Search results

In this chapter, we emphasise how Creative Artificial Intelligence (AI) can and will transform the practice of financial operations (FinOps). To do this, we first place AI in the context of FinOps and how operations need to change, explicitly using Creative AI to be faster, more accurate and more creative when assessing client needs. This is achieved by explaining how traditional approaches fall well short of the mark by highlighting their fundamental limitations and showcasing how AI helps to address those shortcomings. We also provide a detailed discussion of how AI is transforming finance operations when we focus on four discursive areas: (1) risk, (2) fraud detection, (3) predictive analytics and (4) trading algorithms. In all four areas, Creative AI supports many decisions that benefit the clients, improves customer service and guides financial institutions to allocate their resources more effectively. We elaborate throughout this text how AI, in particular by using methods such as natural language processing, generative adversarial networks (GANs) and other related techniques, can be understood as what we have termed ‘Explainable AI’ to address operational issues in the modern financial world creatively. As AI offers great disarming power, we also discuss the threats, limitations and specific pitfalls of AI adoption and use in financial contexts. This includes addressing clearly ethical and regulatory concerns, in addition to the technical ones.

With a growing preference for active, authentic, and cultural experiences over traditional ones, creative tourism has garnered significant academic interest. This study offers a comprehensive review of creative tourism research, delineating its evolution, prominent contributors, pivotal areas, and prospective trajectories through a bibliometric analysis.

Employing a bibliometric analysis using the biblioshiny and VOSviewer software, this study systematically reviews 198 articles on creative tourism identified and retrieved from the Scopus database.

A notable increase in creative tourism research is witnessed in recent times, with Portugal and the Netherlands leading in publications and citations, respectively. This review also pinpoints key authors, countries, institutions, and journals shaping the field, and presents emerging themes such as authenticity and creative experience, culture and heritage, urban and rural contexts, and co-creation in creative tourism.

Identifying core research contributors (authors, countries, institutions, journals) and contributions (themes, topics) assists academics in seeking collaborations and shaping future research. Practitioners are advised to adapt these trends (authenticity, co-creation, sustainability) into their strategic planning to meet market demands.

This study offers a seminal review of creative tourism through a bibliometric analysis, a technique that leverages the power of technology (data, software) to engage in retrospection and projection—the hallmark of benchmarking studies across fields, including tourism. Noteworthily, this study provides a detailed summary of the field’s trajectory and significant trends, positioning itself as an essential reference for academic scholars, industry professionals, and policymakers with a keen interest in creative tourism.

Building on technology acceptance and learning transfer theories, this study aims to evaluate the integration of mobile augmented reality (MAR) in omnichannel retailing touchpoints for Generation Z (or Gen Z)'s apparel shopping, assessing how habitual augmented reality (AR) use in nonretailing contexts impacts Gen Z's motivations, acceptance and use of MAR shopping apps.

A total of 562 participants downloaded a footwear MAR app and completed a survey. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and multivariate regression to explore moderated mediation effects.

The study reveals a paradigm shift: Gen Z's habitual use of AR in social media (e.g. Snapchat and TikTok face filters) significantly influences their intent to use MAR in shopping, overshadowing hedonic motivations. This marks a transition from AR as a gimmick to a practical utility in omnichannel touchpoints, with performance expectancy emerging as a critical mediator in adopting MAR for utilitarian purposes.

This study highlights how Gen Z consumers’ tech habits influence their pragmatic view of MAR, urging re-exploration of the main constructs of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) model.

Findings suggest Gen Z values practicality over fun in MAR shopping apps, guiding marketers to emphasize tangible benefits for this demographic.

This research underscores the evolving perception of AR in retail among mobile natives, highlighting the shift from novelty to habitual utility. It offers strategic insights for integrating AR into omnichannel strategies, catering to the utilitarian expectations of Gen Z in the digital retail landscape.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamic relationship between formal and non-formal processes of accountability in a public services context.

The paper presents a case study of the impact of the Health and Social Care Act (2012) on the practices of Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) members. It draws upon multiple data sources, including in-depth interviews with the members, comprehensive archival data published by the HWB (2011–2019), and observations of HWB public meetings. We utilise the concept of dynamic duality (Li, 2008) to further theorise the relationship between formal and non-formal processes of accountability and how they mutually transform one another.

The case illustrates the role of formal and non-formal processes of accountability at a HWB in England. Moreover, the case study reveals the relationship and interaction between the formal and non-formal accountability processes and how they change and transform each other over time. We find that whilst non-formal accountability processes were strengthened by a historical legacy of partnership working, over time the dynamics at play led to the development of formal accountability processes through more sophisticated performance systems, which in turn transformed non-formal accountability processes.

The paper presents a more holistic conceptualisation than articulated in prior accountability literature, dynamic duality, on the relationship between formal and non-formal accountability processes. Through application of this conceptualisation to a HWB in England, the paper spotlights the inter-relationship between formal and non-formal processes of accountability, and how they have the potential to transform each over an extended time-period.

This paper aims to examine how bank stress tests affect bank tax planning.

The study uses US bank stress test bank size thresholds and a regression discontinuity design to investigate the effect of the Dodd-Frank Act and the instituted bank stress tests on bank tax planning. We use different measures of tax planning, including bank-specific measures and measures of tax avoidance, tax aggressiveness, and effective tax planning from recent literature. Our regression discontinuity and difference-in-differences regression analyses include bank and year fixed-effects and lagged bank characteristics to control for potential endogeneity.

This study finds that stress tests have the unintended consequences of intensifying tax planning and increasing tax avoidance. Stress-test banks increase tax avoidance by accelerating charge-offs, net interest, and non-interest expenses. However, this increase in tax planning is not optimally maximized, leading to lower effective tax planning compared to non-stress-test banks. Banks with a substantial increase in tax avoidance under the Dodd–Frank Act tend to increase their risk, investing in high-risk-weight assets and lending in riskier loan categories. These findings are consistent with tax minimization conditions under added regulatory attention and policy uncertainty.

Literature on bank tax planning is limited. Most tax avoidance literature excludes financial institutions such as bank holding companies mainly due to differences in business practices and regulatory frameworks. This study is the first to investigate tax planning behavior among US banks. The current study thus extends the research field by examining the effect of bank transparency regulations, such as bank stress tests, on bank tax planning activities. Our findings have a direct bank policy implication. They show that stress testing has the unintended consequences of increasing tax planning activities and consequently increasing risk-taking on banks with high tax avoidance, which goes against the goals of stress testing regulations.

Building on the forms of immersion in computer games, this chapter argues that games, whether played alone or with others, require a level of engagement equal to that of immersive artworks. Drawing on concepts from Ernest Adams, Staffan Björk and Jussi Holopainen, the chapter explores how games and digital worlds engage and immerse the viewer through sensory-motoric, cognitive, emotional and spatial elements. These digital spaces position the audience as both participants and co-creators, similar to immersive art forms dating from the 1950s and 1960s, where the shift from passive spectator to active participant, as seen in the works of Allan Kaprow and the Light and Space Movement, is mirrored in contemporary digital practices. This chapter examines how digital tools and new thinking enable unique opportunities for representation, display, engagement and interpretation, where the concept of an expanded narrative, incorporating active spaces and cross-disciplinary collaboration, is crucial for contemporary digital and new media practice. This chapter explores the intersection of art and VR gaming, using Half-Life: Alyx as a case study to demonstrate immersive engagement. Highlighting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this chapter also discusses how cultural and heritage institutions have adopted technology to engage remote audiences. By linking research with practical examples, the chapter illustrates how VR and gaming push the boundaries of immersive experiences, creating novel opportunities for audience interaction and engagement.

Disasters, including health crises and weather emergencies, are increasingly prevalent. While many people are highly resilient, the traumatic experience of emergencies and disasters can affect individuals and communities, including library staff and library users. Traumatic effects can persist long after the immediate impact of an event and may be magnified by cumulative exposure to traumatic events. Libraries are not immune from emergencies and disasters and also experience many other hazards. With attention to trauma and a focus on resilience, libraries can build strong organizations even during difficult circumstances presented by emergencies and disasters. This chapter shares research-based approaches from the literature along with promising practices shared by contributing libraries.

The metaverse marks the beginning in a new era of digital interaction and innovation, having a significant impact on a variety of established sectors, including banking. This chapter exposes readers to the principles of data wrangling, laying the groundwork for comprehending its significance. It also looks at the specific issues presented by Metaverse Banking data, which includes a wide range of data kinds. To ensure consistency and practical relevance, these data must be processed in real time, whether for individuals or organizations. This chapter then transitions to unleash the power of data (which forms the lifeblood of Metaverse Banking), followed by a detailed explanation of advanced data-wrangling techniques and integration with Artificial Intelligence and machine learning. It showcases case studies illustrating how effective data wrangling has helped drive Metaverse Banking platforms by utilising real-world use cases that show the best practices of metaverse entities for a more customer-centric experience. This chapter also explores future trends, expecting the evolution of technologies for data wrangling and their possible repercussions. It further delves into regulatory considerations the nascent industry faces. This chapter underscores the need for a planned strategy in data management and provides suggestions along with best practices to guide stakeholders towards placing metaverse banks based on data. As the metaverse continues to expand and change, wrangling data will remain how banks can win on this digital frontier by keeping themselves nimble, safe and consumer-friendly in an ever more virtual world.

VR offers users the opportunity to experience different worlds through a new perspective that they can create themselves – the personalised avatar. In VR, users can choose or design avatars to represent themselves as they interact with virtual environments. Avatar choice allows users to reinvent themselves, explore new possibilities and move beyond fixed real-world identities. This chapter explores how avatar choice reflects psychological processes such as identity exploration and the navigation of interpersonal relationships and how these choices may influence real-world psychological functioning and behaviour. Avatar choice in a virtual environment may reflect users' identity beliefs or exploration. Users, especially those with lower psychological well-being, may design avatars as reflections of their ideal selves, incorporating desired physical attributes, higher intelligence or greater achievement. Relationships between avatars in virtual environments can also reflect explorations not possible in the real world. For instance, individuals can choose to raise ‘child’ avatars, forming emotional connections that may reflect their own childhood or parenting experiences. Users may find virtual relationships as emotionally significant as real-world ones, with losses in the virtual environment often distressing. This chapter examines these themes, highlighting the psychological implications of avatar choice in virtual environments. Understanding these dynamics is integral for the continued development of VR technology and its impact on psychological functioning inside and outside virtual settings. Ultimately, avatar selection in VR games is more meaningful than it may appear, reflecting deeper individual psychological processes that deserve careful consideration.