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1 – 10 of over 4000
Article
Publication date: 29 December 2023

Tingxi Wang, Qianyu Lin, Zhaobiao Zong and Yue Zhou

This study investigates why employees' cyber-loafing is affected by work-related computing at home. Based on the self-determination theory, the authors propose the mediating role…

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates why employees' cyber-loafing is affected by work-related computing at home. Based on the self-determination theory, the authors propose the mediating role of sense of control and the moderating role of work/family segmentation preference.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the authors' hypotheses, the authors conducted a multi-wave, multi-source field study with 224 paired employee-leader dyads at three time points. The hypotheses were tested by the SPSS macro application in Hayes (2018) with a bootstrap approach to obtain confidence intervals.

Findings

The work-related computing at home promotes employee cyber-loafing as compensation for their impaired sense of control. Moreover, such a relationship is stronger for employees with a stronger desire for self-control (i.e. high work/family segmentation preference).

Originality/value

This study reveals the underlying mechanism linking the work-related computing at home and employee cyber-loafing, as well as the boundary condition of this relationship. Specifically, sense of control serves as a vital mechanism and work/family segmentation preference as a key boundary condition. In addition, the authors enrich the application of self-determination theory in management research.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 February 2024

Luiz Henrique Alonso de Andrade and Elias Pekkola

This research addresses the professional logics of street-level managers (SLMs) and bureaucrats (SLBs) working in the Brazilian National Social Security Agency (INSS) through…

Abstract

Purpose

This research addresses the professional logics of street-level managers (SLMs) and bureaucrats (SLBs) working in the Brazilian National Social Security Agency (INSS) through their perceptions of distributive justice and discretion. Since SLMs have the authority to influence SLBs' actions, we investigate whether these two groups hold similar viewpoints.

Design/methodology/approach

We integrate the administrative data and survey responses (n = 678) with earlier thematic content analysis (n = 350) in three stages: mean-testing, regression analyses and complementary qualitative analysis, integrated through a mixed-methods matrix.

Findings

Whilst no significant differences emerge in distributive justice ideas between groups, SLMs demand wider benefit-granting discretion, praising professionalism whilst adopting managerial posture and jargon.

Research limitations/implications

The study adds to the theoretical discussions concerning SLM’s influence on SLB’s decision-making, suggesting that other factors outweigh it. The finding concerning the managers’ demand for wider discretion asks for further in-depth approaches.

Practical implications

Findings supply valuable insights for policymakers and managers steering administrative reforms, by questioning whether some roles SLMs play are limited to symbolic levels. Further, SLBs’ heterogenous formations might be more relevant to policy divergence than managerial influence and perhaps an underutilised source of innovation.

Originality/value

By approaching street-level management professional logics within a Global South welfare state through a mixed-methods approach, this study offers a holistic understanding of complex dynamics, providing novel insights for public sector management.

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 January 2024

Raunaq Chawla, Eric Soreng and Avinash Kumar

A prime objective of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA; Clean India Mission) is to motivate people to segregate their household waste. The purpose of this study is to assess the…

Abstract

Purpose

A prime objective of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA; Clean India Mission) is to motivate people to segregate their household waste. The purpose of this study is to assess the ground reality of waste management behaviour of Delhi residents with the help of a modified Value–Belief–Norm (VBN) model. Past researches point the need to include cost as a variable in the VBN model. This study fulfils this need and tests cost as one of the variables on the gathered data.

Design/methodology/approach

The research data were gathered by interacting with the people and the civic staff in the jurisdiction of the three Delhi municipalities through a stratified sampling technique (N = 250). The structural equation modelling was used to analyse the collected data.

Findings

The modified VBN model explains the waste management behaviour, but the variables do not follow the exact causal chain. Values, awareness of consequences, ascription of responsibility and personal norms all explain the resident's waste management behaviour. However, cost limits the resident's waste management behaviour.

Research limitations/implications

The study could only achieve a moderate model fit; its sample size was small; and data were collected through self-reported questionnaire.

Practical implications

Three main practical implications of the study are: (1) While designing waste management solutions, due importance must be given to the cost to be borne by people for adopting these solutions. (2) Design such interventions that target residents' values to convince them to make the desired behavioural change. (3) People need be educated about the ways to sort waste and made aware of the importance of waste segregation in eradicating the urban waste mess.

Originality/value

The paper is an original contribution to testing a modified VBN model in predicting waste management behaviour. The modified model includes cost as a variable missing in the previous research. This research is useful in the backdrop of the SBA and provides suggestions for policymakers and pro-environment researchers.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 19 April 2024

Robert Wagenaar

Key to transnational higher education (HE) cooperation is building trust to allow for seamless recognition of studies. Building on the Tuning Educational Structures initiative…

Abstract

Purpose

Key to transnational higher education (HE) cooperation is building trust to allow for seamless recognition of studies. Building on the Tuning Educational Structures initiative (2001) and lessons learnt from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)-Assessment of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education (AHELO) feasibility study, this paper offers a sophisticated approach developed by the European Union (EU)-co-financed project Measuring and Comparing Achievements of Learning Outcomes in Europe (CALOHEE). These evidence the quality and relevance of learning by applying transparent and reliable indicators at the overarching and disciplinary levels. The model results allow for transnational diagnostic assessments to identify the strength and weaknesses of degree programmes.

Design/methodology/approach

The materials presented have been developed from 2016 to 2023, applying a bottom-up approach involving approximately 150 academics from 20+ European countries, reflecting the full spectrum of academic fields. Based on intensive face-to-face debate and consultation of stakeholders and anchored in academic literature and wide experience.

Findings

As a result, general (overarching) state-of-the-art reference frameworks have been prepared for the associated degree, bachelor, master and doctorate, as well as aligned qualifications reference frameworks and more detailed learning outcomes/assessment frameworks for 11 subject areas, offering a sound basis for quality assurance. As a follow-up, actual assessment formats for five academic fields have been developed to allow for measuring the actual level of learning at the institutional level from a comparative perspective.

Originality/value

Frameworks as well as assessment models and items are highly innovative, content-wise as in the strategy of development, involving renown academics finding common ground. Its value is not limited to Europe but has global significance. The model developed, is also relevant for micro-credentials in defining levels of mastery.

Details

Journal of International Cooperation in Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2755-029X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 February 2023

Kang Min, Fenglei Ni and Hong Liu

The purpose of the paper is to propose an efficient and accurate force/torque (F/T) sensing method for the robotic wrist-mounted six-dimensional F/T sensor based on an excitation…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to propose an efficient and accurate force/torque (F/T) sensing method for the robotic wrist-mounted six-dimensional F/T sensor based on an excitation trajectory.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents an efficient and accurate F/T sensing method based on an excitation trajectory. First, the dynamic identification model is established by comprehensively considering inertial forces/torques, sensor zero-drift values, robot base inclination errors and forces/torques caused by load gravity. Therefore, the sensing accuracy is improved. Then, the excitation trajectory with optimized poses is used for robot following and data acquisition. The data acquisition is not limited by poses and its time can be significantly shortened. Finally, the least squares method is used to identify parameters and sense contact forces/torques.

Findings

Experiments have been carried out on the self-developed robot manipulator. The results strongly demonstrate that the proposed approach is more efficient and accurate than the existing widely-adopted method. Furthermore, the data acquisition time can be shortened from more than 60 s to 3 s/20 s. Thus, the proposed approach is effective and suitable for fast-paced industrial applications.

Originality/value

The main contributions of this paper are as follows: the dynamic identification model is established by comprehensively considering inertial forces/torques, sensor zero-drift values, robot base inclination errors and forces/torques caused by load gravity; and the excitation trajectory with optimized poses is used for robot following and data acquisition.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 March 2024

Allam Abu Farha, Said Elbanna, Osama Sam Al-kwifi and Satoko Uenishi

This study seeks to investigate how managerial assumptions shape international market orientation (IMO) and how IMO, in turn, affects the performance of small and medium-sized…

Abstract

Purpose

This study seeks to investigate how managerial assumptions shape international market orientation (IMO) and how IMO, in turn, affects the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), drawing from cognitive theory and the resource-based view (RBV) to provide the theoretical framework.

Design/methodology/approach

The study focuses on the relatively unexplored domain of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan. A survey was developed and tested using data from 303 Japanese SMEs. The study model was subsequently analyzed using the partial least squares (PLS) technique.

Findings

The study reveals a nuanced relationship between managerial frames of reference (FoRs) and IMOs. The results confirmed notable congruence between interfunctional market orientation and managers who exhibit a political FoR. They also revealed a positive correlation between professional FoR managers and customer market orientation. Additionally, the findings showed that entrepreneurial FoR managers displayed a significant association with competitive market orientation and Bureaucratic FoR matched with the three types of IMO. Finally, the results indicate that all three forms of IMO have a substantial impact on performance, albeit to varying degrees.

Research limitations/implications

The applicability of our results to multinational corporations (MNCs) has not been evaluated. Since the primary focus was to identify the types of associations among FoR and IMO, the causal pathways and explanatory factors that underpinned these observed relationships were not examined in this study. Additionally, due to the geographical concentration of our sample in Japan, we were unable to conduct tests on the suggested model in other countries to validate and potentially generalize the research findings.

Practical implications

By developing an implicit understanding of the market orientation fit within the organization’s FoR, managers can enhance their understanding of competitors' activities and enable them to respond with greater efficiency.

Originality/value

To the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the rare papers that inspect the relationship between International market orientations and managerial assumptions as well as their effect on performance.

Details

Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-4503

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 March 2024

Douglas Ramalho Queiroz Pacheco

This study aims to propose and numerically assess different ways of discretising a very weak formulation of the Poisson problem.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to propose and numerically assess different ways of discretising a very weak formulation of the Poisson problem.

Design/methodology/approach

We use integration by parts twice to shift smoothness requirements to the test functions, thereby allowing low-regularity data and solutions.

Findings

Various conforming discretisations are presented and tested, with numerical results indicating good accuracy and stability in different types of problems.

Originality/value

This is one of the first articles to propose and test concrete discretisations for very weak variational formulations in primal form. The numerical results, which include a problem based on real MRI data, indicate the potential of very weak finite element methods for tackling problems with low regularity.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 April 2024

Nicholas Fancher, Bibek Saha, Kurtis Young, Austin Corpuz, Shirley Cheng, Angelique Fontaine, Teresa Schiff-Elfalan and Jill Omori

In the state of Hawaii, it has been shown that certain ethnic minority groups, such as Filipinos and Pacific Islanders, suffer disproportionally high rates of cardiovascular…

Abstract

Purpose

In the state of Hawaii, it has been shown that certain ethnic minority groups, such as Filipinos and Pacific Islanders, suffer disproportionally high rates of cardiovascular disease, evidence that local health-care systems and governing bodies fail to equally extend the human right to health to all. This study aims to examine whether these ethnic health disparities in cardiovascular disease persist even within an already globally disadvantaged group, the houseless population of Hawaii.

Design/methodology/approach

A retrospective chart review of records from Hawaii Houseless Outreach and Medical Education Project clinic sites from 2016 to 2020 was performed to gather patient demographics and reported histories of type II diabetes, obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and other cardiovascular disease diagnoses. Reported disease prevalence rates were compared between larger ethnic categories as well as ethnic subgroups.

Findings

Unexpectedly, the data revealed lower reported prevalence rates of most cardiometabolic diseases among the houseless compared to the general population. However, multiple ethnic health disparities were identified, including higher rates of diabetes and obesity among Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders and higher rates of hypertension among Filipinos and Asians overall. The findings suggest that even within a generally disadvantaged houseless population, disparities in health outcomes persist between ethnic groups and that ethnocultural considerations are just as important in caring for this vulnerable population.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study focusing on ethnic health disparities in cardiovascular disease and the structural processes that contribute to them, among a houseless population in the ethnically diverse state of Hawaii.

Details

International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4902

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 June 2023

Rosa Hendijani and Mohammad Milad Ahmadi

Individual differences cause many differences in human behaviour, and the first source of these differences is personality. In various organisations, employees are encouraged to…

Abstract

Purpose

Individual differences cause many differences in human behaviour, and the first source of these differences is personality. In various organisations, employees are encouraged to manage conflict through conflict management styles. The way people think can be an essential factor in their ability to conflict management. Difficult employees are individuals who constantly use problematic communication styles to express their feelings and thoughts to direct the behaviour of others. This empirical study aims to investigate the effect of thinking styles on individuals’ conflict management in dealing with difficult personalities.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve the research purpose, a gamified situation was designed, and a survey was performed in laboratory settings and on an online platform. At first, participants’ reactions were measured in the simulated conflict management situation dealing with difficult personalities; subsequently, the dominant thinking style of participants was measured by the rational-experiential inventory (REI) and the cognitive reflection test. At the end, participants answered a series of demographic questions.

Findings

The collected data were then analysed by regression analysis. Based on the findings of this study, the rational thinking measured by the REI40 has a significant and positive effect on the performance of individuals in conflict management with difficult personalities in an organisational context; in other words, rational thinking leads to better performance in conflict management than experiential thinking.

Originality/value

The value of this article lies in the direct study of the impact of thinking styles on conflict management, which was done by focusing on difficult organisational personalities. Also, using gamification in research design is another research initiative.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2024

Srividhya Raju Sridharan, Sagar Malsane and Govinda Shashikant Bhutada

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the sequence of forces acting as barriers in the usage of drones in the construction industry using interpretive structural modelling (ISM)…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the sequence of forces acting as barriers in the usage of drones in the construction industry using interpretive structural modelling (ISM). The usage of drones in the construction industry is brought out phase-wise with the help of literature and live cases. Barriers to the usage of drones in construction and steps to derive the interaction between them are described in detail.

Design/methodology/approach

The extraction of barriers to the usage of drones in construction is done through cases and supported by the literature. The identification of the interaction between the barriers is done through multi-criteria decision models, namely, ISM and Matriced Impacts Croises Multiplication Appliquee a un Classement (MICMAC) and the results are presented in the form of a hierarchical structure. The paper highlights the potential for the usage of drones in every phase of construction across three stages of construction and eight different applications.

Findings

The findings on the interaction between barriers show that technical and research and development-related barriers have a higher driving power, ultimately influencing negativity among stakeholders in drone usage for construction. By analysing interrelationships between barriers, management can frame suitable strategies to adopt drone usage in projects. Awareness about the strength of certain barriers can help management take steps to mitigate the same.

Research limitations/implications

By analysing interrelationships between barriers, management can frame suitable strategies to adopt drone usage in projects. A major limitation is a restriction of the study area to the Indian subcontinent. However, the authors believe that the results can be applied across countries where drone technology is at the nascent stage.

Practical implications

Awareness about the strength of certain barriers can help stakeholders take steps to mitigate the same.

Social implications

The results of this research also give some inputs to the government’s drone policy for wider usage of drones in the construction industry.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, most studies on drones in construction industry bring out a list various challenges to their adoption. In this study, the authors have gone further to perform a hierarchical sequencing of barriers to drone adoption based on challenges faced in an emerging economy like India.

Details

World Journal of Engineering, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1708-5284

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 4000