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Virtual reality (VR) is becoming a more available technology including in public spaces like libraries. The value and role of VR as a tool for learning and social engagement are unclear. The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which library patrons and librarians perceive VR and experience VR through library drop-in programs.

This paper is based on research conducted in seven Washington State Libraries where VR was adopted for drop-in programming for the first time. Data was collected between March and June 2018 and involved interviews with librarians and patrons, a patron user experience survey, and observational field notes from researchers on site during library programs.

Findings are presented in relation to user perceptions of VR compared to their actual VR experiences, and in relation to informal learning and social engagements. The authors frame the analysis and discussion in relation to sociotechnical imaginaries – culturally situated ideas about the relationship between society and technology, and considering the larger cultural landscape that informs collective views about the present and future.

The paper discusses pending and potential inequalities related to gender, race and class in conversation with technology industry and VR. Issues discussed include unequal access to technology in public libraries and representation of minoritized groups in VR.

This work takes a critical perspective considering the inequities in relation to mainstreaming VR through public spaces like libraries.

The majority of Hong Kong filmmakers have pursued co-production with China filmmakers for having the Mainland market at the expense of local styles and sensitivities. To many critics, the two-part series of Ip Man and Ip Man II provide a paradigmatic case of film co-production that sell the tricks of Chinese kung fu, regurgitating the overblown Chinese nationalism against Japanese and kwai-lo. The purpose of this study is to rectify such observation of the Ip Man series.

The authors read the series deconstructively as a postcolonial text in which Hong Kong identity is inscribed in the negotiated space in between different versions of Chinese nationalism.

The analysis points to the varying subversive features in the series from which Hong Kong’s colonial experiences are tacitly displayed, endorsed and rewritten into the Chinese nationalistic discourse whose dominance is questioned, if not debased.

This paper advances new research insights into the postcolonial reinvention of kung fu film and, by implication, the Hong Kong cinema in general.

This chapter examines how the breakthrough of Zhang Ziyi's depiction of a female kung fu master in The Grandmaster (2013) transforms the figure of the heroine in Chinese action films. Zhang is well known for her acting in action films conducted by renowned directors, such as Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar-wai. After winning 12 different Best Actress awards for her portrayal of Gong Ruomei in The Grandmaster, Zhang announced that she would no longer perform in any action films to show her highest respect for the superlative character Gong. Tracing Zhang's transformational portrait of a heroine in The Grandmaster alongside her other action roles, this analysis demonstrates how her performance projects the directors' distinctive gender viewpoints. I argue that Zhang's characterisation of Gong remodels heroine-hood in Chinese action films. Inheriting the typical plot of a daughter's use of martial arts for revenge for her father's death, Gong breaks from conventional Chinese action films that highlight romantic love during a woman's adventure and the decisive final battle scene. Beyond the propensity for sensory stimulation, Gong's characterisation enables Zhang to determine that women can really act in action films – demonstrating their inner power and ability to create multi-layered characters – not merely relying upon physical action. This chapter offers a relational perspective of how women transform the action film genre not merely as gender spectacles but as embodied figures that represent emerging female subjectivity.

This paper aims to understand the impact of smart working on employees’ quality of life. The service-dominant logic indicates that key actors, including employees, are resource integrators. This empirical study contributes to the current knowledge of transformative service by expounding on smart working practices and their relationship with self-efficacy and, ultimately, quality of life of employees.

This study contends that smart working enhances employees’ self-efficacy. The current research uses conservation of resources (COR) theory as a basis in hypothesizing that self-efficacy serves as a key resource, which can stimulate workplace creativity, job satisfaction and quality of life. An onsite survey is conducted among employees who have been involved in smart working in the travel agency context.

Smart working has a positive effect on self-efficacy, which positively influences workplace creativity, job satisfaction and quality of life. Workplace creativity enhances job satisfaction but does not influence quality of life. Job satisfaction boosts quality of life, which is important to tourism services and their employees amid various crises.

Consistent with COR theory, the immediate recommendation to managers is to invest in smart working, which can lead to employees’ creativity, job satisfaction and quality of life.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this empirical study is the first to assess the viability of smart working in the travel agency context. Smart working offers positive outcomes, such as convenience for employees to work independently, improving workplace creativity, job satisfaction and quality of life. Travel agencies are mainly categorized as small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In the future, SMEs may also introduce smart working that can eventually become their competitive advantage to retain talented employees.

旅行社中的智慧办公与员工的生活质量

本文旨在了解智慧办公对员工的影响.服务主导逻辑表明, 员工等关键人物是资源整合者。本文通过实证研究揭示了智慧办公实践及其与员工自我效能和生活质量的关系, 对现有转型服务知识做出贡献。

本研究认为智慧办公可以提高员工的自我效能。基于资源守恒理论(COR), 本研究假设自我效能是激发职场创造力、工作满意度和生活质量的关键因素, 对旅行社中参与智慧办公的员工进行了现场调查。

智慧办公对自我效能有正向影响, 同时自我效能对职场创造力、工作满意度和生活质量均产生正向影响。职场创造力能够提高工作满意度, 但对员工的生活质量不起作用。另外, 工作满意度有利于提升生活质量, 这对面临各种危机的旅游企业和员工具有重要意义。

根据COR理论, 即刻建议管理者投资推行智慧办公, 从而提升员工的创造力, 工作满意度和生活质量。

这一实证研究首次尝试评估旅行社中推行智慧办公的可行性。智慧办公可带来多种积极效果, 如为员工独立工作提供便利, 提升员工的职场创造力、工作满意度和生活质量等。旅行社属于中小型企业(SMEs)。未来, 中小型企业同样可尝试引入智慧办公, 这将成为其留住优秀员工的竞争优势。

关键词：智慧办公, 公平评估, 自我效能, 创造力, 自主, 生活质量

文章类型： 研究型论文

El trabajo inteligente en las agencias de viajes y la calidad de vida de los empleados

Resumen

Este artículo tiene como objetivo entender el impacto del trabajo inteligente en la calidad de vida de los empleados. Basándose en la lógica de servicio dominante, los actores clave, incluidos los empleados, son integradores de recursos. Este estudio empírico contribuye al conocimiento actual de lo que constituye un servicio transformador al exponer prácticas laborales inteligentes y su relación con la autoeficacia y, en última instancia, la calidad de vida de los empleados.

Este estudio sostiene que el trabajo inteligente mejora la autoeficacia de los empleados. Plantea la hipótesis de que la autoeficacia sirve como un recurso clave que puede estimular la creatividad en el lugar de trabajo, la satisfacción laboral y la calidad de vida utilizando la teoría de la conservación de recursos. Se ha realizado una encuesta in situ entre los empleados que han llevado a cabo trabajo inteligente en el contexto de la agencia de viajes.

El trabajo inteligente tiene un efecto positivo en la autoeficacia que influye positivamente en la creatividad en el lugar de trabajo, la satisfacción laboral y la calidad de vida. La creatividad en el lugar de trabajo mejora la satisfacción laboral, pero no influye en la calidad de vida. La satisfacción laboral mejora la calidad de vida, lo que es importante tanto para los servicios turísticos como para sus empleados durante las crisis.

De acuerdo con la teoría de la conservación de recursos, la recomendación inmediata a los gerentes es invertir en un trabajo inteligente que pueda conducir a la creatividad, la satisfacción laboral y la calidad de vida de los empleados.

Este estudio empírico es el primero del que tengamos constancia en evaluar la viabilidad del trabajo inteligente en el contexto de la agencia de viajes. El trabajo inteligente ofrece beneficios, como la posibilidad de que los empleados trabajen de forma independiente, mejorando así la creatividad profesional, la satisfacción laboral y la calidad de vida. Las agencias de viajes se incluyen principalmente en la categoría de pequeñas y medianas empresas (pymes). En el futuro, las pymes también pueden introducir el trabajo inteligente, que puede llegar a convertirse en su ventaja competitiva para retener a los empleados con talento.

Trabajo inteligente, Equidad en las valoraciones, Autoeficacia, Creatividad, Autonomía, Calidad de vida

With its worldwide fame for making action films, Hong Kong cinema has been defined as masculine. Action films, including the costumed martial arts films and the modern gangster films, have been a major genre in Hong Kong cinema from the 1960s on. Despite the dominant masculinity, women still play significant roles in some of these films. In fact, fighting women leave footprints in the history of Hong Kong cinema, which precede their counterparts in the West and even provide models for Hollywood after 2000.

This chapter focuses on the female characters portrayed by the acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, whose works have an ambiguous connection to mainstream genres. He modifies Hong Kong action films and creates unconventional female characters such as the drug dealer in Chungking Express (1994), the killer dispatcher in Fallen Angels (1995), the swordswoman in Ashes of Time (1994), and the kung fu master in The Grandmaster (2013). Wong's films have been mush discussed in academia, but the gender images therein are quite ignored. With high intertextuality, these characters are used to question mainstream action films and redefine women's roles in male's cinematic space. In addition, via the writing of these women, Wong constructs an open and ambivalent post-colonial Hong Kong identity. This paper contextualises the figures of sword-wielding and gun-shooting women and examines how Wong Kar-wai deploys these images to articulate the cultural identity of a post-colonial city.

Drawing from social comparison theory, this study investigates the factors influencing benign or malicious envy toward influencers and the effects of envy on social media users' choice of endorsed or rival brands.

A sample of 453 social media users was obtained to examine the research model.

Homophily and symbolism positively affect both benign and malicious envy. Credibility affects benign envy positively but malicious envy negatively. Deservingness affects malicious envy negatively but exerts no effect on benign envy. Benign envy has a greater influence on choosing brands endorsed by influencers than it does on choosing rival brands; these effects are more substantial under conditions of high perceived control. By contrast, malicious envy significantly affects the choice of purchasing rival brands; however, this effect is not influenced by perceived control.

This study unveils a key aspect of the endorser–follower relationship by analyzing the effect of envy toward social media influencers on followers' intention to purchase endorsed or rival brands. This study identifies the differential effects of two types of envy on brand choice.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model for smartphone brand switching behavior, based on the consumption value theory (functional value, emotional value, social value and epistemic value) and the cognition affect behavior (CAB) model. Two paths – product consumption values and retail service relational benefits – were considered as the cognitive elements to predict brand commitment (affect) and smartphone brand switching behavior. In addition, switching cost was used to measure the moderating effect on the relationship between brand commitment and smartphone brand switching behavior.

This research examined whether product consumption value and cognitive benefits related to retail services will enhance brand commitment and then further decrease smartphone brand switching behavior. Switching cost was predicted as a moderator in the model. An investigation of consumers who own a particular brand of smartphone (e.g. the top five smartphone brands: Samsung, Apple, HTC, Sony and Asus) was conducted, and 565 valid responses were collected for the structural equation modeling analysis.

The results demonstrated that emotional value, social value, epistemic value and confidence benefits increased consumer brand commitment and predicted less smartphone brand switching behavior. In addition, switching cost played a significant moderator role in the relationship between brand commitment and brand switching behavior.

A multiple cognitive paths design, with a consumption values aspect and a relational benefits aspect, can elaborate consumer perceptions of product values and service benefits simultaneously, which can lead to a better understanding of the whole picture of the brand services and the key reasons why consumers commit to a brand. Administrators of brand vendors are suggested to improve product innovation and the professionalism of sales services in order to facilitate consumer consumption values, increase their degree of confidence in members of sales staff and, in the meantime, help these administrators gain an understanding of the real reasons for brand switching so as to provide solutions leading to the maintenance of consumer brand commitment through products or services. This is, in turn, likely to increase continued usage intention and reduce the possibility of brand switching.

This study extended the consumption value theory and the CAB model to show that product consumption value and cognitive benefits related to retail services can enhance brand commitment and further decrease smartphone brand switching behavior. The results indicated that brand retailer managers should regularly conduct activities to connect with their customers to induce consumption values and relational benefits and, consequently, increase brand commitment and prevent customer switching behavior.

Fact-checking is a process of seeking and displaying facts to confirm or counter uncertain information, which reduces the spread of fake news. However, little is known about how to promote fact-checking posts to online users on social media. Through uncertainty reduction theory and message framing, this first study examines the effect of fact-checking posts on social media with an avatar on online users' trust, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. The authors further investigate the congruency effects between promotional message framing (gain/loss/neutral) and facial expressions of the avatar (happy/angry/neutral) on online users' trust, attitudes, and behavioral intentions in the second study.

The authors conducted two studies and statistically analyzed 120 samples (study 1) and 519 samples (study 2) from Facebook users.

Results showed that including the neutral facial expression avatar in fact-checking posts leads to online users' greater trust and more positive attitudes. Furthermore, the congruency effects between loss message framing and the angry facial expression of the avatar can effectively promote online users' trust and attitudes as well as stronger intentions to follow and share.

This study offers theoretical implications for fact-checking studies, and practical implications for online fact-checkers to apply these findings to design effective fact-checking posts and spread the veracity of information on social media.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of ambidextrous leadership on employees’ innovative behaviors in public museums based on the ambidexterity theory of leadership for innovation. It also examines the mediating mechanism of organizational climate for innovation in public museums.

Multisource survey data were obtained from 30 human resource managers, 74 department managers and 237 employees of Taiwanese public museums. Multilevel path analysis was conducted to test the proposed model.

Ambidextrous leadership has the most significant effect on employees’ innovative behaviors. Moreover, organizational climate for innovation has a mediating effect on the relationship between ambidextrous leadership and employees’ innovative behaviors.

This study provides a new perspective on dynamic and complementary ambidextrous leadership, thereby providing important practical implications for innovation management in public museums. Specifically, leaders should apply ambidextrous leadership behaviors in their daily operations to develop an organizational climate for innovation and facilitate employees’ innovative behaviors.

This study is the first to explore the influence of ambidextrous leadership in a museum. In addition, it examines the mediating effect of organizational climate for innovation to explain the effect of ambidextrous leadership on employees’ innovative behaviors. The findings provide valuable insights for both researchers and managers of public and private entities.