Search results
1 – 10 of 228Honglei Lia Sun and Pnina Fichman
This study aims to explore the evolutionary pattern of discussion topics over time in an online depression self-help community.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the evolutionary pattern of discussion topics over time in an online depression self-help community.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) method, the authors analyzed 17,534 posts and 138,567 comments posted over 8 years on an online depression self-help group in China and identified the major discussion topics. Based on significant changes in the frequency of posts over time, the authors identified five stages of development. Through a comparative analysis of discussion topics in the five stages, the authors identified the changes in the extent and range of topics over time. The authors discuss the influence of socio-cultural factors on depressed individuals' health information behavior.
Findings
The results illustrate an evolutionary pattern of topics in users' discussion in the online depression self-help group, including five distinct stages with a sequence of topic changes. The discussion topics of the group included self-reflection, daily record, peer diagnosis, companionship support and instrumental support. While some prominent topics were discussed frequently in each stage, some topics were short-lived.
Originality/value
While most prior research has ignored topic changes over time, the study takes an evolutionary perspective of online discussion topics among depressed individuals. The authors provide a nuanced account of the progression of topics through five distinct stages, showing that the community experienced a sequence of changes as it developed. Identifying this evolutionary pattern extends the scope of research on depression therapy in China and offers a deeper understanding of the support that individuals with depression seek, receive and provide online.
Details
Keywords
Qingmei Tan, Muhammad Haroon Rasheed and Muhammad Shahid Rasheed
Despite its devastating nature, the COVID-19 pandemic has also catalyzed a substantial surge in the adoption and integration of technological tools within economies, exerting a…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite its devastating nature, the COVID-19 pandemic has also catalyzed a substantial surge in the adoption and integration of technological tools within economies, exerting a profound influence on the dissemination of information among participants in stock markets. Consequently, this present study delves into the ramifications of post-pandemic dynamics on stock market behavior. It also examines the relationship between investors' sentiments, underlying behavioral drivers and their collective impact on global stock markets.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing upon data spanning from 2012 to 2023 and encompassing major world indices classified by Morgan Stanley Capital International’s (MSCI) market and regional taxonomy, this study employs a threshold regression model. This model effectively distinguishes the thresholds within these influential factors. To evaluate the statistical significance of variances across these thresholds, a Wald coefficient analysis was applied.
Findings
The empirical results highlighted the substantive role that investors' sentiments and behavioral determinants play in shaping the predictability of returns on a global scale. However, their influence on developed economies and the continents of America appears comparatively lower compared with the Asia–Pacific markets. Similarly, the regions characterized by a more pronounced influence of behavioral factors seem to reduce their reliance on these factors in the post-pandemic landscape and vice versa. Interestingly, the post COVID-19 technological advancements also appear to exert a lesser impact on developed nations.
Originality/value
This study pioneers the investigation of these contextual dissimilarities, thereby charting new avenues for subsequent research studies. These insights shed valuable light on the contextualized nexus between technology, societal dynamics, behavioral biases and their collective impact on stock markets. Furthermore, the study's revelations offer a unique vantage point for addressing market inefficiencies by pinpointing the pivotal factors driving such behavioral patterns.
Details
Keywords
Bahareh Golkar, Siew Hoon Lim and Fecri Karanki
A major source of external funding for US airports comes from issuing municipal bonds. Credit rating agencies evaluate the bonds using multiple factors, but the judgments behind…
Abstract
Purpose
A major source of external funding for US airports comes from issuing municipal bonds. Credit rating agencies evaluate the bonds using multiple factors, but the judgments behind the ratings are not well understood. This paper examines if airport rate-setting methods affect the bond ratings of US airports.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a set of unbalanced panel data for 58 hub airports from 2010 to 2019, we examine the effect of the rate-setting methods and other airport characteristics on Fitch’s airport bond rating.
Findings
We find that compensatory airports consistently receive a very high bond rating from Fitch. The probability of getting a very high Fitch rating increases by ∼28 percentage points for a compensatory airport. Additionally, the probability of getting a very high rating is about 33 percentage points higher for a legacy hub.
Research limitations/implications
The study uses Fitch bond ratings. Future studies could examine if S&P’s and Moody’s ratings are also influenced by airport rate-setting methods and legacy hub status.
Practical implications
The results uncover the linkage between bond ratings and their determinants for US airports. This information is important for investors when assessing airport creditworthiness and for airport operators as they manage capital project financing.
Originality/value
This is the first study to evaluate the effects of rate-setting methods on airport bond rating and also the first to document a statistically significant relationship between airports’ legacy hub status and bond ratings.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to use the origin story of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management as a foil for unpacking the tensions between deep disciplinary specialization and liberal education in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to use the origin story of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management as a foil for unpacking the tensions between deep disciplinary specialization and liberal education in business schools in Canada and the USA. Ultimately, the paper reveals that those tensions are not irreconcilable, and that through the fortunes of historical contingencies and deliberate decision-taking, a faculty can embrace the benefits of both breadth and depth.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper proposes a critical organizational history of management education through a case study. By drawing on secondary literature and archival sources, the authors focus on moments in business education, such as the founding of the Wharton School of Business, the release of the Carnegie and Ford Reports and the trend towards increased specialization to situate a case study of Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Management.
Findings
The authors find that the evolution of business education in North America from its broad, liberal origins towards narrow, specialization has come at a cost to some of the benefits of business and management education. An alternative approach, one reflected in the design of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management, its programme offerings and its interconnection with other disciplines, enables the advantages of deep disciplinarity to co-exist (and cross-inform) with the advantages of liberal approach to knowledges.
Originality/value
The Dalhousie model offers business schools an example of a faculty that balances the rich insights of liberal interdisciplinarity with the need for sophisticated approaches to more granular, often disciplinary, topics. In addition, the paper offers the story of a multidisciplinary management faculty, some explanation for how that faculty was maintained despite pressures towards specialization; and in doing so, contributes to the limited historical research of management education, particularly in Canada, post-2000.
Details
Keywords
Kardi Nurhadi, Yazid Basthomi, Urip Sulistiyo, Utami Widiati and Misdi Misdi
While many works have reported adopting exploratory practice (EP) principles in language teaching research, only a few studies have explored the enactment of EP in an online…
Abstract
Purpose
While many works have reported adopting exploratory practice (EP) principles in language teaching research, only a few studies have explored the enactment of EP in an online extensive reading of students majoring in English education. Given the relative paucity of attention to the use of EP as the practitioner research in English language teaching (ELT), the present EP investigates how students understand online extensive reading practice mediated by online group discussion and extensive reading logs, where the first author served as the online extensive reading practice instructor.
Design/methodology/approach
The exploratory practice focuses on incorporating research into pedagogy and fastens the importance of the quality-of-life in the classroom. The data were collected through students reading logs and semi-structured interviews. The collected data were analyzed using the thematic analysis. In this case, there were six phases including familiarizing with the data, generating initial codes, searching for the themes, reviewing the themes, defining the theme and writing up.
Findings
The findings reveal that online group work driven by EP enables everybody to engage in learning activities. EP assists the students in perceiving their potential and gaining a better awareness of the need to devote themselves to the class. In the EP activities, they work together to build a peaceful situation to advance the quality of learning in EFL classrooms.
Research limitations/implications
The present study’s limitation is the small sample. Apart from that, the research results cannot be generalized to other places.
Practical implications
This study suggests that EP is suitable to create a mutual understanding among the learners and teachers. To conclude, English language competency can be achieved in a pleasant atmosphere through EP.
Originality/value
The present study succeeded in adding new literature studies related to EPs by discussing online group discussions and their challenges during the learning process. These aspects were identified through reading logs and interviews with students. Thus, it focuses on the implementation and challenges of online group discussions.
Details
Keywords
Abel Dula Wedajo, Shagufta Tariq Khan, Mohd Abass Bhat and Yousuf Mohamed Zahran Al Balushi
The study examines the characteristics and development trends of female entrepreneurship publications, cooperation networks between countries, journals and individuals…
Abstract
Purpose
The study examines the characteristics and development trends of female entrepreneurship publications, cooperation networks between countries, journals and individuals, intellectual structure of female entrepreneurship studies in Africa and hot research topics. Future comparative studies in different contexts and interdisciplinary collaboration can enrich the understanding about female entrepreneurship research.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used text mining to analyze 130 peer-reviewed articles published from 1975 to 2022 for keywords and classify them into eight main classes: (1) Paradoxical space and informality, (2) work–family conflict, (3) women's entrepreneurial identity and networking, (4) rural women's entrepreneurial activities in the agricultural sector, (5) religious belief and women's entrepreneurial practice, (6) financial trap and environmental challenges, (7) women's entrepreneurial intentions and capacity building and (8) women in cultural entrepreneurship.
Findings
Female entrepreneurship publications develop significantly. Since 1975, African female entrepreneurship study has grown. Results show 130 publications from 1975 to 2023, with two papers published yearly in 2006–2011 and 23 in 2023, indicating growing interest. Paradoxical space and informality, work–family conflict, women's entrepreneurial identity and networking, religious belief and practice, financial trap and environmental challenges and entrepreneurial intentions and capacity building were hot topics identified by topic modeling analysis.
Practical implications
Female entrepreneurs have looser intellectual networks. Nation, organization and researcher communication is inadequate. Collaborating researchers from different universities and countries may develop the field.
Originality/value
This study is more data-driven and less biased than earlier reviews because it is based on thousands of citation data rather than a small number of papers pre-selected by the researchers. Displaying the field's structure and evolution enhances previous reviews.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of a firm’s customer centricity and market orientation on the relationship between the knowledge management and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of a firm’s customer centricity and market orientation on the relationship between the knowledge management and business performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses proposed for this study were tested on the data collected from 274 sample firms using partial least square-based structural equation modeling.
Findings
According to the findings of this study, a firm’s customer-centricity fully mediates the relationship between explicit and tacit knowledge management and a firm’s business performance, whereas a firm’s market orientation partially mediates the relationship between tacit and implicit knowledge management systems and a firm’s business performance.
Originality/value
This study can be considered as a pioneer work that investigates how explicit and tacit knowledge can be transformed into business performance with the mediating effect of a firm’s customer centricity and market orientation on this relationship.
Details
Keywords
Ayman Ahmed Ezzat Othman and Ahmed Ramadan Kamal
The aim of this paper is to develop a framework to enhance building maintainability through facilitating early suppliers’ involvement (ESI) in the design process.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to develop a framework to enhance building maintainability through facilitating early suppliers’ involvement (ESI) in the design process.
Design/methodology/approach
A research methodology consisting of literature review, case studies and survey questionnaire was designed to achieve the above-mentioned aim. Firstly, literature review was used to examine the concepts of building maintenance, maintainability, the design process and ESI. Secondly, three case studies were presented and analysed to investigate the role of ESI towards enhancing building maintainability during the design process. Thirdly, a survey questionnaire was carried out with a representative sample of architectural design firms (ADFs) in Egypt to investigate their perception and application of ESI towards enhancing building maintainability during the design process. Finally, the research developed a framework to facilitate ESI in the design process in ADFs in Egypt.
Findings
Through literature review, the research highlighted the relationship between ESI and enhancing building maintainability and identified the roles, benefits, challenges and that encounter ESI in ADFs, factors for suppliers selection and levels of involvement. Results of the data analysis showed that “Difficulty of trusting external parties and sharing information with transparency” was ranked the highest challenge of ESI in ADFs in Egypt, followed by “Legal competitive advantage restrictions”. Moreover, “Better estimation for operation and maintenance costs” was ranked the highest contributions of ESI towards enhancing building maintainability, followed by “Reduce the number of operation and maintenance problems or reworks”. Finally, respondents stated that “Innovation, technical expertise, and competence” was ranked the highest supplier’s selection criteria, while “paying consultation fees for offering advice and recommendations to the design team” was ranked the highest form of supplier’s remuneration.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed framework contributes to the body of knowledge through proposing five functions that aimed to facilitate ESI in the design process, a research area that received scant attention in construction research. In addition, because of the conceptual nature of the framework, it has to be validated to ensure its capability to overcome the challenges of ESI as an approach for enhancing building maintainability during the design process.
Practical implications
This research presents a practical solution that bridges the gap between theory and practice through overcoming the challenges that obstruct suppliers from being involved in the design process as an approach for enhancing building maintainability.
Originality/value
This research discussed the relationship between ESI and enhancing building maintainability as well as the roles, benefits and challenges that encounter ESI in ADFs. In addition, the research investigated the levels of suppliers’ involvement, selection criteria and forms of payment. Moreover, it investigated the perception and application of ESI in ADFs in Egypt towards improving building maintainability. The research proposed a framework to facilitate the integration of suppliers in the early stages of the project life cycle. It represents a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred.
Details
Keywords
This study empirically demonstrates a contradiction between pillar 3 of Basel norms III and the designation of Systemically Important Banks (SIBs), also known as Too Big to Fail…
Abstract
Purpose
This study empirically demonstrates a contradiction between pillar 3 of Basel norms III and the designation of Systemically Important Banks (SIBs), also known as Too Big to Fail (TBTF). The objective of this study is threefold, which has been approached in a phased manner. The first is to determine the systemic importance of the banks under study; second, to examine if market discipline exists at different levels of systemic importance of banks and lastly, to examine if the strength of market discipline varies at different levels of systemic importance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on all the public and private sector banks operating in the Indian banking sector. The Gaussian Mixture Model algorithm has been utilized to classify banks into distinct levels of systemic importance. Thereafter, market discipline has been observed by analyzing depositors' sentiments toward banks' risk (CAMEL indicators). The analysis has been performed by employing the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to estimate models with different dependent variables.
Findings
The findings affirm the existence of market discipline across all levels of systemic importance. However, the strength of market discipline varies with the systemic importance of the banks, with weak market discipline being a negative externality of the SIBs designation.
Originality/value
By employing the Gaussian Mixture Model algorithm to develop a framework for categorizing banks on the basis of their systemic importance, this study is the first to go beyond the conventional method as outlined by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Details
Keywords
XiaoJun Yuan, Aslihan Gizem Korkmaz and Haigang Zhou
In China, having a home before getting married is viewed as being a crucial indicator of the sincerity of romance. Despite recent increases in housing costs, men who have their…
Abstract
Purpose
In China, having a home before getting married is viewed as being a crucial indicator of the sincerity of romance. Despite recent increases in housing costs, men who have their homes ready for marriage stand out in the marriage market. This study aims to explore the association between readiness to marry, marriage age and the home that men purchase prior to marriage using the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey, the first countrywide follow-up survey with the theme of labor force.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors suggest new standards for determining the marital residence. In addition, contrary to the existing literature, which focuses on “Sheng Nu” (women who do not marry by the traditional marriage age in China), the authors focus on “Sheng Nan” (men who do not marry by the traditional marriage age in China).
Findings
The results show that men who own a house before marriage are reluctant to get married. The authors document robust evidence that the preexistence of the marital house decreases the willingness to marry and postpones the marriage date, regardless of location and time.
Originality/value
The authors document robust evidence that the preexistence of the marital house decreases the willingness to marry and postpones the marriage date, regardless of location and time.
Details