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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate undergraduate student perceptions about the application of immersive technologies for enhancing the student learning experience. This study assesses the viewpoints of students from varying multidisciplinary backgrounds about whether immersive technologies can enhance their learning experience and increase their level of engagement in the context of higher educational delivery.

The research used a case study methodology adopting a questionnaire-based research mixed methods approach. In total, 83 participants completed the questionnaire. The purpose of the research was to evaluate and interpret students’ perspectives at higher educational level about the use of immersive technologies towards enhancing their learning experience. There was also a focus on remote educational delivery due to the legacy of COVID-19.

The findings suggest that there is still more empirical work to be undertaken regarding the application of immersive technologies in higher education. The study revealed that there are immersive benefits though preference for face-to-face teaching remains popular. The negative connotations associated with immersive technology use in higher education, (e.g. virtual reality), such as cost of equipment and motion sickness, substantiates the themes identified in the academic literature.

The study explores a diversity of immersive technologies and their application in higher education (HE) contexts. Findings indicate that although there are acknowledged pedagogical benefits of immersive technology use in HE prevalent barriers remain that require further empirical research if immersive technology use is to be universally used in the sector.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of key audit matters (KAMs) on the timeliness of financial statement reporting, measured as audit report lag (ARL), within the context of Kuwait's evolving financial market.

Using a sample of 136 unique firms and 841 firm-year observations over the period 2016–2022, the study employs a random effects model on a panel data set to examine the correlation between the number and type of KAMs disclosed in audit reports and the length of ARL. In addition, we employ sub-sample analysis and two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression to enhance overall reliability.

The results indicate a positive relationship between an increased number of reported KAMs and the length of ARL. Specific categories of KAMs, such as those related to investments and the implementation of new standards, also significantly impact the delay. Additionally, the findings reaffirm the importance of several determinants of ARL, which is consistent with prior research.

This study is among the first to offer new insights by examining the relationship between both the number and specific types and/or categories of KAMs on ARL in emerging markets.

There are many safety hazards in construction workplaces, and inattention to the hazards is the main reason why construction workers failed to identify the hazards. Reasonably allocating attention during hazard identification is critical for construction workers’ safety. However, adverse working environments in job sites may undermine workers’ attention. Previous studies failed to investigate the impacts of environmental factors on attention allocation, which hinders taking appropriate measures to eliminate safety incidents when encountering adverse working environments. This study aims to examine the effects of workplace noise and heat exposure on workers’ attention allocation during construction hazard identification to fill the research gap.

This study applied an experimental study where a within-subject experiment was designed. Fifteen construction workers were invited to perform hazard identification tasks in panoramic virtual reality. They were exposed to three noise levels (60, 85 and 100 dBA) in four thermal conditions (26°C, 50% RH; 33°C, 50% RH; 30°C, 70% RH; 33°C, 70% RH). Their eye movements were recorded to indicate their attention allocation under each condition.

The results show that noise exposure reduced workers’ attention to hazardous areas and the impacts increased with the noise level. Heat exposure also reduced the attention, but it did not increase with the heat stress but with subjects’ thermal discomfort. The attention was impacted more by noise than heat exposure. Noise exposure in the hot climate should be more noteworthy because lower levels of noise would lead to significant changes. These visual characteristics led to poorer identification accuracy.

This study could extend the understanding of the relationship between adverse environmental factors and construction safety. Understanding the intrinsic reasons for workers' failed identification may also provide insights for the industry to enhance construction safety under adverse environments.

The purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive systematic literature review using bibliometric approach to investigate the academic structure of World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement research.

The study examines the bibliographic information for 1,858 articles from Scopus and the Australian Business Deans Council-indexed journals published between 1995 and 2024 using Dimensions.ai and Google Scholar search engines. Exploratory-cum-descriptive research design with bibliometric approach is used to answer the stated literature review research questions.

The data shows a gradual decline in WTO-Dispute Settlement System (WTO-DSS) research relative to the total international business area in the three decades. Developed countries appear as key contributors to the research, with the USA and the UK standing out as the most productive and influential research countries. The study shows a significant change in the focus of this research corpus from legalized to non-legalized approaches, with a greater emphasis on transparency and environmental sustainability. The research identifies global politics and international trade law as influential subjects in the discipline.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is a first of its kind where bibliometric approach has been used to study the evolution of WTO-DSS literature. The study adds to the understanding of WTO Dispute Settlement research patterns and recommends future research options.

In a context of growing concern about the environmental and social crisis, education for sustainability has emerged as a key educational approach to address these challenges. University education plays a crucial role in training professionals who are aware of and committed to sustainability. This study aims to examine the impact of the socio-professional characteristics of university professors on the awareness and implementation of sustainability in teaching and research.

This study uses the academics’ statements through a survey to describe the degree of awareness and implementation of sustainability at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and evaluates the influence that certain socio-professional variables can have on their commitment to sustainability. For this purpose, the paper proposes the use of descriptive and inferential statistical techniques.

The research reveals that UPV/EHU is in the first phases of implementation of sustainability, indicating a low overall implementation. Therefore, it is proposed to promote internal awareness about sustainability, promote teacher training, integrate sustainability competencies in academic programs and promote research in areas with less scientific production related to sustainability, with emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration and gender equality to achieve greater integration of sustainability in the university. In the case of the UPV/EHU, the sustainable development champions fulfill the profile of a female professor, with full-time dedication and whose disciplinary area is a minority.

This research has an individual framework and a static nature, and the results should be interpreted only in their context. Future research should have a national framework, a longitudinal nature and a broader range of university institutional agents. Another limitation of this methodology is the question coding process (Likert scales), which opens a wide range of subjectivity for the researcher.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that measures the degree of implementation of sustainability at the UPV/EHU with the aim of specifying its efforts in the implementation and promotion of sustainability.

Social networking sites have become breeding grounds for the spread of fake news and misinformation. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the spread of fake news intensified, causing complications for health communicators by drowning authentic information from verifiable official sources. Looking at the impact of this growing phenomenon on people’s attitudes and behaviour during the pandemic, research in the area must be populated to help governments, supranational organisations, non-governmental organisations as well as civil society organisations to formulate policies to curb the menace. This study was therefore undertaken to unravel current gaps and future research avenues to empower academia in achieving the desired scholarly impact.

The study adopted the systematic review approach, relying on 56 peer-reviewed articles on social media, fake news and misinformation in the Covid-19 pandemic.

The study found that the use of social media during the height of the pandemic led to unhelpful information creation and sharing behaviours such that people’s self-awareness reduced drastically, thereby impeding the fight against the pandemic. The study also established that Entertainment motives, Ignorance and Altruism motives were the dominant factors that influenced the spread of fake news. There was evidence of the marginalization of research on the subject matter from contexts such as Africa, South America and Oceania.

This study has established existing gaps in issues and evidence, methodology, theory and context and consequently discussed future research avenues for social media use and the spread of fake news. The study has also provided practical implications for both governmental and non-governmental organisations in curbing the phenomenon of fake news and misinformation.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-07-2022-0366.

This study aims to explore how university language students evaluate different sustainability themes and examine the overall relevance of ecological, social, cultural and economic sustainability dimensions in language education.

A questionnaire was designed to study Finnish university language students’ (n = 55) order of priority for sustainability dimensions and their sub-themes and the justifications for the priority orders using a mixed methods design. Qualitative content analysis was conducted using NVivo software, and weighted rankings were used to analyse the quantitative data.

The findings of the study showed that language students evaluated the social and cultural dimensions as the most relevant in language teaching. In all dimensions, students approached sustainability mainly by prioritising larger issues and advancing towards smaller ones. Most non-directional responses appeared in the economic dimension. In addition, individual prioritising and justification approaches varied between different sustainability dimensions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous studies have examined language students’ evaluations of and justifications for all four sustainability dimensions. The results highlight the need to use multiple, holistic approaches and systems thinking to incorporate education for sustainable development.

The current research elucidates the role of empathy in design of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in healthcare context, through a structured literature review, analysis and synthesis of academic literature published between 1990 and 2024.

This study aims to advance the domain of empathy in AI by adopting theory constructs context method approach using the PRISMA 2020 framework.

The study presents a current state-of-the-art literature to review the connections between empathy and AI and identifying four clusters showing the emerging trajectories in the field of AI and empathy in healthcare setting.

Despite a rise in empirical research, the potential pathways enhancing AI accountability by incorporation of empathy is unclear. The research aims to contribute to the existing literature on AI and empathy in the healthcare sector by carving out four distinct clusters depicting the future research avenues.

The aim of the article was to compare the learning outcomes of the same content in the form of a traditional analogue lesson and in the form of a virtual reality (VR) lesson with the use of head-mounted display (HMD).

The study included one biology lesson conducted in 4 groups of a dozen people and one biology lesson in VR carried out individually on 75 people. The respondents completed the knowledge test, a questionnaire before and after the class regarding the attitude to new technologies, and feelings after the lesson. The researchers used detailed observation sheets (subjects' behaviour and the dynamics of the lesson). The obtained results were analysed statistically through lesson type (traditional/VR), respondent type (technology enthusiast/non-enthusiast) and question type. The Mann–Whitney U test, t-student and chi-squared (?²) test were used.

The average of the overall results in the knowledge test was similar in both groups (16 points; ±SD 2.13), slightly better for the analogue group and for the non-enthusiast group. It was found that VR hinders the acquisition of knowledge by tech enthusiasts, who perceive it primarily in the play paradigm. However, it encourages the learning of technology sceptics, who quickly discover a passion for exploring the virtual world. It was clearly indicated, quantitatively and qualitatively, how the technology modalities directly influenced the learning outcomes.

The article offers fresh insights into how students' perceptions of the educational process can be transformed through the integration of VR. The compelling findings and nuanced analysis provide a robust foundation for exploring new frontiers in educational technology.

MBA.

Master’s level in Change Management, Organizational Leadership and Human Resource Management.

Mr Sharma, the dynamic and entrepreneurial Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the newly formed Soni Manipal Hospital (SMH), Jaipur, and Unit Head, Manipal Hospitals [Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt Ltd. (MHEPL)], in a meeting with SMH’s Head of Human Resources and the Head of the Nursing Management, Mr Yaduvanshi realised the exponential growth of employee resistance, their lack of skills and technological advancements for documentation hindering the hospital's transformation goal. The case study highlighted the challenges the protagonist faced when taking charge as the CEO after nine months of acquisition and the factors contributing to them.

Students reading this case are expected to understand leadership theories, strategic and quality management approaches, and theories of social behaviour, such as Herzberg’s two-factor theory and social exchange theory (SET) and the application of these concepts in acquired organisations to develop healthy leadership–employee relations and change management theories.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management.