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1 – 10 of 264This paper describes work undertaken by Building Research Establishment Limited (BRE) for the Building Regulations Division of the UK Department of the Environment, Transport and…
Abstract
This paper describes work undertaken by Building Research Establishment Limited (BRE) for the Building Regulations Division of the UK Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, as part of a study into radon protective measures used in new dwellings. The aim of the study was to establish whether the radon protective measures that are routinely installed in the UK provide long term protection against radon and do not result in any long term building defects. A sample of 73 houses monitored for radon shortly after construction were contacted ten years later to see whether radon levels remain low and check for signs of any construction defects. The results of the study have confirmed that the protective measures continue to provide adequate radon protection, without causing any adverse side effects. This offers confidence that the measures will continue to provide protection over the lifetime of the buildings.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of various cultural amenities on tourism demand in 168 European cities.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of various cultural amenities on tourism demand in 168 European cities.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data from the European Commission’s Culture and Creative Cities Monitor 2017, a series of regressions are estimated to examine the impact of various cultural amenities on tourism demand while also controlling for other factors that may impact on tourism demand. Diagnostic tests are also conducted to check the robustness of the results.
Findings
The results reveal that cultural amenities in the form of sights, landmarks, museums, concerts and shows have a positive impact on tourism demand. By pinpointing the cultural amenities that are important for increasing tourism demand, the findings aid stakeholders in the tourism industry as they develop post-pandemic recovery plans.
Originality/value
This paper identifies two key aspects of the cultural tourism literature that require deeper investigation and aims to address these aspects. Firstly, while many studies focus on a specific or narrow range of cultural amenities, this study includes a series of measures to capture a range of cultural amenities. Secondly, while many studies are narrow in geographical scope, this paper includes data on 168 European cities across 30 countries.
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Suyash Khaneja and Shahzeb Hussain
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of physical environment design (PED) and its antecedents on consumers’ emotional well-being (EWB). Drawing on place identity…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of physical environment design (PED) and its antecedents on consumers’ emotional well-being (EWB). Drawing on place identity and emotional theories, the study aims to provide a new perspective to retail store experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of 800 respondents was conducted in London, out of which 764 responses were constructively used. The data was collected from international retail outlets, and structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data.
Findings
The empirical results show that PED has a positive effect on consumers’ EWB. Among the antecedents, visual identity does not have any significant effect on PED and EWB. In contrast, communication had a significant effect on PED but did not have any effect on EWB, and further, cultural heritage had a positive effect on both PED and EWB. Further, moderator analysis identifies the boundary conditions under which specific theories hold.
Practical implications
The value of this paper lies in its potential to be used for creating the perfect design planning in retail stores. Significant implications for managers and researchers are highlighted.
Originality/value
This paper presents an innovative approach to develop the principles of retail store’s PED to support the EWB of consumers.
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Christos Chrysanthopoulos, Ioannis Drivas, Dimitrios Kouis and Georgios Giannakopoulos
University archives (UA) are the bridge between the past and the present and serve as a beacon for highlighting the contribution of academic institutions to society. Although the…
Abstract
Purpose
University archives (UA) are the bridge between the past and the present and serve as a beacon for highlighting the contribution of academic institutions to society. Although the UA topic was introduced and formalized in the 1950s, the scientific research interest has increased significantly in the past two decades. This paper aims to provide insights into the UA research topic during the previous 15 years.
Design/methodology/approach
The combination of two well-established methods for performing literature review was deployed, aiming to identify, select and assess the research documents. Based on the selection criteria, 49 documents presenting research efforts around the UA topic were finally examined from the Scopus citation index. The selected studies have been classified into three main topics: strategic management of UA and the derived challenges, the educational contribution of UA and the strategic information systems for UA.
Findings
Some of the main findings are the lack of well-defined administrative policies, the low level of awareness and archival consciousness within the universities, the inadequacy of university archivists’ educational and training background, the need to use UA for building relationships with alumni and society, and finally, the need for metadata standardization by the UA management systems.
Originality/value
As a literature review around UA has not been conducted before, the reader will gain insights into the methods and research designs that other scholars had already applied to designate useful findings and results.
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Mijeong Kim, Inseong Jeong and Johngseok Bae
Research has suggested that employees interpret high-performance work systems (HPWSs) as targeting two distinct organizational objectives: enhancing performance and promoting…
Abstract
Purpose
Research has suggested that employees interpret high-performance work systems (HPWSs) as targeting two distinct organizational objectives: enhancing performance and promoting employee well-being. These attributions often exert divergent effects on employee attitudes. Thus, this study aims to investigate this dynamic within the context of the Korean nursing occupation, clarifying how the HPWS can simultaneously evoke dual attributions: human resource (HR) well-being and HR performance attributions. Additionally, the authors examine the contrasting effects of these attributions and identify a moderating variable that could reconcile them. Drawing on the psychological experience of status theory, the authors conceptualize and test the moderating effect of employees' self-perceived status on the relationship between HR performance attribution and affective commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 475 nurses in 82 work units in Korean hospitals. Hypotheses were tested in a multilevel moderated mediation model.
Findings
The findings revealed that an HPWS elicits HR well-being and HR performance attributions. While HR well-being attribution was positively associated with affective commitment, HR performance attribution was positively related to affective commitment when employees' self-perceived status was high. Moreover, the HPWS demonstrated an indirect relationship with affective commitment via increasing HR performance attribution when self-perceived status was high.
Originality/value
Although the personal meaning of HR attributions differs depending on the perceiver’s situation, this aspect has received little attention in the field of research. This study advances the understanding of HR attributions derived from the HPWS within the specific context of Korean nursing. Furthermore, the authors suggest that the two attributions may not conflict with each other, indicating that the impact of HR performance attribution is conditional on an individual’s self-perceived status.
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Michelle Brown, Christina Cregan, Carol T. Kulik and Isabel Metz
Voluntary collective turnover can be costly for workplaces. The authors investigate the effectiveness of high-performance work system (HPWS) intensity as a tool to manage…
Abstract
Purpose
Voluntary collective turnover can be costly for workplaces. The authors investigate the effectiveness of high-performance work system (HPWS) intensity as a tool to manage voluntary collective turnover. Further, the authors investigate a cynical workplace climate (CWC) as a boundary condition on the HPWS intensity–voluntary collective turnover relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The unit of analysis is the workplace, with human resource (HR) managers providing data on HPWS practices in Time 1 (T1) and voluntary collective turnover two years later. Aggregated employee data were used to assess the cynical workplace climate. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
This study’s results demonstrate a negative relationship between HPWS intensity and voluntary collective turnover when there is a low cynical workplace climate. The authors find that in a high cynical workplace climate, HPWS intensity is ineffective at managing voluntary collective turnover.
Research limitations/implications
This study’s results show that HPWS intensity needs to be well received by the workforce to be effective in reducing voluntary collective turnover.
Practical implications
To increase the chances of HPWS intensity reducing voluntary collective turnover, workplaces need to assess the level of employee cynicism in their workplace climates. When the climate is assessed as low in cynicism, the workplace can then consider implementing an HPWS.
Originality/value
The authors explain why the HPWS intensity–voluntary collective turnover relationship varies across workplaces. As HR practices are subject to interpretation, workplaces need to look beyond the practices in their HPWS and focus on employee receptivity to HR practices.
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Jiaqi Yan, Jinlian Luo, Jianfeng Jia and Jing Zhong
The purpose of this paper is to explore the mechanisms by which high-commitment organization is associated with employees’ job performance through the perspective of taking charge…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the mechanisms by which high-commitment organization is associated with employees’ job performance through the perspective of taking charge and the perceived strength of the human resource management (HRM) system.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, the authors used two-wave survey data from 200 supervisor-subordinates pairs in China. This study uses hierarchical linear regression and bootstrapping method to analyze the mediated moderation effect.
Findings
The authors found that perceived high-commitment organization and perceived strength of the HRM system interact in predicting employees’ taking charge behavior, such that perceived high-commitment organization is more positively associated with taking charge when the perceived strength of the HRM system is high rather than low. In addition, taking charge mediates the relationship between interactive effects of perceived high-commitment organization and the perceived strength of the HRM system on employees’ job performance.
Originality/value
This study extended the high-commitment organization from the perspective of individual perception based on the COR theory and regard perceived high-commitment organization as an organizational resource.
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Carol P. McNulty and LeAnne Ward Smith
The purpose of this study was to describe teacher candidate perceptions of the influence of solution-focused brief coaching (SFBC) sessions on movement toward self-identified…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to describe teacher candidate perceptions of the influence of solution-focused brief coaching (SFBC) sessions on movement toward self-identified outcomes. The SFBC approach emanated from the London-based organization BRIEF: The Centre for Solution Focused Practice (BRIEF, n.d.).
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study engaged ten participants in two SFBC sessions. In the first coaching session, participants identified a “preferred future” and described what would be happening when it came to fruition. Coaches employed SFBC elements such as the “miracle question,” scaling questions, descriptions of strengths and recognition of resources already in place (Iveson et al., 2012). In the second session, following coaching, participants shared their perceptions and experiences of the SFBC process.
Findings
All participants reported movement toward desired outcomes, and their perceptions of the SFBC process revealed five themes: an increase in positive emotion, enhanced self-efficacy, value in the co-construction of their preferred future, the coaching process as a catalyst for actualizing their preferred future and adoption of a solution-focused lens in other contexts.
Originality/value
This study answers the call for additional research in three areas: it provides data from completed SFBC sessions, examines participant follow-up on progress toward their preferred futures and provides insight regarding the coaching relationship dynamic. In addition, it provides qualitative findings for the SFBC approach, which have traditionally been dominated by quantitative results.
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Mark Anthony Camilleri and Stefano Bresciani
This contribution aims to evaluate key theoretical bases that were used in previous research, to investigate the use of crowdfunding platforms by small businesses and startups. It…
Abstract
Purpose
This contribution aims to evaluate key theoretical bases that were used in previous research, to investigate the use of crowdfunding platforms by small businesses and startups. It presents the findings from a systematic review to better explain the pros and cons of utilizing these disruptive technologies for crowdsourcing and/or crowd-investing purposes.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers adopt the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodical protocol to search, screen, extract and scrutinize seventy-two (72) articles that were indexed in both Scopus and Web of Science. They examine their research questions, describe their methodologies. Afterwards, they synthesize the findings from previous literature, outline implications and discuss about future research avenues.
Findings
A thorough review of the relevant literature suggests that there are opportunities as well as challenges for project initiators as well as for crowd-investors, if they are considering equity crowdfunding, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending and rewards-based crowdfunding platforms, among others, to raise awareness about their projects and to access finance from crowd-investors.
Research limitations/implications
Further research is required on this timely topic. There are a number of theories relating to technology adoption and/or innovation management, strategic management, accounting and financial reporting, and normative/business ethics, among other research areas, that can be utilized as theoretical bases, to explore this topic.
Practical implications
Crowd-investors are striving in their endeavors to find a trade-off between risks and rewards associated with crowd-financing.
Originality/value
Currently, there are few systematic reviews and conceptual articles focused on the crowdfunding of small businesses and startups. Hence this contribution closes this gap in the academic literature. Moreover, it links the extant theory to practice. It clarifies that the resource-based view theory of the firm, the theory of planned behavior, the diffusion of innovations theory as well as the signaling theory, among other conceptual frameworks, can be used to investigate different facets of crowdsourcing and crowd-investing.
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Kim Oi Mei Kuok, Sow Hup Joanne Chan, Hera Kit Wa Kou, Siew Huat Kong and Lancy Vai Iun Mac
Because of the nature of their work, frontline service employees are highly exposed to customer incivility (CI) and are required to perform surface acting (SA) in such…
Abstract
Purpose
Because of the nature of their work, frontline service employees are highly exposed to customer incivility (CI) and are required to perform surface acting (SA) in such circumstances. Both CI and SA have detrimental impact to a sustainable workforce. This study aims to investigate the psychological effects of CI and SA on emotional exhaustion (EE), organizational commitment (OC) and work–family conflict (WFC).
Design/methodology/approach
Data from 203 respondents who successfully completed the questionnaire is used for the analysis. Structural equation modelling and bootstrapping were performed to investigate the relationship among variables.
Findings
The study found that both CI and SA are positively related to EE. EE is negatively related to OC and positively related to WFC. EE was engaged as a mediator between CI and OC, and between CI and WFC. EE also served as a mediator between SA and OC, and between SA and WFC.
Originality/value
The findings advanced our knowledge of the impact of CI and SA on EE, OC and WFC. Based on the findings, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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