 11 different countries.

The findings recognise the importance of the firm as a significant “site of influence” for tax practitioners in shaping their risk appetite in their tax work. The firm eclipses other influences of risk such as professional body oversight, public interest and demographic markers such as gender and career stage. The authors show that firm is significant, irrespective of size of firm.

This work has practical implications as the findings highlight the importance of oversight of professional service firms by both the professional accountancy bodies and revenue authorities. The findings may have impact on the ethical training and guidance for trainee accountants in terms of an increased awareness on the employing firm as a site of influence for tax practitioners.

This research is important as it adds to the significant body of work on firm socialisation and highlights the important role that the firm holds in moderating (or exacerbating) the risk appetite of tax practitioners, which has significant implications in terms of pushing the boundaries of tax aggressive behaviours. The work aims to recognise the important role that tax practitioners can have in moderating aggressive tax practice, and, thus, reducing tax inequalities and shaping a better world of “Reduced Inequalities” (SDG10).

The objective of this study is to generate new fiscal transparency indicators based on fiscal sustainability reports voluntarily disclosed by Chilean companies, leaders in Latin America in the issuance of green, social and sustainability corporate bonds (OECD, 2023a; OECD, 2018).

The sample included the analysis of sustainability reports of 30 Chilean companies with the highest market capitalization published in the period 2021. A correlation was carried out for each of the companies in the sample with the intention of detecting differences between several groups of paired dichotomous variables. For this, Cochran's Q test was used; the McNemar test; the Friedman test; the Wilcoxon test; the Levene test and the Kruskal−Wallis test were also used.

In the case of the companies in the sample, for the 2021 period there was an increase in disclosures of tax strategies compared to the study carried out by Faúndez-Ugalde et al. (2022) for the period 2020. However, there is still a lower degree of compliance in reporting fiscal risks and “country by country” information.

The commitment of companies to assume tax transparency standards improves their behavior in compliance with their tax obligations and provides greater certainty to develop actions to mitigate their tax risks.

The results demonstrate practical implications, where fiscal sustainability reports can enhance the work of tax administrations by defining indicators of good fiscal practices.

This study expands the research on the fiscal sustainability standards of Chilean companies, thus providing a deeper understanding of their performance regarding fiscal transparency.