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1 – 10 of 347Sebastian Pfautsch and Tonia Gray
This study, from Western Sydney University, aims to assess the disposition of students towards climate warming (CW) – a key component of sustainability. CW is a global reality…
Abstract
Purpose
This study, from Western Sydney University, aims to assess the disposition of students towards climate warming (CW) – a key component of sustainability. CW is a global reality. Any human born after February 1985 has never lived in a world that was not constantly warming, yet little is known about how higher education students perceive their future in a warming world.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey, split into three parts, was used to deliver benchmark data on (I) personal information, (II) factual knowledge and (III) sentiments related to CW.
Findings
Gender and age of students significantly influenced their perception of CW. While self-rated understanding of CW was generally high, factual knowledge about CW was low. Few students recognized that CW was already under way, and that it was mainly caused by human activity. The most prominent emotions were fear, sadness and anger, foretelling widespread disempowerment and fear for the future.
Research limitations/implications
The study was based on a single dataset and survey response was relatively low. However, respondents mirrored the composition of the student community very well.
Originality/value
This is the first study revealing large psychological distance to the effects of CW in university students from Australia. Combined with the impression of despondence, the present study suggests that higher education in Australia, and possibly elsewhere, is not providing the prerequisite tools tomorrow’s leaders require for meeting societal, environmental and economic challenges caused by CW. Practical ways to erase these blind spots in sustainability literacy are provided, drawing upon established and novel concepts in higher education.
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Peter Burggraef, Johannes Wagner, Matthias Dannapfel and Sebastian Patrick Vierschilling
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the benefit of pre-emptive disruption management measures for assembly systems towards the target dimension adherence to delivery times.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the benefit of pre-emptive disruption management measures for assembly systems towards the target dimension adherence to delivery times.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted by creating simulation models for typical assembly systems and measuring its varying throughput times due to changes in their disruption profiles. Due to the variability of assembly systems, key influence factors were investigated and used as a foundation for the simulation setup. Additionally, a disruption profile for each simulated process was developed, using the established disruption categories material, information and capacity. The categories are described by statistical distributions, defining the interval between the disruptions and the disruption duration. By a statistical experiment plan, the effect of a reduced disruption potential onto the throughput time was investigated.
Findings
Pre-emptive disruption management is beneficial, but its benefit depends on the operated assembly system and its organisation form, such as line or group assembly. Measures have on average a higher beneficial impact on group assemblies than on line assemblies. Furthermore, it was proven that the benefit, in form of better adherence to delivery times, per reduced disruption potential has a declining character and approximates a distinct maximum.
Originality/value
Characterising the benefit of pre-emptive disruption management measures enables managers to use this concept in their daily production to minimise overall costs. Despite the hardly predictable influence of pre-emptive disruption measures, these research results can be implemented into a heuristic for efficiently choosing these measures.
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All entrepreneurs face challenges during their venture start-up process, but immigrant entrepreneurs face additional and distinctive challenges due to their contextual newness…
Abstract
Purpose
All entrepreneurs face challenges during their venture start-up process, but immigrant entrepreneurs face additional and distinctive challenges due to their contextual newness. This paper focuses on understanding the intertwined journeys of nascent entrepreneurship and cross-cultural adaptation of immigrants in a small Western European country where immigrant entrepreneurship is still a relatively new phenomenon.
Design/methodology/approach
The induction-driven, 18-month longitudinal empirical inquiry focused on six early-stage nascent entrepreneurs. Qualitative methods included participant observation during an enterprise program, qualitative interviews and ongoing informal communication.
Findings
The data uncovered the interplay between the nascent immigrant entrepreneurship and cross-cultural adaptation. This led to the development of a novel conceptual framework which highlights how the cross-cultural adaptation domain links with the process of recognition, evaluation and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities by immigrant entrepreneurs. While varying temporarily and contextually, cross-cultural adaptation was found to create both enabling and constraining tensions within the nascent entrepreneurial experiences of immigrants.
Research limitations/implications
It is recognized that undertaking just six cases may present a significant limitation of the research, but a close examination of even one individual's lived experience can yield valuable insights. It is hoped that future work will test the highlighted research propositions and other findings in different empirical contexts, and so add to the emerging conceptual framework on nascent immigrant entrepreneurship within the context of cross-cultural adaptation.
Originality/value
No previous qualitative studies have been undertaken seeking to understand how cross-cultural adaptation interacts with the early stages of nascent immigrant entrepreneurial activity. By integrating new venture creation and cross-cultural adaptation theories, this research contributes to the conceptualisation of early stages of nascent entrepreneurial activities of immigrants in a new host environment. The implications of the research are also relevant to enterprise support bodies, policymakers and practitioners who support immigrant entrepreneurship.
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This research aims to investigate the symbiotic relationship between work and family life among doctors in India, with a focus on work–family…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to investigate the symbiotic relationship between work and family life among doctors in India, with a focus on work–family enrichment (WFE) as a positive interplay. The study seeks to examine the impact of two aspects of WFE, namely, work-to-family enrichment (WTFE) and family-to-work enrichment (FTWE) on job satisfaction (JS) and life satisfaction (LS), while exploring the mediating role of self-efficacy (SE).
Design/methodology/approach
The research employs a comprehensive survey to gather data from Indian doctors. The survey includes measures of WTFE, FTWE, JS, LS and SE. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to examine the proposed connections among the research constructs, using IBM AMOS v.23.
Findings
The findings reveal that WTFE significantly impacts both JS and LS. However, FTWE does not show a direct influence on JS, though it does positively impact LS. SE plays a noteworthy role, having a strong direct influence on both job and life satisfaction. In terms of indirect influence, WTFE impacts job and life satisfaction through the mechanism of SE. Nevertheless, no significant indirect effect was found between FTWE and both types of satisfaction through SE.
Originality/value
This research presents several original contributions to the study of work–life balance among healthcare professionals. Firstly, its unique geographic focus on North India distinguishes it from existing literature, offering fresh insights into the experiences of doctors in this region. Moreover, the study's multifaceted examination of WFE, SE, JS, and LS introduces a comprehensive perspective seldom seen in current research.
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