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Based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study aims to determine the influence of personality traits on the acceptance and usage of Web portals in Portuguese universities.

To this end, a quantitative study was conducted using structural equation modelling and a structured questionnaire, directed to teaching and non-teaching staff in Portuguese universities.

The results obtained from 338 valid responses indicate a positive influence between personality traits and the use of Web portals.

The study emphasizes the importance of usefulness and ease of use of Portuguese universities’ Web portals. It contributes to developing the literature about the process of information technology (IT) acceptance and use and users’ personality traits.

This study is innovative by contributing to the theory of personality traits and TAM in the context of Portuguese universities. The results reinforce the literature on TAM and the big five model, and on IT and Web portals in particular, which has been little explored in the academic context.

Despite the recognised importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in higher education institutions (HEIs), research concerning CSR’s influence on employees’ attitudes and behaviours is still understudied. Grounded in the theory of social identity, this study aims to explore CSR’s impact on employees’ work engagement, job satisfaction and organisational identification in an HEI context.

Data were collected in a northern Portugal public HEI through a self-administered questionnaire distributed to both teaching and supporting staff. A structural equation modelling (SEM) approach was applied to data collected from 171 employees, using the partial least squares-SEM approach.

Overall, the findings show that CSR is strongly associated with work engagement, job satisfaction, identification with the organisation and perceived organisational support, confirming the hypothesised influence of HEI’s CSR development efforts on study-related attitudes.

Findings reinforce the need for HEIs to integrate CSR and human resource strategies and to pay special attention to CSR communication strategies.

Findings reinforce the need for HEI to develop adequate CSR strategies because these have a significant influence on employees’ satisfaction at work, and thus on employees’ well-being in general.

This study contributes to attenuate the lack of literature on CSR’s impacts on employee behaviours.

The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model has been widely used by higher education institutions (HEIs). However, knowledge about the state of the art concerning its application in the context of HEIs is still reduced. The purpose of this paper is to provide groundwork able to boost coordinated research efforts toward the development of the knowledge body in the field.

This research is based on a systematic literature review (SLR) of 25 papers identified in the ISI Web of Knowledge and SCOPUS databases, and considered relevant for analysis.

The paper provides a broad overview of the main issues explored so far in literature: potential benefits, potential barriers and critical success factors. By highlighting the main shortcomings of current research and the corresponding opportunities for additional research directions, the authors hope to boost further research efforts in the field.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first SLR in the field.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the following purposes: first, to identify/analyze the main factors that hinder quality improvement programs’ implementation in SMEs, and second, to test if the level of importance attributed to those factors differ according to firms’ dimension.

A survey was mailed to 600 Portuguese SME randomly selected. Out of the sample, a total of 95 questionnaires were completed and returned, performing a final response rate around 16 per cent.

Findings reached from this research, highlighted seven different factors affecting quality programs: top management's education/training level and priorities, costs and actual performance, lack of support from external agents, human resources’ overload, aversion to change, lack of resources, and culture and training. Furthermore, results suggest that these factors assume greater importance in medium-sized firms, compared to smaller ones.

The research focused specifically on the Portuguese manufacturing sector; thus, particular attention should be paid in attempting to generalize results. Moreover it is recognized that further researches may consider exploring longitudinal research designs in order to gain additional insights into the dynamic nature of problems faced.

Understanding the main problems that hinder quality improvement programs’ implementation in SME may allow practitioners to plan more effectively their quality management system, especially faced with scarce resources.

Quality management issues focus essentially on larger organizations. This paper is the first attempt to systematize the main factors that hinder quality improvement programs’ implementation in small and medium sized firms.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which nursing leadership, perceived by nursing staff, influences nursing quality.

Data were collected between August and October 2011 in a Portuguese health center via a questionnaire completed by nurses. Our original sample included 283 employees; 184 questionnaires were received (65% response).

The theoretical model presents reasonably satisfactory fit indices (values above literature reference). Path analysis between latent constructs clearly suggests that nursing leadership has a direct (ß=0.724) and statistically significant (p=0.007) effect on nursing quality.

Results reinforce several ideas propagated throughout the literature, which suggests the relationship's relevance, but lacks empirical support, which this study corrects.

The purpose of this paper is to determine if the relationship between growth and research and development (R&D) intensity is of a different nature in the context of low‐ and high‐tech Portuguese service small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).

The System Analysis of Iberian Balance Sheets database is used. Based on the European Union's recommendation, L124/36 (2003/261/CE), the authors select 764 low‐tech and 139 high‐tech Portuguese service SMEs for the period 1999‐2006. As method of analysis, panel data are used.

A negative relationship between growth and R&D intensity for low‐tech Portuguese service SMEs is identified, whatever the level of R&D intensity. For high‐tech Portuguese service SMEs, a quadratic U‐shaped relationship between growth and R&D intensity is identified. Moreover, the authors find that relationships between growth and determinants are of a special nature in the context of high‐tech Portuguese service SMEs with high levels of R&D intensity.

It is recommended that as far as possible the managers/owners of low‐tech Portuguese service SMEs, and especially high‐tech ones with non‐high levels of R&D intensity, hire qualified human resources and make more continuous investment in R&D. The authors advise managers/owners of high‐tech Portuguese service SMEs with high levels of R&D intensity to establish stable relationships with creditors. Policy‐makers should increase financial support directed, above all, to innovative Portuguese service SMEs.

The paper is pioneering in presenting different relationships between growth and R&D intensity in the context of low‐ and high‐tech service SMEs.

The purpose of this research is to support responsible decision-making in Higher Education (HE) settings by understanding what type of learning journey satisfies students most in their HE experience and what they want from the learning.

This paper analyses the key tool used to assess satisfaction factors for UK students, the National Student Survey (NSS). It adopts peculiar regression statistical tests to identify the NSS items that influence “overall student satisfaction” by reviewing responses over 9 years from accountancy students at business schools located in England.

The findings of the study provide evidence that students are most satisfied with a learning journey where they are part of a course that is “well organised and running smoothly”, which provides “intellectual stimulation” that helps in developing their ability to “present themselves with confidence” and provides “academic advice and support”. The findings of the paper show that students are not satisfied so much by utilitarian aspects of learning but rather those that relate to who they are and where they are in their learning journey, the level of intellectual stimulation they have experienced, the self-confidence they have developed and the supportive relationship they have developed with academics. A factor that did not relate highly was “assessment and feedback” which has been the focus of much university resource. Results show the factors that impacted overall satisfaction are most related to students wanting to develop personal responsibility. These findings shape the key principles of responsible design and management of HE programmes and influence strategic decision-making.

Focussing on helping students experience, the type of learning journey that develops the virtue of responsibility emergent from the analysis will not only satisfy the student but will also have a knock-on effect of improving NSS scores, university league table ranking and accreditation under the Teaching Excellence Framework. The improved reputation aspects would then feed back into increased student satisfaction (Dean and Gibbs, 2015). The findings will also help HE managers and leaders to evaluate their decisions through three lenses: responsibility, students’ experience and students overall learning journey.

Much of the information published on the NSS have been predominantly descriptive and has resulted in decisions being made for students based on uninformed analysis of the survey’s results. This study uses advanced statistical modelling to evidence the relationship between factors of the NSS and overall student satisfaction providing key information regarding students’ importance to the type of learning journey they value and that this relates to a desire in wanting to develop responsibility. This study shows the link between factors of the NSS to provide useful lenses for HE managers and leaders to use to support responsible decision-making processes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (PDMFC) experimentally using various Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) shapes such as square, rectangle, rhombus, and circle with equal areas and equal perimeters. The variation in MEA shape/size is achieved by altering gasket openings in the dynamic regions.

In the equal areas of MEA shapes, gasket opening areas of 1963.5 (+/−0.2) mm2 are used. Whereas in the equal perimeters of shapes, gasket opening perimeters of 157.1 (+/−0.2) mm are used. In this experimentation, Nickel-201 current collectors with 45.3% of circular openings are used on both the anode and cathode sides. The experiment is carried out at a 5 molar methanol concentration to find out the highest power density of the cell.

In the equal areas, among the shapes that are chosen for investigation, the square shape opening consisting of a perimeter of 177.2 mm has developed a maximum power density of 6.344 mWcm⁻² and a maximum current density of 65.2 mAcm⁻². Similarly, in equal perimeters, the rhombus shape opening with an area of 1400 mm2 has developed a maximum power density of 7.714 mWcm⁻² and a maximum current density of 85.3 mAcm⁻².

The novelty of this research work is instead of fabricating various shapes and sizes of highly expensive MEAs, the desired shapes and sizes of the MEA are achieved by altering gasket openings over dynamic regions to find out the highest power density of the cell.

The automation of services is rapidly growing, led by sectors such as banking and financial investment. The growing number of investments managed by artificial intelligence (AI) suggests that this technology-based service will become increasingly popular. This study examines how customers' technology readiness and service awareness affect their intention to use analytical AI investment services.

Hypotheses were tested with a data set of 404 North American-based potential customers of robo-advisors. In addition to technology readiness dimensions, the potential customers' characteristics were included in the framework as moderating factors (age, gender and previous experience with financial investment services). A post-hoc analysis examined the roles of service awareness and the financial advisor's name (i.e., robo-advisor vs. AI-advisor).

The results indicated that customers' technological optimism increases, and insecurity decreases, their intention to use robo-advisors. Surprisingly, feelings of technological discomfort positively influenced robo-advisor adoption. This interesting finding challenges previous insights into technology adoption and value co-creation as analytical AI puts customers into a very passive role and reduces barriers to technology adoption. The research also analyzes how consumers become aware of robo-advisors, and how this influences their acceptance.

This is the first study to analyze the role of customers' technology readiness in the adoption of analytical AI. The authors link the findings to previous technology adoption and automated services' literature and provide specific managerial implications and avenues for further research.