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1 – 10 of 58Ileana Zeler, Cristina Fuentes-Lara and Ángeles Moreno
This paper aims to explore the position of women in the communication management sector in Spain from their own experiences. The study examines female communication and leadership…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the position of women in the communication management sector in Spain from their own experiences. The study examines female communication and leadership styles, emphasising the cost of leadership in which they are leaders or led.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a qualitative methodology based on in-depth interviews with 22 women actively working in top companies and agencies: female communication directors, female employees with a female leader and female employees with a male leader. Data were analysed through thematic analysis.
Findings
Results show mixed communication and leadership styles. In addition, the high level of self-demand of female communication managers stands out, making it challenging to achieve a work-life balance and the implementation of successful role models.
Social implications
Exploring the factors of female leadership remains necessary to understand and make their situation in various industries and positions visible. It also helps remove barriers to leadership, guide organisations in addressing gender discrimination issues and develop mechanisms for the internal promotion of female professionals.
Originality/value
To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first study exploring the leadership and communication styles of women in the Spanish Public Relations (PR) and communication management industries. It also highlights the aspects influencing the cost of leadership.
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Martina Toni, Maria Francesca Renzi, Maria Giovina Pasca, Roberta Guglielmetti Mugion, Laura di Pietro and Veronica Ungaro
This paper aims to study the automotive 4.0 context to understand the consumers’ propensity towards high-tech automated cars. The paper analyses the antecedents that lead to the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the automotive 4.0 context to understand the consumers’ propensity towards high-tech automated cars. The paper analyses the antecedents that lead to the use of innovative vehicles. Theory of planned behaviour (TPB) is adopted and extended by including further constructs, such as environmental aspects and inhibitors.
Design/methodology/approach
The advent of smart technologies and the internet of things has given rise to several contributions that look at consumers’ intention towards innovation adoption in the automotive industry. Furthermore, this study rises from the growing interest that sustainable mobility achieved. Based on the previous technology acceptance models and particularly TPB, this paper develops a structured questionnaire. After a pilot survey, the final questionnaire was administered online through email and social media in the Italian context. Structural equation modelling technique has been used for analysing data and testing the conceptual model.
Findings
The number of questionnaires filled out was 310, with a sample composed of young adults, characterised by different addiction levels towards technology. The results explain the drivers that lead to accept and adopt high-tech automated vehicles. This topic is still under investigation and offers potential research opportunities, considering the evolution of the market and the consumers’ habits and needs. Future research studies in this area should focus on generalising the present findings in other countries. Moreover, once this technology starts to be adopted, other constructs could be discovered, investigated and included in the model.
Originality/value
Mobility has raised a growing interest with the fast increasing demand for sustainability and growth of innovative solutions embedded in mobility. This research explores the TPB model’s application and the relation between its constructs, environmental aspects, inhibitors and intention to adopt automated vehicles. On this strength, it is possible to identify each construct’s relevance for obtaining social consensus on the market.
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Martina Paskova and Josef Zelenka
The paper aims to analyse the social responsibility concept and to explore its role in the implementation process of the tourism sustainability concept. The intention is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to analyse the social responsibility concept and to explore its role in the implementation process of the tourism sustainability concept. The intention is to explore the way in which the social responsibility concept is implemented in the tourism and analyse how it contributes to its sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
In this interpretivist research, the authors implemented a qualitative strategy using the following methods: content, critical and comparative analyses of the results reported in available scientific studies, categorization, causal analysis and mental mapping. The authors identified 14 thematic categories of research on the tourism social responsibility. For the causal description, the authors used driving force, pressure, state, impact, response (DPSIR) method.
Findings
The results include identification of the categories of the research topics concerning tourism social responsibility as well as categories of the approaches to the implementation of the social responsibility into the practice of the tourism sector. The causal description of this implementation process is elaborated in the form of the DPSIR model. The created mental map shows the specific facets of the social responsibility concept applied to the diverse tourism subsectors.
Originality value
The main contribution lies in basic overview of the conceptual (theoretical) and instrumental (practical) base for implementation of the social responsibility concept into the tourism, providing in this way a critical analysis of examples of the social responsibility practice in the key tourism subsectors. The examination of the causal analyses in the form of DPSIR model as well as employment of the content analyses in the form of mental map represent innovative approach to the tourism responsibility research.
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Alberto Cavazza, Francesca Dal Mas, Paola Paoloni and Martina Manzo
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a growing technology impacting several business fields. The agricultural sector is facing several challenges, which may be supported by the use of…
Abstract
Purpose
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a growing technology impacting several business fields. The agricultural sector is facing several challenges, which may be supported by the use of such a new advanced technology. The aim of the paper is to map the state-of-the-art of AI applications in agriculture, their advantages, barriers, implications and the ability to lead to new business models, depicting a future research agenda.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured literature review has been conducted, and 37 contributions have been analyzed and coded using a detailed research framework.
Findings
Findings underline the multiple uses and advantages of AI in agriculture and the potential impacts for farmers and entrepreneurs, even from a sustainability perspective. Several applications and algorithms are being developed and tested, but many barriers arise, starting from the lack of understanding by farmers and the need for global investments. A collaboration between scholars and practitioners is advocated to share best practices and lead to practical solutions and policies. The promising topic of new business models is still under-investigated and deserves more attention from scholars and practitioners.
Originality/value
The paper reports the state-of-the-art of AI in agriculture and its impact on the development of new business models. Several new research avenues have been identified.
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Martina Mori, Sara Sassetti, Vincenzo Cavaliere and Mariacristina Bonti
Starting from the relevance of ethics to the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of employee recruitment and selection (R&S), in this article, we aim to…
Abstract
Purpose
Starting from the relevance of ethics to the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of employee recruitment and selection (R&S), in this article, we aim to provide a comprehensive review of the literature in light of the main ethical theories (utilitarian theories, theories of justice, and theories of rights) to identify a future research agenda and practical implications.
Design/methodology/approach
On the basis of the best-quality and most influential journals, we conducted a systematic review of 120 articles from two databases (Web of Science and Scopus) to provide descriptive results and adopt a framework for deductive classification of the main topics.
Findings
Inspired by the three ethical theories, we identified three thematic lines of enquiry for the debate on AI in R&S: (1) the utilitarian view: the efficient optimisation of R&S through AI; (2) the justice view: the perceptions of justice and fairness related to AI techniques; and (3) the rights view: the respect for legal and human rights requirements when AI is applied.
Originality/value
This article provides a detailed assessment of the adoption of AI in the R&S process from the standpoint of traditional ethics theories and offers an integrative theoretical framework for future research on AI in the broader field of HRM.
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Martina Neri, Elisabetta Benevento, Alessandro Stefanini, Davide Aloini, Federico Niccolini, Annalaura Carducci, Ileana Federigi and Gianluca Dini
Information security awareness (ISA) mainly refers to those aspects that need to be addressed to effectively respond to information security challenges. This research used focus…
Abstract
Purpose
Information security awareness (ISA) mainly refers to those aspects that need to be addressed to effectively respond to information security challenges. This research used focus groups to empirically investigate the main ISA dimensions that emerge from the Italian public health-care sector. This study aims to identify the most critical dimension of ISA and to evaluate the diffusion and maturity of information security policies (ISPs) of health-care infrastructure and training programs.
Design/methodology/approach
This research adopted a qualitative research design and focus groups as a research methodology. Data analysis was conducted using the NVIVO 14 software package and followed the principles of thematic analysis.
Findings
The focus group results highlighted that health-care personnel find it difficult to comply with the main ISA dimensions, a situation that leads to risky behaviors. Password management, data storage and transfer and instant messaging applications emerged as the most critical of the main ISA dimensions in the context of this research. It also transpired that ISPs are not all-encompassing as they mainly focus on privacy problems but neglect security concerns. Finally, training programs are not fully implemented in the investigated context, thus undermining their positive enhancing role for ISA.
Originality/value
The public health-care sector emerged as a critical yet still under-investigated context. The need for an in-depth investigation of organizational sciences approaches to overcoming information security challenges is also recommended in several prior research studies.
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Martina Fuchs and Johannes Westermeyer
The purpose of this paper is to explore the scope for action of local human resource managers, who are employed in foreign subsidiaries of multinational companies (MNCs), for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the scope for action of local human resource managers, who are employed in foreign subsidiaries of multinational companies (MNCs), for implementing training activities. These managers are situated in relationships to headquarters and the local environment. Related to this is the question whether MNCs contribute to the local skill base by implementing training activities or whether they exploit the existing skill formation system.
Design/methodology/approach
This study focusses on German subsidiaries of MNCs with headquarters in the USA and the UK, France, China and Japan. The study is based on 107 expert interviews with subsidiary managers and representatives of local stakeholder organisations, such as educational organisations, chambers, economic promotion agencies and governmental bodies in Germany.
Findings
The study reveals that headquarters introduce general schemes for training. In addition to these MNC-internal trainings, local managers use their information advantage over headquarters to implement dual training activities.
Research limitations/implications
The training activities of subsidiaries are dependent on the institutional settings of the host country.
Practical implications
Albeit dual training activities are laborious and tie the local managers down for the medium and long term, the future need of the subsidiary for adequately skilled workforce prompts local managers’ engagement in implementing dual training activities.
Social implications
Subsidiaries contribute to the local skill base and do not act in a free-rider position, at least in the German variety of capitalism.
Originality/value
The study deepens insights on distanced relations within and how subsidiaries generate scope for action by using this kind of relationships.
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Martina Kurki and Marko Järvenpää
Expectations regarding the participation of management accountants (MAs) in the promotion of sustainability of multinational enterprises (MNEs) have been poorly realised. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Expectations regarding the participation of management accountants (MAs) in the promotion of sustainability of multinational enterprises (MNEs) have been poorly realised. This raises the question of whether MAs are invited to join in sustainability promotion or does sustainability not fit the perceived professional role of MAs. We suggest that the development of individual-level engagement of corporate sustainability is required for MAs to start contributing to corporate sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
We utilise the psychological ownership theory to investigate how MAs’ professional role could develop to incorporate advancing sustainability. Our qualitative study is based on 32 interviews conducted in seven local business units of three different technology-oriented MNEs.
Findings
We reveal features connected to the professional role of MAs that may impede the activation of the routes to psychological ownership of corporate sustainability, thus undermining their involvement in corporate sustainability enhancement. Moreover, we show that MAs’ own perceptions of their professional role may impede the stimulation of the routes.
Originality/value
From a managerial viewpoint, our study helps readers to understand how the routes to psychological ownership of corporate sustainability could be cultivated in the development of the future role of MAs. It also gives input for MA professional organisations and MA professional education providers to develop conditions that foster sustainability thinking among MAs. Moreover, by integrating the examination of MAs’ professional role with the psychological ownership theory, we broaden the theoretical scene both in management accounting and in business sustainability research.
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Martina Neri, Federico Niccolini and Luigi Martino
Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly widespread, and cybersecurity is therefore increasingly important. Although the technological aspects of cybersecurity are its best-known…
Abstract
Purpose
Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly widespread, and cybersecurity is therefore increasingly important. Although the technological aspects of cybersecurity are its best-known characteristics, the cybersecurity phenomenon goes beyond the detection of technological impacts, and encompasses all the dimensions of an organization. This study thus focusses on an additional set of organizational elements. The key elements of cybersecurity organizational readiness depicted here are cybersecurity awareness, cybersecurity culture and cybersecurity organizational resilience (OR). This study aims to qualitatively assess small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) overall level of organizational cybersecurity readiness.
Design/methodology/approach
This study focused on conducting a cybersecurity organizational readiness assessment using a sample of 53 Italian SMEs from the information and communication technology sector. Informed mixed method research, this study was conducted consistent with the principles of the explanatory sequential mixed method design, and adopting a quanti-qualitative methodology. The quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire. Qualitative data were subsequently collected through semi-structured interviews.
Findings
Although many elements of the technical aspects of cybersecurity OR have yielded very encouraging results, there are still some areas that require improvement. These include those facets that constitute the foundation of cybersecurity awareness, and, thus, a cybersecurity culture. This result highlights that the areas in need of improvement are exactly those that are most important in fighting against cyber threats via organizational cybersecurity readiness.
Originality/value
Although the importance of SMEs is obvious, evidence of such organizations’ attitudes to cybersecurity are still limited. This research is an attempt to depict the organizational issue related to cybersecurity, i.e. overall cybersecurity organizational readiness.
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Martina Čaić, Dominik Mahr and Gaby Oderkerken-Schröder
The technological revolution in the service sector is radically changing the ways in which and with whom consumers co-create value. This conceptual paper considers social robots…
Abstract
Purpose
The technological revolution in the service sector is radically changing the ways in which and with whom consumers co-create value. This conceptual paper considers social robots in elderly care services and outlines ways in which their human-like affect and cognition influence users’ social perceptions and anticipations of robots’ value co-creation or co-destruction potential. A future research agenda offers relevant, conceptually robust directions for stimulating the advancement of knowledge and understanding in this nascent field.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing from service, robotics and social cognition research, this paper develops a conceptual understanding of the value co-creation/destruction potential of social robots in services.
Findings
Three theoretical propositions construct an iterative framework of users’ evaluations of social robots in services. First, social robots offer users value propositions leveraging affective and cognitive resources. Second, users’ personal values become salient through interactions with social robots’ affective and cognitive resources. Third, users evaluate social robots’ value co-creation/destruction potential according to social cognition dimensions.
Originality/value
Social robots in services are an emerging topic in service research and hold promising implications for organizations and users. This relevant, conceptually robust framework advances scholarly understanding of their opportunities and pitfalls for realizing value. This study also identifies guidelines for service managers for designing and introducing social robots into complex service environments.
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