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1 – 10 of 56Kourosh Delpasand, Saeid Nazari Tavakkoli, Mehrzad Kiani, Mahmoud Abbasi and Leila Afshar
Based on the developmental process of pharmacy in medical relationships, it is essential to pay attention to ethical issues in this field and develop a good pharmacist–patient…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on the developmental process of pharmacy in medical relationships, it is essential to pay attention to ethical issues in this field and develop a good pharmacist–patient relationship. The present study aimed to mention the frequency of ethical challenges of pharmacy in Iran as a fundamental step towards designing a practical ethical guideline for professionals.
Design/methodology/approach
In this observational study, data were collected using a two-part questionnaire with 64 items developed after examining relevant texts and conducting unstructured interviews with pharmacy specialists. The first part determined the frequency of ethical challenges that the pharmacist confronts, using 43 short scenarios, whereas the second part comprised 21 questions with short answers. For validation, the questionnaire was sent to 20 medical ethics specialists who were familiar with issues in pharmacy ethics.
Findings
Data were collected from 48 members of the Iranian Association of Pharmacists (Working Group of Hospital Pharmacists). and the frequency of ethical challenges was determined. The most frequent issues were patient's request for over-the-counter drugs, asking about their lab results, asking drug for another person and returning the drug.
Research limitations/implications
One of the limitation of our study is its population, there were hospital pharmacist, other pharmacist such as community pharmacist may face different challenges.
Practical implications
The finding of this study could lead the policymakers to develop ethical guidelines for pharmacy practices.
Social implications
The pharmacist–patient relationship is one of the important aspects of health system, and therefore regulating this relationship based on the professional ethics guidelines could have a positive impact on therapeutic relationships.
Originality/value
Results showed that designing codes of ethics and practical guidelines based on the frequency of the noted challenges enhances the quality of treatment, improves the pharmacist–patient relationship, increases the level of cooperation and decreases patient complaints.
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Mahmoud Al-Ayyoub, Ahmed Alwajeeh and Ismail Hmeidi
The authorship authentication (AA) problem is concerned with correctly attributing a text document to its corresponding author. Historically, this problem has been the focus of…
Abstract
Purpose
The authorship authentication (AA) problem is concerned with correctly attributing a text document to its corresponding author. Historically, this problem has been the focus of various studies focusing on the intuitive idea that each author has a unique style that can be captured using stylometric features (SF). Another approach to this problem, known as the bag-of-words (BOW) approach, uses keywords occurrences/frequencies in each document to identify its author. Unlike the first one, this approach is more language-independent. This paper aims to study and compare both approaches focusing on the Arabic language which is still largely understudied despite its importance.
Design/methodology/approach
Being a supervised learning problem, the authors start by collecting a very large data set of Arabic documents to be used for training and testing purposes. For the SF approach, they compute hundreds of SF, whereas, for the BOW approach, the popular term frequency-inverse document frequency technique is used. Both approaches are compared under various settings.
Findings
The results show that the SF approach, which is much cheaper to train, can generate more accurate results under most settings.
Practical implications
Numerous advantages of efficiently solving the AA problem are obtained in different fields of academia as well as the industry including literature, security, forensics, electronic markets and trading, etc. Another practical implication of this work is the public release of its sources. Specifically, some of the SF can be very useful for other problems such as sentiment analysis.
Originality/value
This is the first study of its kind to compare the SF and BOW approaches for authorship analysis of Arabic articles. Moreover, many of the computed SF are novel, while other features are inspired by the literature. As SF are language-dependent and most existing papers focus on English, extra effort must be invested to adapt such features to Arabic text.
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Iddrisu Mohammed, Mahmoud Abdulai Mahmoud, Alexander Preko, Robert Hinson and Joseph G. Yeboah
This paper sought to examine the factors that influence intention to recommend, focussing on the extension of the theory of planned behaviour in halal tourism, with additional…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper sought to examine the factors that influence intention to recommend, focussing on the extension of the theory of planned behaviour in halal tourism, with additional instruments such as halal safety and security, and trustworthiness of halal information.
Design/methodology/approach
Guided by a quantitative approach, cross-sectional data were collected using 394 Muslim diaspora tourists. The analysis technique used in this study is the partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The results suggest that halal planned behaviour may account for the intention to recommend. Halal attitude, subjective norm, halal image, halal value, halal safety and security, and trustworthiness of halal information positively and significantly affect intention to recommend.
Practical implications
Muslim diaspora tourists are identified to have halal planned behaviour on intention to recommend. Hence, destination managers and practitioners are suggested to develop proactive halal products and services that appeal to tourists' intention to recommend.
Originality/value
This study has developed two new constructs: halal safety and security, and the trustworthiness of halal information grounded on the theory of planned behaviour in halal tourism. Specifically, the focus is on Muslim diasporic tourists' perspective in a non-Islamic context.
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Mahmoud Mousavi Shiri, Mahdi Salehi, Fatemeh Abbasi and Shayan Farhangdoust
In the process of reporting accounting information, the auditor’s objective is to detect possible misstatements and errors in accounting information. Audit evidence aids auditors…
Abstract
Purpose
In the process of reporting accounting information, the auditor’s objective is to detect possible misstatements and errors in accounting information. Audit evidence aids auditors in providing reasonable assurance about the quality of financial reporting. Studying the quality of family firms’ financial reporting is of higher importance relative to non-family firms due to lower risk of accounting manipulation. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between family ownership structure and financial reporting quality from an auditing perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
To analyze the research hypotheses, the authors use a sample data consisted of 221 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (including 52 family and 169 non-family firms) over a five-year span from 2011 to 2015.
Findings
Using multivariate regression analysis of panel data, our results indicate that audit risk in family firms is lower than their counterparts. Likewise, the findings are indicative of lower audit fees paid by family firms as compared to non-family ones. The authors also find that auditors put more effort in family firms and thus audit effort is more significant for these kinds of firms.
Originality/value
The study focuses on family ownership and financial reporting quality in a developing country like Iran and the results of the study may be beneficial to other developing nations, as Iran stock market possesses some unique features which are not normally prevailing in other equity markets, even in the Middle East.
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Munir A. Abbasi, Azlan Amran and Noor e Sahar
Drawing on expectancy violation theory, this study aims to assess the impact of corporate environmental irresponsibility (CEI) on workplace deviant behaviors (WDB) of Generation Z…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on expectancy violation theory, this study aims to assess the impact of corporate environmental irresponsibility (CEI) on workplace deviant behaviors (WDB) of Generation Z and Millennials through the mediation of moral outrage.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from 328 nonmanagerial employees working in the refinery, petroleum and power distribution companies who have been convicted for committing environmental irresponsibility by a court of law. Multigroup analysis (MGA) was used to estimate the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
Results revealed that CEI affects WDBs positively. Moreover, the MGA results demonstrated that the deviant behavior of Generation Z in response to environmental irresponsibility is higher than of the Millennials.
Research limitations/implications
Theoretically, the findings implicate that harming the environment will cost organizational performance through deviant behaviors.
Practical implications
This study provides a new lens for the executive management that eliminating social irresponsibility is more important than incurring sustainability initiatives, especially from the new generation’s perspective.
Originality/value
The originality of this study is that it confirmed the impact of CEI on employees’ deviant behaviors; and extended the scope of expectancy violation theory to the field of human resources.
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Nima Gerami Seresht, Rodolfo Lourenzutti, Ahmad Salah and Aminah Robinson Fayek
Due to the increasing size and complexity of construction projects, construction engineering and management involves the coordination of many complex and dynamic processes and…
Abstract
Due to the increasing size and complexity of construction projects, construction engineering and management involves the coordination of many complex and dynamic processes and relies on the analysis of uncertain, imprecise and incomplete information, including subjective and linguistically expressed information. Various modelling and computing techniques have been used by construction researchers and applied to practical construction problems in order to overcome these challenges, including fuzzy hybrid techniques. Fuzzy hybrid techniques combine the human-like reasoning capabilities of fuzzy logic with the capabilities of other techniques, such as optimization, machine learning, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) and simulation, to capitalise on their strengths and overcome their limitations. Based on a review of construction literature, this chapter identifies the most common types of fuzzy hybrid techniques applied to construction problems and reviews selected papers in each category of fuzzy hybrid technique to illustrate their capabilities for addressing construction challenges. Finally, this chapter discusses areas for future development of fuzzy hybrid techniques that will increase their capabilities for solving construction-related problems. The contributions of this chapter are threefold: (1) the limitations of some standard techniques for solving construction problems are discussed, as are the ways that fuzzy methods have been hybridized with these techniques in order to address their limitations; (2) a review of existing applications of fuzzy hybrid techniques in construction is provided in order to illustrate the capabilities of these techniques for solving a variety of construction problems and (3) potential improvements in each category of fuzzy hybrid technique in construction are provided, as areas for future research.
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Solmaz Abbasi, Mahmoud Zamani and Changiz Valmohammadi
The aim of this paper is to study the effects of enterprise resource planning (ERP) on management accounting in Iranian organizations. Preparing and offering different reports and…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to study the effects of enterprise resource planning (ERP) on management accounting in Iranian organizations. Preparing and offering different reports and budgets remain important activities for accountants, and directly implementing ERP systems improves the quality of these reports through real-time data transfer.
Design/methodology/approach
The research methods used in this paper are descriptive surveys with questionnaires and interviews as the main data collection tools. Statistical population comprises every organization which has implemented an ERP system with financial/accounting modules. The participating 12 organizations were selected based on consultation with experts, and a seven-item Likert questionnaire was prepared and its validity approved and used to collect data. The t-test and Friedman test were applied to assess the hypotheses and rank parameters.
Findings
Results revealed that the highest effects of implementing an ERP in surveyed Iranian organizations are improving standard levels and the quality of reports, creating more organizational integration and empowering personnel.
Research limitations/implications
As the implementation of ERP in Iran is still in its initial phases and the sample is restricted to only four organizations, when considering the generalizability of the obtained results, caution should be taken.
Originality/value
This research is among the few studies on the effects of ERP implementation on accounting management departments, particularly in the context of Iran.
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Ismail Hmeidi, Mahmoud Al-Ayyoub, Nizar A. Mahyoub and Mohammed A. Shehab
Multi-label Text Classification (MTC) is one of the most recent research trends in data mining and information retrieval domains because of many reasons such as the rapid growth…
Abstract
Purpose
Multi-label Text Classification (MTC) is one of the most recent research trends in data mining and information retrieval domains because of many reasons such as the rapid growth of online data and the increasing tendency of internet users to be more comfortable with assigning multiple labels/tags to describe documents, emails, posts, etc. The dimensionality of labels makes MTC more difficult and challenging compared with traditional single-labeled text classification (TC). Because it is a natural extension of TC, several ways are proposed to benefit from the rich literature of TC through what is called problem transformation (PT) methods. Basically, PT methods transform the multi-label data into a single-label one that is suitable for traditional single-label classification algorithms. Another approach is to design novel classification algorithms customized for MTC. Over the past decade, several works have appeared on both approaches focusing mainly on the English language. This work aims to present an elaborate study of MTC of Arabic articles.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a novel lexicon-based method for MTC, where the keywords that are most associated with each label are extracted from the training data along with a threshold that can later be used to determine whether each test document belongs to a certain label.
Findings
The experiments show that the presented approach outperforms the currently available approaches. Specifically, the results of our experiments show that the best accuracy obtained from existing approaches is only 18 per cent, whereas the accuracy of the presented lexicon-based approach can reach an accuracy level of 31 per cent.
Originality/value
Although there exist some tools that can be customized to address the MTC problem for Arabic text, their accuracies are very low when applied to Arabic articles. This paper presents a novel method for MTC. The experiments show that the presented approach outperforms the currently available approaches.
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Hamidreza Izadbakhsh, Rassoul Noorossana and Seyed Taghi Akhavan Niaki
The purpose of this paper is to apply Poisson generalized linear model (PGLM) with log link instead of multinomial logistic regression to monitor multinomial logistic profiles in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to apply Poisson generalized linear model (PGLM) with log link instead of multinomial logistic regression to monitor multinomial logistic profiles in Phase I. Hence, estimating the coefficients becomes easier and more accurate.
Design/methodology/approach
Simulation technique is used to assess the performance of the proposed algorithm using four different control charts for monitoring.
Findings
The proposed algorithm is faster and more accurate than the previous algorithms. Simulation results also indicate that the likelihood ratio test method is able to detect out-of-control parameters more efficiently.
Originality/value
The PGLM with log link has not been used to monitor multinomial profiles in Phase I.
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Mahdi Salehi, Mahmoud Lari DashtBayaz and Samaneh Mohammadi Moghadam
The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between some management features (management capability, management entrenchment, agency costs and overconfidence) and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between some management features (management capability, management entrenchment, agency costs and overconfidence) and the innovation of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange.
Design/methodology/approach
The study carried out during 2009–2015. A total of 125 companies were selected from eight industries as the sample of study using the method of systematic elimination. A descriptive-correlational design was used in this study and panel data regression models were employed for developing the relationship between research variables.
Findings
The obtained results indicated that managerial ability could foster innovation, while managerial entrenchment could stifle innovation and agency costs and overconfidence have no effect on innovation.
Originality/value
The current study is almost the first project which focuses on the management characteristics and firm innovation in developing countries.
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