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1 – 10 of 23Summer K. Mohamed, Sandra Haddad and Mahmoud Barakat
Due to the rapid increase in environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources, there has been a recent shift in global focus from economic concerns to environmental…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to the rapid increase in environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources, there has been a recent shift in global focus from economic concerns to environmental ones. The purpose of this research is to examine the relevant literature on the use of blockchain technology to promote environmental sustainability through customer integration.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed framework is based on the theoretical lens of systems theory (ST) and knowledge-based view (KBV) theory, and is developed by conducting a systematic literature review of 51 articles, (16) from 2022, (17) from 2021, (10) 2020, (5) 2019, (2) 2018 and (1) from 2017 on blockchain technology (BCT), environmental supply chain performance (ESCP) and customer integration.
Findings
Three main propositions are formulated and demonstrated using the developed framework, which shows that BCT has the potential to revolutionize the supply chain from an environmental sustainability perspective through facilitating waste management, reduction of energy consumption and reduction of carbon emissions/pollution. The technology will not only enhance the environmental sustainability but also facilitate customer integration through resolving transparency issues, protecting data/enhancing security, database decentralization, promoting trust and immutability.
Originality/value
The effects of blockchain on supply chain performance has been studied in the past; however, no studies were found which shed light on how BCT can affect ESCP through the mediation of customer integration.
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Lisa Beasley, Sandra Grace and Louise Horstmanshof
The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the response and adaption to change of allied health professionals. Understanding how individuals respond and adapt to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the response and adaption to change of allied health professionals. Understanding how individuals respond and adapt to change is essential to assist leaders to manage transformational change effectively. Contemporary health-care environments are characterised by frequent and rapid change, often with unrealistic and challenging time frames. Individuals operate independently, but also as members of teams, professions and organisations. Therefore, having a sound understanding of individual response to change is important for change leaders. In the Australian context, allied health professionals represent a quarter of the health-care workforce. There is a significant gap in understanding how allied health professionals respond and adapt to change.
Design/methodology/approach
A scoping review was designed to report on the nature and extent of the literature on the response and adaption to change in the context of allied health professionals. Change leaders in the health-care environment face a number of complex challenges when attempting to facilitate change. While this scoping review did not identify any specific literature on the response and adaption to change of allied health professionals, it did however provide information on change models and factors to take into consideration when implementing a change process.
Findings
The results of this scoping review identified findings in two main areas with regard to response and adaptation of allied health to change: a review of change management literature at the organisation level and change management for allied health. Most of the literature described organisational level change management without providing a structural framework for change. At the professional individual level, the literature focused on specific clinical interventions, rather than on the response and adaption to change for allied health. Minimal literature was identified in regard to the response and adaption to change of allied health professionals. In an environment characterised by continuous change and policy reform, a greater understanding of the response and adaption to change by allied health is a priority for research, policy and practice.
Research limitations/implications
This scoping review was undertaken to explore the response and adaption to change of allied health. It sought to identify the factors that may explain why certain disciplines within the allied health professional group responded to change differently. Scoping reviews do not set out to comprehensively source all relevant literature but rather to ascertain the nature and extent of the published literature in the field. Therefore, it is possible that a systematic review might uncover additional relevant papers. However, this scoping review provides a clear indication of the nature and extent of the literature in allied health.
Practical implications
Social implications
This scoping review will assist change leaders to gain a better understanding of theoretical frameworks of individual, team and organisational change processes and the impacts these have individually and collectively on change processes.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this scoping review is the first of its kind to identify the minimal literature available on the way allied health professionals respond and adapt to change.
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In Part 3 of her paper which won the 1975 Van den Berghs & Jurgens Nutrition Award, Sandra Hunt BSc describes some of the effects of nutritional inadequacies among these ethnic…
Sourou Meatchi, Sandra Camus and Danielle Lecointre-Erickson
This paper aims to offer a multi-dimensional scale for measuring the concept of perceived unfairness of revenue management pricing (RMP) in the context of hospitality.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to offer a multi-dimensional scale for measuring the concept of perceived unfairness of revenue management pricing (RMP) in the context of hospitality.
Design/methodology/approach
To develop a measurement scale for the perceived unfairness of RMP, the authors conducted a qualitative study using the critical incident technique to identify the key components of our measurement tool. They then collected two samples of quantitative data enabling them to have compelling evidence of the scale’s reliability and validity.
Findings
This research identified three dimensions of perceived unfairness of RMP in the context of hospitality: perceived normative deviation, perceived opacity and negative effects. The new scale proposed here is an alternative measurement instrument that could be useful for detecting and correcting some negative aspects of RMP.
Practical implications
This measurement scale will help hotel managers to detect potential feelings of unfairness in relation to the RMP policies. It might also be used within the framework of market analyses and pricing strategy plans. Finally, the results of this research show that transparency, fairness and ethics based pricing could help hotel managers increase their revenue-per-available-room during and post COVID-19 pandemic.
Originality/value
This research develops a complete measurement scale for perceived unfairness of RMP, including cognitive and affective dimensions. The richness of this scale will help hospitality companies effectively identify the indicators that denote perceived unfairness of RMP, making them better equipped to handle customer dissatisfaction.
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Sandra García-Bustos, Joseph León and María Nela Pastuizaca
This research proposes a multivariate control chart, whose parameters are optimized using genetic algorithms (GA) in order to accelerate the detection of a change in the vector of…
Abstract
Purpose
This research proposes a multivariate control chart, whose parameters are optimized using genetic algorithms (GA) in order to accelerate the detection of a change in the vector of means.
Design/methodology/approach
This chart is based on a variation of the Hotelling T2 chart using a sampling scheme called generalized multiple dependent state sampling. For the analysis of performances of this chart, the out-of-control average run length (ARL) values were used for different scenarios. In this comparison, it was considered the classic Hotelling T2 chart and the T2 chart using the scheme called multiple dependent state sampling.
Findings
It was observed that the new chart with its optimized parameters is more efficient to detect an out-of-control process. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis was performed, and it was concluded that the best yields are obtained when the change to be considered in the optimization is small. An application in the resolution of a real problem is given.
Originality/value
In this research, a multivariate control chart is proposed based on the Hotelling T2 statistic but adding a sampling scheme. This makes this control chart more efficient than the classic T2 chart because the new chart not only uses the current information of the T2 statistic but also conditions the decision to consider a process as “in- control” on the statistic's previous information. The practitioner can obtain the optimal parameters of this new chart through a friendly program developed by the authors.
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Amitabh Anand, Isabelle Walsh and Sandra Moffett
Despite the strong focus on virtues in firms, humility is little recognized in the management literature and, more particularly in the literature about knowledge sharing (KS)…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the strong focus on virtues in firms, humility is little recognized in the management literature and, more particularly in the literature about knowledge sharing (KS). Despite efforts to foster KS among employees in firms, the effectiveness of this process narrows down to the dyadic relationship between the knowledge seeker and provider within firm. This paper aims to investigate the role of humility in the KS process in dyadic activity.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors undertake an exploratory investigation to fill some of the gaps found in the literature. The paper draws insights from psychology, history, religion, current events and management literature.
Findings
The authors identify several individual propensities that help predict humility towards sharing knowledge from seeker (humble knowledge-inquiry) and provider perspectives (humble response). They propose a new conceptual process model of KS with humility as an important variable to consider. This work highlights several promising directions for future research.
Originality/value
As per the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that investigates the role of humility in knowledge sharing from dyadic perspective. The authors also introduce concepts of humble knowledge inquiry and humble response in a dyadic context for effective knowledge sharing process.
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Bruce L. Dixon, Bruce L. Ahrendsen, Brandon R. McFadden, Diana M. Danforth, Monica Foianini and Sandra J. Hamm
The purpose of this paper is to apply duration methods to a sample of Farm Service Agency (FSA) direct, seven‐year operating loans to identify those variables that influence the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to apply duration methods to a sample of Farm Service Agency (FSA) direct, seven‐year operating loans to identify those variables that influence the time to loan termination and type of termination. Variables include both those known at time of loan origination and those that characterize the changing economic environment over the life of the loan. Also, to examine the impact of various FSA programs promoting policy objectives.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic sample of 877 seven‐year, FSA direct loans originated between October 1, 1993 and September 30, 1996 was collected. Cox regression, competing risks models are estimated as a function of borrower and loan characteristics observable at loan origination. Economic indicator variables emphasizing the farm economy and observed quarterly over the life of the loan are also included as explanatory variables.
Findings
Loan characteristics, borrower financial characteristics and degree of borrower interaction with FSA observable at origin are significant variables in determining type of loan outcome (default or paid‐in‐full) and time to outcome. Changes in the economic environment and farm economy during the life of the loan are significant.
Research limitations/implications
The sample consists only of FSA direct loans which implies borrowers are at financial margin. Application of method to agricultural loans from conventional commercial lenders could identify different significant factors.
Practical implications
Using length of time to loan termination instead of just type of outcome provides for a richer analysis of loan performance. Loan performance over time is influenced by the larger economy and should be incorporated into loan performance modeling.
Originality/value
The study described in the paper demonstrates use of competing risks models on intermediate agricultural loans and develops how this technique can be used to learn about dynamic aspects of loan performance. Sample consists of observations on individual FSA direct loan borrowers. The FSA direct loan program is the major source of credit for agricultural borrowers at the financial margin.
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Sages and seers in ancient India specified dharma, artha, kama and moksha as the four ends of a moral and productive life and emphasised the attainment of a proper balance between…
Abstract
Sages and seers in ancient India specified dharma, artha, kama and moksha as the four ends of a moral and productive life and emphasised the attainment of a proper balance between the spiritual health and the material health. However, most of their intellectual energy was directed towards the attainment of moksha, the salvation from birth‐death‐rebirth cycle. Kautilya, on the other hand considered poverty as a living death and concentrated on devising economic policies to achieve salvation from poverty but without compromising with ethical values unless survival of the state was threatened. Kautilya's Arthashastra is unique in emphasising the imperative of economic growth and welfare of all. According to him, if there is no dharma, there is no society. He believed that ethical values pave the way to heaven as well as to prosperity on the earth, that is, have an intrinsic value as well as an instrumental value. He referred the reader to the Vedas and Philosophy for learning moral theory, which sheds light on the distinction between good and bad and moral and immoral actions. He extended the conceptual framework to deal with conflict of interest situations arising from the emerging capitalism. He dedicated his work to Om (symbol of spirituality, God) and Brihaspati and Sukra (political thinkers) implying, perhaps, that his goal was to integrate ethics and economics. It is argued that the level of integration between economics and ethics is significantly higher in Kautilya's Arthashastra than that in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations or for that matter in the writings of Plato and Aristotle.
Jonas da Silva Oliveira, Graça Maria do Carmo Azevedo, Cláudia da Silva Amaral Santos and Sandra Cristina Santos Vasconcelos
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it intends to assess the level of comparability of the fair value-based valuation criteria for biological assets of Portuguese dairy…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it intends to assess the level of comparability of the fair value-based valuation criteria for biological assets of Portuguese dairy farms after the adoption of the Portuguese Accounting Standardization System. Second, it presents an innovative valuation model to assess the fair value of dairy herds.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper conducts a multiple case study at dairy farms in the central region of Portugal which had adopted the new Accounting Standardization System. Data were captured through interviews to assess how dairy farms were using the new valuation criteria required by this recent accounting frame of reference. A proposal for a model to measure fair value is presented.
Findings
Main findings indicate that market values for dairy production animals are inconsistent, reducing financial information comparability levels. To solve these problems, the authors propose a new model to assess fair value based on the net present value (NPV) of future cash-flows. This is a possible method to measure bovines that are in a breeding stage and it will assure the comparability of financial statements among dairy farms.
Research limitations/implications
The study is confined to one case study and one country, not allowing generalization.
Originality/value
Results indicate the need to harmonize one possible method for measuring cattle that are in a breeding stage. In order to overcome these shortcomings, a model was designed to calculate the fair value of dairy production based on the NPV of future economic benefits.
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