Search results

1 – 10 of 264
Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 March 2022

Andrew T.W. Hung

The aim of this paper is to argue for the values of familial caring and relationships in addition to the provision of social media technology during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong…

1306

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to argue for the values of familial caring and relationships in addition to the provision of social media technology during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong.

Design/methodology/approach

The discussion of this paper has adopted an inter-disciplinary approach by integrating health care system and psychological analysis, based on cultural philosophical argument through the hermeneutic approach of classical texts and critical analysis.

Findings

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the dilemma between the public health measures for COVID-19 and sustaining elderly social psychological health through familial connection. From a Confucian perspective, the practice of filial piety (xiao, 孝), which demands taking care of parents, is essential for one’s moral formation, and for one’s becoming a virtuous (ren, 仁) person. The necessity of taking care of elderly parents by adult children is not something that can be explained in terms of consequentialism. Indeed, the rising trend of instrumental rationality seems to weaken rather than strengthen the sense of filial obligation. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic which tends to separate connections between family members, the author argues that we should emphasize the values of familial caring and relationship because it enhances the elderly’s characteristic of resilience.

Originality/value

This paper shows that while social media technology has mitigated the negative effect of social distancing, such online relationships should never replace the bodily connections between the elderly and their family members from a Confucian perspective.

Details

Public Administration and Policy, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1727-2645

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 March 2024

Keanu Telles

The paper provides a detailed historical account of Douglass C. North's early intellectual contributions and analytical developments in pursuing a Grand Theory for why some…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper provides a detailed historical account of Douglass C. North's early intellectual contributions and analytical developments in pursuing a Grand Theory for why some countries are rich and others poor.

Design/methodology/approach

The author approaches the discussion using a theoretical and historical reconstruction based on published and unpublished materials.

Findings

The systematic, continuous and profound attempt to answer the Smithian social coordination problem shaped North's journey from being a young serious Marxist to becoming one of the founders of New Institutional Economics. In the process, he was converted in the early 1950s into a rigid neoclassical economist, being one of the leaders in promoting New Economic History. The success of the cliometric revolution exposed the frailties of the movement itself, namely, the limitations of neoclassical economic theory to explain economic growth and social change. Incorporating transaction costs, the institutional framework in which property rights and contracts are measured, defined and enforced assumes a prominent role in explaining economic performance.

Originality/value

In the early 1970s, North adopted a naive theory of institutions and property rights still grounded in neoclassical assumptions. Institutional and organizational analysis is modeled as a social maximizing efficient equilibrium outcome. However, the increasing tension between the neoclassical theoretical apparatus and its failure to account for contrasting political and institutional structures, diverging economic paths and social change propelled the modification of its assumptions and progressive conceptual innovation. In the later 1970s and early 1980s, North abandoned the efficiency view and gradually became more critical of the objective rationality postulate. In this intellectual movement, North's avant-garde research program contributed significantly to the creation of New Institutional Economics.

Details

EconomiA, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1517-7580

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 May 2019

Minyoung Kwon, Hilde Remøy and Andy Van Den Dobbelsteen

This paper highlights the importance of user satisfaction in office renovation. A user-focussed renovation approach can enhance user satisfaction in offices and their functional…

4723

Abstract

Purpose

This paper highlights the importance of user satisfaction in office renovation. A user-focussed renovation approach can enhance user satisfaction in offices and their functional quality while meeting energy performance goals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate users’ needs and the physical and psychological factors affecting user satisfaction, as input to office renovation projects.

Design/methodology/approach

The selected articles are collected from Scopus, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar. Searching was limited to the main key terms of office, work environment, and user satisfaction and comfort. The important factors were searched through empirical-based international literature mainly. Based hereupon, a guide will be developed for the analysis and evaluation of user satisfaction in office renovations.

Findings

From a comprehensive overview, the findings present ten main factors to increase user satisfaction in office renovation. These are associated with physical and psychological satisfaction and comfort. In addition, the influential factors were categorised into three levels based on needs theories to organise the hierarchy of priorities.

Practical implications

This research adds to the body of knowledge about which factors are important for user satisfaction, based on what previous research has found in that field. This is important to improve the sustainability in use.

Originality/value

User satisfaction is often studied through separate aspects: health and indoor climate vs functionality and productivity. This paper examines overall user satisfaction of workplaces by integrating the perspectives of physical and psychological conditions, and by providing insight into the priority of satisfaction factors.

Details

Property Management, vol. 37 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 July 2020

Seda Yıldırım, Durmus Cagrı Yıldırım and Pelin Diboglu

This paper aims to explain the relationship between sukuk market and economic growth. In this context, the study investigates the impact of sukuk market development on economic…

6632

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explain the relationship between sukuk market and economic growth. In this context, the study investigates the impact of sukuk market development on economic growth for nine countries (Brunei, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey) which have Islamic finance and banking system.

Design/methodology/approach

The study analyzed the data of nine countries as Brunei, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey for periods between 2014Q1 and 2017Q4. As a part of gross domestic product, total sukuk export measured by the sukuk market and the sukuk density which was considered as annual sukuk export per country were used to determine sukuk market development. Inflation, trade deficit and financial stress series were used as control variables.

Findings

It was determined that there was a long-term cointegrated relationship between sukuk market development and economic growth. Sukuk volume and sukuk density had a positive effect on growth in the long run. One unit increase in sukuk volume increased growth by 0.5%, while increase in sukuk density increased growth by 1.7%. According to short-term relationships, it was seen that sukuk variables did not have an effect on growth. However, sukuk exports contributed positively to growth rates in the long run.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study are limited with nine countries (Brunei, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey). Also, the accessible data of sukuk market was used and the periods of 2014Q1–2017Q4 was analyzed in a study. Accordingly, future studies can find different results for different countries which has Islamic finance and banking system for different periods in the global market.

Originality/value

This study provides empirical findings to the related literature, and it proves that sukuk market development contributes positively to the economic growth of countries including Islamic finance and banking system in the long run.

Details

PSU Research Review, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2399-1747

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 August 2021

Luís Irgang, Magnus Holmén, Fábio Gama and Petra Svedberg

Facilitation activities support implementation of evidence-based interventions within healthcare organizations. Few studies have attempted to understand how facilitation…

Abstract

Purpose

Facilitation activities support implementation of evidence-based interventions within healthcare organizations. Few studies have attempted to understand how facilitation activities are performed to promote the uptake of evidence-based interventions in hospitals from resource-poor countries during crises such as pandemics. This paper aims to explore facilitation activities by infection prevention and control (IPC) professionals in 16 hospitals from 9 states in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

Primary and secondary data were collected between March and December 2020. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 IPC professionals in Brazilian hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Public and internal documents were used for data triangulation. The data were analyzed through thematic analysis technique.

Findings

Building on the change response theory, this study explores the facilitation activities from the cognitive, behavioral and affective aspects. The facilitation activities are grouped in three overarching dimensions: (1) creating and sustaining legitimacy to continuous and rapid changes, (2) fostering capabilities for continuous changes and (3) accelerating individual commitment.

Practical implications

During crises such as pandemics, facilitation activities by IPC professionals need to embrace all the cognitive, behavioral and affective aspects to stimulate positive attitudes of frontline workers toward continuous and urgent changes.

Originality/value

This study provides unique and timely empirical evidence on the facilitation activities that support the implementation of evidence-based interventions by IPC professionals during crises in hospitals in a resource-poor country.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 35 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 9 December 2021

Alex Stedmon and Daniel Paul

In many security domains, the ‘human in the system’ is often a critical line of defence in identifying, preventing and responding to any threats (Saikayasit, Stedmon, & Lawson

Abstract

In many security domains, the ‘human in the system’ is often a critical line of defence in identifying, preventing and responding to any threats (Saikayasit, Stedmon, & Lawson, 2015). Traditionally, such security domains are often focussed on mainstream public safety within crowded spaces and border controls, through to identifying suspicious behaviours, hostile reconnaissance and implementing counter-terrorism initiatives. More recently, with growing insecurity around the world, organisations have looked to improve their security risk management frameworks, developing concepts which originated in the health and safety field to deal with more pressing risks such as terrorist acts, abduction and piracy (Paul, 2018). In these instances, security is usually the specific responsibility of frontline personnel with defined roles and responsibilities operating in accordance with organisational protocols (Saikayasit, Stedmon, Lawson, & Fussey, 2012; Stedmon, Saikayasit, Lawson, & Fussey, 2013). However, understanding the knowledge that frontline security workers might possess and use requires sensitive investigation in equally sensitive security domains.

This chapter considers how to investigate knowledge elicitation in these sensitive security domains and underlying ethics in research design that supports and protects the nature of investigation and end-users alike. This chapter also discusses the criteria used for ensuring trustworthiness as well as assessing the relative merits of the range of methods adopted.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 April 2021

Paul Capriotti, Ileana Zeler and Andrea Oliveira

This study aims to analyze whether companies from six Latin American countries are encouraging dialogic communication on Facebook.

1880

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyze whether companies from six Latin American countries are encouraging dialogic communication on Facebook.

Design/methodology/approach

To do so, the paper studied the level of predisposition for interaction and the type of interaction achieved by companies on Facebook to produce an effective dialogic communication exchange and to generate conversation through different types of communication exchange between organizations and users. This research includes a specific analysis of the active presence, interactive attitude, interactive resources, responsiveness and conversation of 29,078 posts on 135 corporate fanpages of companies from six Latin American countries.

Findings

The results show that companies have a low interest in managing communication from a dialogic perspective on the social network, not only because a greater predisposition to interaction is needed, but also because the interaction generated is very low. Therefore, the paper identifies the need to review the communication strategy on social networks and to define a strategy aligned to the dialogic nature of the social network.

Originality/value

This research contributes to broadening the conceptual reflection on the evaluation of the dialogue in the digital context and aims to generate new methodological contributions to the evaluation of dialogic communication in an integrated way.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 26 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 February 2021

Cortney L. Norris, Scott Taylor Jr and D. Christopher Taylor

The purpose of this systematic review is to highlight some of the business model changes restaurants, bars and beverage producers undertook to modify their operations in order to…

45764

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this systematic review is to highlight some of the business model changes restaurants, bars and beverage producers undertook to modify their operations in order to not only stay in business but also to better serve their employees and communities during the COVID-19 crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

An analysis was conducted on 200 industry articles and categorized into three major themes: expansion of take-out/delivery, innovative practices, and community outreach/corporate support, each are further subdivided into additional themes. The systematic review is further supported by personal interviews with industry professionals.

Findings

This research finds that there were many different approaches used in adjusting business models in response to the dining restrictions put in place due to COVID-19. From these approaches, themes were developed which resulted in uncovering some suggestions such as developing contingency plans, being flexible and creative, eliminating menu items, investing in a communication platform and getting involved with local government. In addition, some practices operators should be mindful of such as selling gift cards and starting a crowdfund.

Research limitations/implications

This research provides a systematic analysis of business model changes that occurred due to COVID-19 dining restrictions. Researchers can use this information as a guide for further analysis on a specific theme introduced herein.

Practical implications

This research offers several practical implications which will assist the industry should another similar event occur in the future. The systematic analysis describes and documents some suggestions as well as practices to be mindful of in preparing contingency plans for the future.

Originality/value

This research documents an unprecedented time for the hospitality industry by examining how restaurant, bar and beverage producers around the country responded to COVID-19 restrictions. Distilling the multitude of information into succinct themes that highlight the business model changes that occurred will aid future research as well as operators.

Details

International Hospitality Review, vol. 35 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-8142

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 9 December 2021

Daniel Paul and Alex Stedmon

In recent years, there has been a growing dialogue around community-based and systems-based approaches to security risk management through the introduction of top-down and…

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing dialogue around community-based and systems-based approaches to security risk management through the introduction of top-down and bottom-up knowledge acquisition. In essence, this relates to knowledge elicited from academic experts, or security subject-matter experts, practitioner experts, or field workers themselves and how much these disparate sources of knowledge may converge or diverge. In many ways, this represents a classic tension between organisational and procedural perspectives of knowledge management (i.e. top-down) versus more pragmatic and experience focussed perspectives (i.e. bottom-up).

This chapter considers these approaches and argues that a more consistent approach needs to address the conflict between procedures and experience, help convert field experience into knowledge, and ultimately provide effective training that is relevant to those heading out into demanding work situations. Ultimately, ethics and method are intricately bound together in whichever approach is taken and the security of both staff and at-risk populations depends upon correctly managing the balance between systems and communities.

Details

Ethical Issues in Covert, Security and Surveillance Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-414-4

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 October 2017

Paul John Sellers

The purpose of this paper is to explore the value that UK trade unions now place on the living wage.

10122

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the value that UK trade unions now place on the living wage.

Design/methodology/approach

The author is the TUC’s Pay Policy Officer and examines the issue from a practitioner’s perspective.

Findings

The living wage now has a well-established place within the hierarchy of pay demands adopted by UK trade unions. This continues a tradition of unions supporting norms and regulations as an adjunct to collective bargaining. However, support had to be achieved through a process of negotiation with the broader UK living wage campaign.

Practical implications

The paper concludes that there are good prospects for the living wage, and thus for the continued trade union support.

Social implications

The living wage standard is seen as having a strong moral basis, which often helps to win agreement with good employers. This results in a steady stream of workers out of in-work poverty. The credit for such pay increases is often shared between employers and trade unions.

Originality/value

The paper is written by a practitioner with inside knowledge and experience of the entire course of the living wage campaign in the UK and how it has been adopted and integrated by trade unions.

1 – 10 of 264