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This paper presents the results of a study evaluating a complete autonomous smart home installation in an apartment in a care home, and the impact it had on the behaviour and independence of someone with quite severe dementia (Mini Mental State Examination, or MMSE, of 10). It describes the technology that has been evolved for this purpose, and how the apartment was configured. The evaluation compared the behaviour of the resident before and after the switching on of a wide range of autonomous support technology, by analysing the logged sensor data, through a questionnaire‐based outcome measure, and through transcribed interviews. The technology enabled the client to retain a lot of independence. It helped him to regain urinary continence, improved his sleep from around 3.5 hours per night to 5.5, and halved the number of night‐time wanderings. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations for future work in this area.

A variety of brain pathologies can result in difficulties performing complex behavioural sequences. Assistive technology for cognition (ATC) attempts support of complex sequences with the aim of reducing disability. Traditional ATCs are cognitively demanding to use and thus have had poor uptake. A more intuitive interface may allow ATCs to reach their potential. Insights from psychological science may be useful to technologists in this area. We propose that an auditory‐verbal interface is more intuitive than a visual interface and reduces cognitive demands on users. Two experiments demonstrate a novel ATC, the General User Interface for Disorders of Execution (GUIDE). GUIDE is novel because it simulates normal conversational prompting to support task performance. GUIDE provides verbal prompts and questions and voice recognition allows the user to interact with the GUIDE. Research with non‐cognitively impaired participants and a single participant experiment involving a person with vascular dementia provide support for using interactive auditory‐verbal interfaces. Suggestions for the future development of auditory‐verbal interfaces are discussed.

This study aims to examine the effects of voice enthusiasm (enthusiastic voice vs calm voice) on social ratings of the speaker, cognitive load and transfer performance in multimedia learning.

Two laboratory experiments were conducted in which learners learned from a multimedia presentation about computer algorithm that was narrated by either an enthusiastic human voice or a calm human voice.

Results from Experiment 1 revealed that the enthusiastic voice narration led to higher social ratings of the speaker and transfer performance when compared to the calm voice narration. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the enthusiastic voice led to higher affective social ratings (human-like and engaging) and transfer performance as compared to the calm voice. Moreover, it was shown that a calm voice prompted a higher germane load than an enthusiastic voice, which conforms to the argument that prosodic cues in voice can influence processing in multimedia learning among non-native speakers.

This study extends from prior studies that examined voice effects related to mechanization, accent, dialect, and slang in multimedia learning to examining the effects of voice enthusiasm in multimedia learning.

This paper aims to analyse the effectiveness of European Works Councils (EWCs) as a mechanism of employee voice from the perspective of Hungarian workers in UK‐owned multinational companies (MNCs). In addition, it analyses the role of prevailing systems of employee voice in Hungary, such as trade unions and works councils, assessing their capacity to influence the work of the EWC.

Using a qualitative approach, the data are drawn from three case studies and comprise a series of semi‐structured interviews, whilst observational and archival data provide additional information. Interview participants primarily consisted of EWC representatives from the UK and Hungary, together with a number of central and local managers and trade union officials.

The data are presented using a five‐themed framework, devised to highlight a number of key themes and comparisons. Evidence suggests fundamental differences in the quality of EWCs, with some providing a better mechanism of voice than others. The level of consultation, managerial and employee attitudes, Eastern European working conditions, training and inadequate communication strategies form some of the major issues identified in the study. Furthermore, trade union involvement and the impact that local works councils have in general proved limited in enhancing the success of the EWC.

The implications for improving the Hungarian voice within the EWC forum are discussed.

The paper confirms existing issues surrounding EWCs, extending the existing field of literature and offering a unique insight into the impact of EWCs in Hungary.

The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the important question of what is wrong with interactive voice response (IVR) system service by expanding a spatially informed conceptualisation of virtual navigation which recognises the experience of movement within and through space.

First, previous research on IVR systems is reviewed to highlight key themes to a service audience. Second, the metaphorical aspects of language used by the popular and trade press to describe IVR systems is examined. Usability and design issues are identified from previous research as a basis from reinterpreting them from a spatial perspective of navigation.

Both figurative and conceptual spatial metaphors are used to describe the IVR system as an enclosed physical space, within which customers enter, feel stuck, get lost, or try to escape from. The usability issues of human memory, linearity, and feedback, can be reinterpreted from a spatial perspective as a basis for explaining confusion and frustration with IVR systems.

Since the paper is conceptual, further research is needed to empirically investigate different types and features of IVR systems. The possible influence of age and culture upon the spatial nature of experience is especially interesting topics for future study.

The paper identifies the absence of space as an inherent limitation of IVR systems. It subsequently recommends that firms should provide spatial resources to support customer use of IVR systems, which is supported by the recent emergence of visual IVR.

The paper introduces the broader literature on IVR systems to the service field as a basis for raising awareness about this ubiquitous technological component of telephone-based service delivery. It applies and develops a highly abstract conceptual perspective to examine and interpret the representation and experience of IVR systems, as a basis for explaining the confusion, frustration, and dislike of them.

The paper explores the notion of worker voice in terms of its implications for supply chain justice. The paper proposes the value of the recognition perspective on social justice for framing workers’ experiences in global supply chains and identifies opportunities for the advancement of the worker voice agenda with recognition justice in mind.

The paper adopts a conceptual approach to explore the notion of worker voice in supply chains in terms of the recognition perspective on social justice.

Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) scholarship has considered worker voice in terms of two key paradigms, which we term communication and representation. To address recognition justice for workers in global supply chains, the worker voice agenda must consider designing worker voice mechanisms to close recognition gaps for workers with marginalised identities; the shared responsibilities of supply chain actors to listen alongside the expectation of workers to use their voice; and the expansion of the concept of worker voice to cut across home-work boundaries.

The paper offers conceptual clarity on the emerging notion of worker voice in SSCM and is the first to interrogate the implications of recognition justice for the emergent worker voice agenda. It articulates key opportunities for future research to further operationalise worker voice upon a recognition foundation.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Companies benefit when employees are willing to engage in voice behavior to identify shortcomings and potential solutions to them. This becomes likelier with employees equipped with energizing personal resources such as passion for work who strive to establish mutual work goals with colleagues. Strength of unity this can generate prompts voice behavior and a strong commitment to address problems, especially in situations where the firm is perceived to be threatened by an external crisis.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Computer‐based fax‐on‐demand systems will answer the phone and guide a caller through voice menu selections. The caller identifies the information desired by pressing the numbers on the touchtone keypad of the phone. The fax‐on‐demand system then delivers the information to the caller through either a one‐call or two‐call/call‐back method. Fax‐on‐demand is often confused with two other forms of fax messaging—fax broadcasting and fax mail. Fax broadcasting is the sending of one document to many locations; fax mail is similar to voice mail except fax messages instead of voice messages are delivered to one or more specified mail boxes. In contrast, fax‐on‐demand can better be characterized as a response application that allows individual callers to use touchtone telephones to access a database and other information, which can then be delivered to the caller's fax machine.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the discursive tactics that employees use when they speak up on internal social media (ISM) to gain support for their cause, and how this can develop into a “spiral of voice” when organizational members interact with each other on ISM.

The study is based on screenshots of four months of coworker communication on ISM in a Danish bank and on semi-structured interviews with 24 employees.

Employees succeeded in speaking up and gaining support on ISM by using eight different discursive tactics. These tactics helped move organizational issues from an operational to a strategic level, thus making the issues relevant for management as well as gaining the support of other coworkers. The visibility and persistence of communication on ISM forced managers to react.

Further research should investigate whether similar tactics and reactions occur in organizations with a less open communication culture where it might be less safe for employees to speak up.

Organizations need to be aware of the dynamics of the “spiral of voice” and of the way in which the visibility and persistence of communication on ISM forces managers to handle organizational issues.

This study is the first to explore what happens when employees speak up on ISM and to propose the concept of “a spiral of voice” as an extension of the theory of “the spiral of silence” (Noelle-Neumann, 1974).

This paper sought to understand the communication activities of employees who were required to work from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors examined the relationship between these individuals' efficient and interrupting communication with their peers in other locations and with individuals who were colocated with them at home. The authors also investigated these workers' job engagement and willingness to speak out about organizational issues.

This paper drew upon a survey of 579 employees via an online panel.

Efficient communication positively predicted employees' job engagement, whereas interruptions negatively predicted job engagement. Additional analyses showed that efficient communication was positively associated with job engagement, which in predicted a higher level of employee voice. Managers showed significantly higher levels of job engagement and voice than nonmanagers.

Recommendations are made for communication managers to cultivate job engagement and to manage interruptions with home-based employees.

Scholars with an interest in job demands and resources have not fully examined how interpersonal communication shapes job engagement and voice scholars have often overlooked teleworkers' communication needs. This study adds depth to the communication management literature in both areas.