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1 – 4 of 4Reinald Adrian D.L. Pugoy, Consuelo D.L. Habito and Roberto B. Figueroa
The purpose of this paper is to present mobile solutions that aid in accessing open educational resources (OERs) in areas that have limited bandwidth resulting in poor internet…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present mobile solutions that aid in accessing open educational resources (OERs) in areas that have limited bandwidth resulting in poor internet connectivity and a gap between those with ready access to the online OERs and those without such access.
Design/methodology/approach
A system architecture was designed to support the repository-based, mobile-friendly, and hybrid online/offline characteristics of OERs. In a hybrid online/offline setup, the learner connects to the internet to obtain OERs from the repository via a process called syncing. Afterward, he may view any OER content regardless of whether he is online or offline. Mobile solutions based on Browser-Like Android App (BLAP)/HTTrack and Worona/Corona approaches were successfully implemented and evaluated by 139 respondents using the System Usability Scale.
Findings
BLAP/HTTrack and Worona/Corona solutions were well received. These were found to be both relatively usable, acquiring above-average usability scores of 73.2374 and 71.6546, respectively.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study aim to contribute to the literature of hybrid online/offline model that addresses low bandwidth access of OERs in developing countries, which is not historically well provided.
Originality/value
The mobile solutions were designed to help those learners who experience internet connectivity difficulties in accessing OERs efficiently and updating them conveniently.
Details
Keywords
Alvaro Edmundo Tresierra and Sergio David Reyes
This study aims to determine if the quality of national institutions and banking development condition the maturity of debt depending on the horizon of short or long term.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to determine if the quality of national institutions and banking development condition the maturity of debt depending on the horizon of short or long term.
Design/methodology/approach
Analysis is performed on a sample of 116 nonfinancial companies from Peru and Brazil. The measures of quality of national institutions and banking development were obtained from World Bank data and included factorial analysis for dynamic considerations.
Findings
The findings, through the treatment of pointed indicators, the factor analysis and the subsequent estimation of a dynamic econometric model, called GMM-SYS, show that institutional quality fosters the maturity of long-term debt and banking development boots short-term financial relations.
Research limitations/implications
Evaluating different measures of the quality of national institutions and banking development is necessary to demonstrate the robustness of the results beyond the sample evaluated in Latin America.
Practical implications
The research allows to understand the interaction between national institutions and system banking through debt maturity, and this is useful for establishing common target between both groups.
Social implications
It is important for corporate finance to understand the mechanisms of the interaction between national institutions and system banking, because this affects internal decisions of firms regarding financial implications.
Originality/value
The treatment of measures of national institutions and banking development include dynamic considerations, and the application of this study in Latin America provides new findings regarding these kind of indexes and their interaction with firms´ features such as debt maturity.
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Liezl-Marié van der Westhuizen and Stefanie Wilhelmina Kuhn
This study examines handmade clothing consumption as a means of self-expression by exploring the interrelationships between consumers' self-expression, brand love and word of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines handmade clothing consumption as a means of self-expression by exploring the interrelationships between consumers' self-expression, brand love and word of mouth.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a descriptive research design, data were collected from 295 respondents in South Africa who posted about fashion on social media and who had bought handmade clothing in the 6 months prior to data collection. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the interrelationships between consumers' self-expression, brand love and word of mouth.
Findings
Brand love intervenes between consumers' self-brand connections and word of mouth about handmade clothing. More specifically, brand love strengthens positive word of mouth online and mitigates negative word-of-mouth intentions following a handmade clothing product failure scenario.
Research limitations/implications
The study enlightens scholarly understanding of consumers' self-expression motivations for using ready-made handmade clothing that results in brand love and positive word of mouth.
Practical implications
Handmade clothing marketers who tap into consumers' self-expression and who can establish brand love among consumers can similarly create beneficial consumer–brand relationships.
Originality/value
Consumers often use handmade clothing for the purpose of self-expression, which provides subsequent spin-offs for brands in the form of brand love and positive word of mouth. Objective self-awareness theory provides a parsimonious lens to reveal the important role that brand love plays as a mechanism to explain the linkage of consumers' self-brand connections to word of mouth about handmade clothing.
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Thomas Skou Grindsted and Thomas Theis Nielsen
While the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and visions for sustainability education apply to many methods, they can be hard to put into practice. This study aims to concern an…
Abstract
Purpose
While the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and visions for sustainability education apply to many methods, they can be hard to put into practice. This study aims to concern an undergraduate geography course designed not only to teach geographical methods but also to engage with the multi-scalar nature of the SDGs and apply them to various local urban sustainability issues in a real-world context.
Design/methodology/approach
By means of a mixed-method approach, the authors examine a fieldwork course that invites students into learning situations in which they combine critical thinking with entrepreneurial solutions to local sustainability challenges. The authors examine the learning material from the students’ cases and explore the geographical knowledge the students’ practise.
Findings
Fieldwork helps students contextualise the multi-scalar nature of the SDGs and thereby apply them to analyses in a local context. Students learn first-hand how their planning proposals can be seen as counterproductive by some local stakeholders while remaining attractive to others.
Originality/value
Student tasks are developed in collaboration with a local municipality and students present their findings to local politicians and stakeholders. Presenting and localising the SDGs within a local community not only encourages students to undertake a local community analysis but also provides new perspectives to local stakeholders.
Details