Search results

Lean is a continuous improvement methodology that has succeeded in eliminating waste in a variety of industries. Yet, there is a need for more research on Lean implementation in several under-studied contexts, including crisis situations such as those created by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This research investigates how Lean programs were impacted by COVID-19, while previous research has primarily explored how Lean was used to solve problems created by the pandemic.

A mixed-method research approach was used to analyze employee feedback on how COVID-19 impacted the Lean programs using data from various levels of four energy-based utilities in the United States. First, an online questionnaire collected qualitative and quantitative data from a broad sample of participants. Then, a follow-up semi-structured interview allowed the elaboration of perceptions related to the research question using a smaller sample of participants.

Out of the 194 responses from the four companies, only 41% of the respondents at least somewhat agreed that COVID-19 impacted the Lean program at their company; of the remaining 59%, 35% indicated they were neutral, while 24% disagreed. The themes from the qualitative portion indicated that, while employees believed their companies had successfully found a new way to do Lean within the constraints of not always being in person, the collaboration and engagement were more challenging to sustain, and COVID-19 also otherwise made it more difficult to implement Lean. Meanwhile, some believed there was no impact on the Lean program.

The COVID-19 and Lean peer-reviewed literature published from 2020 to September 2023 focused primarily on using Lean to address problems created by the COVID-19 pandemic vs studying the pandemic's impact on Lean programs. This research partially fills this literature gap in understanding the impact COVID-19 had on Lean initiatives.

Youth unemployment is one of the crucial problems facing modern society. Although the findings of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and European Commission (EC) suggest that around 40% of young people are interested in starting their own business after finishing formal education, current studies indicate that the entrepreneurial potential of young people is still underutilized. The analysis of the trend of youth unemployment in the countries of the European Union (EU) in the period from 2009 to 2022 conducted in this chapter gave a clear insight into the decreasing tendency of youth unemployment from 15 to 29 years of age in the last 10 years. However, although there is a tendency for the youth unemployment rate to fall, it is still significantly higher than the unemployment of other age categories. Further analysis carried out in this chapter was related to testing three trend models on a selected data set on youth unemployment. The most precise measures, mean absolute deviation (MAD) and adjusted R², unequivocally indicated the selection of the quadratic trend model as the most appropriate for the observed data set, given that the MAD value was the lowest (444.55) and the adjusted R² coefficient was the highest (81.88%). Furthermore, through a comparative analysis of the linear and quadratic trend models, the authors predicted youth unemployment in the coming period and concluded that by applying the estimated equations of both trend models, a further decline in youth unemployment in the EU could be expected.

This paper aims to analyze the scientific trend of research on Islamic banking sustainability (IBS) through a bibliometric study. In particular, the paper extensively investigates all the articles issued through the Scopus database regarding the IBS.

The authors discovered 76 papers that met the function, subject and set requirements by using the phrase IBS. The authors used VOSviewer as an analytical tool and the Scopus website.

IBS publications were found in the period 2005–2022, and the publication trend of IBS research demonstrates that it is growing exponentially after 2018. Malaysia is the leading country in terms of productive authors, universities, number of documents, citations and collaboration research on IBS. The current research trends are summarized into five cluster maps for future research directions: sustainability measurement, sustainability practices, risk and governance, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and IBS theory. The Maqashid al Shariah approach conceptually influences the framework for constructing the dimensions and indicators used to measure the IBS.

The authors retrieved data for their research from the Scopus database; using other databases might result in totally different research patterns with this IBS bibliometric research.

The research encompasses valuable implications for Islamic banking as it offers valuable insights on how to assess the performance of IBS. Particularly, it contributes to identifying the dimensions and indicators needed to measure IBS performance. Furthermore, this research provides strategic initiatives to promote sustainable practices in Islamic banking in terms of green financing taxonomy, services, operations, risk management and governance.

This research is valuable for other scholars as it offers a foundation for the future growth of IBS research, focusing on important sustainability clusters obtained from selected reputable journals. This research is beneficial for regulators in enhancing the roadmap for establishing and enhancing long-term IBS with impacts on socio-economic, environmental and governance.

The study presents a concise review of the bibliometric study in IBS and provides recommendations for future research directions in cluster mapping of themes and subthemes. There is still insufficient research that examines the IBS, in particular, complete insights into the IBS literature review.

Grounded in the stakeholder theory and signaling theory, this study aims to broaden the research agenda on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing by uncovering public sentiments and key themes using Twitter data spanning from 2009 to 2022.

Using various machine learning models for text tonality analysis and topic modeling, this research scrutinizes 1,842,985 Twitter texts to extract prevalent ESG investing trends and gauge their sentiment.

Gibbs Sampling Dirichlet Multinomial Mixture emerges as the optimal topic modeling method, unveiling significant topics such as “Physical risk of climate change,” “Employee Health, Safety and well-being” and “Water management and Scarcity.” RoBERTa, an attention-based model, outperforms other machine learning models in sentiment analysis, revealing a predominantly positive shift in public sentiment toward ESG investing over the past five years.

This study establishes a framework for sentiment analysis and topic modeling on alternative data, offering a foundation for future research. Prospective studies can enhance insights by incorporating data from additional social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook.

Leveraging unstructured data on ESG from platforms like Twitter provides a novel avenue to capture company-related information, supplementing traditional self-reported sustainability disclosures. This approach opens new possibilities for understanding a company’s ESG standing.

By shedding light on public perceptions of ESG investing, this research uncovers influential factors that often elude traditional corporate reporting. The findings empower both investors and the general public, aiding managers in refining ESG and management strategies.

This study marks a groundbreaking contribution to scholarly exploration, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, by being the first to analyze unstructured Twitter data in the context of ESG investing, offering unique insights and advancing the understanding of this emerging field.

This study aims to analyze international scientific production from 1960 to 2023 on business process management (BPM), highlighting the latest trends in BPM in the field of management and business during the 21st century.

We conducted a bibliometric analysis of 729 BPM articles from management and business journals using the SCOPUS database and VOSviewer software to map the scholarly landscape.

Nearly 45% of the papers were published between 2018 and 2023, prominently featuring the Business Process Management Journal. The University of São Paulo and Queensland University of Technology were the most prolific institutions. Significant emerging trends identified include Strategic Management, Digital Transformation, and IoT. Author Röglinger was noted for the highest publication rate.

The analysis was restricted to journal articles from one database, potentially overlooking insights from conferences, books, and other formats.

The study highlights the significant benefits of integrating technologies like Artificial Intelligence and IoT in BPM, improving operational efficiency, competitiveness, and innovation in adaptability and service personalization.

Technological advancements in BPM could enhance employment, require new skills, support a sustainable economy, and improve organizational transparency and service accessibility, bolstering corporate social responsibility and inclusion.

This research offers a unique overview of the integration of emerging technologies in BPM, shedding light on their strategic and social implications, and providing critical insights for optimizing processes and fostering business innovation.

A novel phenomenon in product and service promotions, social coupons facilitate group buying at lower prices, bringing key benefits to customers, merchants and coupon aggregators. This study maps the evolution and innovations in social couponing, identifies knowledge gaps in the domain and sets the future research agenda.

Through a detailed systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis, this study maps the evolution of social coupons over time. The analysis examines social coupon research by studying research outputs by authors, institutes, countries and research themes. It also explores how the social couponing phenomenon has benefited the three key stakeholders: customers, merchants and coupon aggregators.

An innovation in couponing, social coupons are discount coupons that feature group buying, pre-purchase and daily deals. Based on the extensive review of extant literature, the study proposes a conceptual model for the social couponing process. The study also provides inputs for future research on social coupons and delineates their academic and managerial implications.

This study makes a pioneering endeavor to comprehensively map the knowledge structure of social coupons from multiple dimensions.

The motivation for this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of some of the important and trending topics in the sport industry. Besides this, to consider the changing landscape of ownership, strategies and organisation of several types of sports in the contemporary environment, there is a need for deeper contextual knowledge of how different sport/s, leagues, clubs, associations, teams etc. own, organise and strategise at local to national to regional to international contexts.

This paper introduces the special issue on the sport industry that welcomes three interesting contributions of focusing on the important themes related to the sport industry. They include (1) digital transformation and needed capabilities, (2) fan engagement in a digital way using social media and finally (3) the relevance and relation of social capital in the organisational strategy of sports organisations.

Four generic insights related to the themes and emerging trends in marketisation, ownership and digitalisation strategies in the sport industry are introduced in this paper. The first insight is that sports digitalisation and politicisation significantly impact the strategising, organising and networking activities of sports owners to foster value capture. Secondly, owners’ performance duality of marketisation of their sports clubs and vested business interests unravels the paradoxes of idealism and profit-maximisation. Thirdly, individual sports stars position themselves as an influential platform of value creation through on-field performance, social engagement and self-interests. Finally, the fourth insight is that the dual aims of sporting on-field success and profit making of large capital-funded sports clubs endanger the autonomy and governance of sports bodies/associations and an equitable sporting competition environment.

This paper provides an overview and reflections on the contributions of the papers in this special issue. The papers give different perspectives on how sport has been influenced by the development in society (1) with increasing digitalisation influencing organising of sport clubs and strategies for engaging fans, and (2) the influence of marketisation and politics in ownership strategies. As such, four insightful reflections are developed based on the originality of the contributions and the related extant literature presented on the themes of marketisation, ownership and digitalisation of the sport industry.

This study aims to analyze the responsible consumption of Generation Z and millennials in the Latin American market, with special emphasis on the Peruvian case, to identify their differences with consumers born in 1980 and earlier and to evaluate their contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 12.

The study was conducted on a sample of 309 persons living in Lima. After developing and validating an instrument, an online questionnaire was used to collect data. These data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially, using chi-square tests to validate the relationship between variables.

The study identifies and explains the new trend of responsible consumption among Generation Z and millennials in emerging markets, where end consumers interact with and prefer products and services from companies that demonstrate responsible behavior and offer trust. It identifies new consumption variables that go beyond the traditional ones.

The study reveals a trend in the responsible consumption of Generation Z and millennials in Peru. However, it is necessary to complement the study in other countries in the region, as well as to study the new generations, such as the alpha generation and their consumption patterns.

The new trend of responsible consumption among Generation Z and millennials is forcing companies to implement strategies and develop corporate social responsibility programs. These companies must demonstrate ethical, environmental, socially responsible and sustainable behaviors in their daily operations to satisfy their stakeholders.

The study reveals a new trend in Peru, a developing country, where the market – the end consumer – is more informed and therefore demands better corporate performance from companies, including care for the environment and a contribution to society that includes a good relationship with its stakeholders.

Analizar el consumo responsable de la Generación Z y Millennials en el mercado latinoamericano, con especial énfasis en el caso peruano, con el fin de identificar sus diferencias con los consumidores nacidos en 1980 y antes y evaluar su contribución al Objetivo de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) 12.

El estudio se realizó sobre una muestra de 309 personas residentes en Lima. Después de desarrollar y validar un instrumento, se utilizó un cuestionario en línea para recopilar datos. Estos datos fueron analizados de forma descriptiva e inferencial, utilizando pruebas de chi-cuadrado para validar la relación entre variables.

El estudio identifica y explica la nueva tendencia de consumo responsable entre los Millennials y la Generación Z en los mercados emergentes, donde los consumidores finales interactúan y prefieren productos y servicios de empresas que demuestran un comportamiento responsable y ofrecen confianza. Identifica nuevas variables de consumo que van más allá de las tradicionales.

El estudio revela una nueva tendencia en Perú, un país en desarrollo, donde el mercado -el consumidor final- está más informado y por tanto exige a las empresas un mejor desempeño corporativo, incluido el cuidado del medio ambiente y un aporte a la sociedad que incluye una buena relación con sus clientes y partes interesadas.

El estudio revela una tendencia en el consumo responsable en la Generacion Z y Millennials en el Perú. Sin embargo, es necesario complementar el estudio en otros países de la región, así como estudiar las nuevas generaciones, como la generación alfa, y sus patrones de consumo.

La nueva tendencia de consumo responsable entre la Generación Z y Millennials y obligando a las empresas a implementar estrategias y desarrollar programas de responsabilidad social corporativa. Estas empresas deben demostrar comportamientos éticos, ambientales, socialmente responsables y sostenibles en sus operaciones diarias para satisfacer a sus grupos de interés.

This study aims to delve into the lived experiences, challenges and visions of women entrepreneurs in Jordan, placing a magnifying glass on those spearheading or co-pioneering start-ups. It aims to understand the myriad factors that influence their entrepreneurial journey, from motivation to the future of their niche.

Adopting a qualitative lens, this study is anchored in semi-structured interviews encompassing 20 Jordanian women entrepreneurs. Following this, thematic analysis was deployed to dissect and categorize the garnered insights into ten salient themes.

The study reveals that personal experiences and challenges are pivotal in directing these women towards niche markets, aligning with the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Tools such as digital instruments, customer feedback and innovative strategies like storytelling and augmented reality are integral to their entrepreneurial success, resonating with the resource-based view (RBV). Additionally, challenges like cultural barriers and infrastructural limitations are navigated through adaptive strategies, reflecting the resilience inherent in these entrepreneurs. Networking, mentorship, embracing technological advancements and implementing sustainable practices are highlighted as crucial elements underpinned by the social identity theory (SIT).

Contrary to the extant body of research, this study provides new insights into the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in Jordan, highlighting the practical relevance of theories like TPB, RBV and SIT for both policymakers and the start-up community in niche markets.