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Article
Publication date: 27 May 2014

Alberto Vegara, Anna Rita Festino, Pierluigi Di Ciccio, Claudia Costanzo, Luca Pennisi and Adriana Ianieri

The purpose of this paper is to provide information on the consumer management of refrigerated food, establish the level and the incidence of bacterial contamination and operating…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide information on the consumer management of refrigerated food, establish the level and the incidence of bacterial contamination and operating temperatures in domestic refrigerators from north and centre Italy.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was designed involving 24 questions which covered three topics: the socio-demographic data, the domestic management of refrigerated food and general information about the refrigerator. The questionnaire responses were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis and further processed with the multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and cluster analysis (CA). Based on MCA and CA, 84 refrigerators were selected to assess the temperature and the microbiological status (total viable counts (TVC); Enterobacteriaceae total counts (ETC); Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp.).

Findings

Totally, 660 interviews were carried out. The majority of respondents were female (81.4 per cent) and were married (71.4 per cent). Almost an half of them were between 31 and 50 years old (48.2 per cent) and had a secondary school degree (47 per cent). Regarding domestic management of refrigerated food, the majority of respondents (87.2 per cent) were aware of the correct temperature range (1-5°C) for retail refrigerator units, but only 18 per cent of them check the temperature. Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. were not recovered; Listeria innocua was recovered (2.4 per cent). Regarding the TVC values, the 21.5 per cent of the tested refrigerators were classified as insufficient (from 100 to 104 cfu/cm2) or inadequate (>104 cfu/cm2). Consumer education should be focused in order to reduce foodborne disease. Only safety-conscious consumers can become active partners within the food safety chain.

Originality/value

Result obtained from the present survey revealed that consumers are not familiar with their role in the food safety chain and that they allow numerous opportunities for microbiological contamination of food. The study clearly indicates the need for greater consumer education regarding proper domestic refrigerator management. Indeed, appropriate behaviours could make the refrigerator less likely to act as a significant niche for persistence and dissemination of food pathogens.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 116 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 June 2022

Serena Summa, Alex Mircoli, Domenico Potena, Giulia Ulpiani, Claudia Diamantini and Costanzo Di Perna

Nearly 75% of EU buildings are not energy-efficient enough to meet the international climate goals, which triggers the need to develop sustainable construction techniques with…

1156

Abstract

Purpose

Nearly 75% of EU buildings are not energy-efficient enough to meet the international climate goals, which triggers the need to develop sustainable construction techniques with high degree of resilience against climate change. In this context, a promising construction technique is represented by ventilated façades (VFs). This paper aims to propose three different VFs and the authors define a novel machine learning-based approach to evaluate and predict their energy performance under different boundary conditions, without the need for expensive on-site experimentations

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is based on the use of machine learning algorithms for the evaluation of different VF configurations and allows for the prediction of the temperatures in the cavities and of the heat fluxes. The authors trained different regression algorithms and obtained low prediction errors, in particular for temperatures. The authors used such models to simulate the thermo-physical behavior of the VFs and determined the most energy-efficient design variant.

Findings

The authors found that regression trees allow for an accurate simulation of the thermal behavior of VFs. The authors also studied feature weights to determine the most relevant thermo-physical parameters. Finally, the authors determined the best design variant and the optimal air velocity in the cavity.

Originality/value

This study is unique in four main aspects: the thermo-dynamic analysis is performed under different thermal masses, positions of the cavity and geometries; the VFs are mated with a controlled ventilation system, used to parameterize the thermodynamic behavior under stepwise variations of the air inflow; temperatures and heat fluxes are predicted through machine learning models; the best configuration is determined through simulations, with no onerous in situ experimentations needed.

Details

Construction Innovation , vol. 24 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

Keywords

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to take stock and to increase understanding of the opportunities and threats for policing in ten European countries in the Political, Economic, Social, Technological and Legal (PESTL) environment.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is part of the large EU‐funded COMPOSITE project into organisational change. A PESTL analysis was executed to produce the environmental scan that will serve as a platform for further research into change management within the police. The findings are based on structured interviews with police officers of 17 different police forces and knowledgeable externals in ten European countries. The sampling strategy was optimized for representativeness under the binding capacity constraints defined by the COMPOSITE research budget.

Findings

European police forces face a long list of environmental changes that can be grouped in the five PESTL clusters with a common denominator. There is also quite some overlap as to both the importance and nature of the key PESTL trends across the ten countries, suggesting convergence in Europe.

Originality/value

A study of this magnitude has not been seen before in Europe, which brings new insights to the target population of police forces across Europe. Moreover, policing is an interesting field to study from the perspective of organisational change, featuring a high incidence of change in combination with a wide variety of change challenges, such as those related to identity and leadership.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 26 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 August 2019

Larissa Medianeira Bolzan, Claudia Cristina Bitencourt and Bibiana Volkmer Martins

Social innovation is a recent theme, and the practices related to this area are characterized by punctual actions and projects restricted by time and space that make it difficult…

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Abstract

Purpose

Social innovation is a recent theme, and the practices related to this area are characterized by punctual actions and projects restricted by time and space that make it difficult to develop strategies that can be sustained in this field. Therefore, one point that deserves to be highlighted in studies on social innovation is a matter of scalability. This paper aims to deal with a bibliometry whose objective was to map the existing studies about scalability of social innovation carried out in the Capes and EBSCOHost portals.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper deals with a bibliometry. The topic researched in this bibliometry is scalability of social innovation. The databases chosen for this research were Portal Periódico Capes and EBSCOHost because they are the leading providers of search databases.

Findings

A total of 42 papers were considered, distributed between 2002 and 2017. The analysis criteria for the study were origin (composed by year, author, country of origin, periodical and impact factor), focus of the investigations, justification, method and main techniques of research, contributions and theoretical advances and challenges and paths.

Originality/value

Among the main results found, one of them is that scalability is a topic that began to be researched recently, so that the USA and Brazil lead the research. Most of the studies focused on the scalability process and justified the importance of studies on the subject as a way to explore the potential of expanding the social impacts of a social innovation. Several studies have emphasized the role of networks as being quite positive for the scalability process and have been concerned with identifying factors that contribute to the scalability process. The challenge that most stood out among the papers was the financial sustainability of a social innovation. At the end, a research agenda was proposed.

Details

Innovation & Management Review, vol. 16 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2515-8961

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Women and the Abuse of Power
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-335-9

Article
Publication date: 26 June 2021

Gergely Szolnoki, Stylianos Filopoulos, Claudia Stein-Hammer and David Brazsil

The health effects of alcoholic beverages and the differentiation between moderate consumption and alcohol abuse are discussed controversially in medicine, sociology and politics…

Abstract

Purpose

The health effects of alcoholic beverages and the differentiation between moderate consumption and alcohol abuse are discussed controversially in medicine, sociology and politics. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse how consumers assess the relation among health, wine consumption and alcohol abuse.

Design/methodology/approach

A representative survey in Germany and in Hungary was conducted with 2,000 and 1,500 respondents, respectively. The survey included questions regarding the assessment and definition of alcohol abuse and moderate wine consumption.

Findings

The results show that in Hungary, moderate wine consumption is defined similarly as in Germany; on the contrary, in the case of alcohol abuse, there are significant differences. Regardless of cultural background, the respondents agreed that excessive wine consumption harms health and certain consumer groups (pregnant women or people under 16 years old) should avoid drinking wine.

Practical implications

These findings can contribute to a long-term goal-oriented wine in moderation strategy for consumers and support policy advice on moderate and excessive wine consumption.

Originality/value

The results help to understand how consumers perceive moderate and excessive wine consumption in everyday life, and how they judge wine as an alcoholic beverage. To the best of authors’ knowledge, there has not been similar study published on the perceptions of wine consumers in this regard, neither in Germany nor in Hungary.

Details

International Journal of Wine Business Research, vol. 33 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1062

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2016

Annika Voltan and Claudia De Fuentes

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the field of social innovation by examining institutional logics at the level of inter- and intra-organizational partnerships for…

1634

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the field of social innovation by examining institutional logics at the level of inter- and intra-organizational partnerships for scaling impact.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a set of case studies from the Stanford Social Innovation Review to analyze success in scaling social innovations applying the logic compatibility-centrality matrix proposed by Besharov and Smith (2014), which aims to reveal the potential for conflict in organizations based on the diversity of logics present and the degree to which they are compatible with each other.

Findings

The findings shed insight on how individuals and organizations are able to manage logic multiplicity in the context of partnerships for scaling social innovation.

Originality/value

The authors build on recent work that recognizes logic multiplicity in social enterprises resulting from their hybrid nature, and the authors add to the existing debate by introducing to the discussion contributions from cognitive theory that help explain why organizational cultures evolve and scale out the way they do.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 19 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 June 2014

Isabel Canto de Loura

The purpose of this paper is to contribute an illustrative case study on the application of participatory and learner-centred model, using a highly international cohort of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute an illustrative case study on the application of participatory and learner-centred model, using a highly international cohort of students’ tacit knowledge and shared experiential learning in the context of integrating mainstreaming sustainability-focused topics in business education at undergraduate level.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is about the development of a participative experiential learning pedagogical framework which the authors named “experiential simulation learning approach”, with the acronym ELSA, designed to meet the specific needs of a highly international cohort of rather sustainability-reluctant undergraduate management students.

Findings

Using students’ diverse tacit knowledge and developing a relevant experiential active learning (EAL) model stood out as being a most powerful teaching-and-learning tool. It seemed to help to enhance critical thinking and trigger cohesiveness in class; this favoured a collaborative learning climate which in turn might lead to the tacit acquisition of life-long skills.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitations to the development of this approach were: the lack of context-specific updated and academically reliable bibliography; the undergraduate students’ widespread tendency to refer mainly to “digests” of information (preferably online), rather than engaging in critical analysis of contents in academically acknowledged books and journals; the international undergraduate students’ personal challenges as “foreigners” which may affect them mainly in relation to: group work, independent learning, confidence and communication.

Practical implications

It seems that integrating EAL is quite effective in the context of undergraduate management students, particularly in view of leading rather reluctant students to understand and be willing to positively apply sustainability-based principles to their own change management process and to become active leaders of organisational change.

Originality/value

The methodological framework hereby presented is quite innovative, as it seems to be among the very first to be implemented in view of enhancing undergraduate students’ learning experience, instead of targeting post-graduate students. This is extremely relevant in regards to embedding sustainability concepts, frameworks and tools, as they prove to be much more significant and long-lasting if integrated in the early stages of training of future business management professionals.

Details

Journal of Management Development, vol. 33 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 February 2020

David Obande and Ian Young

Students living in university residence halls often have refrigerators for food storage, and are often living alone and handling food for the first time in their lives. Therefore…

Abstract

Purpose

Students living in university residence halls often have refrigerators for food storage, and are often living alone and handling food for the first time in their lives. Therefore, an investigation of their safe food storage practices is important to help prevent food-borne illness in this population. This research seeks to evaluate the food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices related to food storage and refrigeration among undergraduate students at a university campus.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional study was conducted by administering a questionnaire to undergraduate students (n = 93) living in two residence halls on a university campus.

Findings

Many respondents (43.3 percent) were unaware of the maximum temperature a refrigerator should be set at to prevent microbial growth, while 83.7 percent reported ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ checking the temperature of their refrigerator using a thermometer. Many respondents (43.1 percent) incorrectly ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that the smell and appearance of food can be used as an indicator for food safety, and 64.1 percent self-reported often or always using this practice. Respondents that were born outside of Canada had more positive food storage attitudes, while those that identified as Caucasian had higher knowledge scores. A positive correlation was identified between knowledge and attitude scores (r = 0.217) but neither were significantly associated with practice scores.

Originality/value

The study revealed gaps in the knowledge, attitudes and practices of university students living in residence halls related to safe food storage. Hence, there is a need to increase awareness and education in this population on key food storage practices.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 122 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 March 2022

Rajesh Iyer, Barry J. Babin, Jacqueline K. Eastman and Mitch Griffin

This study explores consumers' motivations to purchase luxury and counterfeit products using an international sample. In addition, it also examines the moderating role of…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study explores consumers' motivations to purchase luxury and counterfeit products using an international sample. In addition, it also examines the moderating role of interpersonal influence on this process. This study seeks to examine if the consumers who demand the highest quality express a preference for luxury goods over counterfeit goods.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey research was employed to subjects from the USA, India, China and Russia. Responses from US and India consumers were collected using online software, whereas responses from China and Russia were collected with the help of a local market research firm.

Findings

The findings of the study indicate that consumers tend to show similar reactions based on the luxury and counterfeit consumption process examined here. In terms of interpersonal influence as a moderator, however, the study found it significantly impacts status seekers' attitude toward luxury and how a perfectionist shopper perceives counterfeit consumption.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first in the literature to empirically address both luxury and counterfeit consumption. Further it considers consumers from multiple countries with high levels of luxury good purchases.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 39 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

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