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1 – 8 of 8Carl Evans, Jonathan Lean, Ali Sen and Zatun Najahah Yusof
The purpose of this study is to examine university students’ behaviours and perceptions relating to part-time working, particularly the impact of external factors such as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine university students’ behaviours and perceptions relating to part-time working, particularly the impact of external factors such as COVID-19, on their work activity.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured, online questionnaire was issued to Business Management students at a UK university. A total of 123 responses were received.
Findings
The study offers a unique insight into the effects of Covid-19 on students’ perceptions regarding part-time work.
Research limitations/implications
It is important for universities to understand the motivations of students and their current circumstances, since these could affect students’ academic performance and wellbeing and well as their employability, and as a consequence, influence university policy.
Originality/value
The study offers a unique insight into the effects of prevailing external factors in particular Covid-19 on students’ perceptions regarding part-time work.
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This study assesses the probability of an OECD member country exhibiting high persistence in unemployment duration, considering income inequality, productivity, accumulation of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study assesses the probability of an OECD member country exhibiting high persistence in unemployment duration, considering income inequality, productivity, accumulation of human capital and labor income share in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) between the years 2013–2019.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve the purpose of the study, a probabilistic analysis with panel data is employed, focusing on 20 OECD countries segmented into two groups: those with high persistence and low persistence in unemployment duration. Probit and Logit models are estimated, marginal changes are analyzed and the models are evaluated in terms of their classification accuracy. Finally, trends in probabilities over time are examined.
Findings
This paper exhibits that countries with higher human capital index, greater labor income share in GDP, and more relevant productivity for well-being reduce their probabilities of experiencing high persistence in unemployment duration. It is observed that Mexico (MEX), Greece (GRC), Italy (ITA), and Turkey (TUR) have elevated probabilities of experiencing high persistence in unemployment duration in the future, while Costa Rica (CRI), Estonia (EST), Slovakia (SVK), Czech Republic (CZE), Lithuania (LTU), Poland (POL), and Israel (ISR) show a marked downward trend in these probabilities. Lastly, countries like the United Kingdom (GBR), Denmark (DNK), Sweden (SWE), Norway (NOR), Netherlands (NLD), Germany (DEU), United States (USA), and Canada (CAN) present minimal risk of experiencing high persistence in unemployment duration in the future.
Research limitations/implications
The measurement of the relationship between development outcomes and persistence in unemployment duration has been scarce. Generally, the literature has focused on the analysis of development and unemployment without delving into the duration of unemployment, let alone persistence in duration.
Practical implications
This paper provides a solid foundation for the formulation of policies aimed at promoting sustainable employment and inclusive economic growth.
Social implications
Based on the findings of the study, two key development policies are proposed. Firstly, the implementation of investment programs in Human Capital to increase productivity is recommended. Resources should be directed towards initiatives that improve the necessary skills and competencies in the labor markets of OECD countries, especially in strategic economic sectors with higher production linkages. Additionally, incentivizing the application of active labor policies is proposed. This entails prioritizing policies aimed at increasing the labor income share in GDP through progressive fiscal reforms that strengthen social safety nets and ensure fair labor standards. Implementing employment programs targeted at vulnerable groups, such as long-term unemployed individuals, youth, female heads of households and marginalized communities, is also recommended to eliminate structural barriers to labor market participation and reduce disparities in unemployment persistence. Adopting these policies can help mitigate the risk of high unemployment duration persistence and foster sustainable and inclusive long-term economic growth.
Originality/value
This is the first study to analyze the probabilities of both developing and developed countries experiencing high persistence in unemployment duration. It specifically evaluates these probabilities over a period of time and also estimates potential outcomes if real investments were made to enhance their human capital, productivity and employability.
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Research on artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential effects on the workplace is increasing. How AI and the futures of work are framed in traditional media has been examined…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential effects on the workplace is increasing. How AI and the futures of work are framed in traditional media has been examined in prior studies, but current research has not gone far enough in examining how AI is framed on social media. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining how people frame the futures of work and intelligent machines when they post on social media.
Design/methodology/approach
We investigate public interpretations, assumptions and expectations, referring to framing expressed in social media conversations. We also coded the emotions and attitudes expressed in the text data. A corpus consisting of 998 unique Reddit post titles and their corresponding 16,611 comments was analyzed using computer-aided textual analysis comprising a BERTopic model and two BERT text classification models, one for emotion and the other for sentiment analysis, supported by human judgment.
Findings
Different interpretations, assumptions and expectations were found in the conversations. Three subframes were analyzed in detail under the overarching frame of the New World of Work: (1) general impacts of intelligent machines on society, (2) undertaking of tasks (augmentation and substitution) and (3) loss of jobs. The general attitude observed in conversations was slightly positive, and the most common emotion category was curiosity.
Originality/value
Findings from this research can uncover public needs and expectations regarding the future of work with intelligent machines. The findings may also help shape research directions about futures of work. Furthermore, firms, organizations or industries may employ framing methods to analyze customers’ or workers’ responses or even influence the responses. Another contribution of this work is the application of framing theory to interpreting how people conceptualize the future of work with intelligent machines.
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Dohyoung Kim, Sunmi Jung and Eungdo Kim
The authors contribute to the literature on leadership by investigating how characteristics of principal investigators (PIs) affect innovation performance, and how collaborative…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors contribute to the literature on leadership by investigating how characteristics of principal investigators (PIs) affect innovation performance, and how collaborative and non-collaborative projects moderate this relationship within the context of inter-organisational research projects.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analysed panel data from the National Science and Technology Information Service on 171 research projects within a biomedical and regenerative medicines programme overseen by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. The authors used a hierarchical regression model, based on the ordinary least squares method, to examine the relationship between PI characteristics and performance, considering both quantity and quality.
Findings
The results show that the characteristics of PIs have diverse effects on the quantity and quality of innovation performance. Gender diversity within PIs negatively affects the quality of innovation performance, while the capacity of PIs positively influences it. Moreover, the degree of PI’s engagement is positively associated with the quantity of innovation performance but does not have a significant relationship with the quality of performance. In terms of moderating effects, collaborative projects with multiple leaders seem less reliant on PI capacity than non-collaborative projects led by a single leader, in terms of innovation performance.
Originality/value
The results contribute significantly to the literature on innovation management by examining the role of leadership in collaborative environments to enhance innovation performance, addressing the need for empirical evidence in this area. Analyses of PI characteristics in government R&D management can lead to improved team performance, more efficient processes and effective resource allocation, ultimately fostering innovation.
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Madhavi Prashant Patil and Ombretta Romice
In urban studies, understanding how individuals perceive density is a complex challenge due to the subjective nature of this perception, which is influenced by sociocultural…
Abstract
Purpose
In urban studies, understanding how individuals perceive density is a complex challenge due to the subjective nature of this perception, which is influenced by sociocultural, personal and environmental factors. This study addresses these complexities by proposing a systematic framework for comprehending how people perceive density within urban contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology for developing the framework involved a systematic review of existing literature on the perception of density and related concepts, followed by integrating insights from empirical investigations. The framework designed through this process overcomes the limitations identified in previous research and provides a comprehensive guide for studying perceived density in urban environments.
Findings
The successful application of the framework on case studies in Glasgow and international settings enabled the identification of 20 critical spatial factors (buildings, public realm and urban massing) influencing density perception. The research provided insights into the subjective nature of density perception and the impact that spatial characters of urban form play, demonstrating the framework's effectiveness in understanding the impact of urban form, which is the realm of design and planning professions, on individual experiences.
Originality/value
The paper's originality lies in its comprehensive synthesis of the existing knowledge on the perception of density, the development of a user-responsive framework adaptable to future research and its application in case studies of different natures to identify recurrent links between urban form and user-specific constructs.
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Muhammad Zubair Alam, Muhammad Rafiq, Adnan Alafif, Sobia Nasir and Jawad Bashir
Research in the field of intrapreneurial behaviour (IB) is developing in terms of the personality results of employees in various occupations. An important developing field is the…
Abstract
Purpose
Research in the field of intrapreneurial behaviour (IB) is developing in terms of the personality results of employees in various occupations. An important developing field is the study of how personality traits (PTs) influence occupational results. While previous theories like situationism focus on the impact of situations, the role of situations as a catalyst for personality in the context of IB has not been explored. Theories like person-job fit have also established the personality-job resemblance for performance measures. This paper aims to conceptualize the activation of PTs for IB responses from employees using trait activation theory (TAT).
Design/methodology/approach
The TAT explains the personality-triggering effect in diverse situations for performance measures. Plenty of research studies have established IB of employees as a performance measure at the individual level that further rejuvenates organisational performance measures. The current study aims to conceptualise how personality and situational factors interact to affect IB outcomes in firms using the TAT. Employees in different occupations utilise personality coherent conflict handling styles (CHS) to manage conflict situations, which might serve as situational cues to activate personality effects in employees engaged in IB.
Findings
A theoretical framework for understanding how situational cues activate PTs for IB development has been proposed in this study.
Practical implications
The findings of the study have repercussions for pedagogy and the practices that are currently used in human resource management.
Originality/value
The study concludes with a series of propositions by arguing and supporting literature on existing conceptions of the trait activation process. Attempting to advance the conceptualisation of TAT, the study also offered implications for theory, pedagogy and practice regarding the relationship between PTs, CHS and IB.
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Kwaku Kyei Gyamerah and Francis Kamewor Tetteh
This paper aims to investigate the role of institutional quality in the relationship between mobile money and financial inclusion among Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) from 2002 to 2022.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the role of institutional quality in the relationship between mobile money and financial inclusion among Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) from 2002 to 2022.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses annual data from SSA on a bundle of four financial inclusion variables, six institutional quality indicators (i.e. rule of law, government effectiveness, control of corruption, voice and accountability, regulatory quality and political stability) and total volume of mobile money transaction in a year. The two-stage least squares regression was used to validate the hypotheses. Also, the random effects model was also used to account for potential unobserved heterogeneity across countries in SSA.
Findings
The empirical results reveal that institutional quality and mobile money have direct impact on financial inclusion. Also, institutional quality plays a positive and significant contingency role in the relationship between mobile money and financial inclusion.
Originality/value
The study contributes to financial inclusion theory by providing multi-country empirical evidence to validate the theory in explaining mobile money’s role in expanding financial access. It also highlights the key insight from financial inclusion theory regarding the need for strong governance institutions for technology-enabled inclusion. By examining interactions between mobile money, institutions and financial inclusion across 15 African SSA economies, the study allows for more generalizable conclusions about contextual dependencies.
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Tomasz Grzyb, Dariusz Dolinski, Paweł Muniak and Wojciech Kulesza
The purpose of the two online experimental studies was to examine how information about threats related to sexual crimes influences personal beliefs regarding social threats (in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the two online experimental studies was to examine how information about threats related to sexual crimes influences personal beliefs regarding social threats (in line with the finite pool of worry concept) and belief in a just world, as proposed by Melvin Lerner.
Design/methodology/approach
In the first experiment (n = 256), female participants were presented with press information about a sexual crime that occurred at a student concert. Different groups were informed whether the perpetrator was apprehended (or not) and asked to indicate the punishment they thought should be imposed. In the second experiment (n = 251), participants in the experimental group were asked to read texts about various threats that may concern them.
Findings
In both experiments, the authors measured the perceived risk of being a victim of a sexual crime (and, in Study 1, other threats) as well as belief in just world (at both personal and general levels). Analysis of results has shown that participants’ focus on one threat did not reduce their concerns about other threats. However, belief in just world appears to be negatively associated with the fear of being a victim of a sexual crime.
Originality/value
The findings concern the relationship between the sense of threat and belief in a just world. In this regard, both of the studies consistently showed that the threats the authors induced did not affect the level of belief in a just world. However, the second experiment revealed that belief in a just world is related to the fear of being raped. Belief in a just world serves as a foundation for good adaptation and functioning. It provides cognitive control, motivates hard work and long-term goal-setting and gives life meaning (e.g. Dalbert, 1999; Dalbert and Sallay, 2004; Sutton and Winnard, 2007). Therefore, a woman’s fear of being a victim of rape has implications that extend beyond this narrowly defined issue.
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