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1 – 10 of 79Andrew Swan, Anne Schiffer, Peter Skipworth and James Huntingdon
This paper aims to present a literature review of remote monitoring systems for water infrastructure in the Global South.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a literature review of remote monitoring systems for water infrastructure in the Global South.
Design/methodology/approach
Following initial scoping searches, further examination was made of key remote monitoring technologies for water infrastructure in the Global South. A standard literature search methodology was adopted to examine these monitoring technologies and their respective deployments. This hierarchical approach prioritised “peer-reviewed” articles, followed by “scholarly” publications, then “credible” information sources and, finally, “other” relevant materials. The first two search phases were conducted using academic search services (e.g. Scopus and Google Scholar). In the third and fourth phases, Web searches were carried out on various stakeholders, including manufacturers, governmental agencies and non-governmental organisations/charities associated with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in the Global South.
Findings
This exercise expands the number of monitoring technologies considered in comparison to earlier review publications. Similarly, preceding reviews have largely focused upon monitoring applications in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This paper explores opportunities in other geographical regions and highlights India as a significant potential market for these tools.
Research limitations/implications
This review predominantly focuses upon information/data currently available in the public domain.
Practical implications
Remote monitoring technologies enable the rapid detection of broken water pumps. Broken water infrastructure significantly impacts many vulnerable communities, often leading to the use of less protected water sources and increased exposure to water-related diseases. Further to these public health impacts, there are additional economic disadvantages for these user communities.
Originality/value
This literature review has sought to address some key technological omissions and to widen the geographical scope associated with previous investigations.
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Anita Zehrer and Gabriela Leiß
The purpose of this paper is to explore leadership succession in families in business. Although there is a vast amount of research on leadership succession, no attempt has been…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore leadership succession in families in business. Although there is a vast amount of research on leadership succession, no attempt has been made to understand this phenomenon by using an intergenerational learning approach. By applying the Double ABC–X model, the authors discuss how resilience is developed through intergenerational learning during family leadership succession in business.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a single case, the authors define pre- and post-event parameters of the business family under study and use the Double ABC–X Model as an analytical framework. Individual and pair interviews, as well as a family firm workshop, were undertaken following an action research approach using multiple interventions. The qualitative data were collected by reflective journals, field notes and observation protocols. Finally, the authors analyze the data according to a circular deconstruction strategy.
Findings
The authors find specific pre-event stressor parameters related to mutual mistrust, independent decision making and non-strategic transmission of power, knowledge and responsibility from predecessor to successor. The intervention based on the intergenerational approach during the post-crisis phase focuses on problem solving and coping within the new situation of co-habitation among the two generations. The intergenerational learning approach based on pile-up of demands, adaptive resources and perception is the source of family adaptation. Additionally, the power of the narrative to reflect past events and project the future seems to the point where the family starts developing resilience.
Originality/value
The way family businesses deal with critical and stressful events during leadership succession may lead to intergenerational learning, which is a source of resilient families. The authors apply the Double ABC–X model to understand family leadership succession in business and further develop it to explain how families develop resilience.
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This study aims to consider the role of emotions, especially those related to empathy, in promoting a more humane education that enables students to reach out across kinship…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to consider the role of emotions, especially those related to empathy, in promoting a more humane education that enables students to reach out across kinship chasms to promote the development of communities predicated on a shared value on mutual respect. This attention to empathy includes a review of the rational basis for much schooling, introduces skepticism about the façade of rational thinking, reviews the emotionally flat character of classrooms, attends to the emotional dimensions of literacy education, argues on behalf of taking emotions into account in developmental theories and links empathic connections with social justice efforts. The study’s main thrust is that empathy is a key emotional quality that does not come naturally or easily to many, yet is important to cultivate if social justice is a goal of education.
Design/methodology/approach
The author clicked Essay and Conceptual Paper. Yet the author required to write the research design.
Findings
The author clicked Essay and Conceptual Paper. Yet the author required to write the research design.
Research limitations/implications
The author clicked Essay and Conceptual Paper. Yet the author required to write the research design.
Originality/value
The paper challenges the rational emphasis of schooling and argues for more attention to the ways in which emotions shape thinking.
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Vicki Antonia Oliveri, Glenn Porter, Chris Davies and Pamela James
In 2020, mining activity by Rio Tinto destroyed rock caves in Western Australia's Juukan Gorge that are considered sacred sites by the First Nation Peoples of that area, the Puutu…
Abstract
Purpose
In 2020, mining activity by Rio Tinto destroyed rock caves in Western Australia's Juukan Gorge that are considered sacred sites by the First Nation Peoples of that area, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) Peoples. This paper examines the public response to the damage caused at this culturally sensitive site and identifies cultural heritage protection strategies that emerged in the aftermath of this catastrophic event.
Design/methodology/approach
This research applies a qualitative case study method and analysis of open-sourced official policy documents, media reports and published institutional statements.
Findings
The research identified specific cultural heritage protection strategies, including stakeholder-driven advocacy and shared values approach to business practices to help foster a greater appreciation of the connections between people, objects and lands. Whilst the mining activities were considered lawful, significant gaps in the legislation to protect heritage sites were also exposed.
Originality/value
Using a recent case that occurred in 2020, this paper unpacks how the motivations for accessing minerals can override cultural sensibilities and legal/ethical frameworks established to protect cultural heritage. This paper brings to light the liabilities associated with the mining industry when operating in a culturally significant environment where appropriate due diligence to manage cultural heritage is not thoroughly applied. The paper highlights the role the community can play in demanding improved corporate social responsibility which can, in turn, act as a strategy for cultural heritage protection.
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Shahla Safwat Ravhee and Sazdik Ahmed
This paper aims to examine how the interrelation between architecture and the physical environment came to prominence and influenced the pioneering modernist architects to acquire…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how the interrelation between architecture and the physical environment came to prominence and influenced the pioneering modernist architects to acquire the features of modern architecture that the British modernists later adopted. How the post-war urban poor of Britain, suffering from ill-health and dire need of sun, air and a good environment, played an essential role in alleviating the environmental concerns of the modern movement architects.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology of this research involves a comprehensive architectural analysis of the Finsbury Health Centre alongside an in-depth historical investigation of modernist design principles. This review article examines books, articles and some archival materials, such as recordings, pictures, etc. on the early phase of British modernism and its environmental dimension by looking at the works of historians, architects and critics.
Findings
Design based on modernist principles. While it can be seen as the political agenda of the Labor Party, this building was not only functionally efficient but also represented the biometric concerns of modern architecture with the most natural means.
Research limitations/implications
While this study provides valuable insights, it may be limited by historical documents and data availability.
Originality/value
The originality and value of this paper lie in its examination of the Finsbury Health Centre as a case study, shedding light on the environmental rhetoric of modernism in historic architecture. By providing a holistic assessment of the building’s environmental aspects, this research contributes to both architectural history and contemporary sustainable design practices.
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Jannik Kretschmer and Peter Winkler
The debate on digitalization in the public relations (PR) literature has fragmented considerably over the past decade because of its focus on upcoming media-technological…
Abstract
Purpose
The debate on digitalization in the public relations (PR) literature has fragmented considerably over the past decade because of its focus on upcoming media-technological innovations, required professional skills and management concepts. Yet the field has difficulties in developing an integrative perspective on the implications of digitalization as a broader socio-technological transformation with a balanced consideration of prospects and risks.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes an integrative perspective that focuses more on the enduring imaginaries of how digitalization can transform society for better or worse. It traces the historical roots of five imaginaries of digitalization, which have already emerged over the past century yet have experienced a significant revival and popularization in the current debate. Based on these five imaginaries, the authors performed a narrative literature review of the digitalization debate in 10 leading PR journals from 2010 to 2022.
Findings
The five imaginaries allow for a systematization of the fragmented digitalization debate in the field, reconstructing recurrent narratives, prospects and risks.
Originality/value
The originality of this contribution lies in its reconstructive approach, tracing societal imaginaries of digitalization and their impact on the current disciplinary debate. This approach provides context for a balanced assessment of and engagement with upcoming, increasingly fragmented digital advancements in PR research and practice.
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This study aims to identify the political alignment and political activity of the 11 Presidents of Britain’s most important scientific organisation, the Royal Society of London…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify the political alignment and political activity of the 11 Presidents of Britain’s most important scientific organisation, the Royal Society of London, in its early years 1662–1703, to determine whether or not the institution was politically aligned.
Design/methodology/approach
There is almost no information addressing the political alignment of the Royal Society or its Presidents available in the institution’s archives, or in the writings of historians specialising in its administration. Even reliable biographical sources, such as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography provide very limited information. However, as 10 Presidents were elected Member of Parliament (MP), The History of Parliament: British Political, Social and Local History provides a wealth of accurate, in-depth data, revealing the alignment of both.
Findings
All Presidents held senior government offices, the first was a Royalist aristocrat; of the remaining 10, 8 were Royalist or Tory MPs, 2 of whom were falsely imprisoned by the House of Commons, 2 were Whig MPs, while 4 were elevated to the Lords. The institution was Royalist aligned 1662–1680, Tory aligned 1680–1695 and Whig aligned 1695–1703, which reflects changes in Parliament and State.
Originality/value
This study establishes that the early Royal Society was not an apolitical institution and that the political alignment of Presidents and institution continued in later eras. Furthermore, it demonstrates how the election or appointment of an organisation’s most senior officer can be used to signal its political alignment with government and other organisations to serve various ends.
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Kathrin Kölbl, Cornelia Blank, Wolfgang Schobersberger and Mike Peters
This study aims to address customer focus as an important component of total quality management (TQM) and explore the key drivers of member satisfaction in tennis clubs via a…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to address customer focus as an important component of total quality management (TQM) and explore the key drivers of member satisfaction in tennis clubs via a novel theory-based member satisfaction index (MSI) model with high explanatory and predictive power. Furthermore, the study aims to investigate the relationship between satisfaction and behavioral intentions (willingness to stay; WTS) with consideration of the mediating effect of identification with the club.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses variance-based partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to estimate the MSI model, which was tested in a leading tennis club in Germany (n = 185).
Findings
The results reveal that club atmosphere, club facilities and the price/quality ratio of the membership fee are the most important drivers of member satisfaction in tennis clubs. Member satisfaction has a large influence on the WTS of tennis club members. Identification with the club, when included as a mediator in the model, increases the variance explained in WTS considerably.
Research limitations/implications
The small sample limits the generalizability of findings, and further research is recommended.
Practical implications
The MSI model is a useful benchmark tool for club managers who want to quantify the satisfaction and WTS of their club members. In addition, because of the integrated formative measurement models, the PLS-SEM results show which indicators can be used to positively impact satisfaction with each of the service quality dimensions, overall member satisfaction and WTS. The most important of these results are discussed in an importance-performance map analysis.
Originality/value
The MSI model is a multi-attribute index model through which members' evaluations of various dimensions of service and value are derived through multivariable linear function with each dimension weighted according to its importance in one holistic model. The model shows the strong impact of satisfaction on WTS of sports club members and reveals that findings of previous research on the relationship between fan and spectator identification and loyalty are transferable to sports club members. The MSI represents a new contribution to the literature; it was applied here to tennis clubs but is also suitable for application to other sports clubs.
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Rong Jiang, Bin He, Zhipeng Wang, Xu Cheng, Hongrui Sang and Yanmin Zhou
Compared with traditional methods relying on manual teaching or system modeling, data-driven learning methods, such as deep reinforcement learning and imitation learning, show…
Abstract
Purpose
Compared with traditional methods relying on manual teaching or system modeling, data-driven learning methods, such as deep reinforcement learning and imitation learning, show more promising potential to cope with the challenges brought by increasingly complex tasks and environments, which have become the hot research topic in the field of robot skill learning. However, the contradiction between the difficulty of collecting robot–environment interaction data and the low data efficiency causes all these methods to face a serious data dilemma, which has become one of the key issues restricting their development. Therefore, this paper aims to comprehensively sort out and analyze the cause and solutions for the data dilemma in robot skill learning.
Design/methodology/approach
First, this review analyzes the causes of the data dilemma based on the classification and comparison of data-driven methods for robot skill learning; Then, the existing methods used to solve the data dilemma are introduced in detail. Finally, this review discusses the remaining open challenges and promising research topics for solving the data dilemma in the future.
Findings
This review shows that simulation–reality combination, state representation learning and knowledge sharing are crucial for overcoming the data dilemma of robot skill learning.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no surveys that systematically and comprehensively sort out and analyze the data dilemma in robot skill learning in the existing literature. It is hoped that this review can be helpful to better address the data dilemma in robot skill learning in the future.
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Nandini Sharma and Boeing Laishram
Construction industry faces challenges in making objective decisions due to monetary value attached to quality. Among various quality management techniques available, cost of…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction industry faces challenges in making objective decisions due to monetary value attached to quality. Among various quality management techniques available, cost of quality (COQ) is one such method used to address the concern. However, the absence of measurable COQ factors to monitor quality costs hampers the implementation of COQ framework in the construction industry. Therefore, this study aims to identify COQ factors focused on visible factors (VF) and hidden factors (HF) and the current requirements to achieve it.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses protocol guidelines. The present study identified 57 articles published between 1992 and 2023 in peer-reviewed journals.
Findings
The findings reveal 22 factors, which are grouped into four categories based on COQ. Through systematic review, the authors observed limited methodological and theoretical diversity. In fact, there are no quantitative frameworks to calculate COQ. The study, therefore, developed a framework comprising four major routes/paths of COQ factors within the framework.
Practical implications
The COQ routes developed through this study will enable the practitioners to meticulously categorise VF and HF, facilitating quantifying of quality throughout the lifecycle of project, which is currently absent from the existing quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) approach. In addition, these COQ routes stand as essential construction strategies, significantly enhancing outcomes related to time, cost, quality, sustainability and fostering closer relationships within project frameworks.
Originality/value
The current study contributes significantly to the existing body of knowledge by developing various COQ routes and proposing future research directions to address gaps in the literature.
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