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Health promotion strategies often attempt to change people’s behavior through targeting their risk perceptions. These perceptions may, however, be moderated by other factors. This study therefore aimed at investigating the trustworthiness and consistency of risk information, as well as respondent perceptions of the adequacy of amount received among a representative sample of former smokers, and how this information is related to gender, age, education level and whether using nicotine or not.

The respondents are part of a seven-year follow-up of former smokers in Sweden. Initially, 1400 respondents were contacted, whereof 705 (response rate 50%) answered a Web-survey. The majority (85 %) was still nicotine-free but some made use of nicotine in different forms. The data analysis includes descriptive statistics and logistic regressions.

Most respondents trusted risk information whether offered by the public authorities or came from other sources such as media, and generally perceived that there was an adequate amount. However, there were some differences between the products, where quite a few distrusted information on Nicotine Replacement Therapies (NRTs) and some perceived the information on snus and NRTs as contradictory and too little.

Knowledge about how former smokers perceive information regarding negative aspects of cigarette use may facilitate more effective risk communication with current smokers, and it may also be important for communicating information about other nicotine products to those who are trying to or who already have quit smoking.

The blockchain-based digital twin has been recognized as a prominent technological ecosystem featuring synergies with both established and emergent information management practice. The purpose of this research is to explore the applicability, interoperability and integrability of a blockchain-based digital twin for asset life cycle management and develop a model of framework which positions the digital twin within a broader context of current management practice and technological availability.

A systematic literature review was performed to map use cases of digital twin, IoT, blockchain and smart contract technologies. Surveys of industry professionals and analyses were conducted focussing on the mapped use cases' life cycle–centric applicability, interoperability and integrability with current asset life cycle management practice, exploring decision support capabilities and industry insights. Lastly, a model of framework was developed based on the use case, interoperability and integrability findings.

The results support approaching digitization initiatives with blockchain-based digital twins and the positioning of the concept as both a strategic tool and a multifunctional on-field support application. Integrability enablers include progression towards BIM level 3, decentralized program hubs, modular cross-technological platform interfaces, as well as mergeable and scalable blockchains.

Knowledge of use cases help highlight the functionality of an integrated technological ecosystem and its connection to comprehensive sets of asset life cycle management aspects. Exploring integrability enablers contribute to the development of management practice and solution development as user expectations and technological prerequisites are interlinked.

The research explores asset life cycle management use cases, interoperability and integrability enablers of blockchain-based digital twins and positions the technological ecosystem within current practice and technological availability.

During the past decade, Danish policies and legislation have increasingly focused on accessibility, which, by virtue of adopting the UN Sustainable Development Goals, has spurred new demands for the expertise of Danish landscape architects. Surveys indicate as much as 27% of the Danish population have a physical disability. Therefore, landscape architectural firms play an important role in designing accessible, public and green spaces, which could reduce the number of people who experience disability in their everyday life arising from inaccessible designs. Despite this, peer-reviewed research has not attempted to qualitatively understand how landscape architects approach accessibility in their daily practice.

Based on a grounded theory analysis of 15 semi-structured qualitative interviews with randomly selected landscape architectural firms, this study aims to describe how landscape architectural firms approach and perceive accessibility.

The results of the study show a complex understanding of accessibility among practising landscape architects, with firms focusing on the role of Danish building regulations, the programming of accessibility and professional aesthetic dilemmas. Moreover, accessibility is perceived with some frustration as an element that takes valuable space from green areas due to clients' lack of willingness to provide resources for integrated solutions, landscape architects' own limited expertise and knowledge of integrated accessibility solutions and insufficient regulatory leeway.

As accessibility is a major element of the tasks within contemporary landscape architecture, graduates need additional training in accessibility, which, in turn, necessitates additional research into accessible design solutions.

The purpose of this article is to ascertain empirically to what extent we can quantify an occupational shift, where a new type of bureaucracy of organisational professionals is on the rise in tertiary educational institutions in New Zealand. Furthermore, the objective is also to present accountability as the prime factor behind the changes.

The analytical strategy of the study takes a point of departure in the distinction between occupational and organisational professionals in the public sector in general, and more specifically in tertiary education (TE). Based on these new categorisations, the authors have used various descriptive historical statistics (both national and institutional) to estimate changes over time.

The article finds, in line with some international research, that there has been a comparatively higher growth of organisational professionals in TE in New Zealand, and a significantly higher growth than in the private sector and in the overall public services. The authors hypothesise that this growth can be associated with accountability (both vertical and horizontal) as the dominant notion in TE.

This article takes a different approach than the existing literature on administrative intensity in TE by looking at occupational changes rather than changes in institutions budgets. This article also confirms some of the findings in the growing international literature on changes in professional roles.

This paper aims at understanding the relationship between the adoption of new forms of work organizations (NFWOs) and measures of country impact, in terms of national culture and economic development.

The adoption of NFWO practices is measured through data from the fourth edition of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey, while Hofstede's measures are adopted for national culture, and gross national income (GNI) per capita is used as an economic development variable. Multivariate linear regression is applied to investigate relationships, using company size as a control variable. A cluster analysis is utilized to identify groups of countries with similar cultural characteristics and to highlight different patterns of adoption of NFWO practices.

The authors show that it is possible to explain different patterns in the adoption of NFWO practices when considering company size and cultural variables. GNI is instead only significant for some practices and does not always positively influence the adoption of NFWO. On the other hand, cultural variables are linked to all the practices, but there is no dominant dimension to explain higher or lower NFWO adoption.

Results are limited because only Hofstede's cultural variables are used and manufacturing performance is not considered. Therefore, it is not possible to discriminate between more or less successful NFWO variations.

This paper provides managers with insights on how to take into account cultural variables when transferring organizational models to different countries.

This paper contributes to previous studies showing the importance of including several contextual variables, country impact in particular, in the study of operations management.

Research results concerning the cost‐saving potential of international sourcing have been ambiguous and the topic has been covered in isolation without accounting for influences of alternative cost‐saving approaches. This paper aims to analyze the expected financial impact of international sourcing in relation to savings potential attributed to other sourcing tactics, such as, e.g. collaborative product improvement. Furthermore, the paper tests for potential trade‐offs between different levers.

Data stem from results of 134 cross‐functional cost‐saving workshops using an identical methodology. Workshop participants identified and estimated cost‐saving projects considering seven sourcing levers. Results were recorded in a standardized way and analyzed scrutinizing secondary data.

Contrary to other studies, data revealed that international sourcing projects averaged 3.4 percent savings expectations. More than 80 percent of total savings potential was attributed to other sourcing levers, such as pooling of demand or process improvement. Results highlight possible trade‐offs between international sourcing and, e.g. joint product optimization.

A rigorous and strict, highly standardized method was employed and data were validated via cross‐functional team discussions, however, ex ante expectations instead of ex post realized savings are analyzed.

Findings give guidance on the importance of international sourcing compared to other levers and help to correct the misconception of international sourcing as a “purchasing panacea.” The findings highlight the need to develop a coherent sourcing strategy for specific commodity groups, including reinforcing tactics and avoiding trade‐offs.

For the first time, explicitly cost‐savings expectations from international sourcing have been analyzed together with other cost‐saving levers concerning relative importance and possible trade‐offs among them.

In 2009, the European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) celebrates its 15th anniversary and its precursor, the UK OMA, its 25th anniversary. The purpose of this paper is to review the origins and foundations of today's EurOMA and how it has progressed to being a vibrant and successful organisation.

The review draws on archived documents, especially newsletters and board minutes, as well as memories of all of those involved.

The review shows an important evolution from two groups of like minded individuals, through building annual conferences and brings these together as one. It then shows how it has evolved both through formalisation of its activities, building international links and, most importantly, developing a portfolio of activities to develop and support young researchers.

Where records are not available, the paper draws on individual memories of events from a long time ago.

As well as providing an invaluable record, it can provide a model for the development of similar organisations.

This paper investigate how fit uncertainty impacts product return costs in online retailing and how digital product fitting, a pre-sales fitting practice, can reduce fit uncertainty.

The paper analyzes the current performance of a retailer's e-commerce and return operations by estimating costs generated by product returns, including product handling costs, tied-up capital, inventory holding costs, transportation costs, and order-picking costs. The estimated costs were built on 2,229 return transactions from a Scandinavian fashion footwear retailer. A digital product fitting technology was tested with the retailer’s products and resulted in estimations on how such technology could affect product returns.

The cost of a return is approximately 17% of the prime cost. The major cost elements are product handling costs and transportation costs, which together amount to 72% of the total costs. If well calibrated, the fitting technology can cut fit-related return costs by up to 80%. The findings show how customers reacted to the fitting technology: it was unable to verify fit every time, but it serves as a useful and effective support tool for customers when placing orders.

Virtual fit verification using digital product fitting is key to retailers to reduce fit-related returns. Digital product fitting using three-dimensional scanning is more appropriate for some products, but it is unsuitable for products that are difficult to measure and scan.

The paper contributes an empirical estimate of retail supply chain costs associated with fit uncertainty, as well as theoretical understanding of the role of pre-sales fit verification in avoiding product returns.

This paper presents an approach where a survey study is combined with energy and indoor environment auditing in the built environment. The combination of methods presented in this paper is one way to obtain a wider perspective on the indoor environment and energy use and also let the people in the building voice their comments on the indoor environment. This is arguably even more important in historic buildings where many of the physical properties are to a higher degree unknown when compared with conventional buildings. The purpose of the paper is to report the experiences from this research project.

A combination of energy and indoor environment auditing and standardized occupant surveys.

The main findings in the paper are related to the good agreement between results from standardized occupant surveys and physical measurements. The possibility to triangulate problems related to poor indoor conditions was shown to be one main advantage of the combined methodology presented in the paper. A standardized survey approach also allows benchmarking, in this case with two groups representing “average” buildings as well as a group representing well-functioning buildings. The use of records from building key cards was also shown to be an effective way of keeping track of activity in the building and thereby distribute internal gains. In addition, the paper reports a linear correlation between activity level and electricity use.

The paper shows an effective way to investigate the performance, in terms of energy use as well as indoor environment, of historic buildings in use. This type of approach could benefit property owners, as it both allows benchmarking as well as investigating individual properties before, e.g., a refurbishment.