This paper aims to propose a Shariah-compliant multi-period fuzzy portfolio optimization model that accounts for Shariah compliance through purification processes and incorporates…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a Shariah-compliant multi-period fuzzy portfolio optimization model that accounts for Shariah compliance through purification processes and incorporates various Shariah constraints, including sustainability constraints. This model aims to ensure both ethical alignment and robust portfolio management while navigating modern financial complexities and fostering responsible and sustainable investment practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology involves a dynamic programming method to solve the proposed program, with returns of the assets assumed to be trapezoidal fuzzy variables. This approach allows for the quantification of portfolio return and risk by the possibilistic mean and semivariance of the fuzzy returns, respectively. A numerical study based on real stock market data tests the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.
Findings
The research showcases the model’s effectiveness in managing Shariah-compliant portfolios under financial uncertainties and supports the importance of incorporating ethical and sustainability constraints in investment decisions. It highlights the capability of the proposed model to offer a structured approach to ethical investing within the Islamic finance framework.
Research limitations/implications
While the paper provides a solid foundation for Shariah-compliant portfolio optimization, it acknowledges the complexity and computational demands of the model. Future research could explore simplifying the model without compromising its ethical and Shariah-compliant principles.
Originality/value
This work introduces a novel integration of Shariah compliance with fuzzy portfolio optimization techniques, addressing the need for dynamic, ethical investment strategies in Islamic finance. The incorporation of purification processes and sustainability constraints into a fuzzy portfolio optimization model represents a unique contribution to the field.
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Gangaram Biswakarma and Barsa Basnet
The rapidly growing medical tourism sector impacts sending and receiving countries’ health systems. It is growing rapidly, and medical procedures, technology and high-quality…
Abstract
Purpose
The rapidly growing medical tourism sector impacts sending and receiving countries’ health systems. It is growing rapidly, and medical procedures, technology and high-quality healthcare are expensive and unequal. Low-to-middle-income countries’ citizens travel abroad for better healthcare for cost or other reasons. Medical tourism in developing countries is poorly understood, despite empirical studies from developed countries and various disciplines. This paper aims to analyze the motivational factors that influence Nepalese patients’ decisions to seek outbound medical tourism in Nepal.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a quantitative approach. The study purposefully included individual patients who had undergone medical treatment abroad to form the sample for research purposes. Among the 400 respondents, 382 responses were deemed the final sample size. A questionnaire was developed on a seven-point Likert scale. The study proceeded with a sequential analysis approach, commencing with the evaluation of the measurement model before conducting path analysis to test the hypotheses and present the model estimates.
Findings
The study found that the individuals supported outbound medical tourism and were open to medical treatment abroad. Outbound medical tourism is highly related to service quality and word-of-mouth communication along with the insurance policy, language and culture, treatment cost and procedural safety. However, service quality and word-of-mouth communication significantly affect outbound medical tourism, with service quality having a large effect. These findings of the study shed a different dynamics of the factors influencing Nepalese individuals’ decision regarding outbound medical tourism.
Originality/value
This study focuses to a developing country in which the country’s healthcare system lacks proper infrastructure and services, is overcrowded, lacks expertise and technology and private hospitals are scarce. As a result, more people are seeking treatment across borders. Though researchers from developed countries and different disciplines have carried out empirical studies on medical tourism, little is known about this phenomenon in developing countries. Therefore, this study explores the motivational factors for outbound medical tourism in Nepal. This study addresses these key research issues to highlight Nepal’s underexplored outbound medical tourism and its drivers.
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Judith Schmitt, Karina Nielsen, Carolyn Axtell and Cristian Vasquez
Current political, economic and societal developments have led to high uncertainty in organisations, which may negatively impact employee well-being. Leaders play a crucial role…
Abstract
Purpose
Current political, economic and societal developments have led to high uncertainty in organisations, which may negatively impact employee well-being. Leaders play a crucial role in this context. This study explores how interventions support leaders and their followers in times of uncertainty.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted 22 interviews to evaluate the experiences of two interventions, coaching and mental health awareness training, both implemented in two corporate organisations in Czechia during a merger and acquisition and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings
Our findings show that both interventions equipped participants with resources to manage change, such as increased self-awareness and self-efficacy, and improved coping strategies for stressful situations. Participants gained better leadership skills and knowledge to support employees and themselves when facing mental health issues. Our findings reveal that the contextual factors in the two organisations led to different mechanisms and content for coaching but similar mechanisms in mental health awareness training.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the understanding of targeted interventions to support leaders during times of uncertainty. Implications for practitioners and Human Resources when developing context-specific support strategies are discussed.
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This article explores key features of effective professional learning as identified in research, exploring in-depth the potential of co-mentoring as a transformative model for…
Abstract
Purpose
This article explores key features of effective professional learning as identified in research, exploring in-depth the potential of co-mentoring as a transformative model for teacher development.
Design/methodology/approach
This article focuses on the Foundation for Learning and Literacy’s (FFLL) Touchstone 11, which underscores the importance of continuous teacher professional development in equitably supporting student learning. Teachers play a pivotal role in fostering learning and literacy, yet they face significant challenges in accessing ongoing, embedded professional learning tailored to their practice. A brief review of the literature regarding key features of effective professional learning is followed by an in-depth exploration of co-mentoring in the context of a real-world education program.
Findings
Co-mentoring fosters reciprocal, non-hierarchical learning relationships, exemplified by the School Drama program – a collaboration between Sydney Theatre Company and The University of Sydney. This program paired teaching artists with classroom teachers to integrate drama into literacy education, leading to improved teacher confidence, student engagement and professional growth.
Originality/value
The article situates key features of effective professional learning as identified in the literature in the context of a real-world education program in Australia.
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Benjamin Thomas Gray, Matthew Sisto and Renee Conley
The purpose of this service user narrative and viewpoint article is to describe interprofessional and interpersonal barriers to peer support on a men’s mental health ward over the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this service user narrative and viewpoint article is to describe interprofessional and interpersonal barriers to peer support on a men’s mental health ward over the course of a year from a lived experience perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
A reflective journal was kept and participant observation was conducted over the course of the year.
Findings
There is sometimes a fissure and binary of “Us” and “Them” on the ward. In other words, staff can sometimes perceive peer support workers to be “one of us” (a member of staff) or “one of them” (a service user). For service users, the opposite is sometimes true: “one of us” (a service user) or “one of them” (a member of staff). Peer support workers must bridge this gap and strive to be “one of us” with both these groups, which is no easy task. A good ward manager or peer team leader can smooth over interprofessional differences and support the peer worker in their efforts of care towards the recovery of people with mental health problems.
Originality/value
Little has been written on this topic in a mental health inpatient setting as most papers address community peer support work, which is very different from peer support in hospital. This paper addresses one of the first peer support pilot projects in hospital of its kind in NHS England so is quite innovative and perhaps even unique.
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Cristina Gabriela Bejan, Claudia Lenuța Rus and Lucia Claudia Ioana Ratiu
Although several studies evidence the positive outcomes of facilitation coaching style in various professional settings, it has received less attention in the health-care context…
Abstract
Purpose
Although several studies evidence the positive outcomes of facilitation coaching style in various professional settings, it has received less attention in the health-care context. Thus, drawing on previous research and the tenets of Self-Determination Theory (Deci and Ryan, 1985), Job Demands-Resources Theory (Demerouti et al., 2001) and Conservation of Resources Theory (Hobfoll, 1989), this study aims to investigate the relationship between facilitation coaching style and adaptive performance in health-care professionals, considering a serial mediation mechanism in which job-related anxiety and informal field-based learning are antecedents of positive psychological capital (PsyCap).
Design/methodology/approach
Self-reported data were collected from 253 Romanian health-care professionals using a cross-sectional research design.
Findings
The authors found that facilitation coaching style reduces job-related anxiety and promotes informal field-based learning, thereby improving PsyCap and, ultimately, contributing to higher adaptive performance.
Originality/value
These results emphasize the critical role of facilitation coaching style in the health-care sector and provide actionable insights for health-care organizations seeking to enhance their staff’s adaptive performance and, consequently, patient care.
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Sheng Liu, Qing Mai and Xiuying Chen
Many developing countries have encountered frequent pollution accidents during their rapid development, while the previously weak environmental insurance systems could seriously…
Abstract
Purpose
Many developing countries have encountered frequent pollution accidents during their rapid development, while the previously weak environmental insurance systems could seriously undermine the progress of sustainable development. Some developing countries like China has initiated and strengthened environmental pollution liability insurance, so how effective this system would be in resolving enterprises environmental risks need to be further revealed.
Design/methodology/approach
This research identifies the possible consequence that compulsory environmental pollution liability insurance pilot (CEPLIP) policy would bring to the risk-taking capacity of heavy-polluting corporations of China by the Differences-in-Differences (DID) approach.
Findings
The result supports the implementation of CEPLIP policy in increasing corporate risk-taking capacity. Furthermore, the CEPLIP policy can promote the corporate’s risk-taking capacity by reducing financial distress constraints and enhancing trade credit, supporting its dual role of “fallback effect” as well as “external supervision effect” of environmental insurance. As a result of heterogeneity test, the policy is more pronounced in enterprise samples with mature life cycle stage or lower industrial concentration degree. Similarly, it is more significant in enterprise samples owned better environmental management capabilities or greater strategic deviance.
Originality/value
This paper verifies the effectiveness of the CEPLIP policy by strengthening its supervision mechanism and restraining opportunistic behavior tendency and provides implications for alleviating increasing environmental risk pressure and building more sustainable environmental protection management systems.
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The aim of this study was to explore the specific actions that school leaders attempt following a coaching session, investigating how group coaching supports the leadership…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to explore the specific actions that school leaders attempt following a coaching session, investigating how group coaching supports the leadership actions of school leaders. The study was carried out as an action research project with the aim of understanding and further developing the coaching practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The article reports on a group coaching study integrated into the National Principal Training Programme in Norway, which was designed to identify reflections on the type of personal agency that can lead to improvements in leadership performance. Our investigation focused on a group coaching protocol initiated with a coaching question that was reformulated during the session. It concluded with a leadership action that the school leader committed to undertake following the coaching session. The study identifies the types of actions that school leaders commit to undertaking after the coaching session and examines whether the coaching process impacts the implementation of these leadership actions.
Findings
We found that the leadership actions undertaken focused on what school leaders can do to foster better relationships with their employees, how they can develop a positive culture for learning and competence development in schools and how they can create structures and routines in both day-to-day leadership and broader school organizations. The study illustrates that school leaders perceive group coaching as being beneficial in the process of selecting a leadership action and that, through this process, there is increased motivation to implement this specific leadership action.
Originality/value
The study provides original contributions to the field of educational leadership and coaching, offering practical suggestions for those involved in the development of school leaders. The findings could inform future practices and research in similar contexts, and with further refinement, the results could have implications beyond the immediate setting of the Norwegian National Principal Training Programme.
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Aayushi Pandey, Shivani Dhand, Mahender Singh Kaswan, Priyanka Chhibber, Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes and Mehnaz Manzoor
To investigate the transformative impact of soft skills on the career pathways of experts and students in the engineering domain.
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the transformative impact of soft skills on the career pathways of experts and students in the engineering domain.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a comprehensive approach, combining a review of existing literature with primary data to analyse quantitative and qualitative empirical investigations. Data from 40 participants, who are engineering students and professionals, is analysed using descriptive statistics and advanced software tools like ATLAS.ti and Jamovi.
Findings
The findings underscore the indispensable nature of soft skills in elevating employability, emphasising the urgent need for mandatory soft skills education for engineering students and professionals. The research identifies the top five soft skills engineers need: communication, teamwork, time management, leadership and problem-solving.
Practical implications
The research contributes to understanding soft skills’ pivotal role in engineering professions, providing valuable insights for professionals and organisations aiming to enhance performance and competitiveness in the industry. The study advocates for a holistic approach that recognises the symbiotic relationship between technical proficiency and soft skills in shaping the success of engineering graduates in the 21st-century workforce.
Originality/value
The study recognises the current job market demands and asserts that engineers must combine technical expertise with soft skills to succeed in the technology-driven yet people-centric engineering profession.
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Yihong Chen, Huiyue Ye and Rob Law
Digitalization in hospitality and tourism (DHT) is undergoing a profound revolution, yet its actual effect remains overlooked. This paper aims to delve into the actual effect of…
Abstract
Purpose
Digitalization in hospitality and tourism (DHT) is undergoing a profound revolution, yet its actual effect remains overlooked. This paper aims to delve into the actual effect of DHT and uncover the underlying mechanisms that trigger its subtle success.
Design/methodology/approach
Triangulation was used by leveraging complementary multisource data and mixed methods to explore DHT’s challenges. First, regression and statistical analysis revealed intricate outcome of DHT at the regional level. Then, DistilBERT and nonnegative matrix factorization were used to cluster the tourists’ complaints about DHT. Finally, based on a modified diffusion innovation system and stakeholder theory, this study proposed the Integrated Framework for Digitalization Mismatch in Hospitality and Tourism (IFDMHT).
Findings
The quantitative techniques identified the subtle contributions of digitalization on demand. The qualitative technique explored the strategy–practice and demand–supply mismatches as the core of the failure.
Originality/value
This study synthesizes macroregional and micropsychological perspectives to examine the actual effect of DHT. An IFDMHT model is established to investigate the underlying factors influencing the subtle successes of DHT. The findings provide targeted recommendations to assist stakeholders in developing sustainable DHT.
研究目的
酒店与旅游业数字化(DHT)正经历深刻变革, 但其实际影响常被忽视。本研究旨在深入探讨DHT的实际效果, 揭示其微妙成功的潜在机制。
研究方法
本研究采用三角验证方法, 通过整合多源数据与混合方法探讨DHT所面临的挑战。首先, 回归分析和统计分析揭示DHT在区域层面的复杂结果; 其次, 利用DistilBERT与非负矩阵分解对游客关于DHT的投诉进行聚类分析; 最后, 基于修订的扩散创新系统与利益相关者理论, 提出了“酒店与旅游业数字化错配综合框架”(IFDMHT)。
研究发现
定量方法识别了数字化对需求的微妙贡献, 定性技术则深入探讨了战略与实践、需求与供给之间的不匹配是数字化失败的核心原因。
研究创新
本研究从宏观区域和微观心理学视角出发, 综合审视DHT的实际效果, 并构建了IFDMHT模型, 以探讨影响DHT微妙成功的潜在因素。研究结果为利益相关者提供了具体建议, 以推动可持续的DHT发展。