Search results

The purpose of this study is to explore how to select a suitable supply chain collaboration paradigm (SCCP) based on the intelligent manufacturing model (IMM) of enterprises.

Given the fit between internal collaboration and external collaboration, we propose a model to select a suitable SCCP based on two-sided matching between SCCPs and IMMs. In this decision problem, we invited five university scholars and seven related consultants to evaluate SCCPs and IMMs based on the regret theory, which is used to obtain the perceived utility and matching results. The evaluation values are comfortably expressed through probabilistic linguistic term sets (PLTSs). Also, we set the lowest acceptance threshold to improve the accuracy of matching results.

The findings indicate that the characteristics of IMMs can significantly influence the selection of SCCPs, and an SCCP is not suitable for all IMMs. Interestingly, the study findings suggest that the selection of SCCP is diverse and multi-optional under the constraints of IMMs.

Existing studies have explored supply chain collaboration (SCC) in Industry 4.0 to improve supply chain performance, but less attention has been paid to the impact of the match between SCCPs and IMMs on supply chain performance. And even fewer studies have addressed how to select a suitable SCCP in different IMMs. This study provides a unique contribution to the practice of SCC and expands the understanding of supply chain management in Industry 4.0.

This study presents a systematic literature review (SLR) of the interdisciplinary literature on drones in last-mile delivery (LMD) to extrapolate pertinent insights from and into the logistics management field.

Rooting their analytical categories in the LMD literature, the authors performed a deductive, theory refinement SLR on 307 interdisciplinary journal articles published during 2015–2022 to integrate this emergent phenomenon into the field.

The authors derived the potentials, challenges and solutions of drone deliveries in relation to 12 LMD criteria dispersed across four stakeholder groups: senders, receivers, regulators and societies. Relationships between these criteria were also identified.

This review contributes to logistics management by offering a current, nuanced and multifaceted discussion of drones' potential to improve the LMD process together with the challenges and solutions involved.

The authors provide logistics managers with a holistic roadmap to help them make informed decisions about adopting drones in their delivery systems. Regulators and society members also gain insights into the prospects, requirements and repercussions of drone deliveries.

This is one of the first SLRs on drone applications in LMD from a logistics management perspective.

This study aims to address the challenge of encouraging customers to join hotels’ green loyalty programmes (LPs) by examining the impact on customers’ decisions of their trait reactance, anticipated guilt and the physical attractiveness of service employees.

The authors conducted three preliminary studies and one main study using scenario-based online surveys targeting Chinese hotel customers. The first two preliminary studies (N1A = 100, N1B = 158) explored the negative emotions (guilt vs. shame) linked to non-participation in green LPs, while the third study (N1C = 110) examined gender’s role in perceived physical attractiveness. The main study (n = 836) tested the three-way interaction effect.

This analysis confirms that guilt, rather than shame, plays a significant role in the decision-making process for participating in green LPs. The results reveal that trait reactance strongly deters participation intention when customers anticipate low guilt and perceive service employees as less attractive. Notably, higher anticipated guilt renders trait reactance ineffective in influencing intentions, regardless of employees’ attractiveness.

The results reveal that a high level of anticipated guilt is the key to boosting customers’ intention to participate in a hotel’s green LP, which can mitigate the negative impact of customers’ trait reactance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate how anticipated guilt can lessen the negative effects of customers’ trait reactance on their intention to participate in green LPs. In addition, the findings reveal that guilt not only narrows customers’ attentional focus but also influences how the attractiveness of service employees affects their decision-making processes. the work introduces a new angle on how emotional responses (anticipated guilt) interact with physical cues (employee attractiveness) in shaping customer decisions concerning the hotel’s green initiatives.

This paper aims to explore the influence of a particular label surface texture, i.e. embossing, on consumer purchase intentions and willingness to pay. This paper further highlights the underlying mechanisms explaining this relationship by unveiling the mediating role of willingness to touch and perceived package uniqueness.

Based on the visual salience theory and the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model, this paper tests mediations and serial mediations across two online experiments and evidence from a laboratory experiment.

Study 1 reveals perceived package uniqueness as the mediator, such that embossed elements on the label increase perceived uniqueness, hence leading to greater purchase intentions and willingness to pay. In addition, Study 2 replicates these results and goes further by demonstrating the positive effect of embossing on purchase intentions and willingness to pay through willingness to touch then perceived package uniqueness.

The findings provide insightful managerial implications by drawing attention to the importance of using embossed elements on packaging, particularly when companies seek to differentiate themselves from competitors by stimulating consumers to touch their product packaging and having them perceive their products as unique.

Using visual salience theory and the SOR model, this research is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first to shed light on the effect of embossing as a visual element of the packaging design on willingness to touch the product (haptics) and perceived uniqueness, ultimately enhancing purchase intentions and willingness to pay.

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the viability of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GR-1 (LGR-1) when combined with four prebiotic-rich fruit powders – apple, papaya, mango, and red beetroot – in probiotic yogurt. Additionally, the study aims to assess customer acceptability of the yogurt fortified with these fruit powders through a sensory evaluation using a nine-point hedonic scale.

The yogurt samples, inoculated with the LGR-1 probiotic strain, underwent fermentation at 38 °C for 0, 2, 4 and 6 h. Following fermentation, the samples were stored in a refrigerator at 4 °C for 1, 15 and 30 days. Throughout the study, microbial counts and pH level measurements were performed to assess the viability of LGR-1. A sensory evaluation consisted of 89 participants. A nine-point hedonic scale, ranging from 1 (dislike extremely) to 9 (like extremely), along with a questionnaire were used to assess criteria such as appearance, flavor, texture and overall acceptability of the samples.

All treatments at all time points maintained a minimum viable microbial count of 10⁷ CFU/mL (colony-forming units per mL), which indicated that the addition of fruit powders supported the growth and survival of LGR-1 in yogurt. Treatment 5, fortified with papaya powder, was the only group that exhibited a significant change of microbial count after 30 days of fermentation (p = 0.018). Although there were no statistically significant differences in pH values at the 0- and 2-h time points within each treatment, the pH remained relatively stable after day 15, with an average mean pH of 4.29. Treatment 2 fortified with mango powder obtained the highest overall acceptability score because of its smooth and firm texture as well as mild mango-sweet flavor.

This study explored the viability of probiotics and the sensory properties of yogurt fortified with various fruit powders, while also examining the potential prebiotic effects of fruit powders in enhancing overall sensory appeal. The findings suggested that papain may play a role in increasing probiotic viability in yogurt. Given the inconvenience and inaccessibility of fresh fruits and the generally inadequate prebiotic intake, this research addressed the gap in prebiotic consumption by offering novel ideas for health-enhancing dairy products.

This study aim to review and compile the latest research in women’s leadership internationally and across multiple sectors and industries to understand how to fast-track gender equality. As an outcome of this review, this paper presents an actionable universal framework for organisations to use to bolster their gender equity efforts.

A systematic literature review methodology resulted in 36 articles dedicated to research on women in senior leadership interventions across countries and organisational types. Thematic analysis identified a series of enablers and barriers that influence women’s progression into senior roles.

Research since 2020 has shown a significant shift from an individualised approach to improving women’s advancement to senior leadership roles, to a systematic one, acknowledging that there are entrenched behaviours resulting in a lack of equity.

Systematic literature reviews, although reducing bias, must still be acknowledged to have inherent bias due to the inclusion and exclusion criteria used. There is a need for future research to provide more theoretical underpinnings to advance knowledge and for implementation and review of the proposed EQUAL framework developed from this study.

The authors highlight the continuing issues at play in organisations that act as barriers to women’s progress into senior leadership. This paper suggest that organisations may need to consider ways to move past a “business case” approach towards gender equity becoming embedded at all levels. Their proposed EQUAL framework provides a practical set of evidence-based activities to enhance this approach.

Integrated care has emerged as a vital approach to address the growing complexities of healthcare systems worldwide, particularly in managing the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, aging populations and socioeconomic disparities. Integrated care generally involves the alignment of health and social services to provide patient-centered, coordinated and efficient care, ensuring continuity of care, optimizing resource allocation and improving patient outcomes during crises. Despite these recognized benefits, significant variability exists in how integration is conceptualized and implemented globally. This review aims to explore the diverse definitions, types and implementations of integrated care, comparing international health models and their impacts on patient and system-level outcomes.

A comprehensive literature review was conducted using PUBMED, MEDLINE, Google Scholar and Science Direct. Eligible studies included original research and reviews without time or regional restrictions. Search terms included “integrated care,” “integrated health and social care” and “integration”. Manual screening of references supplemented data collection. Studies were included based on relevance to the research question, focusing on the definitions, types and national policies regarding integrated care.

Integrated care models were categorized into vertical, horizontal, functional, clinical and service integration, each with distinct benefits and applications. Integrated care is defined by various authors as collaboration of various pillars of health and social care systems either at administrative, professional or infrastructural levels to obtain optimum health and economic outcomes. Different types of integration have been adopted worldwide depending upon the level of supply chain as well as level of healthcare collaborating with volunteers. Different countries adopted one or more type of integrated care models with some of evidence favoring vertical integration regarding patient outcome. The cost of integrated care in terms of distribution of resources and financial consumption and output may be same or more or less than conventional care model.

Integrated care models enhance patient outcomes, resource efficiency and system-level collaboration. However, barriers such as financial disparities, infrastructural limitations and organizational fragmentation persist. Despite promising examples of integrated care, the evidence on cost benefits remains inconclusive. Recommendations include aligning health and social care budgets, promoting patient-centered care, enhancing inter-professional collaboration and implementing shared electronic health records. Further research is needed to establish cost-effectiveness and refine integrated care policies for better health outcomes and system sustainability.

This is the first review to correlate and compare the national health models of various countries in terms of types of integration of health and social care and to bring out patient and system focused health and financial benefits out of it. Moreover, it gathers almost all the available data on the research question in one review with emphasis on latest approach.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the environmental footprint of a university of applied sciences in 2019 and 2020, including the effects of the lockdown periods. The study identified the main sources of emissions and assessed the pandemic-related effects.

Using the life cycle assessment methodology, this study analysed the university’s direct and indirect emissions during a regular year of operation (2019) and compared them with those generated during the lockdown periods in 2020. For the activity areas mobility, energy, waste, IT and paper, gastronomy and water, specific, primary bottom-up inventory data were gathered before and during the pandemic. The data were assessed with 15 environmental impact assessment methods of the environmental footprint framework.

The results of a regular year of operation (2019) depicted that student and employee commuting and business travel contributed with 86% largely to the total global warming potential of 2,572 t CO₂-eq. The pandemic-induced changes in commuting and business travel resulted in a 60% reduction, leading to a drop to 1,075 t CO₂-eq (2020). In contrast, the environmental footprint due to energy consumption remained almost on the same level, irrespective of the absences on-site in 2020.

This study has the potential to shape post-pandemic environmental efforts and policies in higher education institutions and contribute to a much-needed baseline against which mitigation efforts can be compared with. Unlike other studies, this study goes beyond the carbon footprint, expanding the discussion to additional environmental and human health impact categories by applying the environmental footprint framework.

This study aims to empirically investigate the effect of a firm’s blueness on stock returns by developing the blueness index. Ocean firms listed on NASDAQ Baltic, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Iceland and Stockholm were selected to test the hypothesis.

This study uses the system generalized method of moments technique and finds an inverse relationship between blueness and stock performance. As an alternative, their impact on stock performance is investigated using the environmental, social and governance (ESG) and environment (E) ratings. Additionally, by considering the blueness component, this study suggests a theoretical model to evaluate the utility function of the portfolio.

The results reveal that high-blue firms obtain lower returns than low-blue firms. This finding illustrates that high-blue firms obtain lower returns, as they comply with “blue” factors, and the possibility of risk would be lower. This study finds that lower ESG and E scores indicate ocean firms create lower emissions. Therefore, investors of high-blue firms obtain lower returns. To test the robustness of the blueness index, this study examines the effect of ESG and E ratings on a firm’s blueness. The results identify an inverse relationship between the ESG/E score and the blueness, illustrating that high-blue firms emit lower ocean emissions. The results of a theoretical model report that the proportion of investment in high-blue firms is higher for optimizing portfolio allocation.

This study determines firms’ blueness and impact on stock return. This study also considers ESG and E scores to identify their effect on ocean firm’s performance. The results contribute a theoretical understanding of factors determining the proportion of investment in high- and low-blue firms to optimize their portfolio.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic has put the spotlight on national governments as (ir)responsible actors, it is valuable to investigate how national authorities handled this new normality. The dark side of online activism emerged as a challenge for national governments since multiple voices with competing interests were present in the online environment. This chapter assesses how the Romanian government acted as a hijacker of the #Nuvreau/#Idonotwantto hashtag launched by COVID-19 anti-vaccine advocates. Adopting an issue arena approach and employing a network analysis and a framing analysis, this chapter explores the interconnectivity and the topics in the #Nuvreau/#Idonotwantto network. The findings showcase a narrative shift from an online conspiracy-laden citizen-driven movement against COVID-19 vaccination to a government-issued manifesto against the COVID-19 virus through a process of hashtag hijacking performed by a governmental authority. The Romanian national authority was the most important social mediator in this hashtag landscape, constantly emphasizing a recontextualization of the hashtag linked to the COVID-19 virus and its negative consequences. Using rational messaging based on figures and facts, the Romanian governmental authority as the most active pro-vaccination social media poster hijacked the #Nuvreau/Idonotwantto hashtag, mainly employing frame transformation as a strategic alignment process. Opinion leadership in the #Nuvreau/Idonotwantto broadcast network belonged to ROVaccination, the official governmental Facebook page, but timing, fast response, and frame extension are essential elements in the digital arena. Since governmental effective crisis responses are of paramount importance, this chapter concludes with implications of the urgency of issue tracking, of stakeholders mapping, and of an active role dominating the arena.