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1 – 7 of 7Barbora Holubová, Marta Kahancová, Lucia Kováčová, Lucia Mýtna Kureková, Adam Šumichrast and Steffen Torp
Studies on the work integration of persons with disabilities (PwD) and the role of social dialogue therein are scarce. The study examines how the different systems of workers’…
Abstract
Purpose
Studies on the work integration of persons with disabilities (PwD) and the role of social dialogue therein are scarce. The study examines how the different systems of workers’ representation and industrial relations in Slovakia and Norway facilitate PwD work integration. Taking a social ecosystem perspective, we acknowledge the role of various stakeholders and their interactions in supporting PwD work integration. The paper’s conceptual contribution lies in including social dialogue actors in this ecosystem.
Design/methodology/approach
Evidence was collected via desk research, 35 semi-structured in-depth interviews with 51 respondents and stakeholder workshops in 2019–2020.
Findings
The findings from Norway confirm the expected coordination of unions and employers in PwD work integration. Evidence from Slovakia shows that in decentralised industrial relations systems, institutional constraints beyond the workplace determine employers’ and worker representatives’ approaches in PwD integration. Most policy-level outcomes are contested, as integration occurs predominantly via sheltered workplaces without interest representation.
Social implications
This paper identifies the primary sources of variation in the work integration of PwD. It also highlights opportunities for social partners across both situations to exercise agency and engagement to improve PwD work integration.
Originality/value
By integrating two streams of literature – social policy and welfare state and industrial relations – this paper examines PwD work integration from a social ecosystem perspective. Empirically, it offers novel qualitative comparative evidence on trade unions’ and employers’ roles in Slovakia and Norway.
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Maciej Urbaniak, Dominik Zimon and Peter Madzik
This article aims to map the expectations of manufacturing companies towards suppliers in terms of implementing improvement activities. The article poses two research questions…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to map the expectations of manufacturing companies towards suppliers in terms of implementing improvement activities. The article poses two research questions: RQ1: What kind of improvement of activities do the surveyed producers expect from their suppliers? RQ2: Do factors such as size, capital or implemented systems influence different assessments of the analyzed requirements toward suppliers?
Design/methodology/approach
The Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) technique was used to collect data. The sample consists of 150 producers (employing over 50 people) who were suppliers for enterprises from the automotive, electromechanical and chemical sectors operating in the Polish business-to-business (B2B) market. We analyzed 11 improvement activities, while their correlation structure was examined by exploratory factor analysis.
Findings
We have identified three latent factors – risk reduction, product innovation and increasing efficiency – which summarize the main expectations of manufacturing companies towards suppliers. Expectations for these factors are independent of the implemented management system, although the analysis showed higher expectations for product innovation in organizations with the implementation of Kaizen.
Originality/value
The article fills the research gap in the literature. The research results presented in the literature so far have focused on the expectations of enterprises towards suppliers in terms of meeting the criteria for their initial and periodic assessment. The research gap in the article is the result of empirical research presenting the expectations of manufacturers towards suppliers in terms of improving their processes. Based on the findings of the presented study, development trends and implications for managers responsible for purchasing processes and relationships with suppliers can be determined.
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Štefan Karolčík and Michaela Marková
This research study explores the perceptions of the importance and meaning of innovation in education by qualified teachers. The authors deliberately selected geography teachers…
Abstract
Purpose
This research study explores the perceptions of the importance and meaning of innovation in education by qualified teachers. The authors deliberately selected geography teachers for the research because the extraordinary dynamics of changes and innovations the teacher has to deal with are significantly reflected, particularly in geography teaching.
Design/methodology/approach
The main aim of the research was to determine geography teachers' views on the importance, role and meaning of innovation in teaching. The research group consisted of 12 qualified teachers, and a semistructured interview was chosen as the research method. The research was conducted over six months, from October 2020 to March 2021.
Findings
This research confirmed the interest in introducing innovations into teaching by the teachers interviewed. Teachers mainly think of innovation as new ways of teaching that aim to revive and make teaching more attractive, to increase the motivation of all actors in the learning process. While teachers with more ample teaching experience connect innovations mainly with presentations, education games, and excursions, teachers-beginners and teachers with shorter teaching experience understand innovations mainly as the application of new trends in education, such as research projects and working with GIS and digital technologies. The research confirmed that lectures supported by presentations are the most frequently used teaching method for explaining the geography curriculum in primary and secondary schools. Presentations in which teachers focus on linking relationships and explaining connections more deeply replace existing textbooks and teaching texts for most teachers interviewed.
Research limitations/implications
The number and qualifications of the teachers involved in the research.
Practical implications
Teachers see the quality of the school environment and the education system as the significant barriers to providing better geography education. They often come to innovations through their own study and activities and feel a significant lack of available materials for the practical application of innovations in teaching. They also perceive the support for creation by state authorities and educational institutions as insufficient. Most teachers interviewed would welcome regular training courses and vocational education on the appropriate introduction and use of innovations in the classrooms in the form of practical examples and developed methodologies.
Originality/value
The selection of teachers for the research was deliberate and included active teachers of both genders working in primary and secondary schools. The selected teachers had varying teaching experiences and studied different combinations of teaching subjects with geography.
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Peter Madzík, Lukáš Falát, Lukáš Copuš and Marco Valeri
This bibliometric study provides an overview of research related to digital transformation (DT) in the tourism industry from 2013 to 2022. The goals of the research are as…
Abstract
Purpose
This bibliometric study provides an overview of research related to digital transformation (DT) in the tourism industry from 2013 to 2022. The goals of the research are as follows: (1) to identify the development of academic papers related to DT in the tourism industry, (2) to analyze dominant research topics and the development of research interest and research impact over time and (3) to analyze the change in research topics during the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the authors processed 3,683 papers retrieved from the Web of Science and Scopus. The authors performed different types of bibliometric analyses to identify the development of papers related to DT in the tourism industry. To reveal latent topics, the authors implemented topic modeling based on latent Dirichlet allocation with Gibbs sampling.
Findings
The authors identified eight topics related to DT in the tourism industry: City and urban planning, Social media, Data analytics, Sustainable and economic development, Technology-based experience and interaction, Cultural heritage, Digital destination marketing and Smart tourism management. The authors also identified seven topics related to DT in the tourism industry during the Covid-19 pandemic; the largest ones are smart analytics, marketing strategies and sustainability.
Originality/value
To identify research topics and their development over time, the authors applied a novel methodological approach – a smart literature review. This machine learning approach is able to analyze a huge amount of documents. At the same time, it can also identify topics that would remain unrevealed by a standard bibliometric analysis.
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