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1 – 10 of 378Zhen Han, Yuheng Zhao and Mengjie Chen
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has made telecommuting widely valued, but different individuals have different degrees of acceptance of telecommuting. This article aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has made telecommuting widely valued, but different individuals have different degrees of acceptance of telecommuting. This article aims to identify suitable individuals for telework and to clarify which types of workers are suitable for what level of telework, set scientific, reasonable hybrid work ratios and processes and measure their suitability.
Design/methodology/approach
First, two working scenarios of different risk levels were established, and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used to introduce latent variables, constructing a multi-indicator multi-causal model (MIMIC) to identify suitable individuals, and second, constructing an integrated choice and latent variable (ICLV) model of the working method to determine the suitability of different types of people for telework by calculating their selection probabilities.
Findings
It is possible to clearly distinguish between two types of suitable individuals for telework or traditional work. Their behavior is significantly influenced by the work environment, which is influenced by variables such as age, income, attitude, perceived behavioral control, work–family balance and personnel exposure level. In low-risk scenarios, the influencing factors of the behavioral model for both types of people are relatively consistent, while in high-risk scenarios, significant differences arise. Furthermore, the suitability of telework for the telework-suitable group is less affected by the pandemic, while the suitability for the non-suitable group is greatly affected.
Originality/value
This study contributes to previous literature by: (1) determining the suitability of different population types for telework by calculating the probability of selection, (2) dividing telework and traditional populations into two categories, identifying the differences in factors that affect telework under different epidemic risks and (3) considering the impact of changes in the work scenario on the suitability of telework for employees and classifying the population based on the suitability of telework in order to avoid the potential negative impact of telework.
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Aldo Salinas and Cristian Ortiz
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the productive structure and the size of the informal economy in Latin American countries.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the productive structure and the size of the informal economy in Latin American countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs econometric techniques for panel data covering the period from 2002 to 2017 and considering 17 Latin American countries. The evidence presented is based on the informal economy data generated by Medina and Schneider (2018) who estimate the size of the informal economy using a structural equation model and the share of manufacturing in total employment as a measure of the size of the manufacturing sector. Also, the study addresses the possible endogeneity bias in the relationship studied and makes the conclusions more robust, thus avoiding spurious correlations that weaken the findings.
Findings
The results indicate that most industrialized Latin American countries are associated with a smaller size of the informal economy.
Practical implications
The findings have important policy implications, as they suggest that Latin American economies need to switch the structure of the economy toward more sophisticated productive structures if they want to reduce the size of the informal economy. Thus, more efforts should be deployed to policies to diversify and upgrade economies.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature on the informal economy by connecting the country’s productive structure and informality. Specifically, the results show that the productive structure of countries is a plausible explanation for the size of the informal economy.
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Ilse Valenzuela Matus, Jorge Lino Alves, Joaquim Góis, Paulo Vaz-Pires and Augusto Barata da Rocha
The purpose of this paper is to review cases of artificial reefs built through additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and analyse their ecological goals, fabrication process…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review cases of artificial reefs built through additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and analyse their ecological goals, fabrication process, materials, structural design features and implementation location to determine predominant parameters, environmental impacts, advantages, and limitations.
Design/methodology/approach
The review analysed 16 cases of artificial reefs from both temperate and tropical regions. These were categorised based on the AM process used, the mortar material used (crucial for biological applications), the structural design features and the location of implementation. These parameters are assessed to determine how effectively the designs meet the stipulated ecological goals, how AM technologies demonstrate their potential in comparison to conventional methods and the preference locations of these implementations.
Findings
The overview revealed that the dominant artificial reef implementation occurs in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Seas, both accounting for 24%. The remaining cases were in the Australian Sea (20%), the South Asia Sea (12%), the Persian Gulf and the Pacific Ocean, both with 8%, and the Indian Sea with 4% of all the cases studied. It was concluded that fused filament fabrication, binder jetting and material extrusion represent the main AM processes used to build artificial reefs. Cementitious materials, ceramics, polymers and geopolymer formulations were used, incorporating aggregates from mineral residues, biological wastes and pozzolan materials, to reduce environmental impacts, promote the circular economy and be more beneficial for marine ecosystems. The evaluation ranking assessed how well their design and materials align with their ecological goals, demonstrating that five cases were ranked with high effectiveness, ten projects with moderate effectiveness and one case with low effectiveness.
Originality/value
AM represents an innovative method for marine restoration and management. It offers a rapid prototyping technique for design validation and enables the creation of highly complex shapes for habitat diversification while incorporating a diverse range of materials to benefit environmental and marine species’ habitats.
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Dinh Trung Nguyen and Nguyen Hanh Luu
This paper aims to examine the impacts of macroprudential policy on the shadow economy worldwide.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the impacts of macroprudential policy on the shadow economy worldwide.
Design/methodology/approach
We compile a panel dataset covering 125 countries from 1990 to 2018. This paper mitigates potential endogeneity issues via two-stage least squares and the two-step generalized method of moments (GMM).
Findings
The robust results show that the overall tightening of macroprudential policies exerts an expansion impact on the shadow economy. Further examination of the 16 individual macroprudential policy instruments finds that loan restrictions, countercyclical buffers, surcharges for systemically important financial institutions and capital conservation buffers have positive and statistically significant effect on the shadow economy. This relationship is only present during tightening episodes of macroprudential policy as loosening episodes do not exhibit any significant impact. Finally, this paper documents the nonlinear effects of macroprudential policy.
Practical implications
The results suggest that the supervisory authorities may need to consider another parameter, which is the development of the shadow economy, when devising the optimal macroprudential policy responses.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is likely the first to empirically document the impact of macroprudential policy on the shadow economy. It contributes to the growing literature on the potential side effects of macroprudential policy on the macro-economy.
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Jaekyeong Kim, Pil-Sik Chang, Sung-Byung Yang, Ilyoung Choi and Byunghyun Lee
Because the food service industry is more dependent on customer contact and human resources than other industries, it is crucial to understand the factors influencing employee job…
Abstract
Purpose
Because the food service industry is more dependent on customer contact and human resources than other industries, it is crucial to understand the factors influencing employee job satisfaction to ensure that employees provide satisfactory service to customers. However, few studies have incorporated employee reviews of job portals into their research. Many job seekers tend to trust company reviews posted by employees on job portals based on the information provided by the company itself. Thus, this study utilized company reviews and job satisfaction ratings from employees in the food service industry on a job portal site, Job Planet, to conduct mixed-method research.
Design/methodology/approach
For qualitative research, we applied the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model to food service industry company reviews to identify 10 job satisfaction factors considered important by employees. For quantitative research, four algorithms were used to predict job satisfaction ratings: regression tree, multilayer perceptron (MLP), random forest and XGBoost. Thus, we generated predictor variables for six cases using the probability values of topics and job satisfaction ratings on a five-point scale through LDA and used them to build prediction algorithms.
Findings
The analysis showed that algorithm accuracy performed differently in each of the six cases, and overall, factors such as work-life balance and work environment have a significant impact on predicting job satisfaction ratings.
Originality/value
This study is significant because its methodology and results suggest a new approach based on data analysis in the field of human resources, which can contribute to the operation and planning of corporate human resources management in the future.
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Sinan Obaidat, Mohammad Firas Tamimi, Ahmad Mumani and Basem Alkhaleel
This paper aims to present a predictive model approach to estimate the tensile behavior of polylactic acid (PLA) under uncertainty using the fused deposition modeling (FDM) and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a predictive model approach to estimate the tensile behavior of polylactic acid (PLA) under uncertainty using the fused deposition modeling (FDM) and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D638’s Types I and II test standards.
Design/methodology/approach
The prediction approach combines artificial neural network (ANN) and finite element analysis (FEA), Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) and experimental testing for estimating tensile behavior for FDM considering uncertainties of input parameters. FEA with variance-based sensitivity analysis is used to quantify the impacts of uncertain variables, resulting in determining the significant variables for use in the ANN model. ANN surrogates FEA models of ASTM D638’s Types I and II standards to assess their prediction capabilities using MCS. The developed model is applied for testing the tensile behavior of PLA given probabilistic variables of geometry and material properties.
Findings
The results demonstrate that Type I is more appropriate than Type II for predicting tensile behavior under uncertainty. With a training accuracy of 98% and proven presence of overfitting, the tensile behavior can be successfully modeled using predictive methods that consider the probabilistic nature of input parameters. The proposed approach is generic and can be used for other testing standards, input parameters, materials and response variables.
Originality/value
Using the proposed predictive approach, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the tensile behavior of PLA is predicted for the first time considering uncertainties of input parameters. Also, incorporating global sensitivity analysis for determining the most contributing parameters influencing the tensile behavior has not yet been studied for FDM. The use of only significant variables for FEA, ANN and MCS minimizes the computational effort, allowing to simulate more runs with reduced number of variables within acceptable time.
Baris Kirim, Emrecan Soylemez, Evren Tan and Evren Yasa
This study aims to develop a novel thermal modeling strategy to simulate electron beam powder bed fusion at part scale with machine-varying process parameters strategy…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop a novel thermal modeling strategy to simulate electron beam powder bed fusion at part scale with machine-varying process parameters strategy. Single-bead and part-scale experiments and modeling were studied. Scanning strategies were described by the process controlling functions that enabled modeling.
Design/methodology/approach
The finite element analysis thermal model was used along with the powder bed fusion with electron beam experiments. The proposed strategy involves dividing a part into smaller sections and creating meso-scale models for each subsection. These meso-scale models take into consideration the variable process parameters, including power and velocity of the moving heat source, during part building. Subsequently, these models are integrated to perform partscale simulations, enabling more realistic predictions of thermal accumulation and resulting distortions. The model was built and validated with single-bead experiments and bulky parts with different features.
Findings
Single-bead experiments demonstrated an average error rate of 6%–24% for melt pool dimension prediction using the proposed meso-scale models with different scanning control functions. Part-scale simulations for three different geometries (cantilever beams with supports, bulk artifact and topology-optimized transfer arm) showed good agreement between modeled temperature changes and experimental deformation values.
Originality/value
This study presents a novel approach for electron beam powder bed fusion modeling that leverages meso-scale models to capture the influence of variable process parameters on part quality. This strategy offers improved accuracy for predicting part geometry and identifying potential defects, leading to a more efficient additive manufacturing process.
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Qiongfang Zou, Carel Nicolaas Bezuidenhout and Imran Ishrat
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the efficacy of machine learning (ML) in managing natural language processing tasks, specifically by developing two ML models to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the efficacy of machine learning (ML) in managing natural language processing tasks, specifically by developing two ML models to systematically classify a substantial number of food waste interventions.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review was undertaken to gather global food waste interventions. Subsequently, two ML models were designed and trained to classify these interventions into predefined supply chain-related groups and intervention types. To demonstrate the use of the models, a meta-analysis was performed to uncover patterns amongst the interventions.
Findings
The performance of the two classification models underscores the capabilities of ML in natural language processing, significantly enhancing the efficiency of text classification. This facilitated the rapid and effective classification of a large dataset consisting of 2,469 food waste interventions into six distinct types and assigning them to seven involved supply chain stakeholder groups. The meta-analysis reveals the most dominant intervention types and the strategies most widely adopted: 672 interventions are related to “Process and Operations Optimisation”, 457 to “Awareness and Behaviour Interventions” and 403 to “Technological and Engineering Solutions”. Prominent stakeholder groups, including “Processing and Manufacturing”, “Retail” “Government and Local Authorities” and “NGOs, Charitable Organisations and Research and Advocacy Groups”, are actively involved in over a thousand interventions each.
Originality/value
This study bridges a notable gap in food waste intervention research, a domain previously characterised by fragmentation and incomprehensive classification of the full range of interventions along the whole food supply chain. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to systematically classify a broad spectrum of food waste interventions while demonstrating ML capabilities. The study provides a clear, systematic framework for interventions to reduce food waste, offering valuable insight for practitioners in the food system, policymakers and consumers. Additionally, it lays the foundation for future in-depth research in the food waste reduction domain.
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Michelle Palharini, Matthias Fertig and Peter Wehnert
Published in June 2020, the European Union (EU) Taxonomy Regulation is an important tool for the reorientation of capital flows toward sustainability, establishing a…
Abstract
Published in June 2020, the European Union (EU) Taxonomy Regulation is an important tool for the reorientation of capital flows toward sustainability, establishing a classification system that enables investors to identify green economic activities. Confronted by the reporting demands of this regulation, companies are caught in a sustainability economic revolution. This study seeks primarily to understand firms’ responses to the EU taxonomy, and whether they recognize value creation opportunities by aligning market and nonmarket strategies with the taxonomy goals. For that, we conducted expert interviews and adopted a conceptual framework based on institutional theory, dynamic capabilities view and nonmarket strategy research. Our findings indicate that most firms respond reactively, while firms with sustainability-driven business models tend to respond in an anticipatory way, and firms with high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and low taxonomy eligibility in a defensive way. We also find evidence for mimetic isomorphism related to the influence of consulting and auditing services. Further, high levels of uncertainty, ambiguity and lack of clarity has a great impact on firms’ responses and motives. Finally, this study highlights the EU taxonomy considering a paradigmatic shift toward sustainability, which is not recognized by most firms. To this end, we find that most companies have not identified opportunities arising from nonmarket integration and, rather, see the taxonomy only as an extra regulation to be compliant with. Hence, we argue that it is crucial that firms contextualize the taxonomy within its larger institutional paradigmatic shift to capture the importance of going beyond mere compliance.
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The aim of this study is two-fold: (1) to promote a model of youth participatory research and offer a window of understanding into how it can be enacted and (2) to understand…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is two-fold: (1) to promote a model of youth participatory research and offer a window of understanding into how it can be enacted and (2) to understand youth perspectives on youth empowerment. This study asks: “how can youth help us understand youth empowerment?”
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies youth participatory action research (YPAR) and interpretative phenomenological analysis. The study illustrates how to enact a model of YPAR by engaging youth in the process of research in a youth-serving community non-profit organization.
Findings
This study sets out to make two important contributions, one methodological and one theoretical: First, the study contributes to our understanding of the opportunities and benefits of youth-engaged, peer-to-peer research. Specifically, this study promotes a model of youth participatory action research and knowledge making processes, and the associated social and formal benefits for youth. By extension, this study illustrates an approach to engage youth in formal contexts which has implications for both management and organizational studies and education. Finally, the study extends our understanding and conceptualization of the phenomenon of youth empowerment (as informed by youth perspectives).
Originality/value
The study offers insight into how to conduct youth participatory action research and specifically how to address two limitations cited in the literature: (1) how to authentically engage youth including how to share power, and (2) how to perform youth participatory action research, often critiqued as a black box methodology.
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