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1 – 10 of 146Robin Jonsson, Kerstin Nilsson, Lisa Björk and Agneta Lindegård
This study aims to describe and evaluate the impact of a participatory age-management intervention on the knowledge, awareness and engagement of line managers and their HR…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to describe and evaluate the impact of a participatory age-management intervention on the knowledge, awareness and engagement of line managers and their HR partners from six health-care organizations in Sweden.
Design/methodology/approach
The learning workshops consisted of lectures, discussions, feedback and exchange of experiences with colleagues and invited experts. A total of 19 participants were interviewed six months after the final workshop, and qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyze the transcribed interviews.
Findings
The intervention design produced promising results in improving line managers’ and HR partners’ knowledge and increasing awareness and engagement. On some occasions, the participants also initiated changes in organizational policies and practices. However, the intervention primarily became a personal learning experience as participants lacked resources and mandates to initiate change in their daily work. To stimulate engagement and change at the organizational level, the authors believe that an intervention must receive support from higher managers, be anchored at the workplace and be aligned with the organization’s goals; moreover, participants must be provided with sufficient resources and mandates to coordinate the implementation of age-management strategies.
Practical implications
Prolonged working life policies and skill shortages are affecting organizations and societies, and for many employers, there are strong reasons for developing strategies to attract, recruit and retain older workers.
Originality/value
This study offers lessons and guidance for future workplace interventions to attract, recruit and retain older workers.
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Kari-Pekka Tampio, Harri Haapasalo and Jere Lehtinen
The research problem in this study is how a client (as a project owner) should organise early stakeholder involvement and integration in the front-end phase of a project. This…
Abstract
Purpose
The research problem in this study is how a client (as a project owner) should organise early stakeholder involvement and integration in the front-end phase of a project. This study aims to create normative managerial statements as propositions from the client's perspective and to combine them into a set of activities enabling efficient organisation in the front-end phase of a hospital construction project.
Design/methodology/approach
Action design research (ADR) was carried out in a large hospital construction project where the first author acted as an “involved researcher” and the other authors acted as “outside researchers”.
Findings
The authors created seven normative managerial propositions that were verified by the case project stakeholders and developed a managerial framework describing the client's essential stakeholder involvement and integration activities in the front-end phase of a hospital construction project based on these propositions. The authors have also depicted the subphases of the front-end phase: value definition phase in the client permanent organisation, value proposition phase in the client Programme Management Office (PMO) and finally development phase in the alliance organisation ending on the final investment decision.
Practical implications
The collaborative contract delivery model enables the early involvement and integration of stakeholders. It has been somewhat surprising to note the extent to which collaborative contracts change the client role in the project front-end. The results offer practical activities for how clients can manage front-end activities in collaborative contracts.
Originality/value
The case project offered a platform to analyse how the collaborative contract delivery model changes the emphasis of activities in the front-end of a project. One of the key benefits of collaborative contracts is that development, design and delivery occur partially in parallel, thereby enabling contributions from production to be included in the design and development. The benefit of having a real-life case under study provides the possibility to triangulate and analyse rich data, however limited by the qualitative case method.
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Many problems occur when assigning tasks to work centres, especially in determining the required number of workstations for line balancing which requires a minimum theoretical…
Abstract
Many problems occur when assigning tasks to work centres, especially in determining the required number of workstations for line balancing which requires a minimum theoretical number of workstations. The most common problem is bottleneck. In this paper, a method is proposed to solve floating tasks problem in single-model line when the actual required number of workstations exceeds the minimum theoretical number, and the standard time of the floating task (work center) exceeds the cycle time. The floating task will represent a critical bottleneck activity in line. The proposed method depends on minimizing the standard time of critical bottleneck and non-critical activities by a minimum free-floating time depends on the average of slack times of the non-critical activities, and it will increase the line efficiency from (77%) to (88%), and balance delay is minimized from (23%) to (12%).
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Sabina De Rosis, Kendall Jamieson Gilmore and Sabina Nuti
Using data from a continuous and ongoing cross-sectional web survey on hospitalisation service experiences in two Italian regions, the authors used multilevel and multivariate…
Abstract
Purpose
Using data from a continuous and ongoing cross-sectional web survey on hospitalisation service experiences in two Italian regions, the authors used multilevel and multivariate logistic regression models to identify factors related to users' demographics, emotional and informative support, technical and physical aspects of the provision, influencing satisfaction and willingness-to-recommend, before and during a crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
The value-in-use, defined in terms of a positive or negative value given by the experience with services, can be evaluated by users and influenced by the context of provision. The authors tested whether and how the value-in-use of services changed in a context of crisis. This study is applied to the healthcare sector during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, by evaluating the impact of the pandemic on hospitalisation experience.
Findings
Overall, analyses of 8,712 questionnaires found a greater value after the pandemic spread. In a time of crisis, technical and informative aspects of care were found to be most valued by patients that may recognise the extraordinary professionalism of workers during the crisis.
Research limitations/implications
This study empirically suggests that context can affect the evaluation of value-in-use by patients during unprecedented circumstances, producing additional value-in-context.
Practical implications
These findings imply that during critical periods where there is less scope for expressions of gratitude and appreciation towards front-line workers, user-reported data can be used for motivating professionals and increase resilience. These results reiterate the need to continue collecting and reporting the service users' voices, including as activity within plans for managing challenging situations.
Social implications
The level of healthcare system distress, due to the COVID-19 epidemic, positively affects patients' propensity to recommend, which the authors suggest is driven by healthcare services' feelings of reverse compassion. These findings imply that during critical periods where there is less scope for expressions of gratitude and appreciation towards front-line workers, user-reported data can be used for motivating professionals and increase resilience, which can have positive social implications. These results reiterate the need to continue collecting and reporting the service users' voices, including as activity within plans for managing challenging situations.
Originality/value
Research based on the intersection of theoretical and empirical research regarding value-in-use, value-in-context and service quality measured through user experience is scarce, in particular in the healthcare sector. The authors' findings set the direction for future research on the influence of context on value creation and value creation's perception by users, on the concept of reverse compassion and on reverse compassion's impact on organisational well-being, particularly in times of crisis.
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Konstantinos Solakis, Vicky Katsoni, Ali B. Mahmoud and Nicholas Grigoriou
This is a general review study aiming to specify the key customer-based factors and technologies that influence the value co-creation (VCC) process through artificial intelligence…
Abstract
Purpose
This is a general review study aiming to specify the key customer-based factors and technologies that influence the value co-creation (VCC) process through artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in the hospitality and tourism industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a theory-based general literature review approach to explore key customer-based factors and technologies influencing VCC in the tourism industry. By reviewing the relevant literature, the authors conclude a theoretical framework postulating the determinants of VCC in the AI-driven tourism industry.
Findings
This paper identifies customers' perceptions, attitudes, trust, social influence, hedonic motivations, anthropomorphism and prior experience as customer-based factors to VCC through the use of AI. Service robots, AI-enabled self-service kiosks, chatbots, metaversal tourism and new reality, machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) are technologies that influence VCC.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this research inform a theoretical framework articulating the human and AI elements for future research set to expand the models predicting VCC in the tourism industry.
Originality/value
Few studies have examined consumer-related factors that influence their participation in the VCC process through automation and AI.
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This paper offers a critical discussion to contribute to sociological work by emphasizing deconstruction(s) of the markers of gendered and racialized borders and epistemological…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper offers a critical discussion to contribute to sociological work by emphasizing deconstruction(s) of the markers of gendered and racialized borders and epistemological injustice(s) in theory and practice of contemporary global frames of representation and women's intersectional identities and rights. Through a postcolonial, situated feminist approach, the theoretical framework aims to scope and review literature from the South and North.
Design/methodology/approach
The research employs a mixed-methodology of a survey paper and media critical discourse analysis of media monitoring frames of Egyptian women's rights post–Arab spring. The content, layout and imageries produced by representations are assessed to explore whether there are lingering subtle and blatant hints of continued orientalism in knowledge canons.
Findings
The underlying causes for misconceptions and reductionist sociopolitical attitudes may be styled by patriarchal and orientalist imposition and are highly found to be somewhat maintained by persistent Western-centric epistemologies claiming to define or speak for the so-called other. The above-mentioned structures are evidently channelled through languages which essentialize and control women of the South, urging for further research in knowledge canons which calls oppressive frames into question.
Originality/value
More feminist contributions from non-Western gazes are needed to fill gaps in canons of knowledge and deconstruct patriarchal and colonial codes which impose inequalities on women as seen through the survey paper of theoretical representation and media politics.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the vehicle-based sensor effect and pavement temperature on road condition assessment, as well as to compute a threshold value for the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the vehicle-based sensor effect and pavement temperature on road condition assessment, as well as to compute a threshold value for the classification of pavement conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
Four sensors were placed on the vehicle’s control arms and one inside the vehicle to collect vibration acceleration data for analysis. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests were performed to diagnose the effect of the vehicle-based sensors’ placement in the field. To classify road conditions and identify pavement distress (point of interest), the probability distribution was applied based on the magnitude values of vibration data.
Findings
Results from ANOVA indicate that pavement sensing patterns from the sensors placed on the front control arms were statistically significant, and there is no difference between the sensors placed on the same side of the vehicle (e.g., left or right side). A reference threshold (i.e., 1.7 g) was computed from the distribution fitting method to classify road conditions and identify the road distress based on the magnitude values that combine all acceleration along three axes. In addition, the pavement temperature was found to be highly correlated with the sensing patterns, which is noteworthy for future projects.
Originality/value
The paper investigates the effect of pavement sensors’ placement in assessing road conditions, emphasizing the implications for future road condition assessment projects. A threshold value for classifying road conditions was proposed and applied in class assignments (I-17 highway projects).
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Alei Fan, Hubert B. Van Hoof, Xueting Dou and Ana Lucia Serrano
Drawing on the dual process theory and the cultural dimension of power distance, the current research investigates the impact of a specific service clue—the linguistic style of…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the dual process theory and the cultural dimension of power distance, the current research investigates the impact of a specific service clue—the linguistic style of address forms (salutation) in hotel manager letters to guests—on customer satisfaction in a hotel context in Ecuador.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an experimental design research approach, this research conducted a series of two studies to examine how customers' cultural values (high vs low power distance), linguistic style of address forms (formal vs casual) and service valence (service success vs service failure) together influenced customer satisfaction. Specifically, Study 1 examined the service success condition, and Study 2 investigated the service failure condition.
Findings
The research results show that, in the service success condition, customers follow their distinct cultural orientations (high vs low power distance) when responding to the different linguistic styles (formal vs casual). On the other hand, in the service failure situation, as customers desire for expressions of respect that can be reflected in a formal address form, the level of satisfaction is lower when the casual address form is used in guest communications, regardless of customers' cultural orientations in power distance.
Originality/value
This research adds to existing cross-cultural service research, particularly in terms of service valence, and provides practical implications for enhancing service providers' cultural awareness and sociolinguistic competence to effectively communicate with customers from diverse cultural backgrounds.
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Floriana Fusco, Pietro Pavone and Paolo Ricci
This study aims to explore to what extent stakeholder engagement affects the sustainability reporting (SR) process and if it succeeds in facilitating the encounter between demand…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore to what extent stakeholder engagement affects the sustainability reporting (SR) process and if it succeeds in facilitating the encounter between demand and supply of accountability, as well as the main challenges of this practice, by focusing on a crucial and under-investigated public sector area, the judicial system.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts an action research (AR) approach. Specifically, it focuses on a specific phase (i.e. stakeholder engagement) of the broader project that was carried on from 2019 in an Italian Public Prosecutor’s Office. Data were collected from multiple sources, i.e. written notes and reports gathered during meetings, the survey administered to stakeholders and the published sustainability reports.
Findings
Stakeholder engagement may be a valuable and effective tool for improving the level of accountability, as it increases the responsiveness of SR to the informative needs of stakeholders. However, the study also highlights some critical points that must be addressed to exploit this fully. Among these is the need to act upstream of the process by working on an accounting system that goes beyond the economic dynamics and can effectively answer the accountability demand.
Originality/value
The study contributes to theoretical and empirical knowledge by exploring a topic and a public sphere still limited investigated, i.e. the stakeholder engagement in sustainability in the judicial sector. The AR approach also presents some originality points, as it is low widespread in management and accounting literature.
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Chong Guan, Ding Ding, Jiancang Guo and Yun Teng
This paper reviews the extant research on Web3.0 published between 2003 and 2022.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper reviews the extant research on Web3.0 published between 2003 and 2022.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a topic modeling procedure latent Dirichlet allocation to uncover the research themes and the key phrases associated with each theme.
Findings
This study uncovers seven research themes that have been featured in the existing research. In particular, the study highlights the interaction among the research themes that contribute to the understanding of a number of solutions, applications and use cases, such as metaverse and non-fungible tokens.
Research limitations/implications
Despite the relatively small data size of the study, the results remain significant as they contribute to a more profound comprehension of the relevant field and offer guidance for future research directions. The previous analysis revealed that the current Web3.0 technology is still encountering several challenges. Building upon the pioneering research in the field of blockchain, decentralized networks, smart contracts and algorithms, the study proposes an exploratory agenda for future research from an ecosystem approach, targeting to enhance the current state of affairs.
Originality/value
Although topics around Web3.0 have been discussed intensively among the crypto community and technological enthusiasts, there is limited research that provides a comprehensive description of all the related issues and an in-depth analysis of their real-world implications from an ecosystem perspective.
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