Search results
1 – 10 of 282Miranda Leontowitsch, Aivita Putnina, Marcus Andersson, Charlotta Niemistö, Rafaela Werny, Hanna Sjögren, Ilze Mileiko, Kārlis Lakševics, Artūrs Pokšāns, Māra Neikena, Līna Orste, Camilla Malm, Frank Oswald, Jeff Hearn and Clary Krekula
The digital age requires people of all ages to communicate and organise their lives through digital technologies. The project EQualCare investigates how the growing population of…
Abstract
Purpose
The digital age requires people of all ages to communicate and organise their lives through digital technologies. The project EQualCare investigates how the growing population of older people living alone is managing this transition, how it shapes their (non-)digital social networks and what changes on a local level need to be brought about. This paper aims to give insight into the process of participatory action research (PAR) with older people in the community across four countries and reflects on experiences made by academic and co-researchers.
Design/methodology/approach
Following the emancipatory underpinnings of PAR, which aims to reduce inequalities through collaboration and co-design, EQualCare involved nine teams of co-researchers across Finland, Germany, Latvia and Sweden making older people the centre of policy development. Co-researchers were involved in formulating research aims, collecting data, reflecting on data, formulating and disseminating recommendations for local policy stakeholders.
Findings
Co-researchers’ motivation to invest considerable time and effort was driven by a desire to create a more equal future for older people living alone. Moreover, they were keen to involve marginalised older people and became frustrated when this proved difficult. Power dynamics played a role throughout the process but became productive as roles and responsibilities were renegotiated. Doing PAR with older people can be emotionally challenging for co-researchers when negative feelings around ageing are encountered.
Originality/value
The paper advances understanding on the process of PAR in ageing research by reflecting on the social, cultural and political contexts of doing PAR with diverse sets of older people.
Details
Keywords
All three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – share common features, similar history, and took similar steps to establish an external evaluation of their science…
Abstract
All three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – share common features, similar history, and took similar steps to establish an external evaluation of their science base. Even though the three countries have similarities in terms of their geography, size, economic structure, development and demography, they demonstrate differences, for example Estonia is often considered to be ahead of Latvia and Lithuania in terms of the economy and development. So, do the Baltic countries share similarities or differences from the point of research management and administration?
Details
Keywords
Sandra Jekabsone, Purmalis Karlis and Irina Skribane
The need for the study is justified by the fact that scientists and policy makers around the world are trying to identify the potential threat of digitalisation, looking for ways…
Abstract
The need for the study is justified by the fact that scientists and policy makers around the world are trying to identify the potential threat of digitalisation, looking for ways to adapt to new changes and take advantage of the opportunities offered by the information society and the knowledge economy and to mitigate risks. Digitalisation also changes the labour market – using information and communication technology (ICT) in the working process opens up new opportunities. Moving from a traditional office to another environment, combining work with private life and recreation more effectively, while remote work deals with costly jobs, spaces and congestion on the city streets. The study aims to assess the development of remote work in the European Union (EU) and Latvia, assessing its effectiveness and the possibilities for long-term use by analysing its impact on the transformational directions of the economy. During the analysis, the following findings were made: identified the potential and problems of the deployment of remote work in Latvia, determined the main challenges of remote work and policies to improve the situation. The analysis employs theoretical and empirical research methods. The theoretical method of analysis and deduction provides information on its impact on the economy from the scientific literature on remote work and its diverse aspects. The comparative method is widely used to identify aspects of remote work distribution and economic development and their interaction. Practical implications of research – to make recommendations on policy directions to improve the situation, which would promote the further development of remote work.
Details
Keywords
Sergejs Pavlovs, Andris Jakovičs and Alexander Chudnovsky
The purpose of this paper is the study of the electro-vortex flow (EVF) as well as heating and melting processes for mini industrial direct current electric arc furnace (DC EAF).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is the study of the electro-vortex flow (EVF) as well as heating and melting processes for mini industrial direct current electric arc furnace (DC EAF).
Design/methodology/approach
A mini DC EAF was designed, manufactured and installed to study the industrial processes of heating and melting a small amount of melt, being 4.6 kg of steel in the case under study. Numerical modelling of metal melting was performed using the enthalpy and porosity approach at equal values and non-equal values of the solidus and liquidus temperatures of the metal. The EVF of the liquid phase of metal was computed using the large eddy simulation model of turbulence. Melt temperature measurements were made using an infrared camera and a probe with a thermocouple sensor. The melt speed was estimated by observing the movement of particles at the top surface of melt.
Findings
The thermal flux for metal heating and melting, which is supplied through an arc spot at the top surface of metal, is estimated using the thermal balance of the furnace at melting point. The melting time was estimated using numerical modelling of heating and melting of metal. The process started at room temperature and finished once whole volume of metal was molten. The evolution of the solid/melt phase boundary as well as evolution of EVF patterns of the melt was studied.
Originality/value
Numerical studies of heating and melting processes in metal were performed in the case of intensive liquid phase turbulent circulation due to the Lorentz force in the melt, which results from the interaction of electrical current with a self-magnetic field.
Details
Keywords
Anita Gaile, Ilona Baumane Vitolina, Agnis Stibe and Kurmet Kivipõld
Subjective career success has been widely researched by academics and researchers as it provides job and career satisfaction that can lead to the perceived life satisfaction of…
Abstract
Purpose
Subjective career success has been widely researched by academics and researchers as it provides job and career satisfaction that can lead to the perceived life satisfaction of employees, as well as their engagement in organizations. This study demonstrates that subjective career success depends not merely on career adaptability but also on the connections people build throughout their professional lives.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted in the socioeconomic context of Latvia with a sample size of 390 respondents. Interpersonal behavioral factors from the perception of career success measure and the influence of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) on subjective career success (two statements from Gaile et al., 2020) were used. The constructed research model was tested using the SPSS 28 and WarpPLS 8.0 software tools. The primary data analysis method used was partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Then 12 moderators and their effects on the main relationships of the model were reviewed.
Findings
The study confirms that relationships at work have the most significant effect on subjective career success, followed by control behaviors and curiosity behaviors. Moreover, a list of significant and insightful moderation effects was found, most significantly the relationship between connections and subjective career success.
Originality/value
Until now, the CAAS was not integrated with the behaviors and attitudes that depict the social relationships of individuals at work. This study aims to narrow this gap by exploring whether (and, if so, how) career adaptability and interpersonal relationships in the workplace (i.e. professional connections) contribute to subjective career success.
研究目的
學者和研究人員一直對主觀的事業成功課題進行廣泛的討論和研究, 這類研究會給予僱員工作和事業的滿足感, 繼而使他們感到生活圓滿, 並促進他們對組織的參與。本研究展示了主觀的事業成功不但取決於生涯調適力, 同時也取決於僱員在整個職業生涯裡人際聯繫的建立。
研究方法
研究人員在拉脫維亞的社會經濟背景下進行這個研究; 樣本為390名回應者。研究人員使用了衡量事業成功概念內的人際行為因素, 以及職業適應能力量表對主觀事業成功的影響 (來自 (Gaile 等, 2020) 的兩個聲明) 。研究人員採用 SPSS 28和 WarpPLS 8.0兩個軟件工具, 來測試他們構建的研究模型。主要分析數據的方法為基於偏最小平方法的結構方程模型, 研究人員仔細審核12個調節因素和它們對模型的主要關聯的影響。
研究結果
研究確認了工作方面的關係對主觀的事業成功影響最為顯著, 其次則為控制行為和好奇行為; 而且, 研究人員發現了一系列重要的、富有洞察力的調節效果; 更具意義的是, 他們發現了建立聯繫與主觀事業成功之間的關係。
研究的原創性
職業適應能力量表至今仍未融合於可描繪在工作上各個個體的社會關係的行為和態度。本研究探索了職業適應能力和在工作場所的人際關係, 如何能促進主觀的事業成功; 就此而言, 本研究縮窄了有關的研究缺口。
Details
Keywords
Maja Bašić, Davor Vlajčić and Gorana Grgić
Competitively multipolar international system demands bilateral and multilateral partnerships. Joint innovation signals close partnerships. Regional proximity of Central and…
Abstract
Purpose
Competitively multipolar international system demands bilateral and multilateral partnerships. Joint innovation signals close partnerships. Regional proximity of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to the European Union (EU) defines its research and development objectives. These objectives are additionally subjected to the USA’s geopolitical strategy in this geographical area. Hence, CEE’s limited resources require limited resources make international innovation cooperation. This paper aims to analyse whether and how CEE countries make international innovation cooperation decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper used Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) database of total patent applications filed to the patent cooperation treaty (PCT) with co-applicants from abroad, where co-patents with at least one foreign inventor present a measure of international innovation partnership. A vector autoregression analysis and impulse response function were used to analyse international innovation partnership choices of eight CEE OECD countries for the period 1990–2018.
Findings
Innovation with the EU is of collaborative nature, commonly displaying complementary properties with the rest of the examined innovation partners, while co-patenting with the Russia and China act as substitutes or complements. Co-patenting with Russia is the most versatile, displaying both properties of collaboration and competition. Some countries exhibit complementarity in co-patenting activities with multiple partners. The significance levels of these relationships vary, indicating varying degrees of impact. Overall, these findings highlight the complex dynamics of co-patenting activities and the influence of different partners on countries’ collaborative innovation strategies.
Research limitations/implications
In addition to significant relationships, insignificant relationships as well as those that could bring about greater synergy are flagged in the paper. Those relationships portray possible direction into which national funds could be channelled to incite cooperation between different sectors and countries, especially as innovation partnerships are not always successful and require a long time period to materialise.
Originality/value
By examining bilateral innovation partnerships, this study provides an insight into the strategic political and economic spheres of influence in the CEE region.
Details