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Article
Publication date: 27 November 2023

Georgios Patsiaouras

This study aims to elaborate on the interface between water scarcity and consumption and, specifically to focus on, how consumers’ perceptions and views towards (un)sustainable…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to elaborate on the interface between water scarcity and consumption and, specifically to focus on, how consumers’ perceptions and views towards (un)sustainable water consumption can inform the development of sustainable water practices and environmental policies.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative methodology was adopted, consisting of 34 in-depth interviews with consumers, in four cities in the United Kingdom (UK). The semi-structured interviews sought to examine sustainable water consumption practices in more depth within an unexplored context, and secondary data were also used to explore the phenomenon in more depth.

Findings

The findings provide novel theoretical and empirical insights around the invisibility and imperceptibility of (un)sustainable water consumption. The findings suggest how interdisciplinary and collaborative practices can enhance more responsible and sustainable consumption of water resources in the UK.

Practical implications

The study can inform marketing strategies on community engagement with localised water sustainable actions and encourage policymakers to develop concrete marketing communications and increased public awareness regarding water scarcity.

Social implications

Considering the slow growth of water scarcity, the findings can prompt marketing scholars to explore similar phenomena, within seemingly unaffected countries, urban centres, industries and marketplaces.

Originality/value

Previous studies focused on the measurement of household water consumption in the water-scarce context of the Southern Hemisphere. Challenging geographical perceptions of water shortage, this study focuses on the UK and highlights how the multidimensional, finite and invisible nature of water consumption requires collaborative efforts in tackling water scarcity.

Details

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-2752

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 June 2023

Pierre-Luc Fournier, Lionel Bahl, Desirée H. van Dun, Kevin J. Johnson and Jean Cadieux

The complexity and uncertainty of healthcare operations increasingly require agility to safeguard a high quality of care. Using a microfoundations of dynamic capabilities…

Abstract

Purpose

The complexity and uncertainty of healthcare operations increasingly require agility to safeguard a high quality of care. Using a microfoundations of dynamic capabilities perspective, this study investigates the effects of nurses' implicit voice theories (IVTs) on the behaviors that influence their individual agility.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses quantitative survey data collected from 2,552 Canadian nurses during the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the fall of 2021. Structural equation modeling is used to test a conceptual model that hypothesizes the effects of three different IVTs on nurses' creativity, spontaneity, agility and the quality of care they deliver to patients.

Findings

The results reveal that voice-inhibiting cognitions (like “suggestions are criticisms for higher-ups”, “I first need a solution or solid data”, and “speaking up has negative repercussions”) negatively impact nurses' creativity and spontaneity in crafting solutions to problems they face daily. In turn, this affects nurses' individual agility as they attempt to adapt to changing circumstances and, ultimately, the quality of care they provide to their patients.

Practical implications

Even if organizations have little control over employees' pre-held beliefs regarding voice, they can still reverse them by developing and nurturing a voice-welcoming culture to boost their workers' agility.

Originality/value

This study combines two theoretical frameworks, voice theory and dynamic capabilities theory, to study how individual-level factors (cognitions and behaviors) contribute to nurses' individual agility and the quality of care they provide to their patients. It answers the recent calls of scholars to study the mechanisms through which healthcare operations can develop and sustain dynamic capabilities, such as agility, and better face the “new normal”.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 February 2024

Shaoyu Ye and Kevin K.W. Ho

This study explored how the use of different social media is related to subjective well-being among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

Abstract

Purpose

This study explored how the use of different social media is related to subjective well-being among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

Design/methodology/approach

We surveyed 1,681 university students in the Kanto region of Japan in May 2021 to investigate how social media use relates to subjective well-being. We also examined the effects of self-consciousness and friendship, self-presentation desire, generalized trust, online communication skills, depression tendency and social support from others.

Findings

The responses revealed 15 possible patterns of social media usage on four widely used social media in Japan (LINE, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook). We selected users with the top five patterns for further statistical analyses: LINE/Twitter/Instagram/Facebook, LINE/Twitter/Instagram, LINE/Twitter, LINE/Instagram and LINE only. Overall, self-establishment as a factor of self-consciousness and friendship, and social support from others had positive effects on the improvement of subjective well-being, whereas depression tendency had negative effects on their subjective well-being regardless of their usage patterns, of which the results of social support from others and depression tendency were consistent with the results of previous studies. Regarding other factors, they had different effects on subjective well-being due to different patterns. Effects on subjective well-being from self-indeterminate and self-independency as factors of self-consciousness and friendship, praise acquisition, self-appeal and topic avoidance as factors of self-presentation desire were observed.

Originality/value

This is among the earliest studies on the relationship between young generations’ social media use and subjective well-being through social media usage patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

Details

Library Hi Tech, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 4 December 2023

Stuart Cartland

Abstract

Details

Constructing Realities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83797-546-4

Article
Publication date: 30 January 2024

Lian Zhang, Qingtao Wang, Qiyuan Zhang and Kevin Zheng Zhou

Although the prior literature has identified the relevance of dealer participation for multinational enterprises (MNEs), it is unclear whether such participation could also be an…

Abstract

Purpose

Although the prior literature has identified the relevance of dealer participation for multinational enterprises (MNEs), it is unclear whether such participation could also be an important means for local dealers to learn from MNEs. By adopting local firms’ viewpoint, our study draws on organizational learning theory to examine how local dealers benefit from their participation with foreign suppliers in Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical setting is a combinative dataset of secondary data and primary survey of 164 small- and medium-sized local dealers with nine subsidiaries of a Chinese motorcycle company in six countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Findings

This research shows that dealer participation is positively associated with dealer performance, and this positive effect is stronger when local dealers operate in regions with low government corruption and high government support. However, the positive relationship is weaker when local dealers use the local tongue extensively but becomes stronger when their foreign suppliers have a high dealer coverage.

Originality/value

By taking a local-participant perspective, our study extends the participation literature to show how firms from a resource-constrained region may benefit from their proactive participation with foreign counterparts. Additionally, we identify the boundary conditions of institutional factors and strategic choices of local dealers and foreign suppliers, providing a nuanced understanding of firm behaviors in complex and uncertain markets.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 41 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 June 2022

Tin Nok Leung, Yin Ming Hui, Canon K.L. Luk, Dickson K.W. Chiu and Kevin K.W. Ho

This study analyses the advantages and weaknesses of using Facebook to aid the learning of Japanese as a foreign language.

Abstract

Purpose

This study analyses the advantages and weaknesses of using Facebook to aid the learning of Japanese as a foreign language.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data from 100 Hong Kong Japanese language learners (who are generally fluent in Chinese and English), ranging from total amateur to advanced learners (Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) qualified at different levels).

Findings

The authors' results suggest that the advantages of using Facebook to help learn Japanese include: (1) serving as a free-of-charge, casual, and convenient learning platform; (2) enriching learners' knowledge beyond the language learning and (3) encouraging interactive and collaborative learning with other users for practicing the language. However, the low credibility and unstructured educational materials posted on Facebook and being easily distracted by other Facebook feeds are the major weaknesses of learning a language through Facebook. Furthermore, the authors' result shows that Facebook is especially effective for Japanese learning when learners fall into either one of the following groups: young, female, or intermediate (N2/3) learners.

Originality/value

Scant studies focus on the aid of learning Japanese via Facebook, especially Hong Kong learners' perceptions, or generally in the East. Therefore, this study aims to fill this research gap. The authors' findings will facilitate the students, teachers, and language institutions from Hong Kong and other countries to improve the students' effectiveness in learning and teaching Japanese.

Article
Publication date: 28 February 2024

Alexandra Thrall, T. Philip Nichols and Kevin R. Magill

The purpose of this study is to examine how young people imagine civic futures through speculative fiction writing about artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The authors…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how young people imagine civic futures through speculative fiction writing about artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The authors argue that young people’s speculative fiction writing about AI not only helps make visible the ways they imagine the impacts of emerging technologies and the modes of collective action available for leveraging, resisting or countering them but also the frictions and fissures between the two.

Design/methodology/approach

This practitioner research study used data from student artifacts (speculative fiction stories, prewriting and relevant unit work) as well as classroom fieldnotes. The authors used inductive coding to identify emergent patterns in the ways young people wrote about AI and civics, as well as deductive coding using digital civic ecologies framework.

Findings

The findings of this study spotlight both the breadth of intractable civic concerns that young people associate with AI, as well as the limitations of the civic frameworks for imagining political interventions to these challenges. Importantly, they also indicate that the process of speculative writing itself can help reconcile this disjuncture by opening space to dwell in, rather than resolve, the tensions between “the speculative” and the “civic.”

Practical implications

Teachers might use speculative fiction writing and the digital civic ecologies framework to support students in critically examining possible AI futures and effective civic actions within them.

Originality/value

Speculative fiction writing offers an avenue for students to analyze the growing civic concerns posed by emerging platform technologies like AI.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 November 2023

Woo-Hyuk Kim, Eunhye (Olivia) Park and Bongsug (Kevin) Chae

In this study, to investigate tourist mobility (i.e. hotel visits) during the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors developed three objectives with reference to protection motivation…

Abstract

Purpose

In this study, to investigate tourist mobility (i.e. hotel visits) during the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors developed three objectives with reference to protection motivation theory: (1) to examine changes in travel distances in the USA before and during the pandemic, (2) to identify distinct travel patterns across different regions during the pandemic; and (3) to explore threat- and coping-related factors influencing tourist mobility.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used two primary sources of data. First, smartphone data from SafeGraph provided hotel-specific variables (e.g. location and visitor counts) and travel distances for 63,610 hotels in the USA. Second, state-level data representing various factors associated with travel distance were obtained from COVID-19 Data Hub and the US Census Bureau. The authors analyzed changes in travel distances over time at the state and regional levels and investigated clinical, policy and demographic factors associated with such changes.

Findings

The findings reveal actual travel movements and intraregional variances across different stages of the pandemic, as well as the roles of health-related policies and other externalities in shaping travel patterns amid public health risks.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to empirically examine changes in travel distances to hotels as destinations using smartphone data along with state-level data on COVID-19 and demographics. The findings suggest that tourism enterprises and stakeholders can proactively adapt their strategies by considering threat appraisals and coping mechanisms, both of which are influenced by externalities such as health-related policies.

研究目的

在我们的研究中, 为了调查COVID-19大流行期间的旅游出行(例如:酒店访问), 我们根据保护动机理论制定了三个目标:(1)研究在COVID-19大流行前后美国的旅行距离的变化, (2)在大流行期间识别不同地区的不同旅行模式; 以及(3)探讨影响旅游出行的威胁和应对因素。

研究方法

我们利用了两个主要数据源。首先, 来自SafeGraph的智能手机数据提供了63,610家美国酒店的酒店特定变量(例如位置和访客计数)以及旅行距离数据。其次, 代表与旅行距离相关的各种因素的州级数据来自COVID-19数据中心和美国人口普查局。我们分析了州级和地区级的旅行距离随时间的变化, 并调查了与这些变化相关的临床、政策和人口因素。

研究发现

我们的研究结果揭示了不同阶段的实际旅行动态和地区内的差异, 以及在公共卫生风险中塑造旅行模式的健康相关政策和其他外部因素的作用。

研究创新

我们的研究是第一个利用智能手机数据以及与COVID-19和人口统计数据相关的州级数据, 经验性地研究了旅行距离到酒店作为目的地的变化。我们的研究结果表明, 旅游企业和利益相关者可以通过考虑威胁评估和应对机制来主动调整他们的策略, 这两者都受到健康相关政策等外部因素的影响。

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-9880

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 June 2023

Vanessa Nappi and Kevin Kelly

Performance framework (PF) is a well-established practice to measure innovation performance and identify improvement opportunities. However, whether PFs academic research are…

Abstract

Purpose

Performance framework (PF) is a well-established practice to measure innovation performance and identify improvement opportunities. However, whether PFs academic research are applicable to companies remains unclear, as well as their support in the definition of improvement actions. This study aims to present the implementation and assessment of a new and updated PF proposed in previous research in a real industrial context.

Design/methodology/approach

The PF was implemented through an in-depth case study carried out in a European machinery manufacturer and further assessed by practitioners.

Findings

The results indicate that the PF enabled the creation of a multidimensional view of the innovation performance and the definition of improvement projects in the company. Additionally, the findings also reveal an overall positive assessment of the PF by senior managers who work with the innovation process.

Research limitations/implications

As a case study, this research is inherently limited in the extent to which results can be generalised. Thus, the analyses are reductive and rationalising. Future research is needed to assess the replicability of the PF.

Practical implications

The study's practical contribution is based on the combination of insights and steps that provide a straightforward and actionable approach for the company to improve performance.

Originality/value

This study aims to advance the importance of implementing the new and updated PF after its proposition, which is often overlooked in preceding research. Furthermore, the assessment of the PF also enables to infer its value to the company's employees.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 73 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 April 2024

Ayse Ocal and Kevin Crowston

Research on artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential effects on the workplace is increasing. How AI and the futures of work are framed in traditional media has been examined…

Abstract

Purpose

Research on artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential effects on the workplace is increasing. How AI and the futures of work are framed in traditional media has been examined in prior studies, but current research has not gone far enough in examining how AI is framed on social media. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining how people frame the futures of work and intelligent machines when they post on social media.

Design/methodology/approach

We investigate public interpretations, assumptions and expectations, referring to framing expressed in social media conversations. We also coded the emotions and attitudes expressed in the text data. A corpus consisting of 998 unique Reddit post titles and their corresponding 16,611 comments was analyzed using computer-aided textual analysis comprising a BERTopic model and two BERT text classification models, one for emotion and the other for sentiment analysis, supported by human judgment.

Findings

Different interpretations, assumptions and expectations were found in the conversations. Three subframes were analyzed in detail under the overarching frame of the New World of Work: (1) general impacts of intelligent machines on society, (2) undertaking of tasks (augmentation and substitution) and (3) loss of jobs. The general attitude observed in conversations was slightly positive, and the most common emotion category was curiosity.

Originality/value

Findings from this research can uncover public needs and expectations regarding the future of work with intelligent machines. The findings may also help shape research directions about futures of work. Furthermore, firms, organizations or industries may employ framing methods to analyze customers’ or workers’ responses or even influence the responses. Another contribution of this work is the application of framing theory to interpreting how people conceptualize the future of work with intelligent machines.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

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