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1 – 10 of over 4000
Article
Publication date: 26 March 2024

Jingqiong Sun, Junren Ming, Xuezhi Wang and Yawen Zhang

This paper aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 infodemic on the public’s online information behaviour, offering insights critical for shaping effective informational…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 infodemic on the public’s online information behaviour, offering insights critical for shaping effective informational responses in future public health emergencies.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a structured online survey with 27 targeted questions using a five-point Likert scale to measure eight variables. Data analysis is conducted through structural equation modelling on 307 valid responses to rigorously test the research hypotheses.

Findings

This paper indicates that information quality significantly impacts the public’s capacity to select, share and use online information. Additionally, the comprehensibility of information plays a crucial role in shaping the public’s behaviours in terms of online information exchange and usage. The credibility of information sources emerges as a key determinant influencing the public’s online information selection, exchange and utilization behaviour. Moreover, social influence exerts a substantial effect on the public’s online information selection, acquisition, exchange and utilization behaviour. These findings highlight the presence of universality and sociality, mediation and guidance, as well as the purposefulness and selectivity performed by the public’s online information behaviour during an infodemic.

Originality/value

This paper introduces a novel research model for assessing the influence and identifies the patterns of the public’s online information behaviour during the COVID-19 infodemic. The findings have significant implications for developing strategies to tackle information dissemination challenges in future major public health emergencies.

Details

The Electronic Library , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 August 2020

Hongfang Zhou, Xiqian Wang and Yao Zhang

Feature selection is an essential step in data mining. The core of it is to analyze and quantize the relevancy and redundancy between the features and the classes. In CFR feature…

1328

Abstract

Feature selection is an essential step in data mining. The core of it is to analyze and quantize the relevancy and redundancy between the features and the classes. In CFR feature selection method, they rarely consider which feature to choose if two or more features have the same value using evaluation criterion. In order to address this problem, the standard deviation is employed to adjust the importance between relevancy and redundancy. Based on this idea, a novel feature selection method named as Feature Selection Based on Weighted Conditional Mutual Information (WCFR) is introduced. Experimental results on ten datasets show that our proposed method has higher classification accuracy.

Details

Applied Computing and Informatics, vol. 20 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2634-1964

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 July 2023

Huan Zhong and Zhengbiao Han

This systematic literature review aims to elaborate on the research progress and features of information source preferences to help other researchers attain a more comprehensive…

Abstract

Purpose

This systematic literature review aims to elaborate on the research progress and features of information source preferences to help other researchers attain a more comprehensive understanding of the field.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a systematic review protocol, 139 research articles from 11 academic databases were analyzed.

Findings

Overall, five separate results were obtained: first, information source horizon theory is the main theoretical foundation of information source preferences research, while other theories have been applied less. Second, information source preference research has strong context sensitivity and involves health, work, consumption, learning, survival and development and emergencies. Third, preference criteria can be summarized into three categories: information characteristics, user characteristics, needs characteristics and corresponding specific criteria. Fourth, information source preferences are influenced by both internal and external factors, including five specific aspects, namely demographics, the user's cognition, the user's affection, capital and contextual factors. Fifth, this field is dominated by quantitative methods and an information horizon mapping method could be applied more.

Originality/value

This study is the first to reveal the general picture of information source preferences. It also elaborates on the characteristics of this field and presents potential development directions.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 80 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 May 2023

Maria Ashilungu and Omwoyo Bosire Onyancha

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which teaching staff cooperated with librarians in collection development, specifically in relation to electronic…

47255

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which teaching staff cooperated with librarians in collection development, specifically in relation to electronic resources, and to identify barriers they encountered while performing collection development activities.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed methods approach was adopted for the study. Quantitative and qualitative techniques of data collection and analysis were used to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the research topic. Data were gathered through a self-administered questionnaire and interviews. A total of 149 faculty members completed the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 51.2%, while 16 library staff members were interviewed to obtain qualitative data.

Findings

The majority of the teaching staff who participated in the study affirmed that they had cooperated with subject librarians in collection development. A high percentage (62.4%) of the faculty members had collaborated with subject librarians in collection development activities. Only 37.6% of the faculty members had not participated in collection development activities with subject librarians to acquire library electronic resources. According to faculty members, some of the main challenges affecting collection development at the University of Namibia were a lack of catalogues for electronic resources and a lack of lists of titles from vendors. Moreover, librarians were not always available to assist faculty members. It is recommended that faculty members be part of the process of selecting materials and that a good relationship be fostered between librarians and faculty members to bring value to collection development activities.

Originality/value

Collection development in respect of electronic resources is a complex process to be undertaken by a single entity and, therefore, requires the collaboration of all stakeholders involved. In the case of institutions of higher learning, these stakeholders include faculty, librarians and vendors. The emergence of a variety of e-resources demands a meticulous strategy on the part of libraries to ensure they can offer a wide range of up-to-date and accurate resources that meet the evolving needs of their users. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, studies that are similar to this one have not been conducted in Namibia before. This case study presents useful findings and lessons on faculty–librarian cooperation for effective collection development, not only at the University of Namibia library but also at other academic libraries in economies with similar characteristics.

Article
Publication date: 18 March 2024

Raj Kumar Bhardwaj, Ritesh Kumar and Mohammad Nazim

This paper evaluates the precision of four metasearch engines (MSEs) – DuckDuckGo, Dogpile, Metacrawler and Startpage, to determine which metasearch engine exhibits the highest…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper evaluates the precision of four metasearch engines (MSEs) – DuckDuckGo, Dogpile, Metacrawler and Startpage, to determine which metasearch engine exhibits the highest level of precision and to identify the metasearch engine that is most likely to return the most relevant search results.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is divided into two parts: the first phase involves four queries categorized into two segments (4-Q-2-S), while the second phase includes six queries divided into three segments (6-Q-3-S). These queries vary in complexity, falling into three types: simple, phrase and complex. The precision, average precision and the presence of duplicates across all the evaluated metasearch engines are determined.

Findings

The study clearly demonstrated that Startpage returned the most relevant results and achieved the highest precision (0.98) among the four MSEs. Conversely, DuckDuckGo exhibited consistent performance across both phases of the study.

Research limitations/implications

The study only evaluated four metasearch engines, which may not be representative of all available metasearch engines. Additionally, a limited number of queries were used, which may not be sufficient to generalize the findings to all types of queries.

Practical implications

The findings of this study can be valuable for accreditation agencies in managing duplicates, improving their search capabilities and obtaining more relevant and precise results. These findings can also assist users in selecting the best metasearch engine based on precision rather than interface.

Originality/value

The study is the first of its kind which evaluates the four metasearch engines. No similar study has been conducted in the past to measure the performance of metasearch engines.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 February 2024

Sarah Mueller-Saegebrecht

Managers must make numerous strategic decisions in order to initiate and implement a business model innovation (BMI). This paper examines how managers perceive the management team…

460

Abstract

Purpose

Managers must make numerous strategic decisions in order to initiate and implement a business model innovation (BMI). This paper examines how managers perceive the management team interacts when making BMI decisions. The paper also investigates how group biases and board members’ risk willingness affect this process.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data were collected through 26 in-depth interviews with German managing directors from 13 companies in four industries (mobility, manufacturing, healthcare and energy) to explore three research questions: (1) What group effects are prevalent in BMI group decision-making? (2) What are the key characteristics of BMI group decisions? And (3) what are the potential relationships between BMI group decision-making and managers' risk willingness? A thematic analysis based on Gioia's guidelines was conducted to identify themes in the comprehensive dataset.

Findings

First, the results show four typical group biases in BMI group decisions: Groupthink, social influence, hidden profile and group polarization. Findings show that the hidden profile paradigm and groupthink theory are essential in the context of BMI decisions. Second, we developed a BMI decision matrix, including the following key characteristics of BMI group decision-making managerial cohesion, conflict readiness and information- and emotion-based decision behavior. Third, in contrast to previous literature, we found that individual risk aversion can improve the quality of BMI decisions.

Practical implications

This paper provides managers with an opportunity to become aware of group biases that may impede their strategic BMI decisions. Specifically, it points out that managers should consider the key cognitive constraints due to their interactions when making BMI decisions. This work also highlights the importance of risk-averse decision-makers on boards.

Originality/value

This qualitative study contributes to the literature on decision-making by revealing key cognitive group biases in strategic decision-making. This study also enriches the behavioral science research stream of the BMI literature by attributing a critical influence on the quality of BMI decisions to managers' group interactions. In addition, this article provides new perspectives on managers' risk aversion in strategic decision-making.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 62 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 March 2023

Mario Marcello Pasco-Dalla-Porta, Milos Lau, Fátima Ponce-Regalado and Martha Marianella Pacheco Mariselli

Writing a thesis is a difficult endeavor for undergraduate students, especially in management careers, due to the highly practical approach of the discipline. Students often find…

Abstract

Purpose

Writing a thesis is a difficult endeavor for undergraduate students, especially in management careers, due to the highly practical approach of the discipline. Students often find difficult to understand and apply research methods in concrete research projects, so a proper set of teaching-learning strategies is critical. This study aimed to examine the effect of these strategies on the academic performance of students in two research seminars in an undergraduate management program in Peru.

Design/methodology/approach

The research adopted a mixed approach. The quantitative component included a survey of 249 students in both seminars, while the qualitative one involved only some of the students using three focus groups. The corresponding data analysis included stepwise linear regression models and content analysis.

Findings

The study found that a clear course structure, adequate research methods literature, good advisor–student communication and goal planning and achievement were the key determinants of the students' final grades.

Originality/value

This research fills a gap in previous studies on the subject by including a broader set of strategies and by statistically estimating the strategies' effects on academic performance.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 January 2022

Muhammad Ayat, Sheheryar Mohsin Qureshi and Changwook Kang

The purpose of this study is to propose an improved framework for managing Private Participation in Infrastructure ICT (PPI-ICT) projects in the context of developing countries as…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to propose an improved framework for managing Private Participation in Infrastructure ICT (PPI-ICT) projects in the context of developing countries as the requirements to manage them are different in several aspects.

Design/methodology/approach

The framework has been proposed based on an exhaustive literature review and statistical analysis of the PPI-ICT projects’ data set using logistic regression, F-test and student’s t-test. The proposed framework was also applied to the PPI-ICT projects.

Findings

The framework is an extension to NTCP (novelty, technology, complexity and pace) approach by including extrinsic factors such as income of the country, climate risk, religious diversity, political stability, regularity quality and control of corruption. The proposed framework was used to analyze project characteristics and their external conditions in the context of developing countries. Based on the analyses, the authors have presented a detailed set of recommendations for project managers, practitioners and governments to improve the success rate of these projects.

Originality/value

The major contribution of this study is the framework, which encompasses the NTCP model as well as extrinsic characteristics of PPI-ICT projects. The proposed framework is meant to assist the project managers to comprehend the project characteristics and its external environment to identify an adequate approach for managing projects successfully.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 September 2023

Peng Liu, Rong Zhang, Ya Wang, Hailong Yang and Bin Liu

In recent years, private brands for e-commerce platforms have experienced rapid growth. However, whether these platforms developing private brands should share their demand…

Abstract

Purpose

In recent years, private brands for e-commerce platforms have experienced rapid growth. However, whether these platforms developing private brands should share their demand information with others and how such information sharing affects the sales format selection of national brand manufacturers have puzzled firm managers in practice. This paper aims to investigate the information-sharing strategy for the e-commerce platform and its influence on the sales format selection in the presence of the private brand.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a game-theoretical model to examine the interaction between the information-sharing strategy and sales format selection in a supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a platform that operates a private brand.

Findings

The equilibrium results show that when the commission rate is low, the manufacturer favors agency selling, and the platform shares demand information with the manufacturer; when the commission rate is high, the manufacturer prefers reselling, and the platform does not share the information. This preference is affected by information forecasting accuracy; as the information forecasting accuracy increases, the manufacturer prefers to adopt agency selling, and the platform tends to share the information. Interestingly, under agency selling, sharing information with the manufacturer can increase the platform’s profit from selling the private brand and achieve a win-win situation for them. Furthermore, we show that the manufacturer can inspire the platform to share the information with himself by adopting agency selling, whereas the platform sharing the information improves the probability that the manufacturer adopts agency selling. Moreover, the manufacturer may have a first-mover advantage. In particular, the manufacturer moving first increases the likelihood that the manufacturer chooses agency selling and the platform shares the information.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to sales format literature by exploring the effect of information sharing strategy on sales format selection in the presence of the private brand and can help manufacturers and platforms to make suitable decisions regarding information sharing and sales format selection.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 39 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 November 2023

Martyn Quigley, Charlotte Smith, Eloise Stocker and Alexander Bradley

The purpose of the current study was to examine university students' knowledge, confidence and experience of popular graduate employer selection tests.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the current study was to examine university students' knowledge, confidence and experience of popular graduate employer selection tests.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional self-report survey was administered to gather a sufficient number of quantitative responses from undergraduate students. A total of 241 students completed the survey with most of them being psychology students from Swansea University. Four key variables were examined: (1) students' experience, (2) confidence and (3) knowledge of selection tests and (4) their desire for more information about selection tests as part of their degree. An audit of selection tests used by the Times Top 100 graduate employers was also conducted.

Findings

Students tended to misjudge how often selection tests were used by employers, and generally lacked experience with these tests. Students' confidence in completing each test varied as a function of the selection test; however, prior experience with these tests positively predicted confidence. Additionally, over 70% of students reported a desire for further information about selection tests as part of their degree.

Practical implications

These novel findings suggest that students could benefit from further information about selection tests as part of their degree programme which would be of benefit to both students and universities.

Originality/value

These findings are, to the authors knowledge, the first to explicitly assess second- and third-year undergraduate students' knowledge, experience and confidence with popular graduate employer selection tests and demonstrate that students would like more information about these tests on their programme.

Details

Education + Training, vol. 66 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 4000