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1 – 10 of 11Michael Grace, Alister J. Scott, Jonathan P. Sadler, David G. Proverbs and Nick Grayson
Globally, urban planners and decision makers are pursuing place-based initiatives to develop and enhance urban infrastructure to optimise city performance, competitiveness and…
Abstract
Globally, urban planners and decision makers are pursuing place-based initiatives to develop and enhance urban infrastructure to optimise city performance, competitiveness and sustainability credentials. New discourses associated with big data, Building Information Modelling, SMART cities, green and biophilic thinking inform research, policy and practice agendas to varying extents. However, these discourses remain relatively isolated as much city planning is still pursued within traditional sectoral silos hindering integration. This research explores new conceptual ground at the Smart – Natural City interface within a safe interdisciplinary opportunity space. Using the city of Birmingham UK as a case study, a methodology was developed championing co-design, integration and social learning to develop a conceptual framework to navigate the challenges and opportunities at the Smart-Natural city interface. An innovation workshop and supplementary interviews drew upon the insights and experiences of 25 experts leading to the identification of five key spaces for the conceptualisation and delivery at the Smart-Natural city interface. At the core is the space for connectivity; surrounded by spaces for visioning, place-making, citizen-led participatorylearning and monitoring.The framework provides a starting point for improved discussions, understandings and negotiations to cover all components of this particular interface. Our results show the importance of using all spaces within shared narratives; moving towards ‘silver-green’ and living infrastructure and developing data in response to identified priorities. Whilst the need for vision has dominated traditional urban planning discourses we have identified the need for improved connectivity as a prerequisite. The use of all 5 characteristics collectively takes forward the literature on socio-ecological-technological relationships and heralds significant potential to inform and improve city governance frameworks, including the benefits of a transferable deliberative and co-design method that generates ownership with a real stake in the outcomes.
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Nick Zonneveld, Carina Pittens and Mirella Minkman
The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the existing evidence on leadership that best matches nursing home care, with a focus on behaviors, effects and influencing factors.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the existing evidence on leadership that best matches nursing home care, with a focus on behaviors, effects and influencing factors.
Design/methodology/approach
A narrative review was performed in three steps: the establishment of scope, systematic search in five databases and assessment and analysis of the literature identified.
Findings
A total of 44 articles were included in the review. The results of the study imply that a stronger focus on leadership behaviors related to the specific context rather than leadership styles could be of added value in nursing home care.
Research limitations/implications
Only articles applicable to nursing home care were included. The definition of “nursing home care” may differ between countries. This study only focused on the academic literature. Future research should focus on strategies and methods for the translation of leadership into behavior in practice.
Practical implications
A broader and more conceptual perspective on leadership in nursing homes – in which leadership is seen as an attribute of all employees and enacted in multiple layers of the organization – could support leadership practice.
Originality/value
Leadership is considered an important element in the delivery of good quality nursing home care. This study provides insight into leadership behaviors and influencing contextual factors specifically in nursing homes.
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Manesh Muraleedharan and Alaka Omprakash Chandak
The substantial increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is considered a major threat to developing countries. According to various international organizations and…
Abstract
Purpose
The substantial increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is considered a major threat to developing countries. According to various international organizations and researchers, Kerala is reputed to have the best health system in India. However, many economists and health-care experts have discussed the risks embedded in the asymmetrical developmental pattern of the state, considering its high health-care and human development index and low economic growth. This study, a scoping review, aims to explore four major health economic issues related to the Kerala health system.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of the literature was performed using PRISMA to facilitate selection, sampling and analysis. Qualitative data were collected for thematic content analysis.
Findings
Chronic diseases in a significant proportion of the population, low compliance with emergency medical systems, high health-care costs and poor health insurance coverage were observed in the Kerala community.
Research limitations/implications
The present study was undertaken to determine the scope for future research on Kerala's health system. Based on the study findings, a structured health economic survey is being conducted and is scheduled to be completed by 2021. In addition, the scope for future research on Kerala's health system includes: (1) research on pathways to address root causes of NCDs in the state, (2) determine socio-economic and health system factors that shape health-seeking behavior of the Kerala community, (3) evaluation of regional differences in health system performance within the state, (4) causes of high out-of-pocket expenditure within the state.
Originality/value
Given the internationally recognized standard of Kerala's vital statistics and health system, this review paper highlights some of the challenges encountered to elicit future research that contributes to the continuous development of health systems in Kerala.
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Nicholas Asare, Francis Aboagye-Otchere and Joseph Mensah Onumah
This study examines the nature of the relationship between board structures (BSs) and intellectual capital (IC) of banks in Africa.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the nature of the relationship between board structures (BSs) and intellectual capital (IC) of banks in Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
Using annual data from financial statements of 366 banks from 26 African countries from 2007 to 2015, the study estimates IC using the value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) and BSs using board size, board independence and board gender diversity. The system generalized method of moments and panel-corrected standard error estimation strategies are used to estimate panel regressions.
Findings
There is a significant negative relationship between board independence and intellectual capital. The results also indicate that the IC of banks does not depend on board size and board gender diversity.
Practical implications
The study's findings provide evidence of the extent to which BSs have been instituted to support investments in intellectual capital as a means of improving the performance of banks in Africa.
Originality/value
This study provides some empirical evidence from Africa's banking sector to justify that banks with better IC have boards that are less independent. This study is one of the few studies that employs many countries' data.
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Christine Jorm, Rick Iedema, Donella Piper, Nicholas Goodwin and Andrew Searles
The purpose of this paper is to argue for an improved conceptualisation of health service research, using Stengers' (2018) metaphor of “slow science” as a critical yardstick.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to argue for an improved conceptualisation of health service research, using Stengers' (2018) metaphor of “slow science” as a critical yardstick.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is structured in three parts. It first reviews the field of health services research and the approaches that dominate it. It then considers the healthcare research approaches whose principles and methodologies are more aligned with “slow science” before presenting a description of a “slow science” project in which the authors are currently engaged.
Findings
Current approaches to health service research struggle to offer adequate resources for resolving frontline complexity, principally because they set more store by knowledge generalisation, disciplinary continuity and integrity and the consolidation of expertise, than by engaging with frontline complexity on its terms, negotiating issues with frontline staff and patients on their terms and framing findings and solutions in ways that key in to the in situ dynamics and complexities that define health service delivery.
Originality/value
There is a need to engage in a paradigm shift that engages health services as co-researchers, prioritising practical change and local involvement over knowledge production. Economics is a research field where the products are of natural appeal to powerful health service managers. A “slow science” approach adopted by the embedded Economist Program with its emphasis on pre-implementation, knowledge mobilisation and parallel site capacity development sets out how research can be flexibly produced to improve health services.
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Michael Shaw, Priyantha Bandara and Sardana Islam Khan
This study is an attempt to apply the techniques of semiotics in conjunction with quantitative analysis to decode and interpret an advertisement which promotes the South…
Abstract
Purpose
This study is an attempt to apply the techniques of semiotics in conjunction with quantitative analysis to decode and interpret an advertisement which promotes the South Australian Barossa Valley as a tourist destination.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was submitted to a Southeast Asian student and postgraduate sample. Regression analysis and qualitative analysis were carried out, which suggested that the advertisement was engaging the majority of the audience.
Findings
Most respondents expressed a desire to visit the location and used language which was evocative and connective. Those who did not or who were turned off by the advertisement's content expressed themselves in language which terminated further engagement.
Research limitations/implications
The sample was a non-target group, but this is an advantage because it provides a base level of unconditioned response.
Practical implications
A better understanding of semiotics may reinforce other areas of marketing endeavour such as social marketing approaches which are gaining more importance in the still developing COVID-19 economy. This methodology can be extended to other marketing communication contexts.
Social implications
Once campaigns have been aimed at target audiences, there may be potential to orientate another campaign at non-target audiences using the same advertisement. In terms of global marketing, this is extension rather than adaptation.
Originality/value
This study provides an example of how marketing could use semiotics in conjunction with quantitative methods to determine an audience's response and the intention to purchase a product or service.
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James I. Novak and Jennifer Loy
In response to shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, makers, community groups and manufacturers around the world utilised 3D printing to…
Abstract
In response to shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, makers, community groups and manufacturers around the world utilised 3D printing to fabricate items, including face shields and face masks for healthcare workers and the broader community. In reaction to both local and global needs, numerous designs emerged and were shared online. In this paper, 37 face shields and 31 face masks suitable for fused filament fabrication were analysed from a fabrication perspective, documenting factors such as filament use, time to print and geometric qualities. 3D print times for similar designs varied by several hours, meaning some designs could be produced in higher volumes. Overall, the results show that face shields were approximately twice as fast to 3D print compared to face masks and used approximately half as much filament. Additionally, a face shield typically required 1.5 parts to be 3D printed, whereas face masks required five 3D printed parts. However, by quantifying the print times, filament use, 3D printing costs, part dimensions, number of parts and total volume of each design, the wide variations within each product category could be tracked and evaluated. This data and objective analysis will help makers, manufacturers, regulatory bodies and researchers consolidate the 3D printing response to COVID-19 and optimise the ongoing strategy to combat supply chain shortages now and in future healthcare crises.
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Heather Skinner, David Sarpong and Gareth R.T. White
The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework based on an understanding of the principles of popular mobile-enabled games, indicating how organisations in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework based on an understanding of the principles of popular mobile-enabled games, indicating how organisations in the tourism sector could meet the needs of Millennials and Generation Z through engaging with the existing gamified location-based practice of geocaching as an information and communication technology enabled gamified enhancement to the destination experience.
Design/methodology/approach
As a primarily conceptual paper, the authors take an inductive qualitative approach to theory building based on the understanding of an existing practice (geocaching) that is undertaken among a community of practitioners (geocachers), which results in the presentation of a conceptual framework, which is the theory itself that the authors have constructed from the understanding of what is going on and which principles can then be applied across other tourism practices.
Findings
Findings indicate that through engaging with geocaching, smaller entrepreneurial businesses even in non-urban destinations that fall outside of the remit of smart city developments, and in tourism destinations on the less technologically enabled or resource-rich side of the digital divide, can reap the benefits associated with employing the principles and practices associated with smart tourism to meet the needs of this new generation of tourism consumers who seek richer digital and often gamified tourism experiences.
Originality/value
This paper fills a gap in the literature regarding the way many different types of tourism destinations could meet the needs of Millennials and Generation Z tourists.
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Adele Berndt and Corné Meintjes
Family businesses feature prominently in economies, including the South African wine industry, using websites to convey their family identity. This research paper aims to explore…
Abstract
Purpose
Family businesses feature prominently in economies, including the South African wine industry, using websites to convey their family identity. This research paper aims to explore the family identity elements that family wineries use on their websites, their alignment and how these are communicated online.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on Gioia’s methodology, a two-pronged approach was used to analyze 113 wineries’ websites’ text using Atlas. ti from an interpretivist perspective.
Findings
South African wineries use corporate identity, corporate personality and corporate expression to illustrate their familiness on their websites. It is portrayed through their family name and heritage, supported by their direction, purpose and aspirations, which emerge from the family identity and personality. These are dynamic and expressed through verbal and visual elements. Wineries described their behaviour, relevant competencies and passion as personality traits. Sustainability was considered an integral part of their brand promise, closely related to their family identity and personality, reflecting their family-oriented philosophy. These findings highlight the integration that exists among these components.
Practical implications
Theoretically, this study proposes a family business brand identity framework emphasising the centrality of familiness to its identity, personality and expression. Using websites to illustrate this familiness is emphasised with the recommendation that family businesses leverage this unique attribute in their identity to communicate their authenticity.
Originality/value
This study contributes to understanding what family wineries communicate on their websites, specifically by examining the elements necessary to create a family business brand based on the interrelationship between family identity, personality and expression with familiness at its core, resulting in a proposed family business brand identity framework.
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