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1 – 10 of 175Choon Boey Lim, Duncan Bentley, Fiona Henderson, Shin Yin Pan, Vimala Devi Balakrishnan, Dharshini M. Balasingam and Ya Yee Teh
The purpose of this paper is to examine issues academics at importing institutions face while delivering Australian degrees in Malaysia. Transnational higher education (TNE) has…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine issues academics at importing institutions face while delivering Australian degrees in Malaysia. Transnational higher education (TNE) has been widely researched. However, less widely researched is the area of understanding what academics at the offshore locations need to uphold the required academic standards of their partnered exporting universities. This area warrants close attention if Australian and other transnational education universities are to sustain their growth through a partnership model with offshore academics delivering a portion (often a substantial portion) of the teaching.
Design/methodology/approach
Two focus groups were conducted with a mix of long standing and newly recruited Malaysian lecturers who taught into an Australian degree through a partnership arrangement. The semi-structured questions which were used were derived from a preliminary literature review and previous internal institutional reports.
Findings
The findings from the focus groups indicate that TNE is largely “Australian-centric” when addressing the standard of academic quality and integrity. The findings pointed not so much to any sustained internationalisation of curriculum or administration or personnel but more as internationalisation as deemed required by the local academic.
Originality/value
To a greater extent, the findings highlighted that equivalent student outcomes do not necessarily equate to equivalent learning experiences or teaching workload. In fact, the frustration of the interviewees on the tension to fulfil the home institution curriculum and helping students to “comprehend” an Australian-centric curriculum translates to “additional and unrecognised workload” for the interviewees.
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Yaw A. Debrah and Ian G. Smith
Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on…
Abstract
Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on work and employment in contemporary organizations. Covers the human resource management implications of organizational responses to globalization. Examines the theoretical, methodological, empirical and comparative issues pertaining to competitiveness and the management of human resources, the impact of organisational strategies and international production on the workplace, the organization of labour markets, human resource development, cultural change in organisations, trade union responses, and trans‐national corporations. Cites many case studies showing how globalization has brought a lot of opportunities together with much change both to the employee and the employer. Considers the threats to existing cultures, structures and systems.
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Po-Chien Chang, Xiaoxiao Gao, Ting Wu and Ying-Yin Lin
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the workaholism on work–family conflict via the mediator of psychological detachment from work and the moderator of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the workaholism on work–family conflict via the mediator of psychological detachment from work and the moderator of family-supportive supervisor behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
To avoid common method bias, the authors adopted a three-wave data collection with a one-month lagged design. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed and 322 usable questionnaires were collected. The PROCESS macro for SPSS was applied to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
Findings demonstrated that workaholism is positively related to work–family conflict; psychological detachment from work mediates the relationship between workaholism and work–family conflict. Moreover, family-supportive supervisor behavior moderates the relationship between workaholism and work–family conflict and between workaholism and psychological detachment from work, respectively. Finally, family-supportive supervisor behavior moderates the indirect effect of workaholism and work–family conflict via psychological detachment from work, such that the indirect effect was weaker when family-supportive supervisor behavior was high.
Practical implications
The study suggests that it is necessary for organizations to be responsible for employee well-being in different domains because the impact of workaholism on physical and mental health may bring unexpected consequences because of the lack of recovery and the loss of resources. This study not only shows the importance for individuals to look for ways to disengage from workplace but addresses the significance of supervisory support from organizational aspects.
Originality/value
This study includes psychological detachment from work as mediator and family-supportive supervisor behavior as moderator to investigate the moderated mediation relationship in the current highly demanding workplace. By applying conservation of resource and role scarcity hypothesis regarding individual resource allocation, the results may shed lights on facilitating individuals distancing from obsessively and excessively working mentality and behaviors that further lessen incompatibility in both work and family domains.
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Senem Seyis and Alperen Mert Sönmez
The purpose of this study is to identify, classify and prioritize the benefits, challenges and risks for the integrated use of building information modeling (BIM), radio frequency…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify, classify and prioritize the benefits, challenges and risks for the integrated use of building information modeling (BIM), radio frequency identification (RFID) and wireless sensor network (WSN) in the architecture, engineering, construction and operation (AECO) industry.
Design/methodology/approach
This study relies on the mixed method approach which consists of systematic literature review, semistructured interviews and Delphi technique. A systematic literature review was performed and face-to-face semistructured interviews with seven subject matter experts (SMEs) were conducted for identification and classification purposes. Delphi method was applied in two structured rounds with eleven SMEs for prioritization purpose. These three research techniques were chosen to reach the most accurate data by combining different perspectives on the subject matter. Data gathered by these three methods was triangulated to increase the validity and reliability of this research.
Findings
Thirteen benefits, ten challenges and four risks for the integrated use of BIM, RFID and WSN were identified. The results could aid the practitioners and researchers comprehend the pros and cons of this integration by representing SMEs’ valuable insights and perspectives about the current and future status, trends, limitations and requirements of the AECO industry. The identified risks and challenges show the requirements for future studies while the benefits demonstrate the capabilities and the potential contributions of this hybrid integration to the AECO industry.
Originality/value
The integration of BIM, RFID and WSN is still not commonly implemented in the AECO industry. Some studies focused on this topic; however, none of them reveals the benefits, risks and challenges for integrating BIM, RFID and WSN in a holistic manner. This research makes a significant contribution to the AECO literature and industry by uncovering the benefits, challenges and risks for the integrated use of BIM, RFID and WSN that could increase industry applications.
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Jielin Yin, Zhenzhong Ma, Haiyun Yu, Muxiao Jia and Ganli Liao
This paper aims—based on past research works which have shown that transformational leadership has positive impact on knowledge sharing—to explore the impact of different…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims—based on past research works which have shown that transformational leadership has positive impact on knowledge sharing—to explore the impact of different leadership dimensions of transformational leadership on knowledge sharing and further to explore the mechanism through which transformational leadership affects employee knowledge sharing in China.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the transformational leadership theory and the team learning theory, it is proposed that all four dimensions of transformational leadership, including intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation and idealized influence, have unique impact on employee knowledge sharing. It is further proposed that psychology safety and team efficacy mediate these relationships. Then data were collected from over 400 employees from knowledge-based companies in China to empirically test the proposed relationships with the method of structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results show that psychological safety fully mediated the impact of intellectual stimulation on knowledge sharing, and team efficacy fully mediated the impact of inspirational motivation on knowledge sharing. Both factors also mediated the impact of individualized consideration on knowledge sharing. The results thus provide empirical support for the impact of transformational leadership on employee knowledge sharing in an international context.
Originality/value
The past years have seen increasing interest in leadership and knowledge sharing in emerging markets, yet the mechanism through which leadership affects employee knowledge sharing remains understudied. This study explores the impact of different dimensions of transformational leadership on employee knowledge sharing, and further shows that psychological safety and team efficacy mediate these relationships in a collectivistic society where knowledge sharing is consistent with cultural norms. The findings help develop more robust knowledge sharing theories in the international context and provide insightful suggestions for management practitioners in emerging markets.
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Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence…
Abstract
Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence down into manageable chunks, covering: age discrimination in the workplace; discrimination against African‐Americans; sex discrimination in the workplace; same sex sexual harassment; how to investigate and prove disability discrimination; sexual harassment in the military; when the main US job‐discrimination law applies to small companies; how to investigate and prove racial discrimination; developments concerning race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; developments concerning discrimination against workers with HIV or AIDS; developments concerning discrimination based on refusal of family care leave; developments concerning discrimination against gay or lesbian employees; developments concerning discrimination based on colour; how to investigate and prove discrimination concerning based on colour; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; using statistics in employment discrimination cases; race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning gender discrimination in the workplace; discrimination in Japanese organizations in America; discrimination in the entertainment industry; discrimination in the utility industry; understanding and effectively managing national origin discrimination; how to investigate and prove hiring discrimination based on colour; and, finally, how to investigate sexual harassment in the workplace.
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Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American…
Abstract
Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.
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Ali Shams Nateri and Laleh Asadi
The purpose of this study is evaluate the optical properties of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers containing fluorescent agents such as fluorescent dye and carbon quantum dots…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is evaluate the optical properties of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers containing fluorescent agents such as fluorescent dye and carbon quantum dots (CQDs) by using image-processing technique of Fluorescence microscope image.
Design/methodology/approach
The fluorescence microscope image of the pure PAN, PAN/CQDs and PAN/fluorescent dye nanofibers composite was analyzed using several image-processing techniques such as color histogram, lookup table (LUT), Fourier transform, RGB profile and surface plot analysis.
Findings
The fluorescence microscope image indicates that the fluorescence emission of nanocomposites depends on the type of fluorescent agent. The fluorescence intensity of nanofiber containing CQDs is more than nanofiber containing fluorescent dye. Various image-processing methods provide similar results for optical property of nanocomposites. Analyzing the LUT, the blue value of CQDs/PAN nanocomposite image was significantly higher than other nanocomposites. This was confirmed by other methods such as Fourier transform, color histogram and 3D topography of the electrospun nanofibers. According to analysis of colorimetric parameters, higher negative value of b* indicates bluer color for CQDs/PAN nanofibers than other nanocomposites. The obtained results indicate that the image-processing technique can be used to evaluate the optical property of fluorescent nanocomposite.
Originality/value
This study evaluates the optical properties of fluorescent nanocomposites by using image-processing techniques such as Fourier transform, color histogram, RGB profiles, LUT, surface plot and histogram analysis.
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Zhao Pan, Yaobin Lu, Sumeet Gupta and Qian Hu
The intense competitive and dynamic environment in mobile social-media market forces service providers to introduce incremental technological changes to achieve sustainable…
Abstract
Purpose
The intense competitive and dynamic environment in mobile social-media market forces service providers to introduce incremental technological changes to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what and how the user attitude to change influences members' behavioral support for incremental technological change in mobile social media service.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the tripartite model of attitude, this study examines the influence of the cognitive aspect (empowerment with change), affective aspect (arousal with change) and behavioral aspect (habit to change) of attitude toward change on members' behavioral support for incremental technological change. Drawing on the commitment to change theory, we assessed the underlying mechanism by which attitudes toward change influences behavioral support for incremental technological change through the two components of commitment to change (i.e. affective and normative commitment to change). We tested the model using structural equation modeling on the data collected from the popular mobile social media services in China.
Findings
Our results indicate that the effect of empowerment with change, arousal with change and habit to change varies with different dimensions of commitment to change and significant influence of commitment to change on members' behavioral support for incremental technological change.
Practical implications
The findings of this study contribute to better insights for services providers for implementing incremental technological change strategies.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the theory of incremental technological changes by empirical examination of the impacts of users' attitudes toward change on members' behavioral support for incremental technological change in mobile social media. The paper extends the commitment to change theory with the discussion of the mediating effect of commitment to change in the continuing members' behavioral support for incremental technological change in mobile social media.
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Yajie Hu and Shasha Zhou
Online reviews in online health communities (OHCs) have been a vital information source for patients. The extant literature on the bias effects of helpful reviews mainly…
Abstract
Purpose
Online reviews in online health communities (OHCs) have been a vital information source for patients. The extant literature on the bias effects of helpful reviews mainly concentrates on traditional e-commerce, whereas research on OHCs is still rare. Thus, based on the heuristic-systematic model (HSM), this research explores how two unique reviewer characteristics in OHCs, which may induce attribution bias and confirmation bias, affect review helpfulness and how review length moderates these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
This research analyzed 130,279 reviews collected from haodf.com (one of the representative OHCs in China) by adopting the negative binomial regression to test our research model.
Findings
The results indicate that reviewer cured status positively influences review helpfulness, whereas reviewer recommendation source negatively affects review helpfulness. Moreover, the effects of the two reviewer cues on review helpfulness will be weaker for longer reviews.
Originality/value
First, as one of the initial attempts, the current study investigates the effects of confirmation bias and attribution bias of online reviews in OHCs by exploring the effects of two unique reviewer characteristics on review helpfulness. Second, the weakening moderating effects of review length on the two bias effects provide empirical support for the theoretical arguments of the HSM in OHCs.
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