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1 – 5 of 5Renata Couto de Azevedo de Oliveira and Maurice Patterson
This paper aims to address what it means to brand a city as “smart”. In other words, what ideas, understandings and actions are mobilized by the discourse of smart cities in a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to address what it means to brand a city as “smart”. In other words, what ideas, understandings and actions are mobilized by the discourse of smart cities in a particular context.
Design/methodology/approach
Taking a brand interpretive approach, this paper uses deconstructive criticism to understand the performativity of smart cities within the Brazilian Charter for Smart Cities and to expose hegemonic power structures and the various colonizations that disenfranchise consumers and citizens of the Global South.
Findings
This paper finds that the branding of smart cities within the Brazilian Charter for Smart Cities is largely performative and rhetorical in nature. The authors identify those dimensions of the smart city that are materialized by this branding performance. For example, the authors identify how the Charter calls forth issues around technological solutionism, sustainability and social inclusion. At the same time, the analysis draws attention to the dimensions of smart cities that are disguised by such performances.
Research limitations/implications
The implications of the work suggest that the authors need to understand the designation “smart city” as a branding performance. More research is required in context to determine in exactly what ways smart city projects are being implemented.
Practical implications
Rather than adhering only to the rhetoric of smartness, cities have to work hard to make smartness a reality – a smartness constructed not just on technical solutions but also on human solutions. That is, the complexity of urban issues that are apparently addressed in the move to smartness demand more than a technological fix.
Originality/value
The research offers a novel lens through which to view smart cities.
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Stephana Dyah Ayu Ratnaningsih, Imam Ghozali and Puji Harto
The paper aims to examine Indonesian accounting students’ intention to become sustainable accountants (ISAs) using a modified theory of reasoning action model.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to examine Indonesian accounting students’ intention to become sustainable accountants (ISAs) using a modified theory of reasoning action model.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary data were collected from 239 respondents from five reputable universities in Semarang, Indonesia, using a structured questionnaire. A random sampling technique was employed and used in selecting respondents. The data were then analyzed using smart PLS (version 3.2.9) to obtain the final results.
Findings
The results show university sustainability (US) and attitudes toward sustainability (ATS) affect students' intentions to become ISAs. Knowledge has no direct correlation with students' intention to become ISAs. Path analysis shows a significant correlation between US and students' knowledge, attitudes and intentions regarding sustainability.
Originality/value
This is different from previous studies, which only focused on factors influencing students' intentions to pay attention to sustainability. This study focuses on prospective accountants because, in the future, they will be the technical executors of reporting using path analysis. This study further analyzes the relationship between existing antecedent variables. The results show that sustainability at the university is a variable that can influence all other variables.
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Marianne Thejls Ziegler and Christoph Lütge
This study aims to analyse the differences between professional interaction mediated by video conferencing and direct professional interaction. The research identifies diverging…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyse the differences between professional interaction mediated by video conferencing and direct professional interaction. The research identifies diverging interests of office workers for the purpose of addressing work ethical and business ethical issues of professional collaboration, competition, and power in future hybrid work models.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on 28 qualitative interviews conducted between November 2020 and June 2021, and through the theoretical lens of phenomenology, the study develops explanatory hypotheses conceptualising four basic intentions of professional interaction and their corresponding preferences for video conferences and working on site.
Findings
The four intentions developed on the basis of the interviews are: the need for physical proximity; the challenge of collective creativity; the will to influence; and control of communication. This conceptual framework qualifies a moral ambivalence of professional interaction. The authors identify a connectivity paradox of professional interaction where the personal dimension remains unarticulated for the purpose of maintaining professionality. This tacit human connectivity is intertwined with latent power relations. This plasticity of both connectivity and power in direct interaction can be diminished by transferring the interaction to video conferencing.
Originality/value
The application of phenomenology to a collection of qualitative interviews has enabled the identification of underlying intention structures and the system in which they affect each other. This research identifies conflicts of interests between workers relative to their different self-perceived abilities to persevere in competitive professional interaction. It is therefore able to address consequences of future hybrid work models at an existential and societal level.
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Benjamin Mwakyeja and Honest F. Kimario
Optimization of dynamics determining distribution performance of pharmaceuticals is vital in realizing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 3 which insists on provision of…
Abstract
Purpose
Optimization of dynamics determining distribution performance of pharmaceuticals is vital in realizing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 3 which insists on provision of good health and well-being to the society. This study was designed at unfolding diverse factors that influence the distribution performance of pharmaceuticals in the Medical Stores Department (MSD) of Tanzania.
Design/methodology/approach
This study utilized cross-sectional survey strategy in gathering data from 67 staff members working in the MSD using census approach. A structured questionnaire facilitated the collection of quantitative data which were later analyzed using ordinal logistic regression.
Findings
The results disclosed that all variables of inventory management, information management system and facility location positively and significantly govern the distribution performance and henceforth rejection of the foreseen null hypothesis.
Research limitations/implications
This study realized dynamics inducing distribution performance of pharmaceuticals but did not cover the role of 3PLS and 4PLS in enhancing the same, and hence, an imminent study ought to seal this gap. Also, having grasped management information system is of strategic pillar, then it would sound imperative to analyze the application of artificial intelligence in distribution system performance.
Originality/value
This paper assimilates the concept of subaspects of supply chain management in footings of distribution management and that of pharmaceuticals and hence multidisciplinary value addition. Also, this study illustrates the applicability of strategic choice theory in strategic management in developing countries through pertinent choice of inventory management, information management system and facility location in triumphing SDGs.
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Satomi Fujimori, Kazuki Ashida, Noriaki Watanabe, Tomoyuki Nishino, Fumihito Sasamori, Masao Okuhara, Hisaaki Tabuchi and Koji Terasawa
This study aims to compare the physical fitness test results of Japanese children in 2008 and 2018 to narrow the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy and extend…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to compare the physical fitness test results of Japanese children in 2008 and 2018 to narrow the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy and extend healthy life expectancy. In addition, this paper sought to explore the potential of implementing health education programs as a new social context to promote race equality and human rights in health and social care.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was conducted in 2008 and 2018 in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Physical fitness tests related to growth and development were administered to participants aged 6–17 years.
Findings
Physical fitness measurements in 2018, specifically those for walking ability and endurance, were significantly inferior to those in 2008. In a gender-specific analysis, boys outperformed girls in muscle strength, muscle endurance, walking ability and endurance tests, while girls outperformed boys in the balance test.
Research limitations/implications
Most of the junior and senior high school students who participated in the EO test exceeded the upper limit of 120 s, suggesting that the load of the measurement method is low and improvement is necessary. In 2018, a large variation in 6M results was observed among participants, possibly due to the differences in the level of seriousness during the 6M test. Therefore, to ensure that junior and senior high school students properly perform the EO and 6M tests, it is necessary to devise an effective method of implementation, such as changing the physical fitness test load.
Originality/value
Mere health education is ineffective to address health inequalities. Addressing structural factors is essential to avoid unintended consequences such as increasing the gap between groups of people. However, one way to extend healthy life expectancy is to improve overall health, including differences in the health status of groups due to differences in region and socioeconomic status.
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