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1 – 8 of 8Claudia W. Tridapalli and Oliver Elliott
Sustainability has emerged as a key concept in 21st-century education. The purpose of this paper is to identify faculty’s behavior and barriers to incorporating sustainability in…
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainability has emerged as a key concept in 21st-century education. The purpose of this paper is to identify faculty’s behavior and barriers to incorporating sustainability in business school classrooms and suggest potential ways to tackle them.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses focus groups and interviews with faculty at a European business school using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explore their beliefs and practices in incorporating sustainability in the classroom.
Findings
The results show that business school faculty have a strong awareness of sustainability and a desire to incorporate it into the classrooms. Recommendations for deans and curriculum creators are proposed to reduce obstacles to successful implementation.
Originality/value
The perceptions of faculty, a key agent of change in the incorporation of sustainability in the classroom, are analyzed, and practical steps to support them are suggested through the use of a TPB framework.
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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…
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.
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Joseph Eyo Duke, Arzizeh Tiesieh Tapang, Obal Usang, Kechi Alphonsus Kankpang and Samuel Edet Etim
This paper examines the moderating role of firm size (FS) and industry type in the relationship between high-performance work practices (HPWPs) and entrepreneurial firm…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the moderating role of firm size (FS) and industry type in the relationship between high-performance work practices (HPWPs) and entrepreneurial firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A descriptive research design involving a five-year dataset from firms in the retail and services industries of Nigeria was used in the analyses.
Findings
The use of HPWPs is widespread among entrepreneurial firms, with ability- and motivation-enhancing practices being dominant. Country context influences the types of HPWPs implemented by entrepreneurial firms. FS and industry type do not have significant moderating effects on the relationship between HPWPs and the performance of entrepreneurial firms. The positive effect of HPWPs on performance is consistent with findings made in prior studies.
Research limitations/implications
FS plays a neutral role in the relationship between HPWPs and entrepreneurial firm performance. Within the broader retail and services industries, this relationship is weaker in capital-intensive firms compared to less capital-intensive ones. The restricted focus on only retail and service industries may limit the universal applicability of the findings.
Practical implications
Findings indicate that the efficacy of HPWPs is neither influenced by FS nor industry type. Entrepreneurial firms with higher capital intensity benefit relatively more from the use of HPWPs.
Originality/value
Unlike other research efforts focusing on a single moderating influence, this study combines two important contextual factors, FS and industry type, to provide a better understanding of HPWPs. The study spotlights the effects of country context in the implementation of HPWPs in a way that prior studies have not done.
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Noel Scott and Ana Claudia Campos
Authenticity has been studied from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, leading to a rich but confused literature. This study, a review, aims to compare the psychology and…
Abstract
Purpose
Authenticity has been studied from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, leading to a rich but confused literature. This study, a review, aims to compare the psychology and sociology/tourism definitions of authenticity to clarify the concept. From a psychological perspective, authenticity is a mental appraisal of an object or experience as valued leading to feelings and summative judgements (such as satisfaction or perceived value). In objective authenticity, a person values the object due to belief in an expert’s opinion, constructive authenticity relies on socially constructed values, while existential authenticity is based on one’s self-identity. The resultant achievement of a valued goal, such as seeing a valued object, leads to feelings of pleasure. Sociological definitions are similar but based on different theoretical antecedent causes of constructed and existential authenticity. The paper further discusses the use of theory in tourism and the project to develop tourism as a discipline. This project is considered unlikely to be successful and in turn, as argued, it is more useful to apply theory from other disciplines in a multidisciplinary manner. The results emphasise that it is necessary for tourism researchers to understand the origins and development of the concepts they use and their various definitions.
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Ine Gremmen and Yvonne W.M. Benschop
The authors aim to contribute to current knowledge on women's networks in organizations by exploring the strategies employed by members of women's networks, Human Resources (HR…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors aim to contribute to current knowledge on women's networks in organizations by exploring the strategies employed by members of women's networks, Human Resources (HR) management and senior line management to negotiate the role of these networks in their organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employ the theoretical perspective of micro-politics to analyze qualitative data they collected in an action research project using open-ended interviews and participant observation. The interviews were conducted with network board and active members, and members of their organizations' HR departments and senior management. Participant observation of the interviewees' interactions took place during facilitated workshops.
Findings
Adding to the literature, the authors find that members of the different parties employ different micro-political strategies. Many senior HR and management members demand that the networks' activities contribute to the organizations' diversity aims and bottom line. They largely avoid strategic cooperation with the networks. Most network members, in turn, resist the restricted role of the networks as an instrument to realize their organizations' business case. They claim some freedom to independently decide on the networks' strategies and activities. They resist being attributed tasks and responsibilities that they consider to reside with their organizations. Moreover, they try to sustain cooperative relationships with senior HR and management in an advisory role.
Originality/value
The action research approach enabled the authors to contribute to existing knowledge and extend the micro-politics theoretical perspective to include the collective agency of members of organizational groups and cooperation between these groups.
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Rosemarie Santa González, Marilène Cherkesly, Teodor Gabriel Crainic and Marie-Eve Rancourt
This study aims to deepen the understanding of the challenges and implications entailed by deploying mobile clinics in conflict zones to reach populations affected by violence and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to deepen the understanding of the challenges and implications entailed by deploying mobile clinics in conflict zones to reach populations affected by violence and cut off from health-care services.
Design/methodology/approach
This research combines an integrated literature review and an instrumental case study. The literature review comprises two targeted reviews to provide insights: one on conflict zones and one on mobile clinics. The case study describes the process and challenges faced throughout a mobile clinic deployment during and after the Iraq War. The data was gathered using mixed methods over a two-year period (2017–2018).
Findings
Armed conflicts directly impact the populations’ health and access to health care. Mobile clinic deployments are often used and recommended to provide health-care access to vulnerable populations cut off from health-care services. However, there is a dearth of peer-reviewed literature documenting decision support tools for mobile clinic deployments.
Originality/value
This study highlights the gaps in the literature and provides direction for future research to support the development of valuable insights and decision support tools for practitioners.
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Ratna Candra Sari, Mahfud Sholihin, Fitra Roman Cahaya, Nurhening Yuniarti, Sariyatul Ilyana and Erna Fitriana
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process by which the level of immersion in virtual reality-based behavioral simulation (VR-BS) impacts on the non-cognitive and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process by which the level of immersion in virtual reality-based behavioral simulation (VR-BS) impacts on the non-cognitive and cognitive outcomes. The cognitive outcome is measured using the increase in the level of Sharia financial literacy, while the noncognitive outcome is measured using the behavioral intention to use VR-BS.
Design/methodology/approach
The method consists of two parts: First, the development of VR-BS, in the context of sharia financial literacy, using the waterfall model. Second, testing the effectiveness of VR-BS using the theory of interactive media effects framework. The participants were 142 students from three secondary schools (two Islamic religious schools and one public school) in Yogyakarta and Central Java, Indonesia. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used for testing the hypotheses.
Findings
VR-BS creates a perceived coolness and vividness, which in turn has an impact on increasing the participants’ engagement. Also, the use of VR has an impact on natural mapping, which increases a user’s engagement through its perceived ease of use. As predicted, the user’s engagement affects VR’s behavior, mediated by the user’s attitude toward VR media. VR’s interactivity, however, does not impact on the cognitive aspect.
Research limitations/implications
The participants were not randomly selected, as the data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the majority of the participants had never tried VR before this study. The participants, however, were digital natives.
Practical implications
It is implied from the findings that Islamic financial business actors and the relevant government agencies (e.g. the Indonesian Financial Services Authority [OJK], the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology and the Ministry of Religious Affairs) should collaborate to best prepare the future generation of ummah by using VR-BS in their joint promotion and education programs. The results of the current study reveal that the use of VR-BS may attract people to engage in Islamic financial activities. By engaging in such activities, or at least engaging in real-life simulations/classes/workshops, people may gradually acquire more knowledge about Islamic finance.
Originality/value
As predicted, the user’s engagement has an impact on behavior toward VR-BS, which is mediated by attitude toward VR-BS.
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