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1 – 10 of over 1000M. Paz Toldos, Eva M. González and Scott Motyka
Previous research has demonstrated that, in retail settings, music has some of the largest effects on consumer behavior. However, it is still unknown how the language of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research has demonstrated that, in retail settings, music has some of the largest effects on consumer behavior. However, it is still unknown how the language of the lyrics (native vs foreign) affects consumer behavior. In order to address this gap in retail atmospherics, the purpose of this paper is to examine the differential effects of the language of the lyrics of the music played and explain the interactions between the music language and volume.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were obtained from a field study conducted in an apparel store and from 241 shoppers speaking Spanish as their native language. The study involved the manipulation of language of the lyrics of music played in the store (native vs foreign).
Findings
Results indicate that customers in a non-English speaking country are more likely to make purchases when music is played in English, which fits with the store’s global image. This effect is mediated by time spent in the store.
Practical implications
For managers of global apparel brands, the results suggest that English music may be a good option to increase time spent in the store and subsequent purchases. This is especially attractive as music is an atmospheric cue that can be easily modified at less expense than other atmospheric cues.
Originality/value
This work is the first to demonstrate that fitting the language of the lyrics of music in an international retail store to a global brand image affects consumer behavior. Furthermore, it demonstrates that atmospherics research may not directly transfer to non-English speaking countries.
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Eduardo Bueno Campos and Ma Paz Salmador Sánchez
This article features a descriptive proposal that examines the different conceptual dimensions of knowledge (basically the epistemological, ontological, systemic and strategic…
Abstract
This article features a descriptive proposal that examines the different conceptual dimensions of knowledge (basically the epistemological, ontological, systemic and strategic dimensions) that are involved in the emerging strategic process of organizations. Included in this process are aspects of information, complexity and imagination that make up the spirals of knowledge. In this study we aim to shed light on knowledge management in strategy‐making so that the different categories of knowledge may emerge and develop their potential within an organization and interact among each other. The goal is to create sustainable competitive advantages or essential competencies that help a business to succeed. Considering a constructionist approach to knowledge – specifically, the theory of knowledge creation developed by Nonaka and Takeuchi – we conclude that the formation of the strategy is a double‐loop knowledge creating process. Finally, we outline some of the main practical implications of our position.
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We use a laboratory experiment to examine a multitask environment common to practice, in which managers have multiple responsibilities, including both managerial reporting, as in…
Abstract
We use a laboratory experiment to examine a multitask environment common to practice, in which managers have multiple responsibilities, including both managerial reporting, as in participative budgeting settings, and effort provision toward daily tasks. Consistent with typical contracting arrangements, we examine incomplete contracts where honesty and effort are not enforceable. In such a multitask environment, when employers choose to offer comparatively generous wages to managers, we predict that managers will elect to provide higher effort. Meanwhile, we remain agnostic ex ante about the degree of misreporting due to findings in studies on gift exchange, moral licensing, and moral wiggle room. Overall, we find evidence that reciprocity, consistent with the gift-exchange model, does extend across both tasks. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
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Karin A. Spenser, Ray Bull, Lucy Betts and Belinda Winder
Prosociality is considered important in the study of offenders and associated cognitive skills: theory of mind, empathic understanding and moral reasoning, are said to enable…
Abstract
Purpose
Prosociality is considered important in the study of offenders and associated cognitive skills: theory of mind, empathic understanding and moral reasoning, are said to enable self-control and reduce the risk of offending behaviours. Previous research has made associations between these skills and executive functioning; however, research into a link between them, in an offending population, is limited. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
To further understand the practicalities of this, the present study considered the predictive abilities of the constructs believed to underpin executive functioning: working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control, in relation to theory of mind, empathic understanding and moral reasoning. In total, 200 male and female offenders completed measures in all six constructs.
Findings
Using path analysis working memory was demonstrated to be predictive of theory of mind and empathic understanding, cognitive flexibility was found to be predictive of theory of mind, and inhibitory control was found to be predictive of theory of mind, empathic understanding and moral reasoning.
Research limitations/implications
The study focussed on offenders serving a custodial sentence of six months or less and did not differentiate between crime categories or take into consideration the socio-environmental backgrounds or ethnicity. Therefore, considering these things could further establish the generalisability of the current findings. It is noted that the more focussed the intervention is to the specific needs of an offender, the greater the impact will be. Therefore, pre-screening tests for the constructs discussed may be able to more accurately assess an offenders’ suitability for a programme, or indeed tailor it to meet the specific needs of that person.
Practical implications
These findings may enable practitioners to more accurately assess offenders’ suitability for interventions aimed at reducing offending behaviours by improving levels of prosociality and develop more focussed programmes to meet the specific needs of individual offenders to reduce re-offending.
Social implications
As recommended in the study, a more tailored approach to offender rehabilitation may be a potential aid to reducing levels of recidivism.
Originality/value
The present study adds to the literature as it is the first to consider whether the constructs of executive functioning can predict levels of theory of mind, empathic understanding and moral reasoning and so provide a more accurate method in assessing the cognitive abilities of offenders prior to participation in rehabilitative interventions.
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David T. Cadden, Vincent Driscoll and Dean Mark Thompson
This paper presents the results of a study comparing the ability of neural network models and multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) models to predict bond rating changes and to…
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a study comparing the ability of neural network models and multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) models to predict bond rating changes and to exam if segmentation by investment grade improves classification. Data was collected on more than 900 bonds that had their Standard and Poor's Corporation rating changed during the period 1997 to 2002. This was matched this dataset with corresponding firms which had the same initial bond rating but which did not change. The correspondence was based on the firms being in the same industry, having the same rating at the time of the change (the time frame was one month) and the same approximate asset size (within 20%). This relatively stringent set of criteria reduced the data set to 282 pairs of companies. A neural network model and a multiple discriminant analysis were used to predict both a bond change and the general direction of a movement from a particular bond rating to another bond rating. The predictive variables were financial ratios and rates of change for these ratios. In almost all cases, particularly for the larger sample studies, the neural network models were better predictors than the multiple discriminant models. The paper reviews, in detail, performance of the respective models, strengths and limitations of the models – particularly with respect to underlying assumptions- and future research directions.
Behzad Abbasnejad, Sahar Soltani and Peter Wong
Most educational institutions worldwide have shifted to online teaching and learning approaches to mitigate risks imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This causes several issues…
Abstract
Purpose
Most educational institutions worldwide have shifted to online teaching and learning approaches to mitigate risks imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This causes several issues, particularly in delivering the construction management (CM) courses which require site visits, interpreting technical drawings and developing 3D building models. This paper aims to identify the key strategies for online learning and teaching adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic and to investigate the implications for construction management education.
Design/methodology/approach
The research approach is twofold. First, the study presents a systematic literature review (SLR) through a synthesis of the existing literature to identify the key strategies and lessons learned about online education during the COVID-19 pandemic in tertiary programs. It also discusses their implications in the context of the construction management (CM) sector in particular. Secondly, the authors shared their hands-on experience as construction management course facilitators – using the autoethnography approach – during the COVID-19 crisis.
Findings
In addition to identifying the key strategies such as online course delivery and assessments, the paper critically discusses the barriers to online learning and teaching, including (1) the technological and infrastructure barriers; (2) required online teaching skills and competencies; (3) issues surrounding mental health and wellbeing; (4) lack of consistency in the online delivery of various courses in a given program (5) difficulties around students' engagement and (6) the course characteristics and requirements.
Originality/value
The study offers some implications and recommendations not only for educational institutions and staff but also for vendors of online course delivery software. To prepare educational institutions for future online course delivery, the paper proposes several strategies. These include developing a set of guidelines for online course delivery, incorporating online teaching training modules into the recruitment process for academic staff, applying agile and resilience teaching and learning methods, wellbeing and mental health support and continuously improving course features to adapt to the online environment.
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Margaret P. Weiss and Anthony Pellegrino
Both broad and discipline-specific curriculum standards have shifted from a focus on learning discrete content material to a broader understanding of the processes used by…
Abstract
Both broad and discipline-specific curriculum standards have shifted from a focus on learning discrete content material to a broader understanding of the processes used by disciplinary experts. Using the example of historical thinking in history/social studies, we discuss how this shift may impact students with disabilities and their participation in the general education curriculum and classroom. Specific examples of what close reading and sourcing look like in the classroom and how researchers in special education have addressed them are provided. We conclude with how this shift in thinking about process over the regurgitation of facts may be both advantageous and overwhelming to students with disabilities and their teachers.
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Susan De La Paz, Josue Otarola and Cameron Butler
This study aims to explore how teachers in a large, diverse district could use a complex adolescent literacy curriculum, and it coincided with the start of the coronavirus 2019…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how teachers in a large, diverse district could use a complex adolescent literacy curriculum, and it coincided with the start of the coronavirus 2019 pandemic, also a time of great upheaval for this nation. The authors and district partners collaboratively designed document sets that could help students explore socially complex historical topics with discipline-specific reading and writing support. These challenges led to fully virtual PD and redesigned cognitive tools and lesson materials that could be used in a fully distanced learning environment.
Design/methodology/approach
PD and data collection were ongoing and iterative, as the authors' goals were to understand variability in teachers' understanding and how the social unrest in the nation and the need for distance learning would influence their application of our curriculum. Data sources included teacher artifacts, interviews and implementation surveys and anonymized student work samples. The third author wrote memos during webinars and district meetings. The authors employed a grounded theory approach to analyze teachers’ evolving understandings of how to teach students to make judgments, their lesson differentiation and their attention to social justice issues.
Findings
Teachers who attended the authors' online PD increased their knowledge of the authors' cognitive apprenticeship (CA) approach to instruction, demonstrating more sophisticated understandings of important historical thinking skills and the need to provide students with explicit instruction and appropriate cognitive scaffolds. By the end of the year, teachers also showed ease in using new technological platforms and a more flexible use of disciplinary thinking scaffolds in ways the authors hoped. Finally, teachers in the authors' sample (and their students) frequently made connections between topics and sources in the authors' curriculum and ongoing societal problems (such as systemic racism) in this nation.
Research limitations/implications
The authors' original sample of teachers was over 70; however, this number eventually fell to nine teachers (about 12.5% of the eligible participants) due to many ongoing challenges (e.g. teaching while parenting) during this time period. The authors note that teachers who remained engaged with the authors had over 10 years of experience and all but one had at some point been in a leadership position such as a team lead or department head. It is possible that experience teachers found on the authors' curriculum intervention to be too challenging to implement during the pandemic.
Practical implications
Online PD can be successful when sessions focus on content that teachers will use with students. We provided video models showing teachers how to teach historical reading and writing using the authors' tools and supports authors' platform. Although brief, the authors gave teachers opportunities for collaborative practice during webinars, and time to share challenges related to virtual teaching. In return, teachers shared what was working for them and allowed the authors to use anonymized student materials as the basis for subsequent materials for teaching students to make historical judgments.
Social implications
All students, including those with learning or attentional disabilities/difficulties, emergent bilingual students, underrepresented students or marginalized students, must learn to grapple with complex historical and political information. Doing so will support their ability to make sense of conflicting and/or politicized information that pervades the media today and to judge for themselves what counts as evidence and truth.
Originality/value
Although there are a small number of teachers, this study shows that a strong research partnership between a university and district office can support the successful implementation of a complex historical literacy curriculum that allows students to explore social justice issues while learning important disciplinary literacy skills. Future work will share student learning outcomes.
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Tainá da Silva Rocha Paz, Venicius Gonçalves da Rocha Junior, Priscila Celebrini de Oliveira Campos, Igor Paz, Rodrigo Goyannes Gusmão Caiado, Antonio de Aragão Rocha and Gilson Brito Alves Lima
This paper aims to assist higher education institutions (HEIs) in their decision-making process to define initiatives and foster research projects contributing to sustainable…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assist higher education institutions (HEIs) in their decision-making process to define initiatives and foster research projects contributing to sustainable development (SD) and minimizing the deficits found in the municipalities.
Design/methodology/approach
A documental analysis was performed to select HEIs and Brazilian regional development indicators. Then, the assessment of the sustainable and institutional performance of Brazilian municipalities that have HEIs consisted of three parts: clustering with an unsupervised machine learning model, ranking with a hybrid multi-criteria decision making method and visualization of sustainability performance with the dashboard.
Findings
The critical analysis of institutional and sustainability indicators contributes to a more active role of HEIs in matters of social responsibility, with a more holistic view of the performance and quality of municipal education. Furthermore, this critical analysis creates a scenario where HEIs can develop public policy proposals in partnership with the government to mitigate the main issues identified.
Social implications
With this study, HEIs will be able to direct their actions to minimize the deficits found in the municipalities, consolidating their social responsibility.
Originality/value
This study proposes a new decision-support tool with a dashboard of indicators so that HEIs can foster research projects with a focus on regional SD.
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Vincent Patsy Katutsi, Will Kaberuka, Muhammed Ngoma, Bruno Lule Yawe, Ronnett Atukunda and Dickson Turyareba
This study aims to investigate the influence of specific socioeconomic factors, namely neighborhood, gender roles and affordability, on the continuous use of clean cooking…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the influence of specific socioeconomic factors, namely neighborhood, gender roles and affordability, on the continuous use of clean cooking technologies (CCTs) in households, using evidence from Uganda.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted an explanatory quantitative design. A questionnaire survey with 379 clean household responses was conducted. The data were analyzed using the Smart Partial Least Squares (PLS) software.
Findings
The results indicate that the sustained use of clean cooking technologies in households in Uganda is significantly associated with neighborhood influence, shared gender roles and affordability, collectively accounting for 27.7% of the variance.
Research limitations/implications
The three dimensions of socioeconomic factors under study partially explain the sustained use of CCTs in Uganda. The study does not delve into other socioeconomic factors that could probably account for 72.2% of the variance not explained. The quantitative design may have overlooked the social reality perspectives inherent in qualitative studies that other researchers may endeavor to exploit.
Originality/value
The authors integrated three dimensions of socioeconomic factors – neighborhood influence, gender roles and affordability – with the diffusion of innovation theory (DIT) using Smart PLS to explain the continuous use of CCTs within households.
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