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1 – 10 of over 11000The purpose of this study is to empirically evaluate the impacts of institutional pressures on the use of alternative maritime power (AMP) and which in turn enhance environmental…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to empirically evaluate the impacts of institutional pressures on the use of alternative maritime power (AMP) and which in turn enhance environmental performance in the maritime shipping context.
Design/methodology/approach
Factor analysis was used to identify the key coercive pressure, normative pressure, mimetic pressure, AMP practice and green performance dimensions. The author collects data from a survey of 184 maritime shipping operators in Taiwan and applies a structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the research hypotheses.
Findings
The findings show that AMP practice act as mediator variables between institutional pressures and environmental performance.
Originality/value
Theoretical contributions and managerial implications are drawn to help maritime shipping operators to improve environmental performance.
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Hui-Ming Kuo, Tse-Lu Chen and Chung-Shan Yang
The purpose of this study is to empirically evaluate the impact of coercive pressure, normative pressure and mimetic pressure on digital transformation and benefits in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to empirically evaluate the impact of coercive pressure, normative pressure and mimetic pressure on digital transformation and benefits in the maritime shipping context.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collect data from a survey of 119 shipping companies, shipping agencies, port corporations and shipping forwarders in Taiwan and apply a structural equation model to test the research hypotheses.
Findings
Four conclusions can be drawn: First, digital transformation mainly results from coercive pressure and mimetic pressure. Second, another positive and important source of pressure for shipping digital transformation is the fact that competitors are gradually undergoing digital transformation and have gained recognition from customers. Third, shipping professional organizations and association (e.g. IACS, IAPH, Baltic International Maritime Commission) must keep up with the trend toward digital transformation and put forward guidelines and recommendations that can be followed in order to lead the maritime shipping industry. Fourth, digital transformation has great potential to help deliver the benefits (i.e. improve efficiency, relationship with customers and sustainability).
Originality/value
This research explores the digital transformation of the shipping industry through the lens of institutional theory. The results show that digital transformation is mainly due to coercive pressure and mimetic pressure. Digital transformation has been found to bring benefits that can help shipping operators allocate their resources effectively, thereby increasing operational efficiency, improving relationships with customers and enhancing sustainability.
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Sonia Sadeghian Esfahani, Stephen Cahoon, Shu-Ling Chen, Hilary Pateman and Seyed Mojtaba Sajadi
This paper aims to examine 12 factors influencing environmental activity adoption by Australian logistics companies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine 12 factors influencing environmental activity adoption by Australian logistics companies.
Design/methodology/approach
After a literature review and collect the major factors influencing environmental activity adoption, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Friedman test are used to cluster and prioritize these factors through a Web survey.
Findings
The results of EFA show that these factors belong to three main groups including social and economic, pressure and governmental factors. The results of a Friedman test prioritizes 12 factors to find which factors have the greatest importance toward the adoption of environmental activity by managers of Australian logistics companies and reveals that governmental regulation, fuel and energy prices and the potential for achieving a competitive advantage, had the first to third ranking, respectively. Some new influencing factors in implementing environmental activities are found such as the willingness to be the market leader, responsibility and risk mitigation.
Research limitations/implications
This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the new factors influencing environmental adoption.
Practical implications
Australian logistics managers can use the results of this paper in developing their strategies and public policymakers can also use these results to improve sustainable development.
Originality/value
This is the first paper that clusters and prioritizes factors influencing environmental adoption in the Australian logistics industry.
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Michael Wells, Michael Kretser, Ben Hazen and Jeffery Weir
This study aims to explore the viability of using C-17 reduced-engine taxi procedures from a cost savings and capability perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the viability of using C-17 reduced-engine taxi procedures from a cost savings and capability perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This study model expected engine fuel flow based on the number of operational engines, aircraft gross weight (GW) and average aircraft groundspeed. Using this model, the research executes a cost savings simulation estimating the expected annual savings produced by the proposed taxi methodology. Operational and safety risks are also considered.
Findings
The results indicate that significant fuel and costs savings are available via the employment of reduced-engine taxi procedures. On an annual basis, the mobility air force has the capacity to save approximately 1.18 million gallons of jet fuel per year ($2.66m in annual fuel costs at current rates) without significant risk to operations. The two-engine taxi methodology has the ability to generate capable taxi thrust for a maximum GW C-17 with nearly zero risks.
Research limitations/implications
This research was limited to C-17 procedures and efficiency improvements specifically, although it suggests that other military aircraft could benefit from these findings as is evident in the commercial airline industry.
Practical implications
This research recommends coordination with the original equipment manufacturer to rework checklists and flight manuals, development of a fleet-wide training program and evaluation of future aircraft recapitalization requirements intended to exploit and maximize aircraft surface operation savings.
Originality/value
If implemented, the proposed changes would benefit the society as government resources could be spent elsewhere and the impact on the environment would be reduced. This research conducted a rigorous analysis of the suitability of implementing a civilian airline’s best practice into US Air Force operations.
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Geoff A.M. Loveman and Joel J.E. Edney
The purpose of the present study was the development of a methodology for translating predicted rates of decompression sickness (DCS), following tower escape from a sunken…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the present study was the development of a methodology for translating predicted rates of decompression sickness (DCS), following tower escape from a sunken submarine, into predicted probability of survival, a more useful statistic for making operational decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
Predictions were made, using existing models, for the probabilities of a range of DCS symptoms following submarine tower escape. Subject matter expert estimates of the effect of these symptoms on a submariner’s ability to survive in benign weather conditions on the sea surface until rescued were combined with the likelihoods of the different symptoms occurring using standard probability theory. Plots were generated showing the dependence of predicted probability of survival following escape on the escape depth and the pressure within the stricken submarine.
Findings
Current advice on whether to attempt tower escape is based on avoiding rates of DCS above approximately 5%–10%. Consideration of predicted survival rates, based on subject matter expert opinion, suggests that the current advice might be considered as conservative in the distressed submarine scenario, as DCS rates of 10% are not anticipated to markedly affect survival rates.
Originality/value
According to the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to quantify the effect of different DCS symptoms on the probability of survival in submarine tower escape.
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Irina Stoyneva and Veselina Vracheva
Drawing from legitimacy and institutional entrepreneurship theory, this study assesses the naming patterns of entrepreneurial firms in the US biotechnology industry.
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing from legitimacy and institutional entrepreneurship theory, this study assesses the naming patterns of entrepreneurial firms in the US biotechnology industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a mixed-methods design of content analysis and regression to analyze a sample of 441 entrepreneurial biotechnology firms, for which data were obtained from Net Advantage. The authors track changes to the proportion of firms with naming attributes, such as name length and type of name. The authors also examine variability in those characteristics during the industry's evolution, comparing freestanding to acquired start-ups.
Findings
Start-ups select names that are longer, more descriptive, begin with rare sounds or hard plosives and have stronger discipline- or technology-specific links during nascent years of the industry. As the industry evolves, entrepreneurs are more likely to select names that are shorter, more abstract, begin with hard plosives and have stronger industry-specific links. The naming patterns of freestanding and acquired companies differ, and companies that conform to industry pressures tend to remain independent.
Originality/value
Unlike extant studies that assess established industries, the current study identifies shifting trends in the naming patterns of entrepreneurial firms in an emerging industry. By focusing on start-ups, the authors expand research on organizational naming practices, which focuses traditionally on name choices and name change patterns of incumbents. By using marketing and linguistics methods when analyzing organizational name attributes, naming patterns in these attributes are identified, including name length, name type, starting letter of the name and link to the industry.
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Javier Andrades, Domingo Martinez-Martinez and Manuel Larrán
Relying on institutional theory and Oliver’s (1991) strategic responses framework, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the different strategies adopted by Spanish public…
Abstract
Purpose
Relying on institutional theory and Oliver’s (1991) strategic responses framework, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the different strategies adopted by Spanish public universities to respond to institutional pressures for sustainability reporting.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from a variety of sources, such as a series of email-structured interviews with key personnel from universities, a qualitative analysis of sustainability reports and a consultation of the website of each Spanish public university.
Findings
The findings reveal that Spanish public universities have responded to institutional pressures for sustainability reporting by adopting acquiescence, compromise, avoidance and defiance strategies. The variety of strategic responses adopted by Spanish public universities suggests that these organizations have not fully adhered to institutional pressures.
Practical implications
The results of this paper would be useful for practitioners since it tries to demonstrate whether universities, which are facing increasing institutional pressures and demands from stakeholders, have been developing sustainability reporting practices.
Social implications
Universities have a remarkable social impact that could be used to promote sustainability practices. This paper investigates how these organizations can contribute to sustainability reporting as they should reproduce social norms.
Originality/value
The sustainability reporting context is in a phase of change. This paper tries to contribute to the accounting research by analyzing the extent to which universities are engaged in sustainability reporting. Relying on these premises, Oliver’s (1991) framework might be an insightful theoretical perspective to examine the responses provided by universities to institutional pressures.
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Armando Di Meglio, Nicola Massarotti, Samuel Rolland and Perumal Nithiarasu
This study aims to analyse the non-linear losses of a porous media (stack) composed by parallel plates and inserted in a resonator tube in oscillatory flows by proposing numerical…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyse the non-linear losses of a porous media (stack) composed by parallel plates and inserted in a resonator tube in oscillatory flows by proposing numerical correlations between pressure gradient and velocity.
Design/methodology/approach
The numerical correlations origin from computational fluid dynamics simulations, conducted at the microscopic scale, in which three fluid channels representing the porous media are taken into account. More specifically, for a specific frequency and stack porosity, the oscillating pressure input is varied, and the velocity and the pressure-drop are post-processed in the frequency domain (Fast Fourier Transform analysis).
Findings
It emerges that the viscous component of pressure drop follows a quadratic trend with respect to velocity inside the stack, while the inertial component is linear also at high-velocity regimes. Furthermore, the non-linear coefficient b of the correlation ax + bx2 (related to the Forchheimer coefficient) is discovered to be dependent on frequency. The largest value of the b is found at low frequencies as the fluid particle displacement is comparable to the stack length. Furthermore, the lower the porosity the higher the Forchheimer term because the velocity gradients at the stack geometrical discontinuities are more pronounced.
Originality/value
The main novelty of this work is that, for the first time, non-linear losses of a parallel plate stack are investigated from a macroscopic point of view and summarised into a non-linear correlation, similar to the steady-state and well-known Darcy–Forchheimer law. The main difference is that it considers the frequency dependence of both Darcy and Forchheimer terms. The results can be used to enhance the analysis and design of thermoacoustic devices, which use the kind of stacks studied in the present work.
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Sergio de la Rosa, Pedro F. Mayuet, Cátia S. Silva, Álvaro M. Sampaio and Lucía Rodríguez-Parada
This papers aims to study lattice structures in terms of geometric variables, manufacturing variables and material-based variants and their correlation with compressive behaviour…
Abstract
Purpose
This papers aims to study lattice structures in terms of geometric variables, manufacturing variables and material-based variants and their correlation with compressive behaviour for their application in a methodology for the design and development of personalized elastic therapeutic products.
Design/methodology/approach
Lattice samples were designed and manufactured using extrusion-based additive manufacturing technologies. Mechanical tests were carried out on lattice samples for elasticity characterization purposes. The relationships between sample stiffness and key geometric and manufacturing variables were subsequently used in the case study on the design of a pressure cushion model for validation purposes. Differentiated areas were established according to patient’s pressure map to subsequently make a correlation between the patient’s pressure needs and lattice samples stiffness.
Findings
A substantial and wide variation in lattice compressive behaviour was found depending on the key study variables. The proposed methodology made it possible to efficiently identify and adjust the pressure of the different areas of the product to adapt them to the elastic needs of the patient. In this sense, the characterization lattice samples turned out to provide an effective and flexible response to the pressure requirements.
Originality/value
This study provides a generalized foundation of lattice structural design and adjustable stiffness in application of pressure cushions, which can be equally applied to other designs with similar purposes. The relevance and contribution of this work lie in the proposed methodology for the design of personalized therapeutic products based on the use of individual lattice structures that function as independent customizable cells.
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Shengfeng Lu, Sixia Chen, Yongtao Cang and Ziyao San
This study examines whether and how government fiscal pressure influences corporate charitable giving (CCG).
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines whether and how government fiscal pressure influences corporate charitable giving (CCG).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors exploit sub-national tax revenue sharing changes as exogenous variations to government’s fiscal pressure at the city level and then construct a quasi difference-in-differences (DiD) model to conduct the analysis based on a sample that consists of 14,168 firm-year observations in China during the period of 2003 to 2012.
Findings
The authors found that firms increase charitable donations when local governments face higher fiscal pressure. Such effects are more pronounced for firms that have stronger demand for political connectedness in the sample period. Furthermore, this study’s findings suggest that the timing strategy of donating helps firms to lower the effective tax rate and to build stronger political connections. In addition, donating firms outperform non-donating firms in terms of bank loan access and market reputation.
Originality/value
The authors contribute to at least three lines of literature: first, extend the understanding of timing strategies of corporate charitable behaviors; second, contribute to the literature studying the “crowd out” effect between government-provided charitable funds and private donations; finally, contribute to the emerging literature exploring the financial interests associated with corporate donation strategy (Claessens et al., 2008; Cull et al., 2015).
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