Search results

1 – 10 of over 1000
Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 September 2017

Chris Lloyd, Philip Lee Williams, Gabrielle Vilic and Samson Tse

Initiated by the service user movement, recovery-oriented practices are one of the keystones of modern mental health care. Over the past two decades, substantial gains have been…

4385

Abstract

Purpose

Initiated by the service user movement, recovery-oriented practices are one of the keystones of modern mental health care. Over the past two decades, substantial gains have been made with introducing recovery-oriented practice in many areas of mental health practice, but there remain areas where progress is delayed, notably, the psychiatric inpatient environment. The peer support workforce can play a pivotal role in progressing recovery-oriented practices. The purpose of this paper is to provide a pragmatic consideration of how occupational therapists can influence mental health systems to work proactively with a peer workforce.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors reviewed current literature and considered practical approaches to building a peer workforce in collaboration with occupational therapists.

Findings

It is suggested that the peer support workforce should be consciously enhanced in the inpatient setting to support culture change as a matter of priority. Occupational therapists working on inpatient units should play a key role in promoting and supporting the growth in the peer support workforce. Doing so will enrich the Occupational Therapy profession as well as improving service user outcomes.

Originality/value

This paper seeks to provide a pragmatic consideration of how occupational therapists can influence mental health systems to work proactively with a peer workforce.

Details

Irish Journal of Occupational Therapy, vol. 45 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-8819

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 November 2022

Eline Ree, Siri Wiig, Camilla Seljemo, Torunn Wibe and Hilda Bø Lyng

This study aims to explore nursing home and home care managers’ strategies in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

1200

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore nursing home and home care managers’ strategies in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

This study has a qualitative design with semistructured individual interviews conducted digitally by videophone (Zoom). Eight managers from nursing homes and five managers from home care services located in a large urban municipality in eastern Norway participated. Systematic text condensation methodology was used for the analysis.

Findings

The managers used several strategies to handle challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including being proactive and thinking ahead in terms of possible scenarios that might occur, continuously training of staff in new procedures and routines and systematic information sharing at all levels, as well as providing different ways of disseminating information for staff, service users and next-of-kins. To handle staffing challenges, managers used strategies such as hiring short-term staff that were temporary laid off from other industries and bringing in students.

Originality/value

The COVID-19 pandemic heavily affected health-care systems worldwide, which has led to many health-care studies. The situation in nursing homes and home care services, which were strongly impacted by the pandemic and in charge of a vulnerable group of people, has not yet received enough attention in research. This study, therefore, seeks to contribute to this research gap by investigating how managers in nursing homes and home care services used different strategies to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 December 2017

Jenelle Marie Clarke

Democratic therapeutic communities (TCs), use a “flattened hierarchy” model whereby staff and clients are considered to have an equal voice, sharing administrative and some…

2031

Abstract

Purpose

Democratic therapeutic communities (TCs), use a “flattened hierarchy” model whereby staff and clients are considered to have an equal voice, sharing administrative and some therapeutic responsibility. Using the sociological framework of interaction ritual chain theory, the purpose of this paper is to explain how TC client members negotiated and enforced community expectations through an analysis of power within everyday interactions outside of structured therapy.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used narrative ethnography, consisting of participant observation with two democratic communities, narrative interviews with 21 client members, and semi-structured interviews with seven staff members.

Findings

The findings indicate social interactions could empower clients to recognise their personal agency and to support one another. However, these dynamics could be destructive when members were excluded or marginalised. Some clients used their interactions at times to consolidate power amongst dominant members.

Practical implications

It is argued that the flattened hierarchy approach theoretically guiding TC principles does not operate as a flattened model in practice. Rather, a fluid hierarchy, whereby clients shift and change social positions, seems more suited to explaining how the power structure worked within the communities, including amongst the client group. Recognising the hierarchy as “fluid” may open dialogues within TCs as to whether, and how, members experience exclusion.

Originality/value

Explorations of power have not specifically focused on power dynamics between clients. Moreover, this is one of the first papers to look at power dynamics outside of structured therapy.

Details

Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, vol. 38 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0964-1866

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 June 2020

Michelle M.E. Van Pinxteren, Mark Pluymaekers and Jos G.A.M. Lemmink

Conversational agents (chatbots, avatars and robots) are increasingly substituting human employees in service encounters. Their presence offers many potential benefits, but…

15307

Abstract

Purpose

Conversational agents (chatbots, avatars and robots) are increasingly substituting human employees in service encounters. Their presence offers many potential benefits, but customers are reluctant to engage with them. A possible explanation is that conversational agents do not make optimal use of communicative behaviors that enhance relational outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to identify which human-like communicative behaviors used by conversational agents have positive effects on relational outcomes and which additional behaviors could be investigated in future research.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a systematic review of 61 articles that investigated the effects of communicative behaviors used by conversational agents on relational outcomes. A taxonomy is created of all behaviors investigated in these studies, and a research agenda is constructed on the basis of an analysis of their effects and a comparison with the literature on human-to-human service encounters.

Findings

The communicative behaviors can be classified along two dimensions: modality (verbal, nonverbal, appearance) and footing (similarity, responsiveness). Regarding the research agenda, it is noteworthy that some categories of behaviors show mixed results and some behaviors that are effective in human-to-human interactions have not yet been investigated in conversational agents.

Practical implications

By identifying potentially effective communicative behaviors in conversational agents, this study assists managers in optimizing encounters between conversational agents and customers.

Originality/value

This is the first study that develops a taxonomy of communicative behaviors in conversational agents and uses it to identify avenues for future research.

Details

Journal of Service Management, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-5818

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 May 2020

Galen R. Collins

Service robotics, a branch of robotics that entails the development of robots able to assist humans in their environment, is of growing interest in the hospitality industry…

5590

Abstract

Purpose

Service robotics, a branch of robotics that entails the development of robots able to assist humans in their environment, is of growing interest in the hospitality industry. Designing effective autonomous service robots, however, requires an understanding of Human–Robot Interaction (HRI), a relatively young discipline dedicated to understanding, designing, and evaluating robotic systems for use by or with humans. HRI has not yet received sufficient attention in hospitality robotic design, much like Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) in property management system design in the 1980s. This article proposes a set of introductory HRI guidelines with implementation standards for autonomous hospitality service robots.

Design/methodology/approach

A set of key user-centered HRI guidelines for hospitality service robots were extracted from 52 research articles. These are organized into service performance categories to provide more context for their application in hospitality settings.

Findings

Based on an extensive literature review, this article presents some HRI guidelines that may drive higher levels of acceptance of service robots in customer-facing situations. Deriving meaningful HRI guidelines requires an understanding of how customers evaluate service interactions with humans in hospitality settings and to what degree those will differ with service robots.

Originality/value

Robots are challenging assumptions on how hospitality businesses operate. They are being increasingly deployed by hotels and restaurants to boost productivity and maintain service levels. Effective HRI guidelines incorporate user requirements and expectations in the design specifications. Compilation of such information for designers of hospitality service robots will offer a clearer roadmap for them to follow.

Details

International Hospitality Review, vol. 34 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-8142

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 December 2023

José Antonio Pedraza-Rodríguez, Martha Yadira García-Briones and César Mora-Márquez

This article aims to explore the concept of chain value of the public port system in Ecuador from the perspective of importing/exporting companies, analyzing how perceived value…

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to explore the concept of chain value of the public port system in Ecuador from the perspective of importing/exporting companies, analyzing how perceived value in the use of port services affects customer satisfaction and the intermediate links of the influence of trust and commitment on customer loyalty.

Design/methodology/approach

Relying on a survey of 634 Ecuadorian companies with experience in international trade as port users and a theoretical framework well-established in the literature on consumer behavior, the empirical study found evidence of a positive and significant relationship with the knowledge of chain effects.

Findings

The findings confirm the chain effect and reveal ways to maintain an ongoing satisfactory, trust and committed relationship with users, thereby ultimately gaining and maintaining their loyalty. The conclusions suggest how this postulate can help to close the gap referred to the effective management of port services, and point out that port managers should be concerned with a continuous in-depth understanding of the perceived value and its chain effects.

Originality/value

The authors add evidence of the use of the postulate of the chain of effects on these dimensions, whose applicability is very well established, tested and consensual for the doctrine in industrial marketing. In contrast, it is scarcely present in the port relationship with its users.

Details

Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, vol. 29 no. 57
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2077-1886

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 October 2020

Aya Rizk, Anna Ståhlbröst and Ahmed Elragal

Within digital innovation, there are two significant consequences of the pervasiveness of digital technology: (1) the increasing connectivity is enabling a wider reach and scope…

2687

Abstract

Purpose

Within digital innovation, there are two significant consequences of the pervasiveness of digital technology: (1) the increasing connectivity is enabling a wider reach and scope of innovation structures, such as innovation networks and (2) the unprecedented availability of digital data is creating new opportunities for innovation. Accordingly, there is a growing domain for studying data-driven innovation (DDI), especially in contemporary contexts of innovation networks. The purpose of this study is to explore how DDI processes take form in a specific type of innovation networks, namely federated networks.

Design/methodology/approach

A multiple case study design is applied in this paper. We draw our analysis from data collected over six months from four cases of DDI. The within-analysis is aimed at constructing the DDI process instance in each case, while the crosscase analysis focuses on pattern matching and cross-case synthesis of common and unique characteristics in the constructed processes.

Findings

Evidence from the crosscase analysis suggests that the widely accepted four-phase digital innovation process (including discovery, development, diffusion and post-diffusion) does not account for the explorative nature of data analytics and DDI. We propose an extended process comprising an explicit exploration phase before development, where refinement of the innovation concept and exploring social relationships are essential. Our analysis also suggests two modes of DDI: (1) asynchronous, i.e. data acquired before development and (2) synchronous, i.e. data acquired after (or during) development. We discuss the implications of these modes on the DDI process and the participants in the innovation network.

Originality/value

The paper proposes an extended version of the digital innovation process that is more specifically suited for DDI. We also provide an early explanation to the variation in DDI process complexities by highlighting the different modes of DDI processes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first empirical investigation of DDI following the process from early stages of discovery till postdiffusion.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 25 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 June 2019

Martina Čaić, Dominik Mahr and Gaby Oderkerken-Schröder

The technological revolution in the service sector is radically changing the ways in which and with whom consumers co-create value. This conceptual paper considers social robots…

15552

Abstract

Purpose

The technological revolution in the service sector is radically changing the ways in which and with whom consumers co-create value. This conceptual paper considers social robots in elderly care services and outlines ways in which their human-like affect and cognition influence users’ social perceptions and anticipations of robots’ value co-creation or co-destruction potential. A future research agenda offers relevant, conceptually robust directions for stimulating the advancement of knowledge and understanding in this nascent field.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from service, robotics and social cognition research, this paper develops a conceptual understanding of the value co-creation/destruction potential of social robots in services.

Findings

Three theoretical propositions construct an iterative framework of users’ evaluations of social robots in services. First, social robots offer users value propositions leveraging affective and cognitive resources. Second, users’ personal values become salient through interactions with social robots’ affective and cognitive resources. Third, users evaluate social robots’ value co-creation/destruction potential according to social cognition dimensions.

Originality/value

Social robots in services are an emerging topic in service research and hold promising implications for organizations and users. This relevant, conceptually robust framework advances scholarly understanding of their opportunities and pitfalls for realizing value. This study also identifies guidelines for service managers for designing and introducing social robots into complex service environments.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 33 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 November 2021

Koraljka Golub, Pawel Michal Ziolkowski and Goran Zlodi

The study aims to paint a representative picture of the current state of search interfaces of Swedish online museum collections, focussing on search functionalities with…

2632

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to paint a representative picture of the current state of search interfaces of Swedish online museum collections, focussing on search functionalities with particular reference to subject searching, as well as the use of controlled vocabularies, with the purpose of identifying which improvements of the search interfaces are needed to ensure high-quality information retrieval for the end user.

Design/methodology/approach

In the first step, a set of 21 search interface criteria was identified, based on related research and current standards in the domain of cultural heritage knowledge organization. Secondly, a complete set of Swedish museums that provide online access to their collections was identified, comprising nine cross-search services and 91 individual museums' websites. These 100 websites were each evaluated against the 21 criteria, between 1 July and 31 August 2020.

Findings

Although many standards and guidelines are in place to ensure quality-controlled subject indexing, which in turn support information retrieval of relevant resources (as individual or full search results), the study shows that they are not broadly implemented, resulting in information retrieval failures for the end user. The study also demonstrates a strong need for the implementation of controlled vocabularies in these museums.

Originality/value

This study is a rare piece of research which examines subject searching in online museums; the 21 search criteria and their use in the analysis of the complete set of online collections of a country represents a considerable and unique contribution to the fields of knowledge organization and information retrieval of cultural heritage. Its particular value lies in showing how the needs of end users, many of which are documented and reflected in international standards and guidelines, should be taken into account in designing search tools for these museums; especially so in subject searching, which is the most complex and yet the most common type of search. Much effort has been invested into digitizing cultural heritage collections, but access to them is hindered by poor search functionality. This study identifies which are the most important aspects to improve.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 September 2019

Marcel Huettermann, Tatjana Thimm, Frank Hannich and Christine Bild

The purpose of this paper is to examine visitor management in the German-Swiss border area of the Lake Constance region. Taking a customer perspective, it determines the…

2441

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine visitor management in the German-Swiss border area of the Lake Constance region. Taking a customer perspective, it determines the requirements for an application with the ability to optimize personal mobility.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative study and a survey of focus groups were conducted to identify movement patterns of different types of visitors and their requirements concerning the development of a visitor management application.

Findings

Visitors want an application that provides real-time forecasts of issues such as traffic, parking and queues and, at the same time, enables them to create a personal activity schedule based on this information.

Research limitations/implications

Not every subsample reached a sufficient number of cases to yield representative results.

Practical implications

The results may lead to an optimization and management separation of mobility flows in the research area and be helpful to municipal planners, destination marketing organizations and visitors.

Originality/value

The German border cities of Konstanz, Radolfzell and Singen in the Lake Constance region need improved visitor management, mainly because of a high level of shopping tourism by Swiss visitors to Germany. In the Summer months, Lake Constance is also a popular destination for leisure tourists, which causes overtourism. For the first time, the results of this research presented here offer possible solutions, in particular by showing how a mobile application for visitors could defuse the situation.

Details

Journal of Tourism Futures, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-5911

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 1000