Search results

This study aimed to investigate and analyze the level of awareness and adoption of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) within the Nigerian construction industry. The focus was on addressing the current state of DLT utilization, identifying challenges and opportunities and proposing strategies to enhance the integration of DLTs into the construction processes and practices of Nigerian professionals and organizations.

The research was underpinned by a robust theoretical and conceptual framework, drawing from established theories of technology adoption. A comprehensive literature review guided the identification of various DLT types. This informed the development of a well-structured questionnaire, which was then distributed to Nigerian construction professionals. The collected data underwent analysis using percentages, frequencies, mean scores, the Kruskal–Wallis H-test and the Shapiro–Wilk test.

A significant finding of this study reveals a generally low awareness and implementation of DLT among construction professionals in Nigeria. These findings emphasize the urgent need for comprehensive strategies to bridge the gap between awareness and adoption of DLT within the Nigerian construction industry.

Industry associations, regulatory bodies and educational institutions can collaborate to develop specialized programs aimed at familiarizing professionals with the benefits and applications of DLTs. Additionally, technology providers and policymakers can leverage these findings to design user-friendly interfaces and guidelines for seamless DLT integration into construction processes.

This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing a comprehensive assessment of the awareness and adoption of DLTs specifically within the Nigerian construction industry. While the global recognition of DLT’s potential in construction is acknowledged, this research delves into a regional context, shedding light on the specific opportunities within Nigeria. Furthermore, the study’s identification of a gap between awareness and implementation highlights a critical area for future exploration and development in the field of construction technology adoption.

This study aims to develop a conceptual model to understand how customer knowledge management (CKM) affects fitness club membership renewal through the mediation of relationship quality.

Data were collected outside of fitness clubs using a systematic sampling method. A total of 224 valid responses were collected. Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate the relationship between the constructs of the research model.

The results indicate that both knowledge from customers and knowledge for customers have a positive influence on customer satisfaction and customer trust. Among them, knowledge for customers has a stronger influence on customer satisfaction while knowledge from customers has a greater influence on customer trust. Additionally, three dimensions of relationship quality (customer satisfaction, customer trust and customer commitment) positively influence membership renewal intention with customer commitment exhibiting the greatest influence on it.

This study combines the theories of CKM and relationship quality management to explain why members will renew their service contracts. By using fitness clubs as an example, this research extends the authors' understanding of how knowledge from and for customers can influence customers' attitudes and behavioural intentions towards service companies.

Policymakers are developing government-level pandemic response strategies (GPRS) to assist architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) enterprises. However, the effectiveness of the GPRS has not been assessed. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the interrelationships between GPRS and AEC enterprises. To achieve that aim, the study objectives are to compare GPRS effectiveness between small-medium and large AEC enterprises, develop groupings to categorize interrelated GPRS and evaluate the effectiveness of the GPRS and interrelated constructs.

A systematic literature review and semi-structured interviews with 40 AEC industry professionals were carried out, generating 22 GPRS. Then, questionnaire survey data was collected among AEC professionals. In total, 114 valid survey answers were received and analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis H test, normalized mean analysis, factor analysis and fuzzy synthetic evaluation.

Small-medium enterprises have four distinct critical GPRS: “form a special task force to provide support in maneuvering COVID-19,” “provide infrastructure investment budgets to local governments,” “develop employee assistance programs that fit all types of working groups” and “diversify existing supply chain.” Large enterprises have two distinct critical GPRS: “provide help in digitalizing existing construction projects” and “mandate COVID-19 as force majeure.” Eighteen GPRS can be categorized into the following five constructs: “market stability and financial aid,” “enterprise capability management,” “supply chain improvement,” “law and policy resources” and “information and workforce management.” The former two constructs are more effective than other GPRS constructs.

This is the first paper that evaluates the effectiveness of GPRS for AEC enterprises, providing new evidence to policymakers for well-informed decision-making in developing pandemic response strategies.

The purpose of the paper is to showcase the significant achievements of Egypt's scientists in the 20th century across various fields of study such as medicine, physics, chemistry, biology, math, geology, astronomy and engineering. The paper highlights the struggles and successes of these scientists, as well as the cultural, social and political factors that influenced their lives and work. The aim is to inspire young people to pursue careers in science and make their own contributions to society by presenting these scientists as role models for hard work and dedication. Ultimately, the paper seeks to promote the importance of science and its impact on society.

The purpose of this review is to present the scientific biographies of Egypt's most distinguished scientists, primarily in the field of Natural Sciences, in a balanced and comprehensive manner. The work is objective, honest and abstract, avoiding any bias or exaggeration. The author provides a clear and concise methodology, including a brief introduction to the scientist and their field of study, an explanation of their major contributions, the impact of their work on society, any challenges or obstacles faced during their career and their lasting legacy. The aim is to showcase the important achievements of these scientists, their impact on their respective fields and to inspire future generations to pursue scientific careers.

The group of outstanding scientists in 20th century Egypt were shaped by various factors, including familial upbringing, education, society, political and cultural atmosphere and state support for scientific research. These scientists made significant contributions to various academic disciplines, including medicine, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and engineering. Their impact on their communities and cultures has received international acclaim, making them role models for future generations of scientists and researchers. The history of these scientists highlights the importance of educational investments and supporting scientific research to foster innovation and social progress. The encyclopedia serves as a useful tool for students, instructors and education professionals, preserving Egypt's scientific heritage and honouring the scientists' outstanding accomplishments.

The encyclopedia preserves Egypt's scientific heritage, which has been overlooked for political or other reasons. It is a useful tool for a variety of readers, including students, instructors and education professionals, and it offers insights into universally relevant scientific success factors as well as scientific research methodologies. The encyclopedia honours the outstanding scientific accomplishments of Egyptian researchers and their contributions to the world's scientific community.

The practical implications of this paper are several. First, it highlights the importance of education, family upbringing and societal support for scientific research in fostering innovation and social progress. Second, it underscores the need for continued funding and support for scientific research to maintain and build upon the accomplishments of past generations of scientists. Third, it encourages young people to pursue scientific careers and make their own contributions to society. Fourth, it preserves the scientific heritage of Egypt and honors the contributions of its outstanding scientists. Finally, it serves as a useful tool for students, instructors and education professionals seeking to understand the factors underlying scientific success and research methodologies.

The social implications of the paper include promoting national pride and cultural identity, raising awareness of the importance of education and scientific research in driving social progress, inspiring future generations of scientists and researchers, reducing socioeconomic disparities and emphasizing the role of society, politics and culture in shaping scientific researchers' personalities and interests.

The paper's originality/value lies in its comprehensive documentation of the scientific biographies of Egypt's most prominent scientists in the 20th century, providing unique insights into the factors that contributed to their development and their impact across various academic disciplines. It preserves Egypt's scientific heritage and inspires future generations of scientists and researchers through the promotion of educational investments and scientific research. The encyclopedia serves as a useful tool for education professionals seeking to understand scientific success factors and research methodologies, emphasizing the importance of supportive and inclusive environments for scientific development.

Amidst unpredictable and turbulent periods, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, service organization’s responses are required to be innovative, adaptable and resilient. The purpose of this study is to explore the utilization of both reconfiguration and transformational strategies as instruments for cultivating resilience and advancing sustainability in service organizations.

The study examines a proposed resilience model using fuzzy logic. The research also used a semantic differential scale to capture nuanced and intricate attitudes. Finally, to augment the validity of the resilience model, a measurement scale was formulated using business mathematics and expert opinions.

Although investing in resilience training can help organizations gain control and maintain their operations in times of crisis, it may not directly help service organizations understand the external turmoil, seek available resources or create adaptive remedies. Conversely, high levels of reconfiguration and transformation management vigour empower a service organization’s revolutionary, malleable vision, organizational structure and decision-making processes, welcoming talented and innovative employees to enhance capabilities during crises.

The resilience model bestows a comprehensive understanding of the pertinence of building resilience for service organizations identifying the antecedents that influence the adoption of these strategies and introduces a range of theoretical perspectives that empowers service organizations to conceptualize and plan for building resilience. The research guides service organizations to become more resilient to external shocks and adapt to changing circumstances by diversifying their offerings, optimizing their resources and adopting flexible work arrangements. The study elaborates on the enhancement of resilience, increasing innovation, improving efficiency and enhancing customer satisfaction for service organizations to remain competitive and contribute to positive social and economic outcomes through the adoption of both reconfiguration and transformational strategies.

The study also guides the service organizations to become more resilient to external shocks and adapt to changing circumstances by diversifying their offerings, optimizing their resources and adopting flexible work arrangements. Rapid innovation and business model innovation are essential components, enabling service organizations to foster a culture of innovation and remain competitive. In addition, the adoption can lead to improved financial performance, job creation and economic growth, contributing to positive social and economic impacts.

The resilience model bestows a comprehensive understanding of the pertinence of building resilience for service organizations. It identifies the antecedents that influence the adoption of these strategies and introduces a range of theoretical perspectives that empowers service organizations to conceptualize and plan for building resilience. The research also provides a foundation for further investigation into the effectiveness of these strategies and their impact on organizational performance and sustainability. By better preparing service organizations for disruptions and uncertainties, this research triggers ameliorated organizational performance and sustainability.

Within the realm of the service industry, the present investigation has undertaken the development, quantification and scrutiny of both resilience and tenacity. In addition, it has delved into the intricate dynamics surrounding the influencing factors and antecedents that bear upon resilience, elucidating their consequential impact on the operational performance and outlook of service-oriented organizations. The findings derived from this research furnish valuable insights germane to enhancing operational efficacy and surmounting impediments within the sector.

This study employs Stein Rokkan's methodological approach to analyse state formation in the Greater Middle East. It develops a conceptual framework distinguishing colonial, populist and democratic pacts, suitable for analysis of state formation and nation-building through to the present period. The framework relies on historical institutionalism. The methodology, however, is Rokkan's. The initial conceptual analysis also specifies differences between European and the Middle Eastern state formation processes. It is followed by a brief and selective discussion of historical preconditions. Next, the method of plotting singular cases into conceptual-typological maps is applied to 20 cases in the Greater Middle East (including Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey). For reasons of space, the empirical analysis is limited to the colonial period (1870s to the end of World War 1). Three typologies are combined into one conceptual-typological map of this period. The vertical left-hand axis provides a composite typology that clarifies cultural-territorial preconditions. The horizontal axis specifies transformations of the region's agrarian class structures since the mid-19th century reforms. The right-hand vertical axis provides a four-layered typology of processes of external intervention. A final section presents selected comparative case reconstructions. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time such a Rokkan-style conceptual-typological map has been constructed for a non-European region.

The modern corporation is evaluated by many measures that go beyond profit, which was the emphasis for years previously. Today’s corporation is weighed against expectations of many stakeholders, including not just customers but employees, investors, the government and even the public at large with no discernible financial or other tie to a company. As such, corporate boards necessarily must be concerned with more than financial performance, including corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the increasing emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics. Given that public relations scholars and practitioners have long been concerned with stakeholder relationships, social responsibility and other non-financial indicators, it would make sense that public relations has a more obvious presence on corporate boards.

This study examined the 25 companies in the Fortune Modern Board 25 to determine how many board members had a background or expertise in public relations that would contribute to the leadership necessary for the concerns of the modern corporation, and whether the boards had a committee designated to public relations or related functions.

Results show that there are few corporate boards that have public relations represented prominently in either their members or committees. The same is true for executive leadership teams. Public relations or communications executives do appear to play some role in ESG, CSR and DEI reporting, but often there are staff members with those specific titles and roles.

The study was limited to 25 corporations on a Forbes list that ranked them as best in communicating ESG, CSR and DEI. The method examined publicly available literature which was revealing to the research questions, but more could be learned by interview or survey with CCOs.

The study shows the current presence of public relations capacity in terms of members of corporate boards, corporate committees and among the C-suite is not significant. Also, rather than PR as a function owning modern concerns of DEI, ESG and CSR, there are professionals with specific expertise in those areas who are responsible for those corporate issues.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR), ESG (environmental, social, governance) and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) have recently been stressed as important for corporations to measure and report. The role of the public relations profession in managing and/or communicating in these areas is important to consider in terms of public expectations and satisfaction of communication on these subjects.

This paper is unique in integrating public relations theory and practice with board theory and the current management concerns with ESG, CSR and DEI. Little if any previous research has considered which professions are in charge of communicating on these concerns.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the practices that owners of public profiles in social networking sites can leverage to actively build online reputation and to evaluate the impact of the adoption of such practices on the initial formation of trust toward these individuals when they are presented as new virtual work partners.

A theoretical model was developed and an experiment with 233 participants was utilized to assess the model using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The results suggest that individuals can build their online reputations in public profiles of social networking sites via a series of practices of self-disclosure of information and that the adoption of these practices has significant effects on the initial formation of trust toward the profile owner in virtual work contexts. Categorization mechanisms such as stereotyping, unit grouping and reputation categorization have been found to contribute to the initial formation of trust, both from an affect and cognition-based perspectives.

Little is known about the information disclosure practices in public profiles of social networking sites that new work partners can adopt to facilitate the formation of trust between them before they start working together. This study has contributed to the existing body of literature by clarifying these practices and the relative importance of online reputation to the initial formation of trust during the outset of a new virtual work relationship.

Improving buildability of building designs with the aid of buildability assessment is essential because of the effect of designs on construction. Despite the plethora of research into buildability reported over the years, a review of the literature shown a dearth of research into the factors supporting the implementation of buildability assessment. Because buildability assessment has been confirmed to be highly beneficial to construction business, this study aims to investigate the factors supporting the implementation of buildability assessment as a tool for buildability improvement using Nigeria as a representative case.

Survey research method was adopted for the study. Questionnaires were administered to a purposively selected group of architects, engineers, builders and quantity surveyors involved in construction project delivery within client, consulting and contracting organisations in Nigeria. A total of 368 questionnaires were distributed among the sampled participants, out of which, a total of 219 representing 60% were sufficiently filled and returned. Data collected were analysed using inferential and descriptive statistics.

The results revealed owner’s commitment, clients’ awareness of the benefits of conducting buildability assessment on building design, unity amongst different professionals in the construction industry, designers consider buildability important, adequate coordination amongst different design disciplines, adequate channel for co-ordination and communication between designers and constructors at the design stage and adequate support from the government as the top most seven factors supporting buildability assessment implementation in construction sector of Nigeria. Secondly, the results from the research revealed that there is no statistically significant difference in factors supporting buildability assessment implementation in construction between clients and consulting and contracting construction organisations in Nigeria.

The findings provide in-depth insight of the factors supporting the implementation of buildability assessment in construction that can help principal stakeholders in construction to facilitate development of strategies required in supporting the adoption and implementation of buildability assessment tool for buildability improvement.

Municipalities have the potential to become models of the circular economy (CE). This paper aims to examine the impact of the municipal council’s characteristics on municipal CE disclosure and promotion.

This paper is based on the resource dependence and upper echelons theories. For a sample of the 100 largest cities in Canada, a mixed methodology is used to code and analyze data and test the hypotheses.

Municipal councillors’ education and experience related to the environment or sustainability are both likely to affect CE disclosure, and their sector membership (public or private) moderates the relationship between CE disclosure and councillors’ experience. This experience may be reinforced by membership in the private sector, which has applied CE principles more extensively than the public sector has. Municipal councils with a greater number of councillors from the private sector appear to perform better in matters of transparency and to disclose more CE information on their public websites.

Municipalities could use the findings to foster their transition to CE by implementing a CE-related training plan for their councillors. A CE-dedicated section on their websites could improve transparency and inform and educate residents about CE.

The public sector could learn from the private sector’s best practices regarding CE.

This paper contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence of the transparency and engagement of municipalities toward CE. The authors extend the resource dependence and upper echelons theories to a new context, that of public organizations.