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1 – 10 of over 12000Dan Beveridge, Marcia McKenzie, Philip Vaughter and Tarah Wright
This paper aims to report on a census of high-level sustainability initiatives at all accredited post-secondary institutions in Canada by documenting the institutions that have…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report on a census of high-level sustainability initiatives at all accredited post-secondary institutions in Canada by documenting the institutions that have undertaken sustainability assessments, have signed one or more sustainability declarations, have sustainability offices or officers or have sustainability policies. The aim was to better understand the broad-scale patterns of commitments by post-secondary institutions to these sustainability initiatives by exploring the interrelationships among them, and with geographic and institutional characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected on existing high-level sustainability initiatives at Canada’s 220 accredited post-secondary institutions. Patterns in the data were analyzed using exploratory statistical techniques. This paper proposes a sustainability initiative score to help understand the diversity and patterns of sustainability initiative uptake.
Findings
Institutions located in larger communities, and in British Columbia and Québec, tended to have higher sustainability initiative scores. Institutions in Saskatchewan and the territories had the lowest sustainability initiative scores. It was found that sustainability office(r)s, assessments and policies co-occurred disproportionately, potentially suggesting positive reinforcement mechanisms. On the other hand, having signed a declaration was not strongly linked to other sustainability initiatives. Terminological preference had shifted from “environment” and “sustainable development” to “sustainability”.
Research limitations/implications
The scope was limited to a discrete set of high-level sustainability initiatives appropriate for a nation-wide census, at a moment in time, and is therefore not exhaustive in subject or temporal extent. This broad-scale comparative analysis compels further study into the relationship between the sustainability policy environment and sustainability practices on the ground, as well as implications for how post-secondary institutions engage with sustainability. The patterns and interrelationships this paper discovered help to structure future critical and comparative in-depth analyses of sustainability policies and practices within post-secondary education.
Originality/value
Almost no extensive, comparative empirical studies of sustainability policy and practice in post-secondary institutions exist. This void is addressed by documenting and analyzing high-level sustainability initiatives across all accredited post-secondary institutions in Canada.
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Vasileios Ismyrlis, Odysseas Moschidis and George Tsiotras
The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of the importance and implementation of the critical success factors (CSFs) required for the appropriate function of a quality…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of the importance and implementation of the critical success factors (CSFs) required for the appropriate function of a quality management system (QMS) in ISO 9001:2008-certified companies and the differences between the CSFs and the demographic variables of the companies.
Design/methodology/approach
A research project was carried out in Greek companies from all business sectors using the questionnaire technique. The selected companies all implement a QMS in accordance with the ISO 9001:2008 standard. Correspondence analysis, a methodology from the multidimensional statistics field, was also used to identify significant differences between the importance and implementation levels of the CSFs of the QMS.
Findings
The importance that quality assurance managers attribute to these CSFs was high enough in most categories, but there was a significant difference in the implementation level, which displayed much lower scores. The most important factors seem to be management commitment, education, and communication, while the least important were the availability of data and use of statistics. Differences between categories of demographic variables were present only for the firm size variable.
Research limitations/implications
The study was based on the perception (i.e. subjective data) of only one quality manager/representative of each company.
Practical implications
The paper provides information to certified companies in Greece on the differences in the importance and implementation levels of quality management practices (especially for hard factors) and motivation to investigate possible causes. Moreover, the most important factors for the successful implementation of ISO 9001 are presented.
Originality/value
This paper describes the implementation and given importance of the CSFs in companies with experience of the ISO 9001:2008 standard and for the analysis of the data a methodology from the multidimensional field is applied, with the complementary use of some special tables of coincidences.
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David J. Hansen, G.T. Lumpkin and Gerald E. Hills
This paper seeks to detail an exploratory examination of a multidimensional, creativity‐based theoretical model of opportunity recognition originally proposed by Hills et al. and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to detail an exploratory examination of a multidimensional, creativity‐based theoretical model of opportunity recognition originally proposed by Hills et al. and later refined by Lumpkin et al., but never empirically tested. The paper also aims to examine the relationship between individual dimensions of the model and creativity.
Design/methodology/approach
Analyses were conducted using AMOS software on a sample of 145 entrepreneurs. One structural equation model (SEM) and three confirmatory factor analysis models were tested.
Findings
The five‐dimensional model – consisting of preparation, incubation, insight, evaluation, and elaboration – was determined to be the best fitting model. The SEM model also indicated that incubation and elaboration were significantly related to creativity. Overall, a multidimensional, creativity‐based approach to modeling opportunity recognition is supported by this study.
Research limitations/implications
Cross‐sectional data do not allow for testing of the process aspect of the model; however, they do provide evidence that the model can stand up to empirical tests of the five elements of the model. Future research should examine opportunity using multiple dimensions and a creativity perspective. Additional research is needed to examine the process aspects of opportunity recognition.
Practical implications
Fostering opportunity recognition processes that are iterative and involve multiple stages is likely to promote more creative entrepreneurial outcomes.
Originality/value
This study provides one of the few examples of a multidimensional perspective on opportunity recognition as well as an empirical examination of a creativity‐based theoretical model of opportunity recognition.
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Sikiru Jimoh Babalola and Saidatulakmal Mohd
The purpose of this study is to analyse the influence of household and community characteristics on multidimensional poverty in communities hosting public universities in Ondo…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyse the influence of household and community characteristics on multidimensional poverty in communities hosting public universities in Ondo state, Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
The study constructs Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) using Alkire-Foster methodology and uses logistic regression to analyse the likelihood of experiencing multidimensional poverty.
Findings
Findings from the study suggest that child schooling attendance, child mortality and asset ownership are the indicators in which households are mostly deprived in education, health and living standards consecutively. In addition, using logistic regression, the study finds multidimensional poverty reducing effects of education, age (before old), household size (having more economically active members), income and residing in urban areas. The study, however, documents that living far away from the universities increases the likelihood of experiencing multidimensional poverty in those communities.
Research limitations/implications
To reduce multidimensional poverty in the communities of study, there is need to implement policies that will improve child schooling, reduce infant mortality, increase gainful employment and create enabling environment for asset ownership. This is in addition to upgrading infrastructure in those communities especially in their fringe areas so that development can spread, and multidimensional poverty reduction can follow in no distant future.
Originality/value
Unlike capturing the effect of location on possibility of experiencing poverty using rural or urban dummy, the authors, in addition to that, incorporate distance to university variable on the premise of distance decay mechanism.
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Vasileios Ismyrlis and Odysseas Moschidis
The purpose of this paper is to examine the benefits of ISO 9001 certification and the association between them, the level of implementation of the critical success factors (CSFs…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the benefits of ISO 9001 certification and the association between them, the level of implementation of the critical success factors (CSFs) required for the appropriate functioning of the quality management system in ISO 9001:2008 certified companies and between other demographic variables.
Design/methodology/approach
A research project was carried out in Greek companies from all business sectors using the questionnaire technique. The selected companies implement a quality management system in accordance with the ISO 9001:2008 standard. Correspondence analysis, a methodology from the field of multidimensional statistics, was used to identify significant differences between the effects on performance and other variables such as the implementation level of CSFs relating to the quality management system and years of certification.
Findings
External benefits seem to be more important than internal benefits. The least important benefits were mostly business results, such as profits, costs and market share. Differences were detected between the level of performance and certain demographic variables such as the use of International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) alone, size and years of certification. The certified companies have generally benefited from ISO implementation.
Research limitations/implications
The study was based on the perceptions (subjective data) of only one quality manager/representative from each company. The motives for ISO certification, which can seriously affect the benefits derived, were not examined.
Practical implications
The measures presented here can be used by certified companies to evaluate performance (financial or not) related to ISO 9001 certification and to discover those factors that contribute to the better exploitation of the ISO 9001:2008 standard.
Originality/value
This paper aims to evaluate performance since the implementation of the ISO 9001:2008 standard in Greek companies, which are confronting a tough economic environment and to analyse this data with a methodology from the multidimensional field, with the complementary use of some special tables of coincidence.
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Evrikleia Chatzipetrou and Odysseas Moschidis
Given the fact that the Greek food and beverage (F&B) sector, along with the tourism sector, is the basis of Greek economy, the purpose of this paper is to depict the extent to…
Abstract
Purpose
Given the fact that the Greek food and beverage (F&B) sector, along with the tourism sector, is the basis of Greek economy, the purpose of this paper is to depict the extent to which Greek F&B enterprises have embraced quality costing, as a means toward economic development and quality assurance. Since no previous research has taken place in this area, the paper aims to analyze whether the quality costing approach has been adopted, in order to achieve quality improvement and a reduction of production costs.
Design/methodology/approach
As the variables in this research are mostly nominal, and no similar work has been previously conducted in Greece, an exploratory approach is adopted, specifically multiple correspondence analysis. This approach enables the researcher not only to analyze the phenomenon in a more holistic way, but also to highlight potential issues and questions that have not been previously identified.
Findings
The research concludes that Greek F&B enterprises have not yet accepted the assumption that quality costing leads to a reduction of production costs and to quality improvement. Furthermore, a second analysis highlights that “turnover” and “ISO-HACCP systems” are the most dominant demographic variables, which have a direct relationship to prevention and internal failure costs.
Originality/value
Since the Greek F&B industry constitutes the larger “employer” of domestic manufacturing, this research sheds light on the role that quality costing plays in the development and success of the Greek F&B sector, by exploring the approach that has been adopted by F&B enterprises, as well as the economic outcome of this process.
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Odysseas Moschidis, Evrikleia Chatzipetrou and George Tsiotras
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the sophistication of a quality costing system depends on the quality management maturity (QMM) level in Food and Beverage (F&B…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the sophistication of a quality costing system depends on the quality management maturity (QMM) level in Food and Beverage (F&B) enterprises. Since no previous research has taken place in this area, the paper aims at analyzing the relationships between quality costing and the specific variables that define the various maturity stages.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured questionnaire was used to survey 457 F&B companies. This produced 104 usable responses (23 percent response rate). Multidimensional correspondence analysis (MCA) with hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were used to detect and represent underlying structures in the categorical data set and to detect possible clusters between variables.
Findings
The more mature a company’s QMM, the more emphasis they placed on appraisal quality costs and effective use of quality costs information. Prevention costs have no statistically significant connection with the level of maturity. A generalized “expensive” use of quality costing, with no focus on problematic areas and possible solutions, does not always lead to the resolution of problems.
Research limitations/implications
A complicated – and some think unfair – tax system, combined with limited cash liquidity constitutes an unstable environment for Greek companies, in which they have to survive and develop. This environment does not support quality costing, thus resulting in limited interest by company management in participating in the authors’ research. Furthermore, the Greek Uniform Chart of Accounts and the Greek Accounting Standards do not include specific quality-related accounts, making it difficult for companies to measure quality costs and for researchers to investigate the quality costing field.
Originality/value
It is the first time that QMM levels of Greek F&B companies have been reported. The research explores the characteristics that a quality costing system of Greek F&B organizations develop at the various maturity levels. The analysis uses an exploratory method – MCA – which can highlight intense correspondences of characteristics and clusters, which cannot be predicted in advance.
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Lara Penco, Enrico Ivaldi and Andrea Ciacci
This study investigates the relationship between the strength of innovative entrepreneurial ecosystems and subjective well-being in 43 European smart cities. Subjective well-being…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the relationship between the strength of innovative entrepreneurial ecosystems and subjective well-being in 43 European smart cities. Subjective well-being is operationalized by a Quality of Life (QOL) survey that references the level of multidimensional satisfaction or happiness expressed by residents at the city level. The entrepreneurial ecosystem concept depicted here highlights actor interdependence that creates new value in a specific community by undertaking innovative entrepreneurial activities. The research uses objective and subjective variables to analyze the relationships between the entrepreneurial ecosystem and subjective well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a cluster analysis with a nonaggregative quantitative approach based on the theory of the partially ordered set (poset); the objective was to find significant smart city level relationships between the entrepreneurial ecosystem and subjective well-being.
Findings
The strength of the entrepreneurial ecosystem is positively related to subjective well-being only in large cities. This result confirms a strong interdependency between the creation of innovative entrepreneurial activities and subjective well-being in large cities. The smart cities QOL dimensions showing higher correlations with the entrepreneurial ecosystem include urban welfare, economic well-being and environmental quality, such as information and communications technology (ICT) and mobility.
Practical implications
Despite the main implications being properly referred to large cities, the governments of smart cities should encourage and promote programs to improve citizens' subjective well-being and to create a conducive entrepreneurship environment.
Originality/value
This study is one of the few contributions focused on the relationship between the entrepreneurial smart city ecosystem and subjective well-being in the urban environment.
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Tim Hartwig and Trung Thanh Nguyen
The authors examine the association between infrastructure and a household's resilience capacity against shocks and the impacts of a household's resilience capacity on household…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors examine the association between infrastructure and a household's resilience capacity against shocks and the impacts of a household's resilience capacity on household consumption and poverty.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use panel data (collected in 2010, 2013 and 2016) from 1,698 households in Thailand and 1,701 households in Vietnam and employ an instrumental variable approach.
Findings
The authors find that transportation and information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure help improve households' absorptive capacity in coping with shocks. Furthermore, this capacity can prevent households from reducing consumption and falling into poverty.
Practical implications
Rural development policies should attend to transportation and ICT infrastructure.
Originality/value
The authors establish empirical evidence on the association between infrastructure and a household's resilience capacity and the impact of resilience capacity on poverty.
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Ilona Pezenka and Christian Buchta
This study focuses on the emotional aspects of destinations and employs two different scales for capturing the affective component of city destination image. The aim of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
This study focuses on the emotional aspects of destinations and employs two different scales for capturing the affective component of city destination image. The aim of this paper is not only to measure the emotions assigned to different European cities, but also to compare these two instruments/scales by means of Procrustes analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected measurements on two different scales (verbal and pictorial) for capturing the emotional (affective) component of destination image – both based on Russell's circumplex model of affect – in two independent surveys.
Findings
Significant differences were found between the multidimensional scaling (MDS) results of both scales. Because the two samples match in terms of demographics and psychographics, the differences of the perceptual spaces are likely due to the form of stimuli (pictures compared to verbal items) presented. The results indicate that pictures are easy to use, but they also are subject to broader interpretations. In contrast, verbal items are more concise, but perhaps respondents may find it harder to assign them to cities (especially negative emotions).
Research limitations/implications
The paper contributes to the literature by suggesting a methodology for detailed analysis of the differences in measurements, and introducing implications that apply primarily to researchers once new measurement methods are introduced. The limitations of this research relate to the sample (convenience sample): the respondents were solely Austrians, and thus only one culture was represented.
Originality/value
Although several other researchers suggest measuring both the cognitive and the affective image, very few studies incorporate both aspects in evaluating destination image. In contrast, this study applies different scales to incorporate emotions in destination image measurement and demonstrates the applicability of the scales in the tourism context.
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