Wiriya Puntub, Stefan Greiving and Joern Birkmann
The interaction between urban development and climate change significantly impacts local public health services. Unfortunately, cities and involved institutions often fail to…
Abstract
Purpose
The interaction between urban development and climate change significantly impacts local public health services. Unfortunately, cities and involved institutions often fail to prioritize and integrate spatial planning when dealing with these unprecedented future challenges. This study aims to offer Health Integrative Climate Resilience and Adaptation Future (HICRAF), an innovative planning framework that systematically operationalizes future climate risks and their impact on local public health services.
Design/methodology/approach
HICRAF is developed based on the intermix of explorative and normative scenario planning approaches. Mixed methods of quantitative and qualitative techniques were applied to develop and operationalize the local climate adaptation scenarios through stakeholder participation. The framework demonstrates how different methods and scales (spatial and temporal) can be linked to exhibit climate risk outcomes of different future pathways.
Findings
The practicality of HICRAF was demonstrated in Khon Kaen city, where it bridged the gaps between global climate trajectories and local climate adaptation scenarios. It also highlights the need to consider intertwining spatial and systemic risks in local infrastructure operations. Although HICRAF has gained political buy-in and fostered the establishment of stakeholder discourse on climate-resilient futures, further research is needed to enhance its robustness and replicability.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a novel planning framework, HICRAF, that can systematically operationalize the future challenges of unprecedented climate change and urban development changes for the local public health service. The demonstration of HICRAF in Khon Kaen city provides empirical evidence of its implementability and upscaling potential.
Details
Keywords
Wenping Xu, Xinru Guo, David G. Proverbs and Pan Han
Flooding is China’s most frequent and catastrophic natural hazard, causing extensive damage. The aim of this study is to develop a comprehensive assessment of urban flood risk in…
Abstract
Purpose
Flooding is China’s most frequent and catastrophic natural hazard, causing extensive damage. The aim of this study is to develop a comprehensive assessment of urban flood risk in the Hubei Province of China, focusing on the following three issues: (1) What are the factors that cause floods? (2) To what extent do these factors affect flood risk management? (3) How to build an effective comprehensive assessment system that can be used to reduce flood risk?
Design/methodology/approach
This study combines expert opinion and evidence from the extent literature to identify flood risk indicators across four dimensions: disaster risk, susceptibility, exposure and prevention and mitigation. The Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) and the Grey Relational Analysis (RA)-based Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) decision-making approach were applied to calculate the weighting of factors and develop a model of urban flood risk. Then, ArcGIS software visualizes risk levels and spatial distribution in the cities of Hubei Province; uncertainty analysis verified method accuracy.
Findings
The results show that there are significant differences in the level of urban flood risk in Hubei Province, with cities such as Tianmen, Qianjiang, Xiantao and Ezhou being at high risk, while cities such as Shiyan, Xiangyang, Shennongjia, Yichang, Wuhan and Huanggang are at lower flood risk.
Originality/value
The innovative method of combining CRITIC-GRA-TOPSIS reduces the presence of subjective bias found in many other flood risk assessment frameworks. Regional data extraction and uncertainty analysis enhance result reliability, supporting long-term decision-making and urban planning. Overall, the methodological approach developed provides an advanced, highly effective and efficient analysis and visualization of flood risk. This study deepens the understanding of flood risk assessment mechanisms and more broadly supports the development of resilient cities.
Details
Keywords
Marco Bisogno, Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros and Flavio Abate
This study investigates drivers of local governments’ digitalization, focusing on contextual factors that can help explain the level of e-government development. Concretely, it…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates drivers of local governments’ digitalization, focusing on contextual factors that can help explain the level of e-government development. Concretely, it examines financial, socioeconomic, and political factors that represent the local context where e-government initiatives are implemented.
Design/methodology/approach
A composite e-government index was used, adopting a holistic perspective to capture various features of e-government initiatives. The OLS estimator for linear regressions was used for the analysis based on a sample of Italian municipalities in 2023. The Tobit estimator was additionally implemented to check for the robustness of the results.
Findings
Empirical findings suggest that municipalities with higher indebtedness tend to show lower digitalization levels. Economic and social variables are also relevant factors, while the political orientation of the governing party is not significant. This indirectly documents that e-government initiatives play a strategic role despite the political ideology.
Originality/value
This study avoids referring to a technological determinism perspective and examines the role of the institutional and operational context, highlighting the need to unveil and explain differences among local governments rather than focusing on similarities.
Details
Keywords
Kirti Sood, Prachi Pathak and Sanjay Gupta
Investment decisions hold immense significance for investors and eventually affect their portfolio performance. Investors are advised to weigh the costs and benefits associated…
Abstract
Purpose
Investment decisions hold immense significance for investors and eventually affect their portfolio performance. Investors are advised to weigh the costs and benefits associated with every decision in order to make rational investment decisions. However, behavioral finance research reveals that investors' choices often stem from a blend of economic, psychological and sociological factors, leading to irrationality. Moreover, environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors, aligned with behavioral finance hypotheses, also sway opinions and stock prices. Hence, this study aims to identify how individual equity investors prioritize key determinants of investment decisions in the Indian stock market.
Design/methodology/approach
The current research gathered data from 391 individual equity investors through a structured questionnaire. Thereafter, a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (F-AHP) was used to meet the purpose of the research.
Findings
Information availability, representative heuristics belonging to psychological factors and macroeconomic indicators falling under economic factors were discovered to be the three most prioritized criteria, whereas environmental issues within the realm of ESG factors, recommendations of brokers or investment consultants of sociological factors, and social issues belonging to ESG factors were found to be the least prioritized criteria, respectively.
Research limitations/implications
Only active and experienced individual equity investors were surveyed in this study. Furthermore, with a sample size of 391 participants, the study was confined to individual equity investors in one nation, India.
Practical implications
This research has implications for individual investors, institutional investors, market regulators, corporations, financial advisors, portfolio managers, policymakers and society as a whole.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, no real attempt has been made to comprehend how active and experienced individual investors prioritize critical determinants of investment decisions by taking economic, psychological, sociological and ESG factors collectively under consideration.
Details
Keywords
Janet R. McColl-Kennedy, Lars Witell, Pennie Frow, Lilliemay Cheung, Adrian Payne and Rahul Govind
Drawing on value cocreation, this study examines health-care customers’ perceptions of patient-centered care (PCC) in hospital and online primary care settings. This study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on value cocreation, this study examines health-care customers’ perceptions of patient-centered care (PCC) in hospital and online primary care settings. This study aims to address how are the key principles of PCC related, how the relationships between key PCC principles and outcomes (subjective well-being and service satisfaction) vary depending on the channel providing the care (hospital/online primary care) and what differences are placed on the involvement of family and friends in these different settings by health-care customers.
Design/methodology/approach
This study comprises four samples of health-care customers (Sample 1 n = 272, Sample 2 n = 278, Sample 3 n = 275 and Sample 4 n = 297) totaling 1,122 respondents. This study models four key principles of PCC: service providers respecting health-care customers’ values, needs and preferences; collaborative resources of the multi-disciplinary care team; health-care customers actively collaborating with their own resources; and health-care customers involving family and friends, explicating which principles of PCC have positive effects on outcomes: subjective well-being and service satisfaction.
Findings
Findings confirm that health-care customers want to feel respected by service providers, use their own resources to actively collaborate in their care and have multi-disciplinary teams coordinating and integrating their care. However, contrary to prior findings, for online primary care, service providers respecting customers’ values needs and preferences do not translate into health-care customers actively collaborating with their own resources. Further, involving family and friends has mixed results for online primary care. In that setting, this study finds that involving family and friends only positively impacts service satisfaction, when care is provided using video and not voice only.
Social implications
By identifying which PCC principles influence the health-care customer experience most, this research shows policymakers where they should invest resources to achieve beneficial outcomes for health-care customers, service providers and society, thus advancing current thinking and practice.
Originality/value
This research provides a health-care customer perspective on PCC and shows how the resources of the health-care system can activate the health-care customer’s own resources. It further shows the role of technology in online care, where it alters how care is experienced by the health-care customer.
Details
Keywords
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) fruits are rich in bioactive components, specifically in anthocyanins. In this study, freeze-dried and powdered elderberry fruits were added to milk…
Abstract
Purpose
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) fruits are rich in bioactive components, specifically in anthocyanins. In this study, freeze-dried and powdered elderberry fruits were added to milk, yoghurt and kefir samples at ratios of 5, 10 and 15% (w/w) to fortify these dairy products at home scale, and final products were monitored to understand the behaviour of bioactive compounds.
Design/methodology/approach
The action of bioactive compounds was examined before and after in vitro gastrointestinal digestion by the analysis of total anthocyanin content, total phenolic content and antioxidant activity assays as well as the HPLC-PDA system on the first day of preparation. Moreover, the effect of three days of storage on individual phenolic compounds was evaluated.
Findings
Kefir samples exhibited the highest total anthocyanin content levels among prepared products (255±4-702±65 µmol cyanidin-3-glucoside eq/100 g), which is followed by yoghurt samples. Individual phenolics in samples prepared at the same concentrations behaved almost similarly with each other during gastric digestion phases (p > 0.05), whereas intestinal digestion phases caused significant differences, and phenolics in yoghurt samples exhibited higher values than others (p < 0.05). The stability of bioactive compounds in samples tended to decrease during storage; however, as observed during gastrointestinal digestion, yoghurt and kefir samples provided better matrices than milk to maintain the presence of bioactive compounds (p < 0.05).
Originality/value
Previous studies have indicated that elderberry fruits contain high levels of bioactive compounds, and these fruits have been used to fortify different food matrices. However, this research paper investigates the interaction between three selected dairy products and elderberry powder with each other for the first time.
Details
Keywords
This chapter dives deeper into how the circular economy is important for the tourism industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In a region known for its remarkable growth and…
Abstract
This chapter dives deeper into how the circular economy is important for the tourism industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In a region known for its remarkable growth and innovative endeavors, this chapter meticulously investigates how the principles of the circular economy hold the potential to not only shape the trajectory of sustainable development but also to become a catalyst for heightened economic growth and an embodiment of environmental stewardship within the UAE's dynamic tourism sector. It begins by explaining the multifaceted concept of the circular economy and its compelling relevance to the diverse realm of tourism. It also emphasizes the role of community involvement in making these principles work. The chapter showcases successful case studies in UAE's tourism sector, from eco-friendly hotels to innovative food services and community-based tourism. Finally, it ends with recommendations for stakeholders to work together for sustainable tourism development. As the chapter draws toward a conclusion, it ends with a collection of recommendations that underscore the essence of collaborative engagement among stakeholders – a driving force that is poised to propel the narrative of sustainable tourism development forward with unwavering resolve and unwavering impact.
Details
Keywords
Luis Mendes and Grazielle França
Healthcare organizations have been facing challenges due to high costs and low efficiency in health services. The growth of costs and losses caused by avoidable mistakes lead to…
Abstract
Purpose
Healthcare organizations have been facing challenges due to high costs and low efficiency in health services. The growth of costs and losses caused by avoidable mistakes lead to the search for solutions, and Health Lean Management appears as a potential solution to help in solving service quality problems, as well as reducing risks. This study aims to analyse the state of the art in the literature centred on the Lean approach in the context of risk management in healthcare organizations, and to identify new research opportunities, highlighting possible lines of future research.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a systematic literature review approach, 51 papers were considered relevant for this research, and reviewed to explore the development of literature in this area.
Findings
Based on the results, five main research streams were identified: (1) risk management oriented towards patient safety; (2) risk management oriented towards employee safety; (3) importance of attitudes and behaviours in risk reduction projects; (4) Lean tools used in healthcare risk management and (5) Integration of approaches. Moreover, several shortcomings were identified in literature.
Originality/value
Identified shortcomings represent significant opportunities for further research development.
Details
Keywords
Matteo Pasquino and Caterina Lucarelli
The literature on the drivers affecting retail investor preferences towards socially responsible investments (SRIs) has increased significantly over recent years, revealing…
Abstract
Purpose
The literature on the drivers affecting retail investor preferences towards socially responsible investments (SRIs) has increased significantly over recent years, revealing several influencing factors. Given the wide variety and ambiguity of the available evidence, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the existing literature on this topic and develop a new unified approach to study this phenomenon.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted a systematic literature review, followed by a research profile analysis and a thematic analysis, which uncovered four major emerging foci: the research outcome type, the external environment, sociodemographic characteristics and the internal dimension of retail investors.
Findings
Our analysis revealed that studies investigating investor preferences often neglected to consider the concurring influence of multiple perspectives. In fact, we observed how the literature has not yet adequately addressed the mediating and moderating effects of the various factors that determine retail investor decisions regarding SRI.
Research limitations/implications
In response to these shortfalls, we propose a new integrated conceptual framework that may inspire scholars to conduct further studies to refine our understanding of investor preferences towards SRI.
Practical implications
This framework offers some suggestions on how to expand future research and underline some managerial and policy interventions aimed at developing the retail demand for these products.
Originality/value
To our knowledge, this is the first study to perform a systematic review on the drivers of SRIs, elaborating a new conceptual framework to understand the dynamics of retail investor sustainable preferences.