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1 – 10 of over 6000
Article
Publication date: 1 August 2023

Mohsen Nazarzadeh Zare and Ehsan Parvin

The present study aims to investigate the reasons for the gap between academic education and the required skills of the labor market in Iran.

Abstract

Purpose

The present study aims to investigate the reasons for the gap between academic education and the required skills of the labor market in Iran.

Design/methodology/approach

For this purpose, the authors adopted a thematic analysis method. The participants in the study were connoisseurs from universities and research institutes in Iran, who were selected with purposeful sampling methods of snowball type. To collect the data, the authors used a semi-structured interview and performed a thematic analysis for data analysis.

Findings

The findings showed that the views and perceptions of the connoisseurs participating in the study about the reasons for the gap between academic education and the skills required in the labor market in Iran can be classified into four main themes including lack of attention to labor market needs in the academic curricula, lack of attention to practical and entrepreneurial skills in the academic curricula, the weak link between universities and industry and society, and shortage of academic resources and equipment in some academic disciplines.

Originality/value

The present study had three implications. First, the human capital theory, the social closure theory, the positional conflict theory and the labor market segmentation theory are more compatible with the labor market of Iranian graduates, compared to other theories of the labor market. Second, the lack of coordination between academic education and the required skills in the labor market has weakened the Iranian economy. Third, the absence of practical and entrepreneurial skills in academic graduates has led to increased unemployment in Iranian society.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 December 2023

Alan Bandeira Pinheiro, Marcelle Colares Oliveira and Maria Belen Lozano

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of characteristics of capitalism on environmental performance.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of characteristics of capitalism on environmental performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analyzed a sample of 6,257 companies, based in 55 countries and 8 typologies of capitalism. The independent variables are the characteristics of capitalism, measured through five indicators: cooperation between employees and employers, index of economic freedom, local competition between industries, human development index (HDI) and quality of the governance environment. To measure environmental performance, the authors created an index composed of 20 indicators. Data were analyzed using panel data regression and dynamic panel of the generalized method of moments.

Findings

The results indicate that the characteristics of capitalism can shape the environmental behavior of companies. The authors find that in countries with better cooperation between employees and employers, more economic freedom, and competition between firms, in addition to better HDI and national governance, companies have higher environmental performance. When they are in more developed countries, companies have a greater environmental performance.

Practical implications

Managers must consider the country's characteristics of capitalism when making their environmental decisions and strategies. The findings invite governments to incorporate into their regulations mechanisms to protect other interest groups, not just shareholders.

Originality/value

Few studies have examined environmental performance, which is less susceptible to greenwashing. The metric for environmental performance measures the company's concrete effort in relation to environmental issues and not just the disclosure of information. Additionally, the authors examine characteristics of capitalism supported by Varieties of Capitalism, an approach still little explored in the environmental management.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 February 2024

Hamid Yeganeh

This article analyzes the relationships between different conceptions of time, socioeconomic development and cultural values.

Abstract

Purpose

This article analyzes the relationships between different conceptions of time, socioeconomic development and cultural values.

Design/methodology/approach

We focus on three major aspects of time, namely, 1) duration, 2) orientation and 3) tempo. Furthermore, we draw on modernization theory to distinguish between agrarian/traditional and industrial/modern societies and their respective cultural values.

Findings

Analyses indicate that agrarian/traditional societies with cultural values such as collectivism, survival, religiosity and hierarchical structures are marked by subjective/cyclical/inaccurate, past-oriented and slow-paced conceptions of time. In contrast, industrial/modern societies with cultural values such as individualism, self-expression, secularism and egalitarianism are marked by objective/linear/accurate, future-oriented and accelerated conceptions of time.

Originality/value

This paper introduces an original conceptualization of the three dimensions of time – duration, orientation and tempo – previously overlooked in the literature. Additionally, it provides an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the relationships between time, culture and socioeconomic development.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 January 2024

Mohammad Rakibul Islam Bhuiyan, Most. Sadia Akter and Saiful Islam

After analyzing these uncountable benefits of digital or cashless payment, many European countries like Sweden, Finland and Canada has been trying to convert their payment system…

Abstract

Purpose

After analyzing these uncountable benefits of digital or cashless payment, many European countries like Sweden, Finland and Canada has been trying to convert their payment system into cashless. Following these developed countries, the Bangladesh Government has taken a decision to transfer society as a cashless society by using information technologies for adopting the fourth industrial revolution over the world. Digital payment system is among the various options available for transforming a cashless society. First, this empirical study presents demographic information and digital payment characteristics on the basis of income levels. This study identifies influential factors of adopting digital payment systems. Finally, this study aims to justify how digital payments transform the Bangladeshi economy into a cashless society in developing countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was administered to a sample of 1,000 Bangladeshi customers who had engaged in online banking transactions for the purpose of acquiring items and services through both social media platforms in Google Form format and face-to-face interactions in hard copy format. Among these, 647 questions were deemed usable and were used for data analysis, where the response rate was 68%. The SmartPLS is used to create and validate the structural equation modeling model presented for the research, as well as to evaluate the hypothesized correlations between the different constructs.

Findings

This cross-sectional study conducted the extended technology acceptance model (TAM) with perceived security (PS) and personal innovation (PI) variables to identify the influencing adoption factors of digital payment systems. This study finds that perceived ease of use, PI and perceived usefulness have a favorable impact on individuals’ attitudes toward adopting digital payment methods (DPMs). The study also indicated that PS did not influence negatively the adoption of digital payment system. Besides this, the adoption of digital payment will help to transform society into a cashless society in the future.

Research limitations/implications

Increasingly prevalent across the nation. Several variables are required to facilitate the transition toward a cashless society. This study exclusively focuses on DPMs. Additionally, the data has been obtained exclusively from a single urban area. The adoption of DPMs has become increasingly prevalent across the nation.

Practical implications

This study would help policymakers, marketers and bankers understand which factors affect digital payment infrastructure expansion. So, they can produce digital payment apps that are compatible with different devices, have fast transactions, are user-friendly, easy to use and highly secure to maintain good attitudes toward digital payment systems.

Social implications

Few studies have examined how DPMs affect cashless societies in developing countries like Bangladesh. According to researchers, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore how digital payments affect cashless society in Bangladesh and raise awareness about it.

Originality/value

The study extended the TAM model to PS and PI. This paper is also unique in the conceptual arguments and the subject theme of the research area.

Details

Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4620

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 March 2024

Keanu Telles

The paper provides a detailed historical account of Douglass C. North's early intellectual contributions and analytical developments in pursuing a Grand Theory for why some…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper provides a detailed historical account of Douglass C. North's early intellectual contributions and analytical developments in pursuing a Grand Theory for why some countries are rich and others poor.

Design/methodology/approach

The author approaches the discussion using a theoretical and historical reconstruction based on published and unpublished materials.

Findings

The systematic, continuous and profound attempt to answer the Smithian social coordination problem shaped North's journey from being a young serious Marxist to becoming one of the founders of New Institutional Economics. In the process, he was converted in the early 1950s into a rigid neoclassical economist, being one of the leaders in promoting New Economic History. The success of the cliometric revolution exposed the frailties of the movement itself, namely, the limitations of neoclassical economic theory to explain economic growth and social change. Incorporating transaction costs, the institutional framework in which property rights and contracts are measured, defined and enforced assumes a prominent role in explaining economic performance.

Originality/value

In the early 1970s, North adopted a naive theory of institutions and property rights still grounded in neoclassical assumptions. Institutional and organizational analysis is modeled as a social maximizing efficient equilibrium outcome. However, the increasing tension between the neoclassical theoretical apparatus and its failure to account for contrasting political and institutional structures, diverging economic paths and social change propelled the modification of its assumptions and progressive conceptual innovation. In the later 1970s and early 1980s, North abandoned the efficiency view and gradually became more critical of the objective rationality postulate. In this intellectual movement, North's avant-garde research program contributed significantly to the creation of New Institutional Economics.

Details

EconomiA, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1517-7580

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 February 2024

Muhammad Ayub, Khurram Khan, Mansoor Khan and Muhammad Ismail

The unique institution of waqf that was ignored during the colonization of the Muslim areas has to be revived to play its role in shared growth, social inclusion and cohesion in…

Abstract

Purpose

The unique institution of waqf that was ignored during the colonization of the Muslim areas has to be revived to play its role in shared growth, social inclusion and cohesion in society. This research paper aims to explore the role of waqf as an instrument for a sustainable growth system and to suggest a model for socioeconomic development in an economy like that of Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative research is based on analytical methods to arrive at the frameworks and a model that could facilitate the revival of waqf for community development/social inclusion in economies like that of Pakistan.

Findings

As most of the OIC member states like Pakistan are facing serious financial problems due to debt servicing obligations, promoting Waqf for various socioeconomic and cultural functions is a vital requirement for such economies. The inability of the state institutions in providing necessary civic, health and education facilities to the public is causing serious harm to the balance of the society. It requires promoting a formal system of charity and using FinTech for waqf-based donations and financing the micro businesses. The perpetuity complimented by the profitability of the waqf properties makes the waqf institutions sustainable and effective when compared to individual charities.

Research limitations/implications

This is conceptual research discussing the potential of waqf in light of its historical role. Researchers may undertake empirical studies on awqaf operations in various jurisdictions and their role in the empowerment of the poor.

Practical implications

The research will provide the researchers with insight into the potential of waqf as a tool for community development. Besides, it will enable policymakers and implementation authorities to socialize charity for sustained benefits and welfare.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first major research that discusses the role of waqf in economies facing budgetary and trade deficits in the eradication of poverty and the promotion of social and economic entrepreneurship in realizing the community development targets for the economies like that of Pakistan.

Details

Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4179

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 December 2023

Foster B. Roberts, Milorad M. Novicevic and John H. Humphreys

The purpose of this study is to present ANTi-microhistory of social innovation in education within Robert Owen’s communal experiment at New Harmony, Indiana. The authors zoom out…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to present ANTi-microhistory of social innovation in education within Robert Owen’s communal experiment at New Harmony, Indiana. The authors zoom out in the historical context of social innovation before zooming into the New Harmony case.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used ANTi-microhistory approach to unpack the controversy around social innovation using the five-step procedure recently proposed by Mills et al. (2022), a version of the five-step procedure originally proposed by Tureta et al. (2021).

Findings

The authors found that the educational leaders of the New Harmony community preceded proponents of innovation, such as Drucker (1957) and Fairweather (1967), who viewed education as a form of social innovation.

Originality/value

The authors contribute to the history of social innovation in education by exploring the New Harmony community’s education society to uncover the enactment of sustainable social innovation and the origin story of humanistic management education.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 September 2023

Anil Bilgihan, Lydia Hanks, Nathan Discepoli Line and Makarand Amrish Mody

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to provide a critical reflection on the role of hospitality in society. Specifically, this research criticizes contemporary…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to provide a critical reflection on the role of hospitality in society. Specifically, this research criticizes contemporary conceptualizations of hospitality in academic research and practice and suggests a reconceptualized approach for capturing the full potential of hospitality to elicit transformative social change.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on a critical analysis of hospitality research and practice as reflected in the extant literature. A typological approach to conceptualization is used to develop a framework that views hospitality from three distinct epistemological pathways.

Findings

Hospitality has largely been conceptualized as an industry- or a business-level context in which economic activity takes place, a pathway referred to as application. This paper offers the hospitality-oriented society of tomorrow (HOST) framework, which urges researchers and practitioners to explore two additional pathways – infusion and transformation – through which hospitality can contribute to society. The nonrecursive relationships between these three pathways and the five pillars of sustainable development espoused by the United Nations 2030 Agenda are proposed to form the basis of future inquiry into the role of hospitality in society.

Practical implications

The HOST model provides a framework whereby stakeholders within and outside of the traditional contours of the hospitality industry can benefit from a broader conceptualization and implementation of the hospitality phenomenon.

Originality/value

The paper offers a thought-provoking assessment of the fundamental tenets of hospitality as an academic discipline and social phenomenon. It offers a unique framework that should inform the evolution of hospitality research and practice if the discipline is to bolster its social significance.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 November 2023

Bilal Afsar and Basheer M. AlGhazali

Social innovation is a nascent field. Within research on social innovation, the context of higher education has largely been ignored. To better understand social innovation, it is…

Abstract

Purpose

Social innovation is a nascent field. Within research on social innovation, the context of higher education has largely been ignored. To better understand social innovation, it is important to explore factors that facilitate social innovation in universities’ context. There is little research on enablers of social innovation in universities and the impacts of social innovation. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the enablers of social innovation in the Saudi Arabian context. Moreover, the impacts of social innovation projects are also explored.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative approach was used to carry out this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, and content analysis was performed.

Findings

Data revealed that institutional commitment, mission, active collaborations, curriculum, support, training, community university engagement offices, university social impact offices and reward and evaluation were among critical enablers. The impact of social innovation in terms of social, institutional, economic and community specific was also reported.

Originality/value

Research on the enablers and outcomes of social innovation in the higher education context is limited. This study adds to the innovation literature by investigating what processes and factors (enablers) can help universities to engage in social innovation initiatives and what are the outcomes (impact) of engaging in social innovation. Findings of the study have important policy implications.

Details

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9342

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 May 2022

A.Y.M. Atiquil Islam, Muhammad Rafi and Khurshid Ahmad

This study aims to assess whether technological incentives inspire communities in the process of digital inclusion. The factors analyzed by the authors assess five dimensions…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to assess whether technological incentives inspire communities in the process of digital inclusion. The factors analyzed by the authors assess five dimensions: technology incentives, technology utilization, searching skills, social integration, and capabilities.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 329 respondents in 14 public libraries and analyzed using structural equation modeling to validate the proposed research model and its relationships with the factors the authors analyzed.

Findings

The results showed that technological incentives significantly impact on technology utilization, searching skills, social integration, and capabilities to support community digital inclusion in Pakistan.

Practical implications

Technological incentives to the community will lead to the improvement of network technology for things like online taxation, banking transactions, social integration, participation in government, and modern health and education benefits. In addition, technological incentives will also enhance information literacy and digital access, helping people improve cognitive skills and critical thinking and also helping to develop skills.

Originality/value

This research is based on raw data first collected from various people with different opinions from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa public libraries. This study was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the overall situation related to the use of technology in Pakistan and the complications involved.

Details

Library Hi Tech, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

Keywords

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