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This study investigates how federal and state-level laws designed to reduce workplace sexual harassment relate to the content of sexual harassment training programs in a sample of private U.S. companies. To gauge the effect of the law on the regulation of sexual harassment, we draw on unique data containing information on federal and state-level legal environments, formal discrimination charges filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and establishment-level sexual harassment training initiatives. State-level legal regulation of sexual harassment at work is linked to more elaborate sexual harassment training programs, even when federal legal regulations are not. Our findings underscore the importance of state-level legal regimes in the workplace regulation of gender-based rights and provide an example for future studies of work inequality and the law.

This study aims to blockchain facilitate information sharing among different players in the food industry, such as farmers, food suppliers and investors, enabling an effective decision-making process where the information about goods is traceable without any inherent risk. Although blockchain technology is emerging, its use in the food industry needs to be explored from different angles, such as organizations’ policy, adoption strategies and potential technology innovations which could positively impact business processes.

For this purpose, the authors survey 84 organizations in the food industry. Further, the authors conducted in-depth- interviews with three organizations that applied blockchain technology in the production phase to address the pros and cons of this adaption and discuss how the technology could be improved based on the challenges they faced. Moreover, an overview of current and potential digital transformation uses cases of blockchain technology in the food industry has been provided.

The results suggested that perceived efficiency, transparency, standardization and platform development and traceability factors positively influenced intention to use (ITU).

The adoption of the blockchain cloud solution is neither time-consuming nor expensive; organizations may attempt to predict how regulations or standards will be developed to create a blockchain solution compatible with them.

This study is among the primary studies investigating the role of blockchain technology in the food sector from the organizations’ viewpoint, highlighting the factors influencing the ITU.

Large attention surrounds identifying the meaningful blockchain business model on financial services, while a little focus about non-financial organizations and solutions in terms of how the blockchain business model can affect the organization and bring more value. To address the complex structure of businesses that have public goods, it is important to develop sustainable blockchain-based business models.

This study offers the first qualitative research that uses an integrated technological, environmental and organizational (TOE) framework with technology acceptance theory (TAM) to study the adoption of blockchain technology by Spanish firms.

The results of the paper discuss how that competitive pressure, competence, top management support and relative advantage have a positive impact on intention to adopt blockchain technology while complexity affects the intention to adopt the technology negatively. Contrary to many adoption studies, the findings show that intention to adopt negatively impacts adoption and outline the effect of blockchain on business model elements on the macroeconomic level.

The key contribution of this study lies in providing a comprehensive understanding of the environmental, technological and organizational factors that impact the intention to adopt blockchain that eventually affects adoption.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the motives, opportunities, and threats associated with the adoption of market-driven externally developed reforms (EDRs) as well as how these motivator factors, combined with background variables, account for school principals’ satisfaction with EDR adoption.

Principals from 208 Israeli schools (grades 1-9) completed anonymous self-report questionnaires about the factors motivating their decision to implement EDRs and their satisfaction with these reform programmes in their schools. Validity and reliability tests, bivariate correlations and Pearson tests, paired t-tests, and a step-by-step multiple regression analysis were performed to examine the associations between the independent variables (individual and institutional variables, and motives, opportunities, and threats), and principals’ satisfaction with aspects of the EDRs.

Participants reported opportunities in the areas of pedagogy, learning excellence, teacher growth, and school climate. Threats were moderate-low and related to school faculty resistance, principals’ dependence on stakeholders, and difficulties in implementing EDRs. Of the political and the pedagogic motives, the latter was the sole motive associated with principals’ satisfaction with the EDRs. Findings fit within Herzberg’s two-factor theory and Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory.

Studies on the factors motivating adoption of EDRs are scarce; this is the first to explore motivators’ effects on principals’ satisfaction. It is likely to help principals and decision makers in educational institutions construe the varied factors that affect the adoption of EDRs from senior officials’ viewpoints. Understanding these factors is highly important to the field worldwide because of the growing need to adopt EDRs.

The importance of robotics and automation (R&A) in delivering a safe built environment cannot be overemphasised. This is because R&A systems can execute a hazardous job function that the construction workforce may not execute. Based on this knowledge, this study aims to present the result of an assessment of the impediments to the deployment of R&A for a safe and healthy construction environment.

This study adopted a post-positivist philosophical stance, using a quantitative research approach and a questionnaire administered to construction professionals in South Africa. The data gathered were analysed using frequency, percentage, mean item score, Kruskal–Wallis H-test, exploratory factor analysis and partial least square structural equation modelling (SEM).

This study revealed that the impediments to the deployment of R&A could be grouped into: industry, technology, human and cost-related factors. However, SEM assessment showed that only the industry, human and cost-related factors would significantly impact attaining specific health and safety-related outcomes.

The findings offer valuable benefits to construction organisations as the careful understanding of the identified impeding factors can help lead to better deployment of R&A and the attainment of its inherent safety benefits.

This study attempts to fill the gap in the shortage of literature exploring the deployment of R&A for a safe construction environment, particularly in developing countries like South Africa, where such studies are non-existent. This paper, therefore, offers a theoretical backdrop for future works on R&A deployment, particularly in developing countries where such a study has not been explored.

This study aims to examine the determinants of accountability and transparency of Indonesian village government(s), namely, the competence and organisational commitment of village government staff, and the consequences of accountability and transparency for village community trust.

This research was conducted in village governments in the province of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, covering four regencies: Sleman, Bantul, Kulon Progo and Gunung Kidul. A total of 128 village governments participated in this research. Data were collected by distributing a questionnaire survey, and a partial least squares technique was used to test the research hypotheses.

The study revealed that village government staff's competence and organisational commitment are positively associated with accountability. However, organisational commitment and accountability are not associated with transparency. In addition, it was discovered that transparency is positively associated with village community trust but accountability is not.

By testing the determinants and consequences of accountability and transparency following the ratification of the new village law regulating village government governance, this study is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, pioneering research.

This paper aims to provide a systematic review of the specific roles information professionals have adopted in the past 14 years. It aims to identify the roles reported in the literature concerning developments in the Library and Information Science (LIS) profession.

This study adopted the method of systematic review. Searches were conducted in February and March 2014 on different LIS databases. From a total of 600 papers, 114 were selected, based on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. A thorough full-text analysis of the papers revealed six roles that librarians have adopted: teachers, technology specialists, embedded librarians, information consultants, knowledge managers and subject librarians.

New and evolving roles were identified, mainly in the context of academic libraries. Librarians’ educational responsibilities and their active involvement in the learning and research process were highlighted in all role categories identified. Collaboration among faculty and librarians was reported as a way of ensuring successful instruction. Librarians’ personal views of their new and emerging roles were more frequently reported; further research is needed to shed light on academics, students and other users’ perceptions of librarians’ engagement in the learning process.

The study considered only peer-reviewed papers published between 2000 and 2014 in English. It focused on information professionals’ roles and not on librarians’ skills and their changing professional responsibilities.

This review paper considers the development of the LIS profession in a changing environment and offers an understanding of the future direction of the LIS profession.

This chapter chronicles the evolution of Russian academic practices that are designed to support all students in one educational environment. It draws on Russia’s time-honored practices and includes the contemporary global push toward inclusive settings. This dialogue examines the theories that lay the foundation for Russia’s inclusive transformation. The method of examination for this descriptive qualitative work is a general review of historical educational legislation. The objective is to examine the barriers to inclusion as well as to provide a description of best practices and guiding principles. This historical discussion addresses the foundation of education and builds a context for educators to view the process of embracing inclusion. In this chapter, language, parental views and educational practices are all assessed to comprehend the Russian social nuances that impact change.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

Government is the biggest spender on cloud computing technology but a very limited study and data sets are available to assess the cloud adoption trends in government organizations in India. As India is ushering towards “Digital India” it becomes essential for the government to embrace the cloud to enhance governance and meet the citizen expectations. This paper aims to discuss the evolution of cloud computing (Meghraj) in government organizations by examining the various information technology (IT) and cloud policies, thereby focusing on the policy gaps. The second part of this study assesses the cloud adoption trend by analyzing adopted cloud services, deployments models, leading sectors in cloud adoption and cloud approach. Eventually, in consultation with experts, a conceptual framework for cloud adoption in the government organizations of India is developed for wider cloud adoption.

The authors reviewed various IT/cloud policies and related literature to find the policy gaps for slow cloud adoption in government organizations. Authors have researched to collect the data from the various government procurement portals and analysed the tender and contracts of 500 organizations for cloud requirements to infer the cloud adoption trends. Based on the review of policy gaps, adoption trends and by consulting the experts a conceptual cloud adoption framework has been developed for wider cloud adoption in government organizations.

This study can be a pathfinder where the most innovative findings are about the cloud adoption trends in the government organizations in the time frame from 2013 till 2020. Several key findings are – the public cloud are the most widely adopted, infrastructure as a service model is the most used services, the majority of the applications migrating to the cloud are legacy applications, the leading sector in cloud adoption are – IT, transport and education. It is observed that the pandemic Covid-19 has acted as a catalyst and accelerated cloud adoption in government organizations. Eventually, a conceptual cloud adoption framework has been suggested addressing the policy gaps, deficiencies, overcoming the gaps and their related outcomes for the wider cloud adoption in the government organizations.

The findings of this work highlight the cloud adoption trends in government organizations which can prove vital to the policymakers. This work will assist policymakers, government organizations, researchers, IT professionals and others interested in analyzing the state of cloud adoption. The conceptual cloud adoption framework developed endeavours to uncover the policy gaps, suggest the gap resolution mechanism and outcomes which may assist the organization for wider cloud adoption. This research work effectively connects the policies to practice by stimulating the interest in understanding the policies, strategies and thereby creating the enabling environment for cloud adoption. This study provides feedback on cloud adoption trends which can assist in policy refinement and further strengthen policy/strategies.

As of date, there is limited data available for cloud adoption in government organizations. This work uniquely presents the cloud projections which helps to gain insights on cloud adoption trends in government organizations. This study is the first of its kind, focusing on cloud adoption in the unexplored government sector. This study provides a comprehensive summary of adoption statistics, policy analysis and practice in government organizations of India.