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1 – 10 of 393Corin Kraft, Johan P. Lindeque and Marc K. Peter
The study explores the alignment of Swiss small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) managers' understanding of digital transformation, with evidence of digital tool adoption in…
Abstract
Purpose
The study explores the alignment of Swiss small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) managers' understanding of digital transformation, with evidence of digital tool adoption in managerial and operative work. This reveals opportunities for more fully realizing the potential of digital transformation for SMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
This multiple-case study, with four theoretically sampled cases, analyzes data from the qualitative answers of 1,593 respondents to a survey of Swiss SMEs about digital transformation. The study draws on a convenience sample of Swiss SME managers.
Findings
The analysis shows little understanding of digital transformation as related to managerial work. However, there are two clear digital tool adoption patterns for managerial work: (1) workflow and workforce management and (2) work-flow and team management. Understandings of digital transformation and operative work focus on the (1) organization of operational work or (2) a combination of organization and changing the way people work. The digital tool adoption in operational work additionally focuses on the digital skills of operational employees.
Research limitations/implications
The study is only able to identify patters of understanding of digital transformation and digital tool adoption in managerial and operative work. More research is needed to understand why these patterns are observed.
Practical implications
SME managers need to think far more carefully about aligning their vision for digital transformation and the digital tools they adopt in both managerial and operational work, but especially in managerial work.
Originality/value
This is the first empirical study of the digital transformation of Swiss SMEs and their digital tool adoption. Significant potential for alignment is revealed, suggesting potential performance gains are possible.
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Marc K. Peter, Lucia Wuersch, Alfred Wong and Alain Neher
The purpose of this study is to better understand technology adoption and working from home (WFH) behaviour of micro and small enterprises (MSE) with 4 to 49 employees during the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to better understand technology adoption and working from home (WFH) behaviour of micro and small enterprises (MSE) with 4 to 49 employees during the first (2020) and second (2021) COVID-19 lockdowns in Switzerland.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses two data sets gathered using computer-assisted telephone interviewing surveys conducted with 503 managing directors of Swiss MSEs after the first and 506 MDs after the second COVID-19 lockdown period.
Findings
The study revealed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, WFH arrangements are related to the adoption of technology by Swiss industry groups. Furthermore, industry characteristics and technology adoption strategies are also associated with the long-term prospect of WFH. The overall result confirms the predominant role of technology pioneers.
Research limitations/implications
The study focuses on MSEs in Switzerland during a specific period. The data set includes mainly quantitative data. Future studies could investigate larger enterprises in international contexts, integrating employees’ viewpoints founded on long-term gathered qualitative data. The implications of this study include predictions about future WFH behaviour in Swiss MSEs.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study collecting data in Swiss MSEs after the two COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. As a result, this study offers a unique perspective on a specific business segment, which accounts for around 70% of global employment.
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Marc K. Peter, Corin Kraft and Johan Lindeque
The purpose of this paper is to capture the collective understanding of digital transformation (DT) across Swiss businesses and establish a reference framework based on the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to capture the collective understanding of digital transformation (DT) across Swiss businesses and establish a reference framework based on the strategic action field (SAF) theory.
Design/methodology/approach
A number of Swiss associations provided their databases for an online survey. The large sample includes 2,590 participants from 1,854 organisations and delivered over 4,200 descriptions of DT, categorised into seven SAFs. A cross tabulation of SAF combinations by firm size identified 127 possible SAF combinations which constitute the common understanding of DT.
Findings
The data set allowed the identification of SAFs and the conceptualisation of DT based on a shared understanding. Drivers of digital transformation are: process engineering, new technologies and digital business development, supported by digital leadership and culture, the cloud and data, customer centricity and digital marketing.
Research limitations/implications
For practitioners, the study provides the SAFs that should be considered for DT strategies. For academic scholars, a unique data set has allowed the study of DT by analysing action field combinations, revealing a nuanced constellation of SAFs. Limitations are the focus on Swiss organisations and a convenience sample for collecting the analysed data.
Originality/value
For the first time, the shared understanding of DT in Swiss businesses – based on SAFs – has allowed a conceptualisation of DT in order to provide guidance to businesses managers and employees.
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Elisa Banfi and Arnaud Gaudinat
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how Swiss public libraries are experiencing a normative revolution connected to new cataloging standards, such as RDA and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how Swiss public libraries are experiencing a normative revolution connected to new cataloging standards, such as RDA and the FRBRization of catalogs.
Design/methodology/approach
Thanks to semi-structured interviews, the paper analyzes the current positioning of Swiss public libraries on the “bibliographic transition” issue by using a case study of the network of municipal libraries in Geneva.
Findings
In Switzerland, the federal and multi-linguistic structure of the library networks increases the organizational obstacles to the adoption of new cataloging principles and formats. At the local level, the Swiss municipal libraries have to cope with this complexity to transform their structures and continue to offer competitive and effective services to their users.
Practical implications
The paper proposes six scenarios of technology watershed for the analyzed case study and their consequences for cataloging standards and rules.
Social implications
The paper shows how the adoption of technological and conceptual innovations has to be done in the face of real organizational and administrative constraints, especially in the case of public lending libraries.
Originality/value
The paper analyzes at the empirical and theoretical levels how, especially in Switzerland, the variety of governance levels and linguistic areas have made strategizing more complex for public lending libraries.
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Beena Puthillath, Bhasi Marath and Babu Chembakthuparambil Ayappan
This study aims to explore the factors influencing electrical accidents. Here, the authors aim to understand and model the causes of electrical accidents at multiple levels.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the factors influencing electrical accidents. Here, the authors aim to understand and model the causes of electrical accidents at multiple levels.
Design/methodology/approach
In the study, the authors have tried to put causes of accidents in the electricity distribution segment, in the framework of the Swiss Cheese model. Delphi kind of expert survey was conducted to find the Cheese Slice (level) and the causes (holes) for electrical accidents. Inputs from a hundred experts having more than five years of experience in electrical utility companies have been used to find Cheese Slice and holes, to explain the occurrence of an electrical accident.
Findings
Effective training for safe work practices, safe knowledge and closer supervision would go a long way to plug the holes in the Cheese Slice in human factors. The difference in perception of managers, supervisors and workers on the importance of various causes of electrical accidents are also presented and discussed.
Research limitations/implications
This research is based on expert opinion and survey where respondent perception is reported. Actual accident data has not been used here.
Practical implications
The holes or causes of accidents at different levels (Cheese Slice) have been identified for plugging or removal for better safety.
Social implications
Electrical energy is widely used, and therefore, electrical safety is a social concern and also improving it is a social need.
Originality/value
The study contributes to electrical safety issues in the electrical utility sector.
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Claus-Heinrich Daub, Marina Hasler, Arie Hans Verkuil and Uta Milow
This paper aims to describe an innovative approach of integrating sustainability into the structures and processes of a business school without creating resistance.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe an innovative approach of integrating sustainability into the structures and processes of a business school without creating resistance.
Design/methodology/approach
A sustainable entrepreneurship competition was embedded as an independent programme in an already existing business plan competition at the School of Business FHNW. The paper shows, which structural elements of the competition had to be adapted to the needs of sustainable entrepreneurs.
Findings
The paper outlines aspects that need to be considered and steps that need to be taken to run a sustainable entrepreneurship competition supporting as many high-quality projects as possible. It describes the importance of developing an independent instrument that meets the specific needs of sustainable entrepreneurs in project planning. The sustainable innovation plan is explained.
Social implications
The student projects are developed at the School of Business FHNW as part of the entrepreneurship competition, which has been successfully carried out twice. They have numerous measurable positive social and ecological effects, which are described by the students in their sustainable innovation plans and are subsequently reflected in the realization of the projects.
Originality/value
Using the example of the Swiss Student Sustainability Challenge, the paper demonstrates under which conditions a sustainability project can be successfully integrated into the existing structures of an institution of higher education and develop into a beacon project of the university. Other universities can make use of these findings to launch comparable projects at their institutions.
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Jakob Thomä, Michael Hayne, Nikolaus Hagedorn, Clare Murray and Rebecca Grattage
To comply with the adopted Paris Agreement, global finance flows must be measured against climate scenarios consistent with possible pathways towards limiting global warming to…
Abstract
Purpose
To comply with the adopted Paris Agreement, global finance flows must be measured against climate scenarios consistent with possible pathways towards limiting global warming to 2°C or less. For this, there must be proven and accepted accounting principles for assessing financial plans of climate relevant actors against climate models. As there are a variety of data sources describing the financial plans of relevant actors, these principles must accommodate a variety of reported information, while still yielding relevant metrics to different stakeholders. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
A set of accounting principles tested by governments, financial supervisory bodies and both institutional investors and mangers, covering global-listed equity and corporate bond investment is described.
Findings
The application illustrates that a common set of accounting principles can act across both asset classes and provide relevant metrics to multiple stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications
The principles require data of varying quality and are ultimately unverified. Thus, the definitive quality of the output metrics is uncertain and is yet to be characterized. The principles are yet to be applied to the credit market as the information is seldom publicly available, but it too plays an important role in the required market transition and therefore must be incorporated into these guiding principles of analysis.
Practical implications
The principles allow for standardised assessment of financial flows of equity and corporate debt with global climate scenarios.
Originality/value
It illustrates the acceptance of a common set of accounting principles that is relevant across different actors and asset classes and summarizes the principles underlying the first climate finance scenario analyses.
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Corruption continues to ravage societies around the world. The fight against corruption can be fruitful only if approached from multiple standpoints. Thus, corruption must also be…
Abstract
Purpose
Corruption continues to ravage societies around the world. The fight against corruption can be fruitful only if approached from multiple standpoints. Thus, corruption must also be approached from an academic and educational perspective. The purpose of this paper is to provide a good practice example of how universities and business schools can take actions to align themselves with the international sustainability and anticorruption agenda.
Design/methodology/approach
The six principles of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) provide a framework for higher education institutions to address corruption-related issues. This paper presents the case story of the Swiss-based University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur, which developed an academic working agenda on corruption-related topics based on the principles of the PRME.
Findings
The case story shares the actions that HTW Chur has taken and the benefits that have resulted from the university’s work. The findings show that to address corruption-related issues, scholars from the university took actions related to four principles in the PRME: method, research, partnership and dialogue. Furthermore, the results indicate that in addition to the university itself, public and private institutions have also profited from the actions taken.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is founded on a single case story; thus, the usual limitations of this research design apply.
Practical implications
It becomes apparent that the needs of the private sector in the fight against corruption could be addressed by engaging in and strengthening partnerships with universities. Thus, it seems beneficial to develop guidelines and standards to facilitate collaborations and dialogue in a participatory and transparent way.
Originality/value
The paper provides a good practice example of how universities can take actions to align themselves with the international sustainability and anticorruption agenda.
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The authors aim to develop a conceptual framework for longitudinal estimation of stress-related states in the wild (IW), based on the machine learning (ML) algorithms that use…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors aim to develop a conceptual framework for longitudinal estimation of stress-related states in the wild (IW), based on the machine learning (ML) algorithms that use physiological and non-physiological bio-sensor data.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors propose a conceptual framework for longitudinal estimation of stress-related states consisting of four blocks: (1) identification; (2) validation; (3) measurement and (4) visualization. The authors implement each step of the proposed conceptual framework, using the example of Gaussian mixture model (GMM) and K-means algorithm. These ML algorithms are trained on the data of 18 workers from the public administration sector who wore biometric devices for about two months.
Findings
The authors confirm the convergent validity of a proposed conceptual framework IW. Empirical data analysis suggests that two-cluster models achieve five-fold cross-validation accuracy exceeding 70% in identifying stress. Coefficient of accuracy decreases for three-cluster models achieving around 45%. The authors conclude that identification models may serve to derive longitudinal stress-related measures.
Research limitations/implications
Proposed conceptual framework may guide researchers in creating validated stress-related indicators. At the same time, physiological sensing of stress through identification models is limited because of subject-specific reactions to stressors.
Practical implications
Longitudinal indicators on stress allow estimation of long-term impact coming from external environment on stress-related states. Such stress-related indicators can become an integral part of mobile/web/computer applications supporting stress management programs.
Social implications
Timely identification of excessive stress may improve individual well-being and prevent development stress-related diseases.
Originality/value
The study develops a novel conceptual framework for longitudinal estimation of stress-related states using physiological and non-physiological bio-sensor data, given that scientific knowledge on validated longitudinal indicators of stress is in emergent state.
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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…
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.
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