Search results

The entrepreneurial vision, strategic goals, organizational capabilities and processes, alone, will not be adequate to attain business success, unless there is a quality management philosophy in the company (Al-Dhaafri, Al-Swidi, & Yusoff, 2016). Successful entrepreneurial endeavours essentially rest on action, assertiveness, persistence and know-how of leadership (Azyan, Pulakanam, & Pons, 2017) who comprehend the application of quality management methods as a long-term ‘quality journey’. The appropriate implementation of a quality management system (QMS) or total quality management (TQM) system results in enhanced organizational performance (Sahoo & Yadav, 2017).

A wide range of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have nowadays been aware of the indisputable importance of quality and have reaped the benefits of TQM, having in mind that TQM is not just a method or a tool but a whole business philosophy. TQM is a systematic approach that focuses on continuous improvement of the organizational processes with the participation and contribution of all the stakeholders, so as to manage and enhance quality, productivity and customer satisfaction. It is the best way for the enterprise's growth and domination in the contemporary national and international competitive marketplace (Kriemadis, Thomopoulou, & Sioutou, 2017). According to several studies, by embracing the TQM philosophy, SMEs can compete in the global competitive environment (Womack & Roos, 1990; as cited in Karani & Bichanga, 2012; Sainis & Kriemadis, 2019; Pashiardis & Kriemadis, 1999).

The present study aims to develop a generic TQM model for SMEs in order to improve their competitiveness, productivity and quality as well as to enhance their entrepreneurial orientation.

Cross-docking is a supply chain distribution and logistics strategy for which less-than-truckload shipments are consolidated into full-truckload shipments. Goods are stored up to a maximum of 24 hours in a cross-docking terminal. In this chapter, we build on the literature review by Ladier and Alpan (2016), who reviewed cross-docking research and conducted interviews with cross-docking managers to find research gaps and provide recommendations for future research. We conduct a systematic literature review, following the framework by Ladier and Alpan (2016), on cross-docking literature from 2015 up to 2020. We focus on papers that consider the intersection of research and industry, e.g., case studies or studies presenting real-world data. We investigate whether the research has changed according to the recommendations of Ladier and Alpan (2016). Additionally, we examine the adoption of Industry 4.0 practices in cross-docking research, e.g., related to features of the physical internet, the Internet of Things and cyber-physical systems in cross-docking methodologies or case studies. We conclude that only small adaptations have been done based on the recommendations of Ladier and Alpan (2016), but we see growing attention for Industry 4.0 concepts in cross-docking, especially for physical internet hubs.

Digital gaming has become one of the largest entertainment sectors worldwide, increasingly turning the medium into an attractive vehicle for the communication of advertising messages. As a result, the incorporation of products or brands in digital games or in-game advertising (IGA) is expected to grow steadily over the course of the following years. However, much work is still needed to determine and optimize the effectiveness of IGA. The goal of the chapter is to advance IGA effectiveness research by investigating the influence of three aspects of the context in which a game is played and the player’s involvement in response to this context on brand awareness.

To this purpose, three experiments were set up. The first experiment (between-subjects, N = 121) investigated the impact of the social setting in which a game is played, the second experiment (within-subjects, N = 31) examined the effect of the game controls that are used, and the third experiment (between-subjects, N = 62) analyzed the influence of the game story.

The findings of the experiments show that the game context can significantly influence the way in which people recall and recognize brands that are included within its environment and that examining the player’s involvement in response to this context can provide useful information regarding the processes underlying this effect.

These findings contribute to the knowledge of when, how, and in which games advertising can be incorporated in order to achieve games’ full potential as an advertising medium.

Cities are becoming smarter and more optimized because of digital transformation, reducing costs, increasing safety, attracting investment, ensuring sustainability, and increasing viability. As a result of this optimization, they are becoming smart cities. Smart cities use the Internet of Things’ devices, such as connected sensors, lights, and smart meters, to improve infrastructure and design by gathering and analyzing real-time citizen data. In this research, different conceptions of smart cities and their interconnections with digital transformation are presented. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to analyze how digital transformation may help manage smart cities. As a result, a thorough and integrated evaluation of the SCOPUS database will be conducted in order to address the following questions: (1) What are smart cities? (2) What is digital transformation? (3) How does digital transformation help to manage smart cities? The results point out that technologies and digital abundance, which include artificial intelligence, blockchain, and Internet of Things, play a crucial role in managing a controlled and automated infrastructure in smart cities. These favor the development of suitable places to live, work, and have fun, with a better quality of life for everyone.

The purpose of this case study is to demonstrate how a liberal arts college library has reimagined its spaces in response to the changes in higher education, particularly integration of educational technology into research, teaching, and learning; changes in students’ information-seeking behaviors; and an increasingly important role of local special collections as a means to preserve and reinforce unique institutional identity.

This case study is built on the first-hand experience, as all contributors directly participated in each phase of the process, from formulating ideas to completion of the current stage.

Meaningful and high-impact space adjustments do not necessarily entail extensive budgetary investments. They do entail, however, developing comprehensive goals and directions and a level of collaboration among library departments and relevant academic units in order to deliver cohesive services, programming, and a creative, nimble response to the constantly changing needs of the patron.

We believe that these high-impact, cost-conscious improvements provide a useful model for other small academic libraries preparing to reconfigure or renovate their spaces. We offer a model for creating a dynamic, service-centered space on a limited budget.

The overwhelming majority of the literature related to library spaces focuses on large universities, and the treatment of space topics in small undergraduate colleges, and liberal arts colleges in particular, is strikingly negligent. This case study of a small liberal arts college will help fill the void by adding to the rare voices commenting on library spaces in liberal arts colleges.

Social network analysis (SNA) may be useful in the exploration of the potential intersection between organizations, human relations (HR), public relations (PR), and corporate social responsibility (CSR) or sustainability issues. In an age of PR, social media have an important function, as reflected in the employee engagement movement. Visualization through mapping of Twitter data allows researchers to identify centers of social influence in which content travels through key accounts during sharing. Computer-mediated communication (CMC) concepts of identity, interaction, and community offer potential for future research.

This chapter is a case study of the Joint Community-based Project (code: JCP) that is presented by the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. The JCP module is a macro compulsory undergraduate course. The need to adhere to the University’s strategic social responsiveness goal motivated the integration of community engagement into the Faculty’s undergraduate programme curriculum. The free-standing project-orientated community engagement course requires students to complete at least 40 hours of fieldwork and thereafter reflect on their experiences through various assignments. Since the advent of the module in 2011, an average of 1,700 students have registered for the course annually. Students form, on average, 500 groups and partner with more than 350 different university–community partners annually. The students are required to engage in a community service project to apply their knowledge to uplift the community. They have to address a specific need in a community to benefit that society. The exposure to authentic challenges afforded by means of their projects allows students to increase their awareness of their social responsibility and learn to work in diverse teams and multidisciplinary and multilingual environments and apply various life skills during the execution of the project. During the nationwide lockdown brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, students had to identify alternative ways to assist the communities.

The projects in which the students provided assistance included the following:

• Creating a mobile application (an app) for a project with the homeless community.

• Assisting teachers with teaching online.

• Developing various websites to assist learners with Mathematics.

• Teaching learners Mathematics via WhatsApp.

• Developing educational videos.

• Making masks for clinics and old age homes.

• Developing educational resources for disadvantaged pre-schools.

Creating a mobile application (an app) for a project with the homeless community.

Assisting teachers with teaching online.

Developing various websites to assist learners with Mathematics.

Teaching learners Mathematics via WhatsApp.

Developing educational videos.

Making masks for clinics and old age homes.

Developing educational resources for disadvantaged pre-schools.

The lecturer and the students had to adapt to the challenges of working on community projects off-site. The chapter will discuss the various students’ projects and the lessons the students and course coordinator learnt on changing the module’s format in a time of crisis.

One of the greatest challenges facing academic libraries is maintaining necessary space for collections and services. Academic administrators are forced to balance the need for space to support new and expanded programs, while supporting the traditional needs of the educational enterprise. With many of these situations, the answer comes from redeploying library space for other purposes. The net result for libraries is that functions and services run for years might no longer be possible with these changes in space. This is exactly the problem faced by the Kresge Business Administration Library at the University of Michigan when a major gift led to a construction project that saw the library’s footprint decrease by over 80%. As Kresge went through this change, there was a concerted effort to retain jobs, even though many would be dramatically changed with the new world order. This chapter focuses on the response undertaken at Kresge Library to balance the changing needs of the library that accompany dramatic space reduction. Additionally, this chapter will explore the literature on staffing trends in light of major changes to our work, political posturing to generate more work or “business” for library staff, exploration of the assessment program to ensure that we have the right staffing levels.