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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 November 2023

Josef Lochman and Jiří Vágner

Meat overconsumption by tourists is one of the key issues in the sustainability of tourist destinations. The objective of this paper is to assess the impact that a promotion of…

Abstract

Purpose

Meat overconsumption by tourists is one of the key issues in the sustainability of tourist destinations. The objective of this paper is to assess the impact that a promotion of meatless gastronomy and its actual increased availability would have on the attractiveness and visitation of a popular European urban destination.

Design/methodology/approach

The research uses an innovative foresight approach that combines environmental scanning and scenarios. The authors formulated the scenarios using the Delphi technique and working with 27 scholars whose insights into the topic were enhanced through theses that resulted from the environmental scanning. They provided their insights into how a promotion of meatless gastronomy would affect a destination. Subsequently, the authors synthetized their insights and formulated the scenarios.

Findings

Based on two defined scenarios, the authors found that a meatless image represents an opportunity for the future development of an urban European destination. A long-term growth in visitor numbers can be achieved while ensuring environmental, economic and socio-cultural sustainability providing that relevant stakeholders are involved in the promotional activities.

Originality/value

Management of tourists' unsustainable eating habits is currently an unexplored issue. The present research addresses this topic and provides valuable insights that will help to address sustainability issues while making tourism destinations more attractive.

Details

Journal of Tourism Futures, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-5911

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2022

Kurt Wurthmann

This study aims to provide and illustrate the application of a framework for conducting techno-economic analyses (TEA) of early-stage designs for net-zero water and energy…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to provide and illustrate the application of a framework for conducting techno-economic analyses (TEA) of early-stage designs for net-zero water and energy, single-family homes that meet affordable housing criteria in diverse locations.

Design/methodology/approach

The framework is developed and applied in a case example of a TEA of four designs for achieving net zero-water and energy in an affordable home in Saint Lucie County, Florida.

Findings

Homes built and sold at current market prices, using combinations of well versus rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems and grid-tied versus hybrid solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, can meet affordable housing criteria for moderate-income families, when 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are at 2%–3%. As rates rise to 6%, unless battery costs drop by 40% and 60%, respectively, homes using hybrid solar PV systems combined with well versus RWH systems cease to meet affordable housing criteria. For studied water and electricity usage and 6% interest rates, only well and grid-tied solar PV systems provide water and electricity at costs below current public supply prices.

Originality/value

This article provides a highly adaptable framework for conducting TEAs in diverse locations for designs of individual net-zero water and energy affordable homes and whole subdivisions of such homes. The framework includes a new technique for sizing storage tanks for residential RWH systems and provides a foundation for future research at the intersection of affordable housing development and residential net-zero water and energy systems design.

Details

International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8270

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 19 February 2024

Olga Gurova

This paper aims to answer the questions of what clothing practices related to sustainable fashion can be observed in young consumers' daily lives in Finland’s capital region and…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to answer the questions of what clothing practices related to sustainable fashion can be observed in young consumers' daily lives in Finland’s capital region and what prevents their further proliferation.

Design/methodology/approach

This is qualitative research that draws from 22 semi-structured interviews with high school students in the capital area of Finland. The data were analyzed with the use of thematic analysis, a flexible method of data analysis that allows for the extraction of categories from both theoretical concepts and data.

Findings

This paper contributes to studies of young people’s consumption with the practice theory approach, putting forward the category of following sustainable fashion as an integrative practice. The three-element model of the practice theory allows answering the question of challenges that prevent the practice from shaping. The paper further advances this approach by identifying a list of context-specific dispersed practices incorporated into sustainable fashion.

Practical implications

The study suggests practical ways of improving clothing consumption based on the practice theory approach and findings from empirical research. Sustainable practices require competences, knowledge and skills that the school, as an institution working closely with high school students, could help develop.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the current studies of sustainability and youth culture of consumption with a practice theory approach and findings, related to a particular context of a country from Northern Europe.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2024

Maria Cleofe Giorgino and Federico Barnabè

Drawing motivation from the greater exposure to uncertainty and condition changes that affect large projects due to their long lifecycle, this paper aims to investigate how the…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing motivation from the greater exposure to uncertainty and condition changes that affect large projects due to their long lifecycle, this paper aims to investigate how the time factor affects the use of governance mechanisms to pursue the success of these projects.

Design/methodology/approach

To pursue its aim, the article applies the dichotomization between the hard and soft mechanisms of project governance to the analysis of a historical case study, whose findings are organized over the short, medium and long periods. The case selected is referred to the peculiar water system, made up of tunnels named “bottini,” that was in use in Siena (Italy) as the old aqueduct. Specifically, the study focuses on the project of expansion of this water system that was realized during the 14th century for the construction of the “Bottino maestro di Fontegaia.”

Findings

This article highlights the different relevance that, during the lifecycle of large projects, is assumed by hard and soft governance mechanisms, with the former having main relevance in a short and medium period, and the latter usually emerging in the medium period and, subsequently, playing a growing role for the project success in the long period.

Originality/value

The article contributes to the literature on large projects by providing novel insights about how the time factor impacts the governance of these projects. Furthermore, the case study, with its unique history, highlights the relevance of combining effectively the hard and the soft dimensions of project governance to pursue success.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 February 2024

María Iborra, José Fernando López-Muñoz and Vicente Safón

This study analyzes antecedents explaining the lack of resilience in family-owned firms. Our model suggests that family-owned firms’ strategic behaviors and heterogeneity explain…

Abstract

Purpose

This study analyzes antecedents explaining the lack of resilience in family-owned firms. Our model suggests that family-owned firms’ strategic behaviors and heterogeneity explain a particular crisis outcome: a lack of recovery.

Design/methodology/approach

Our evidence is based on a sample of 842 European family-owned firms. We complement regression analysis results with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).

Findings

Our results show that lack of resilience is relevant. In fact, in our sample, 60% of family firms (FFs) failed to recover their sales. This evidence supports the role played by exploitation and exploration behavior as well as family heterogeneity in explaining the lack of recovery.

Research limitations/implications

Our results may offer guidance to practitioners and policymakers on the pathways that explain the lack of resilience.

Practical implications

Although it is unlikely that an external crisis such as COVID-19 will occur again to the same extent, other threatening events may occur and impact FFs. Understanding how FFs can avoid non-recovery is crucial: it can inform managers on how to deal with stressful events and provide guidance to economic authorities on how to help FFs around the world avoid non-recovery, which affects the economy.

Originality/value

First, the study contributes to FF research by offering a theoretical explanation for the different effects of FF attributes on non-recovery in the context of a global crisis. Second, it contributes to the literature on organizational resilience by examining explorative and exploitative behaviors as antecedents of FF non-recovery. Third, we show the usefulness of combining fsQCA and regression analysis to understand complex phenomena.

研究目的

本研究擬分析家族企業缺乏復原力的原因。我們的模型暗示了家族企業的策略性行為和異質性是可闡明一個特殊的危機後果:企業未能成功恢復。

研究設計/方法/理念

我們的證據是建基於一個涵蓋842間歐洲家族公司的樣本。我們以模糊集質性比較分析,去補充迴歸分析的結果。

研究結果

研究結果顯示,缺乏復原力是有相關性的。事實上,在我們的樣本裡,有百分之六十的家族企業未能恢復其銷售量。研究結果提供了證據,確認了若要闡明缺乏復原力的原因,我們必須瞭解開發和探索行為、以及家族異質性所扮演的角色。

研究的局限/啟示

我們的研究結果,或許可為從業人員和政策制訂者提供引導,幫助他們找出缺乏復原力的原因。

實務方面的啟示

雖然像2019冠狀病毒病的外部危機以同樣的程度發生的機會是很微的,但其它有威脅性的事件或會發生,並會影響家族企業; 因此,瞭解家族企業如何能避免缺乏復原力的弊端是非常重要的。這可讓經理瞭解如何處理令人憂慮的事件,亦可為經濟事務當局的高層人員提供引導,幫助他們瞭解如何協助世界各地的家族企業,去避免影響經濟的復原乏力。

研究的原創性/價值

首先,本研究在家族企業的探討上作出了貢獻。研究人員在一個全球危機的背景下提出了理論解釋,讓人們明白家族企業的屬性,如何會對復原乏力產生各種影響。其次,本研究在探討組織彈性的文獻方面作出了貢獻,因研究人員對作為引發家族企業復原乏力因素的探索和開發行為、進行了探討和研究。最後,研究人員展示了若要瞭解複雜的事物或現象,把模糊集質性比較分析和迴歸分析結合起來運用是有效的。

Details

European Journal of Management and Business Economics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2444-8451

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2024

Laura Lamb

This study aims to gain insight into the motivations behind the decision to use high-cost payday loans by households who possess mainstream credit and to determine whether this…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to gain insight into the motivations behind the decision to use high-cost payday loans by households who possess mainstream credit and to determine whether this behavior has changed over time.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data from Statistics Canada’s Surveys of Financial Security, probit models are used to examine the sociodemographic and financial indicators associated with payday loan use.

Findings

The analysis uncovers the sociodemographic and financial characteristics of payday loan-user households with access to lower-cost short-term loans. The findings indicate that the likelihood of payday loan use has risen over time. Additional analysis reveals that indicators of financial instability are positively associated with payday loan use among this group.

Research limitations/implications

This research highlights the dichotomy of payday loan users and recommends policymakers tailor solutions to the specific needs of different types of payday loan users.

Practical implications

This research highlights the distinguishing sociodemographic and financial characteristics of payday loan user households and recommends policymakers tailor solutions to the specific needs of different types of payday loan users.

Originality/value

This is the first study, to our knowledge, to focus analysis on payday loan use of those with access to lower-cost short-term credit alternatives in Canada and to include measures of financial instability in the analysis. This research is timely given the current economic environment of high interest rates and high levels of household debt.

Details

Journal of Financial Economic Policy, vol. 16 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-6385

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 March 2024

David J. Williams and Francisco Scott

Nonfamily farms are responsible for a disproportionate amount of US agriculture production. The importance of these operations to the volume of agriculture production in the…

Abstract

Purpose

Nonfamily farms are responsible for a disproportionate amount of US agriculture production. The importance of these operations to the volume of agriculture production in the United States has led researchers and policymakers to understand nonfamily farms as large commercial operations. This paper examines whether the distinction between family and nonfamily helps explain the financial outcomes of farm operations and households.

Design/methodology/approach

We test for differences in financial outcomes of the household and operations of family and nonfamily farms using an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition. We compare these results to a decomposition of other possible typologies.

Findings

We present evidence that nonfamily farms are a heterogeneous group with a majority of small operations that are dominated by a small number of large operations. We discover that differences associated with the family-nonfamily distinction are largely explained by observable farm and operator characteristics that arise mechanically from the definition. However, we find suggestive evidence that family-nonfamily classification captures differences in economic behavior that lead to higher profitability measures to nonfamily farms. We find little evidence of any inherent structural differences between family and nonfamily farms that helps explain financial outcomes related to leverage or household finances.

Practical implications

We conclude that including nonfamily farms in official statistics of farm households may provide a more comprehensive overview of the farm sector, as our results suggest that family and nonfamily farms do not have innate differences that help explain many of their financial outcomes.

Originality/value

We incorporate previously unused data on nonfamily farm households and test the difference in mean financial outcomes between family and nonfamily farms.

Details

Agricultural Finance Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-1466

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 March 2024

Sihao Li, Jiali Wang and Zhao Xu

The compliance checking of Building Information Modeling (BIM) models is crucial throughout the lifecycle of construction. The increasing amount and complexity of information…

Abstract

Purpose

The compliance checking of Building Information Modeling (BIM) models is crucial throughout the lifecycle of construction. The increasing amount and complexity of information carried by BIM models have made compliance checking more challenging, and manual methods are prone to errors. Therefore, this study aims to propose an integrative conceptual framework for automated compliance checking of BIM models, allowing for the identification of errors within BIM models.

Design/methodology/approach

This study first analyzed the typical building standards in the field of architecture and fire protection, and then the ontology of these elements is developed. Based on this, a building standard corpus is built, and deep learning models are trained to automatically label the building standard texts. The Neo4j is utilized for knowledge graph construction and storage, and a data extraction method based on the Dynamo is designed to obtain checking data files. After that, a matching algorithm is devised to express the logical rules of knowledge graph triples, resulting in automated compliance checking for BIM models.

Findings

Case validation results showed that this theoretical framework can achieve the automatic construction of domain knowledge graphs and automatic checking of BIM model compliance. Compared with traditional methods, this method has a higher degree of automation and portability.

Originality/value

This study introduces knowledge graphs and natural language processing technology into the field of BIM model checking and completes the automated process of constructing domain knowledge graphs and checking BIM model data. The validation of its functionality and usability through two case studies on a self-developed BIM checking platform.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 December 2023

Melodi Botha

Entrepreneurial trait and behaviour approaches are used to identify differing entrepreneurial profiles. Specifically, this study aims to determine which entrepreneurial…

Abstract

Purpose

Entrepreneurial trait and behaviour approaches are used to identify differing entrepreneurial profiles. Specifically, this study aims to determine which entrepreneurial competencies (ECs) can predict entrepreneurial action (EA) for distinct profiles, such as male versus female, start-up versus established and for entrepreneurs within different age groups and educational levels.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was conducted using a survey method on a large sample of 1,150 South African entrepreneurs. Chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID) algorithms were used to build decision trees to illustrate distinct entrepreneurial profiles.

Findings

Each profile has a different set of ECs that predict EA, with a growth mindset being the most significant predictor of action. Therefore, this study confirms that a “one-size-fits-all” approach cannot be applied when profiling entrepreneurs.

Research limitations/implications

From a pedagogical standpoint, different combinations of these ECs for each profile provide priority information for identification of appropriate candidates (e.g. the highest potential for success) and training initiatives, effective pedagogies and programme design (e.g. which individual ECs should be trained and how should they be trained).

Originality/value

Previous work has mostly focused on demographic variables and included a single sample to profile entrepreneurs. This study maintains much wider applicability in terms of examining profiles in a systematic way. The large sample size supports quantitative analysis of the comparisons between different entrepreneurial profiles using unconventional analyses. Furthermore, as far as can be determined, this represents the first CHAID conducted in a developing country context, especially South Africa, focusing on individual ECs predicting EA.

Details

Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, vol. 26 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 July 2022

Jo Conlon

Organisations are investing in systems such as product lifecycle management (PLM) to support product development, collaboration across complex supply chains and to provide a…

Abstract

Purpose

Organisations are investing in systems such as product lifecycle management (PLM) to support product development, collaboration across complex supply chains and to provide a framework for digital transformation. Graduates of apparel programmes would benefit from a knowledge of PLM to help realise the opportunities that PLM offers. The purpose of this paper is to report on an educational research project that used PLM as a context for practice-based learning and as a mechanism to update the learning experience and stimulate the development of future practice.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reports on the experiences, critical reflections and data from an action research study to establish a learning community through an educational partnership for PLM software within an undergraduate fashion business course. The cohort of the first year of the intervention (n = 28) is the main study population.

Findings

The findings indicate that PLM provided a stimulating learning context supportive of a detailed understanding of current industry practice, critical and innovative thinking and the development of a professional identity.

Research limitations/implications

The opportunity for the development of both industry and educational practice is outlined.

Practical implications

A general introduction to PLM provides important information to support and advance Fashion Industry 4.0. Educational partnerships can reduce barriers to the integration of advanced technologies into the higher education curriculum.

Originality/value

Applications of PLM are under researched in textiles and apparel. The paper contributes to the broadening of the knowledge base of PLM and its potential to achieve strategic transformation of the sector.

Details

Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1560-6074

Keywords

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