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This article seeks to offer an answer. It explores the criteria on which commercial property market participants can develop strategies in hugely challenging circumstances. For this purpose, a survey-based approach was developed with work conducted with property-market professional in the United Kingdom (UK), France, Germany and Sweden to produce a criteria-based tool supporting adaption to changing market circumstances.

The data have been analyzed using statistical analysis. The data's statistical analysis included Cronbach's alpha's application to evaluate the respondents' replies' reliability. A entral tendency test was used to identify the means of relevance of the criteria. The Mann–Whitney U test was used to determine potential material differences between the UK and other countries with Bonferroni corrections applied to minimize type-I errors.

Thirty characteristics have been identified that impact the dynamics of the commercial property market. Their relevance to the commercial property market was determined using a survey. The literature analysis showed that the researchers paid more attention to quantitative criteria and their comparison. The survey showed that the relevance of criteria to the commercial property market dynamics is unequal. However, the survey results showed that it is most important to pay attention to emotional criteria to adapt to uncertainty changing conditions. The problem of the environment has been on the agenda for the last four decades. Therefore, the fact that the results of the study showed that the environmental criteria are the least significant is unexpected.

The study involved economically developed countries of Europe. Extending the study's geographical scope would be valuable in revealing whether the same differences exist in other geographical areas (such as Australia or the USA).

The practical implication of the analysis may be to facilitate the decision-making process of either selecting a country for commercial property investment or selecting the most sensitive and relevant criteria for the decision-making.

Criteria for commercial property market performance which promote successful property investment have been developed. Moreover, the criteria affecting the commercial property market have been weighted by their relevance to the market and their sequence of relevance has been established. And finally, the developed criteria have been placed into five groups that could serve as a foundation for a macro-level assessment of commercial property market dynamics.

Limited research exists on the role of information access as a key success factor for rural entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study is to examine the importance of information access, among other inequality forms, in shaping entrepreneurial outcomes.

The authors used a qualitative, inductive research methodology. They conducted interviews with rural entrepreneurs and gained insights into the role of information access and basic tangible resources in shaping their ventures.

The authors identified two critical factors that impact rural entrepreneurs: inequalities in access to information and basic tangible resources. They found that inequalities in rural entrepreneurship are often interrelated, rather than isolated. The authors demonstrated that the relationship between entrepreneurship and inequality is not solely characterized by a positive or negative correlation but is a dynamic interplay where certain inequality forms may create barriers to opportunities for some individuals while creating opportunities for others.

The authors uncovered key barriers in rural entrepreneurship and constructed a roadmap to effectively address these challenges, providing valuable insights to policymakers and support initiatives and enabling the target of high-impact resources. This research supports efforts to provide rural entrepreneurs with equal opportunities to grow and succeed.

This research significantly contributes to the field by examining the complexities of entrepreneurship in emerging economies, with a particular focus on rural areas. The authors introduced a comprehensive conceptual model linking inequality and entrepreneurship, explored the challenges faced by rural entrepreneurs and offered strategic policy recommendations for development initiatives.

This study aims to explore the gender differences in working from home (WFH) experiences during the pandemic from the Australia’s construction workforce perspective. Specifically, it explores gender differences in terms of: (1) the respondents’ family responsibilities during the pandemic; (2) their WFH experiences prior to and during the pandemic; and (3) their perceptions of the impacts of challenges associated with WFH on their work activities and performance along with their self-reported work performance when WFH, overall satisfaction with WFH and preference for WFH post-COVID.

This study adopted a survey design to reach the targeted sample population, i.e. construction workforce in the Australian construction industry who has had experienced WFH during the pandemic. Data was collected using an online anonymous questionnaire survey.

The results show notable gender differences in various aspects including family responsibilities, workplace arrangements and perceptions of the impacts of the challenges associated with WFH on work activities and performance. Also, statistically significant associations are detected between gender and the respondents’ self-reported work performance when WFH, overall satisfaction with WFH and preference for WFH post-COVID.

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, little is known about WFH experiences among construction workforce due to the low prevalence of regular and planned remote working in the industry. This is the first study sheds light on construction workforce WFH experiences using gender lenses. The findings have implications for construction-related firms continuing with WFH arrangement post the pandemic, which may include the formulation of policy responses to re-optimize their present WFH practices.

The main aim of this study is to characterise and identify specific chemo-sensory profiles of ciders from the Canary Islands (Spain).

Commercial samples of Canary ciders were compared to ciders from the Basque Country and Asturias. In total, 18 samples were studied, six for each region. The analysis comprised their sensory profiling and chemical characterisation of their polyphenolic profile, volatile composition, conventional chemical parameters and CIELAB colour coordinates. In parallel, the sensory profile of the samples from the Canary Islands was first compared with their Basque and Asturian counterparts by labelled sorting task. Then, their specific aroma profile was characterised by flash profile. Further quantification of sensory-active compounds was performed by GC–MS and GC-FID to identify the volatile compounds involved in their aroma profile.

Results show that Canary ciders present a specific chemical profile characterised by higher levels of ethanol, and hydroxycinnamic acids, mainly t-ferulic, t-coumaric and neochologenic acids, and lower levels of volatile and total acidity than their Asturian and Basque counterparts. They also present a specific aroma profile characterised by fruity aroma, mainly fruit in syrup and confectionary, and sweet flavours related to their highest levels of vinylphenols formed by transformation of hydroxycinnamic acids.

An integrated strategy to explore the typicity of the currently existing Canary ciders in the market was developed. The results are important in that they will help other regions to identify specific typical chemo-sensory profiles and to promote the creation of certifications supporting regional typicity.

A positive outlook on the impact of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) on sustainability prevails in the literature. However, some studies have highlighted potential areas of concern that have not yet been systematically addressed. The goal of this study is to challenge the assumption of a sustainable Fourth Industrial Revolution by (1) identifying the possible unintended negative impacts of I4.0 technologies on sustainability; (2) highlighting the underlying motivations and potential actions to mitigate such impacts; and (3) developing and evaluating alternative assumptions on the impacts of I4.0 technologies on sustainability.

Building on a problematization approach, a systematic literature review was conducted to develop potential alternative assumptions about the negative impacts of I4.0 on sustainability. Then, a Delphi study was carried out with 43 experts from academia and practice to evaluate the alternative assumptions. Two rounds of data collection were performed until reaching the convergence or stability of the responses.

The results highlight various unintended negative effects on environmental and social aspects that challenge the literature. The reasons behind the high/low probability of occurrence, the severity of each impact in the next five years and corrective actions are also identified. Unintended negative environmental effects are less controversial than social effects and are therefore more likely to generate widely accepted theoretical propositions. Finally, the alternative hypothesis ground is partially accepted by the panel, indicating that the problematization process has effectively opened up new perspectives for analysis.

This study is one of the few to systematically problematize the assumptions of the I4.0 and sustainability literature, generating research propositions that reveal several avenues for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of bio-based lubricants (BBL), namely, palm mid-olein (PMO) enriched with an antioxidant agent, tertiary-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) and a viscosity improver, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), in journal bearing (JB) applications.

Samples of the BBL were prepared by blending it with TBHQ and EVA at various blending ratios. The oxidative stability (OS) and viscosity of the BBL samples were examined using differential scanning calorimetry and a viscometer, respectively. Meanwhile, their performance in JB applications was evaluated through the use of a JB test rig with a 0.5 length-to-diameter ratio at various operating conditions.

It was found that the combination of PMO + TBHQ + EVA demonstrated a superior oil film pressure and load-carrying capacity, resulting in a reduced friction coefficient and a smaller attitude angle compared to the use of only PMO or VG68. However, it was observed that the addition of TBHQ and EVA to the PMO did not have a significant impact on the minimum oil film thickness.

The results would be quite useful for researchers generally and designers of bearings in particular.

This study used PMO as the base stock, and its compatibility with TBHQ and EVA was investigated in terms of its OS and viscosity. The performance of this treated BBL was evaluated in a hydrodynamic JB.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-11-2023-0363/

The aim of this study was to measure the level of challenges faced by novice teachers in South Africa. Findings suggest a need for professional development courses to upskill teachers with effective pedagogies that can incorporate the social and emotional components into teaching and learning.

This study applied a descriptive research methodology by administering a questionnaire to 143 novice teachers. The data analysis technique was the Rasch model.

The findings indicated high item and person reliability, with a good item fit and polarity values that are compatible with the Rasch model. The three major challenges identified are uninvolved parents, discipline problems and a lack of guidance and counselling. These challenges can be related to social and emotional learning (SEL) components.

The study used quantitative methods and discovered the challenges that novice teachers face. If the research uses a combination of qualitative methods, it will be possible to better identify the specific causes of the above three challenges of novice teachers.

Due to the complex nature of South African society, many novice teachers are overwhelmed by the challenges they face when entering the profession. These challenges are often embedded in societal risk factors, which complicate the transition from student teacher to novice teacher. The major challenges identified in this study can be related to SEL components, as the challenges are closely linked to the psychological and social backgrounds of the students. Teachers in this study indicated that they found it difficult to deal with these challenges at the beginning of their careers.

By identifying the challenges facing new teachers in South Africa, they will be better prepared for their work in schools. Therefore, they will improve the above situation to continue developing professionally.

The findings indicated high item and person reliability, with a good item fit and polarity values that are compatible with the Rasch model. Teachers in this study indicated that they found it difficult to deal with these challenges in the beginning of their careers. Professional development courses are suggested to help teachers deal with issues such as discipline, uninvolved parents and guidance and counselling effectively. Higher education programmes should also include these topics in their curricula for student teachers. A greater emphasis on training teachers in their pastoral roles is suggested.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings and leverage manipulation and the moderating effects of internal and external supervision.

The authors draw on a sample of Chinese non-financial A-share-listed firms from 2013 to 2020 to explore the effect of ESG ratings on leverage manipulation. Robustness and endogeneity tests confirm the validity of the regression results.

ESG ratings inhibit leverage manipulation by improving social reputation, information transparency and financing constraints. This effect is weakened by internal supervision, captured by the ratio of institutional investor ownership, and strengthened by external supervision, captured by the level of marketization. The effect is stronger in non-state-owned firms and firms in non-polluting industries. The governance dimension of ESG exhibits the strongest effect, with comprehensive environmental governance ratings and social governance ratings also suppressing leverage manipulation.

Firms should strive to cultivate environmental awareness, fulfil their social responsibilities and enhance internal governance, which may help to strengthen the firm’s sustainability orientation, mitigate opportunistic behaviours and ultimately contribute to high-quality firm development. The top managers of firms should exercise self-restraint and take the initiative to reduce leverage manipulation by establishing an appropriate governance structure and sustainable business operation system that incorporate environmental and social governance in addition to general governance.

Policymakers and regulators should formulate unified guidelines with comprehensive criteria to improve the scope and quality of ESG information disclosure and provide specific guidance on ESG practice for firms. Investors should incorporate ESG ratings into their investment decision framework to lower their portfolio risk.

This study contributes to the literature in four ways. Firstly, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is among the first to show that high ESG ratings may mitigate firms’ opportunistic behaviours. Secondly, it identifies the governance factor of leverage manipulation from the perspective of firms’ subjective sustainability orientation. Thirdly, it demonstrates that the relationship between ESG ratings and leverage manipulation varies with the level of internal and external supervision. Finally, it highlights the importance of governance in guaranteeing the other two dimensions’ roles by decomposing overall ESG.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of technological diversification (TD) on enterprise innovation performance, meanwhile focusing on the moderating effects of various organizational slack (i.e. absorbed and unabsorbed slack) and ownership types (i.e. state-owned or privately-owned) in the context of Chinese listed firms.

This study formulates five hypotheses based on organization and agency theories. Our empirical analysis employs a fixed-effect regression estimator with a unique panel dataset of Chinese-listed manufacturing firms and 13,566 firm-year observations over 9 years from 2012 to 2020.

Our findings show that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between TD and innovation performance, varying with different types of organizational slack and ownership. In state-owned enterprises (SOEs), unabsorbed slack negatively moderates the inverted U-shaped relationship; however, in privately-owned enterprises (POEs), this relationship is positively moderated. Although absorbed slack has negative moderating effects in both SOEs and POEs, its impact is only significant for POEs.

Our results imply that organizational slack has a contrasting impact on the relationship between TD and innovation performance when the type of ownership varies. Therefore, the managers that intend to achieve optimal innovation performance through TD should understand how organizational slack can be leveraged.

This study contributes to the existing literature by applying the relationship between TD and innovative performance to the transition economy, as well as examining the double-edged sword impact of state ownership on firm innovation performance.

The rapid development of urban areas in Sleman District, Indonesia, has created new challenges for firefighting response services. One of the primary challenges is to identify the optimal locations for new fire stations, to improve service quality and maximize service coverage within the specified time.

This paper proposes a method for precisely calculating travel time that integrates delay time caused by traffic lights, intersections and congestion. The study highlights the importance of precise calculation of travel time in order to provide a more accurate understanding of the service area covered by the fire stations. The proposed method utilizes network analysis in ArcGIS, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and simple additive weighting (SAW) to accurately calculate travel time and to identify the best locations for new fire stations. The identification of new site was based on service safety, service quality, service costs and demographic factors and applied to the Sleman district in Indonesia.

The results showed that the total area covered by old and new fire stations decreased from 61% to 31.8% of the study area when the adjusted default speed scenario was implemented.

The results indicated that the default speed scenario could provide misleading information about the service area, while the adjusted default speed scenario improved service quality and maximized service coverage.

The proposed method provides decision-makers with an effective tool to make informed decisions on optimal locations for new fire stations and thus enhance emergency response and public safety.