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1 – 8 of 8The purpose of this present paper is twofold: (1) to study the role of gender in food preferences and (2) to study the change in food choice due to climate change in Chandigarh…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this present paper is twofold: (1) to study the role of gender in food preferences and (2) to study the change in food choice due to climate change in Chandigarh, India. Thus, the hypothesis developed are that (1) there is a significant effect of environmental change on the dietary habits of the women and (2) gender norms are significant in the selection of foods in Chandigarh.
Design/methodology/approach
The literature review was done with the help of NVivo 11, and for quantitative data analysis, SPSS version 22 is used.
Findings
The study concluded that societal gender norms were not significant for women in the choice of food. Also, climate change and women are an essential factor in food preferences at the household level.
Originality/value
While framing the adaptation policy and programs at the institutional level, the cultural and traditional knowledge gets little attention. Hence, the present paper will contribute in the policy-making from a gender perspective.
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This study aims to build a better understanding of researcher needs regarding support for data that you create, store, and/or manage using an electronic lab notebook (ELN), also…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to build a better understanding of researcher needs regarding support for data that you create, store, and/or manage using an electronic lab notebook (ELN), also referred to as electronic research notebook (ERN). The study also articulates the need for risk assessment for ELN products used by researchers for both open data and sensitive data that require standards.
Design/methodology/approach
The author used a participatory action research mixed-methods approach. A working group was formed from an ELN initial meeting. The working group team investigated several institutional ERN solutions by setting up trials, speaking with representatives from other research universities with ERN solutions and conducting internal and external research. This culminated in a broader-scale survey exploration.
Findings
Findings reveal there is no single institutional ELN license solution to satisfy all scientific disciplines. There is a need to develop foundational tools needed by all, provide additional tools and uses cases with best practices that can be tailored to various labs and research processes and develop a how-to guide on how to assemble the parts to create a useful ELN solution.
Research limitations/implications
The research implications include providing support for researchers selecting an ERN solution through a combination of online guides, short tutorials and training. There is a need to develop foundational tools, uses cases with best practices that can be tailored to various labs and research processes and how-to guide on how to assemble the parts to create a useful hybrid-ELN solution.
Practical implications
Practical implications include aligning available ERN solutions with other institution provided technologies across the research life cycle to provide researchers a suite of tools to conduct and manage their research. Further investigating educational license discounts for courses using eLabJournal, RSpace, Protocols.io, Open Science Framework, LabArchives or other ERNs currently funded by student course fees via grant funded projects are key implications.
Social implications
Social implications include the research computing environments of researchers that use ELN solutions approved through institutional risk assessment for open data are in compliance with university regulatory frameworks for use of the software in research.
Originality/value
The originality of this study includes risk assessments of ELNs solutions to better guide researchers in the selection process. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this survey was the first exploration of ELN on campus resulting in a final report to senior stakeholders. This study also highlights a developing grant proposal to further develop support across labs and campus.
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Waleed M. Al-Ahdal, Faozi A. Almaqtari, Dheya A. Zaid, Eissa A. Al-Homaidi and Najib H. Farhan
This study aims to investigate the impact of corporate characteristics on leverage in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) non-financial listed firms.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the impact of corporate characteristics on leverage in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) non-financial listed firms.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample comprising a balanced panel for eight years from 2009–2016 for four Gulf countries is used. In total, 85 non-financial listed companies have been selected using a non-probability sampling technique. Corporate characteristics are represented by return on assets (ROA), return on equity, return on capital employed, market value-added, Tobin-Q, liquidity and firm size. The study used fixed and random effect models to estimate the results.
Findings
The findings of the study revealed that both ROA and FSIZE have a significant negative effect on leverage. However, market value-added, return on capital employed and Tobin-Q exhibited a statistically significant positive effect on leverage. Further, the results indicated that Qatar is better than kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Oman and the UAE. In addition, evidence noted that KSA is better than both UAE and Oman in terms of the overall impact of corporate characteristics on the leverage. However, this effect is not statistically significant.
Practical implications
This study provides an open insight for managers, bankers, financial analysts in the GCC countries and some other developing economies by highlighting the relationship between corporate characteristics and leverage in an emerging market.
Originality/value
The current study provides an important insight into corporate characteristics and leverage. By so doing, it provides an attempt to identify the factors influencing corporate financing behavior taking into consideration different issues such as different proxies of firms’ profitability, market capitalization, market value added and liquidity, which provides original evidence from Gulf countries emerging markets. These countries are characterized by low tax rates and high liquidity. High liquidity may reduce the cost of borrowing and debt financing may not be a huge burden on firms’ profits. This makes the investigation of leverage and corporate characteristics, particularly, firms’ profitability and liquidity, very important. Therefore, the study tries to bridge an existing gap in the body of literature of capital structure and debt financing in Gulf countries emerging markets.
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Karen Renaud and Jacques Ophoff
There is widespread concern about the fact that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seem to be particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks. This is perhaps because smaller…
Abstract
Purpose
There is widespread concern about the fact that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seem to be particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks. This is perhaps because smaller businesses lack sufficient situational awareness to make informed decisions in this space, or because they lack the resources to implement security controls and precautions.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, Endsley’s theory of situation awareness was extended to propose a model of SMEs’ cyber situational awareness, and the extent to which this awareness triggers the implementation of cyber security measures. Empirical data were collected through an online survey of 361 UK-based SMEs; subsequently, the authors used partial least squares modeling to validate the model.
Findings
The results show that heightened situational awareness, as well as resource availability, significantly affects SMEs’ implementation of cyber precautions and controls.
Research limitations/implications
While resource limitations are undoubtedly a problem for SMEs, their lack of cyber situational awareness seems to be the area requiring most attention.
Practical implications
The findings of this study are reported and recommendations were made that can help to improve situational awareness, which will have the effect of encouraging the implementation of cyber security measures.
Originality/value
This is the first study to apply the situational awareness theory to understand why SMEs do not implement cyber security best practice measures.
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Literature on psychology highlights four traits that shape an amoral and antisocial personality: Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy and sadism. Together, these personality…
Abstract
Purpose
Literature on psychology highlights four traits that shape an amoral and antisocial personality: Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy and sadism. Together, these personality traits form the Dark Tetrad. In this study, the standard intertemporal utility maximization model is reassessed from the point of view of a representative economic agent endowed with the Dark Tetrad personality traits.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach followed in this paper consists of identifying how each of the Dark Tetrad traits might be logically associated with the dynamic utility problem, as well as exploring, in the context of the model, the implications, for consumption and utility, of admitting the presence of such traits in individuals’ personalities.
Findings
It is found that, typically, dark personalities penalize consumption growth, even when such traits are interpreted directly and positively contributing to the utility of the agent. It is also found that in economies with two or more interacting agents, the dark traits might have a mutually destructive nature.
Originality/value
Economics is going through a smooth revolution in the direction of becoming an eminently behavioral science. Most of the traditional economic models, based on the idea of the hyper-rational agent, are being replaced or complemented by a different view of the homo-economicus, in which, among other things, personality matters. This paper offers a novel contribution in this direction.
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