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1 – 10 of over 1000Daryoush Daniel Vaziri, David Unbehaun, Konstantin Aal, Irina Shklovski, Rainer Wieching, Dirk Schreiber and Volker Wulf
Designing technologies for active and healthy ageing (AHA) requires a subtle understanding of end users (primary stakeholders) and healthcare professionals (secondary…
Abstract
Purpose
Designing technologies for active and healthy ageing (AHA) requires a subtle understanding of end users (primary stakeholders) and healthcare professionals (secondary stakeholders). Often, their perspectives can be heterogeneous and contradictory. Identifying and negotiating them may be a challenge for designers. The purpose of this paper is to present our approach to understanding and negotiating contradictory stakeholder perspectives when designing AHA technologies for older adults.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an exploratory interview study with 15 community-dwelling older adults and 11 healthcare stakeholders, including doctors, health insurance agencies, policymakers and caregivers. The authors analyzed the interview material and negotiated contradictory perspectives.
Findings
Three major issues among stakeholders emerged: perspectives on AHA; perceived benefits and drawbacks of AHA technologies; and concerns about data privacy, control and trust.
Research limitations/implications
The results show the heterogeneity and contradictions in stakeholder perspectives on AHA technologies and how these perspectives may be negotiated. This could help understand and facilitate long-term use of AHA technologies among older adults.
Originality/value
This study alerts researchers to contradictory perspectives among older people and healthcare stakeholders and the importance of involving them in the design of AHA technologies.
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Dirk H.R. Spennemann, Melissa Pike and Maggie J. Watson
Birds are implicated in spoiling and decay of buildings, especially through their droppings. Pigeons are considered the main culprits, and several studies have examined the…
Abstract
Purpose
Birds are implicated in spoiling and decay of buildings, especially through their droppings. Pigeons are considered the main culprits, and several studies have examined the effects and chemistry of accumulations of droppings without evidence to the exact origins of the source of the excreta. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This study reviews and summarises the state of knowledge with regard to the impact of bird excreta on buildings. It experimentally assesses the acidity of fresh pigeon excreta with different diets and examines the development of the acidity of the excreta after voiding.
Findings
Feral pigeons in urban settings are known to be fed by a range of foods. Urban food scraps-derived diets produce more acidic excreta than more natural diets such as seeds. This is a first study of its kind to examine the impact of a bird’s diet on the pH and thus the resulting (potential) decay of masonry.
Research limitations/implications
This study showed that from a management’s perspective, pigeons that subsist entirely on human provided foods will be depositing more initially acidic faeces. If faecal accumulation occurs; then, mould and other bacteria quickly alter the chemistry from acidic towards basic, but the damage may already be done.
Originality/value
This paper is the first study of its kind to examine the effects of fresh pigeon droppings of known origin and age once voided from the intestine. This allows the authors to assess the impact during the first few days.
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Dirk H.R. Spennemann, Melissa Pike and Maggie J. Watson
There is much anecdotal evidence that birds and their droppings are a major problem for the heritage profession. The purpose of this paper is to examine how serious heritage…
Abstract
Purpose
There is much anecdotal evidence that birds and their droppings are a major problem for the heritage profession. The purpose of this paper is to examine how serious heritage practitioners consider the bird impact to be.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was conducted of 59 Australian heritage professionals of between one and >20 year’s experience in the field.
Findings
Bird impacts were not considered of major concern to buildings. The longer experience a practitioner had, the less likely the impacts were considered an issue. Feral pigeons were deemed the most problematic, followed by cockatoos, starlings, swallows, seagulls, mynas, sparrows, cormorants, ibis, ducks and birds of prey. The professionals ranked common deterrent methods. The highest-ranking deterrents were bird netting and bird spikes, but they were only considered moderately effective. The costs of installation and maintenance, as well the ease of installation, were all deemed significantly less important than the physical impact, the aesthetic sympathy and the effectiveness of a deterrent method.
Practical implications
This study indicates that the impact of birds on buildings in Australia may be of less concern than previously thought, and may be driven by other factors (i.e. aesthetics, commercial companies) rather than actual effects.
Originality/value
This is first study of its kind that surveyed the experiences of a wide range of heritage practitioners.
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Dirk H.R. Spennemann and John S. Atkinson
This paper details a longitudinal study into the e‐mail habits of first year students at Charles Sturt University. This study is part of ongoing research investigating the factors…
Abstract
This paper details a longitudinal study into the e‐mail habits of first year students at Charles Sturt University. This study is part of ongoing research investigating the factors and barriers that can influence the successfully adoption of technology into the learning environment. The findings from this study illustrate that e‐mail applications are very popular in terms of both useage as well as the high level of confidence that students exhibit. The survey identified two main areas that need to be addressed, namely the disadvantage of rural students in accessing e‐mail and second that male students tend not to be as frequent users of e‐mail compared to their female counterparts.
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Attempts to understand, via a questionnaire, students’ attitudes towards electronic mail and to evaluate its effectiveness in student learning. Analyses the data and gives an…
Abstract
Attempts to understand, via a questionnaire, students’ attitudes towards electronic mail and to evaluate its effectiveness in student learning. Analyses the data and gives an interpretation of the results, discussing some of the issues raised.
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Dirk H.R. Spennemann, Jessica Biles, Lachlan Brown, Matthew F. Ireland, Laura Longmore, Clare L. Singh, Anthony Wallis and Catherine Ward
The use of generative artificial intelligence (genAi) language models such as ChatGPT to write assignment text is well established. This paper aims to assess to what extent genAi…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of generative artificial intelligence (genAi) language models such as ChatGPT to write assignment text is well established. This paper aims to assess to what extent genAi can be used to obtain guidance on how to avoid detection when commissioning and submitting contract-written assignments and how workable the offered solutions are.
Design/methodology/approach
Although ChatGPT is programmed not to provide answers that are unethical or that may cause harm to people, ChatGPT’s can be prompted to answer with inverted moral valence, thereby supplying unethical answers. The authors tasked ChatGPT to generate 30 essays that discussed the benefits of submitting contract-written undergraduate assignments and outline the best ways of avoiding detection. The authors scored the likelihood that ChatGPT’s suggestions would be successful in avoiding detection by markers when submitting contract-written work.
Findings
While the majority of suggested strategies had a low chance of escaping detection, recommendations related to obscuring plagiarism and content blending as well as techniques related to distraction have a higher probability of remaining undetected. The authors conclude that ChatGPT can be used with success as a brainstorming tool to provide cheating advice, but that its success depends on the vigilance of the assignment markers and the cheating student’s ability to distinguish between genuinely viable options and those that appear to be workable but are not.
Originality/value
This paper is a novel application of making ChatGPT answer with inverted moral valence, simulating queries by students who may be intent on escaping detection when committing academic misconduct.
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J.H.M. TEN THIJE BOONKKAMP and W.H.A. SCHILDERS
An extension of the Scharfetter‐Gummel discretization scheme is presented which is designed for electrothermal semiconductor device equations including avalanche generation terms…
Abstract
An extension of the Scharfetter‐Gummel discretization scheme is presented which is designed for electrothermal semiconductor device equations including avalanche generation terms. The scheme makes explicit use of the exponential character of solutions, and reduces to the standard Scharfetter‐Gummel scheme in the isothermal non‐avalanche case.
E.J. PRENDERGAST, P. LLOYD and H. DIRKS
Quasi‐static models of n‐terminal semiconductor devices usually express terminal currents as the sum of steady‐state and transient components. We consider here the formulation…
Abstract
Quasi‐static models of n‐terminal semiconductor devices usually express terminal currents as the sum of steady‐state and transient components. We consider here the formulation where these transient components are assumed to be time derivatives of charges associated with the terminals and these charges are completely specified by the terminal voltages applied to the device. This paper describes a method for extracting these terminal charges from two‐dimensional device simulations of MOS transistors. The technique was used to obtain terminal charges for an n‐channel MOS transistor and some results are presented. In addition, charge tables were generated and used in a table model for MOS transistors. The transient behavior of a circuit using this table model is compared with a physical time‐domain simulation.
Dedong Wang, Ziyao Zhou and Yongqiang Lu
This study aims to explore the combined strategies leading to successful repair of two types of trust in Chinese construction projects and provide an effective guidance and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the combined strategies leading to successful repair of two types of trust in Chinese construction projects and provide an effective guidance and control trust repair in construction projects. During the research period, the author interviewed 150 managers from 50 Chinese construction projects and collected details of 125 violations. The research examines the effect of combined strategy of trust repair in Chinese management scenario.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a mixed, quantitative, qualitative and exploratory approach. The author first extracted six strategies, namely, apology, denial, penance, communication, promise and compensation, from the literature review and generalization. Then, the author conducted an interview with 150 managers from 50 China construction projects. And the author analyzed the data through qualitative comparative analysis (QCA).
Findings
When competence-based trust is broken, violators should adopt communication and promise, demonstrate their competence and qualification, and change the attributions of competence from the trustor. When integrity-based trust is broken, violators should apologize, actively admit the mistake, show a positive attitude and seek the forgiveness from the trustor. After reconstructing trustors' perceptions of competence or integrity, violators should also make a promise to trustors for the future. The result of this research not only illustrates the sufficiency and necessity of a single strategy for trust repair but also explores the combination of trust repair strategies that rebuild the trust.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to 50 construction projects in the Chinese construction context, so conclusions are limited in application. Data used in this research did not provide an in-depth analysis of trust repair failures. Thus, additional research is needed to explore why trust was not repaired. The study is also limited to examining the Chinese construction project organizations only, and future studies should incorporate organizations in other nations and regions.
Practical implications
Compared with using a single strategy, a combined strategy provides a contribution to the future practice of repair broken relationship between construction project organizations. This research helps to organize decisions and benefits managers, from Chinese owners and contractors, in choosing which of these strategies repair trust. The author also provides a specific combination of strategies to repair relationships for international companies that have conflicts with Chinese construction companies.
Originality/value
This research is among the early studies in China that preliminary examines the combined strategy of trust repair between Chinese owners and contractors by using causal attribution theory and QCA. This study makes a valuable contribution toward combined strategy in construction project and the knowledge system of trust repair. Future studies could build on the findings from the current study to develop a cross-cultural research on trust repair.
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Tiina Kähkönen, Mika Vanhala and Kirsimarja Blomqvist
In this paper, the authors describe the step-by-step approach used to develop a trust-repair construct and a valid measurement scale for assessing employee perceptions of the most…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors describe the step-by-step approach used to develop a trust-repair construct and a valid measurement scale for assessing employee perceptions of the most effective employee trust-repair practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The initial employee trust-repair scale (ETRS) was completed by 282 employees of a non-profit organization and validated by 101 employees of the administrative unit of the Finnish Army.
Findings
The 14-item seven-factor model was found to be reliable, valid and stable across the samples.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to the current literature on trust repair by presenting the first validated measure for employee trust repair.
Practical implications
The findings provide a valuable instrument for practitioners to assess the state of employee trust-repair practices.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in an organizational context demonstrating an operationally valid and comprehensive measure for employee trust-repair practices.
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