Per Erik Andersson, Katarina Arbin and Christopher Rosenqvist
The main purpose of this study is to enhance knowledge regarding the early stages of planning for and adopting artificial intelligence (AI) in governmental public procurement…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this study is to enhance knowledge regarding the early stages of planning for and adopting artificial intelligence (AI) in governmental public procurement. While there are numerous studies on AI and procurement in private companies, there is limited information on AI and public procurement.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical data consists of information obtained from 18 semi-structured interviews with procurement managers and individuals involved in the development of procurement at governmental agencies. Additionally, a workshop was conducted with the respondents to discuss and validate the study’s findings.
Findings
Findings indicate a generally low level of AI maturity in previous research and within the investigated governmental agencies. The perceived benefits of AI primarily revolve around improved operational capabilities, potential for certain process efficiencies and the ability to enhance monitoring through AI. Various challenges related to organizational, process, technological and data management were highlighted. Findings also indicate that perceived benefits and value created by AI can be viewed from a short-term perspective to a long-term perspective.
Social implications
The study provides insights into societal values that can be achieved using AI in public procurement.
Originality/value
This study provides a new perspective on AI in public procurement by focusing on governmental agencies. It explores the perceived benefits, interests and challenges associated with AI implementation in public procurement. Furthermore, this study discusses the potential outcomes of incorporating AI in public procurement and the impact it may have on the values created by the public service, both short- and long term.
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Enoch Owusu-Sekyere, Helena Hansson, Evgenij Telezhenko, Ann-Kristin Nyman and Haseeb Ahmed
The purpose of this paper was to assess the economic impact of investment in different animal welfare–enhancing flooring solutions in Swedish dairy farming.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to assess the economic impact of investment in different animal welfare–enhancing flooring solutions in Swedish dairy farming.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors developed a bio-economic model and used stochastic partial budgeting approach to simulate the economic consequences of enhancing solid and slatted concrete floors with soft rubber covering.
Findings
The findings highlight that keeping herds on solid and slatted concrete floor surfaces with soft rubber coverings is a profitable solution, compared with keeping herds on solid and slatted concrete floors without a soft covering. The profit per cow when kept on a solid concrete floor with soft rubber covering increased by 13%–16% depending on the breed.
Practical implications
Promoting farm investments such as improvement in flooring solution, which have both economic and animal welfare incentives, is a potential way of promoting sustainable dairy production. Farmers may make investments in improved floors, resulting in enhanced animal welfare and economic outcomes necessary for sustaining dairy production.
Originality/value
This literature review indicated that the economic impact of investment in specific types of floor improvement solutions, investment costs and financial outcomes have received little attention. This study provides insights needed for a more informed decision-making process when selecting optimal flooring solutions for new and renovated barns that improve both animal welfare and ease the burden on farmers and public financial support.
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Maria Lindberg, Bernice Skytt, Magnus Lindberg, Katarina Wijk and Annika Strömberg
Management and leadership in health care are described as complex and challenging, and the span of control is known to be a key component in the manager’s job demands. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Management and leadership in health care are described as complex and challenging, and the span of control is known to be a key component in the manager’s job demands. The implementation of change can be a challenge in health care, and managers often have roles as implementation leaders. Little attention has been given to how managers perceive the process of implementation. Thus, this study aims to explore second-line managers’ perceptions of, prerequisites for and experiences from the implementation of changes in their manager’s work conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
A grounded theory–based qualitative design was used. Data were collected from a purposive sample of nine second-line managers by individual semi-structured interviews. The three stages of initial coding, focus codes and axial coding were used in data analysis.
Findings
Three thematic areas were identified: engagement, facilitation and achievement. The second-line managers’ descriptions suggest that the change work entails a complex challenge with an unclear result. Involvement, consideration for the context and facilitation are needed to be able to conduct a cohesive implementation process.
Originality/value
This study findings outline that to succeed when implementing change in complex organizations, it is crucial that managers at different levels are involved in the entire process, and that there are prerequisites established for the facilitation and achievement of goals during the planning, implementation and follow-up.
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Anthony Smythe, Igor Martins and Martin Andersson
With the recognition that generating economic growth is not the same as sustaining it, the challenge to catch-up and growth literature is discerning between these processes…
Abstract
Purpose
With the recognition that generating economic growth is not the same as sustaining it, the challenge to catch-up and growth literature is discerning between these processes. Recent research suggests that the decline in the frequency of “shrinking” episodes is more important for long-term development than higher growth rates. By using a framework centred around social capabilities, this study aims to investigate the effects of income inequality and poverty on economic shrinking frequency, as opposed to previous literature that has exclusively had a growth focus. The aim is to investigate how and why some societies might be more resilient to economic shrinking.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is a quantitative study, and the authors build a longitudinal data set including 23 developing countries throughout 42 years to test the paper’s purpose. This study uses country and period fixed-effects specifications as well as cross-sectional graphical representations to investigate the relationship between proxies of economic inclusivity and the frequency of shrinking episodes.
Findings
The authors demonstrate that while inclusive societies are more resilient to shrinking overall, it is changes in poverty levels, but not changes in income inequality, that appear to be correlated with economic shrinking frequency. Inequality, while still an important element to explain countries’ growth potential as an initial condition, does not seem to make the sample more resilient to shrinking. The authors conclude that the mechanisms in which poverty and inequality are correlated with the catch-up process must run through different channels. Ultimately, processes that explain growth may intersect but not always overlap with the ones that explain resilience to shrinking.
Originality/value
The need for inclusive growth in long-term development has been championed for decades, yet inclusion has seldom been explored from the shrinking perspective. Though poverty reduction is already an important mainstream political objective, this paper differentiates itself by providing an alternate viewpoint of why this is important. Income inequality could have more of an economic growth limiting effect, while poverty reduction could be required to build resilience to economic shrinking. Developing countries will need both growth and resilience to shrinking, to catch-up with higher-income economies, which policymakers might need to balance carefully.
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Thomas Andersson, Nomie Eriksson and Tomas Müllern
The purpose of the article is to analyze how physicians and nurses, as the two major health care professions, experience psychological empowerment for managerial work.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the article is to analyze how physicians and nurses, as the two major health care professions, experience psychological empowerment for managerial work.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was designed as a qualitative interview study at four primary care centers (PCCs) in Sweden. In total, 47 interviews were conducted, mainly with physicians and nurses. The first inductive analysis led us to the concept of psychological empowerment, which was used in the next deductive step of the analysis.
Findings
The study showed that both professions experienced self-determination for managerial work, but that nurses were more dependent on structural empowerment. Nurses experienced that they had competence for managerial work, whereas physicians were more ignorant of such competence. Nurses used managerial work to create impact on the conditions for their clinical work, whereas physicians experienced impact independently. Both nurses and physicians experienced managerial work as meaningful, but less meaningful than nurses and physicians' clinical work.
Practical implications
For an effective health care system, structural changes in terms of positions, roles, and responsibilities can be an important route for especially nurses' psychological empowerment.
Originality/value
The qualitative method provided a complementary understanding of psychological empowerment on how psychological empowerment interacted with other factors. One such aspect was nurses' higher dependence on structural empowerment, but the most important aspect was that both physicians and nurses experienced that managerial work was less meaningful than clinical work. This implies that psychological empowerment for managerial work may only make a difference if psychological empowerment does not compete with physicians' and nurses' clinical work.
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Júlio Lobão, Luís Pacheco and Carlos Pereira
People often face constraints such as a lack of time or information in taking decisions, which leads them to use heuristics. In these situations, fast and frugal rules may be…
Abstract
Purpose
People often face constraints such as a lack of time or information in taking decisions, which leads them to use heuristics. In these situations, fast and frugal rules may be useful for making adaptive decisions with fewer resources, even if it leads to suboptimal choices. When applied to financial markets, the recognition heuristic predicts that investors acquire the stocks that they are aware of, thereby inflating the price of the most recognized stocks. This paper aims to study the profitability against the market of the most recognized stocks in Europe.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors perform a survey and use Google Trends to study the profitability against the market of the most recognized stocks in Europe.
Findings
The authors conclude that a recognition heuristic portfolio yields poorer returns than a market portfolio. In contrast, from the data collected on Google Trends, weak evidence was found that strong increases in companies monthly search volumes may lead to abnormal returns in the following month.
Research limitations/implications
The applied investment strategy does not account for transaction costs, which may jeopardize its profitability given the fact that it is necessary to revise the portfolio on a monthly basis. Despite the results obtained, they are useful to understanding the performance of recognition heuristic strategies over a comprehensive time horizon, and it would be interesting to depict its viability during different market conditions. This analysis could provide additional information about a preferable scenario for employing our strategies and, ultimately, enhance the profitability of recognition heuristic strategies.
Practical implications
Through the exhaustive analysis performed here on the recognition heuristic in the European stock market, it is possible to conclude that no evidence was found for the viability of exploring this type of strategy. In fact, the investors would always gain better returns when adopting a passive investment strategy. Therefore, it would be wise to assume that the European market presents at least a degree of efficiency where no investment would yield abnormal returns following the recognition heuristic.
Originality/value
The main objective of this paper is to study the performance of the recognition heuristic in the financial markets and to contribute to the knowledge in this field. Although many authors have already studied this heuristic when applied to financial markets, there is a lack of consensus in the literature.
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Kamrul Hassan, Ruhul Salim and Harry Bloch
This article examines the impact of population age structure on the real exchange rate. Data on a panel of 22 OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) countries…
Abstract
This article examines the impact of population age structure on the real exchange rate. Data on a panel of 22 OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) countries over 1980–2015 period are used to estimate the empirical model. Using fixed effect model the paper finds that different age cohorts have a significant influence on the real exchange rates in the sample countries. The results are mostly consistent with the theoretical framework discussed in the paper and also with the findings of previous studies in this area. These results have important policy implications given the fact that the population is ageing in almost all the OECD economies these days.
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Lena M.C. Andersson, Anders Hjern and Henry Ascher
Early identification of persons at risk is essential in suicide prevention. Undocumented migrants (UM) live under limited conditions and are to a high degree invisible, both in…
Abstract
Purpose
Early identification of persons at risk is essential in suicide prevention. Undocumented migrants (UM) live under limited conditions and are to a high degree invisible, both in research and in suicide prevention programmes. The aim of this study was to investigate prevalence rates of suicidal thoughts among UM in Sweden.
Design/methodology/approach
This cross-sectional study was part of the Swedish Health Research on Undocumented Migrants project (SHERUM). The study population consisted of 104 UM over 18 years of age recruited through informal networks. Data on 112 multiple choice questions was collected via trained interviewers in Gothenburg, Stockholm and Malmö during 2014–2016. To assess suicidal thoughts (the last two weeks) one item asking about suicidal thought in the Beck Depression Inventory scale (BDI-II) was used. Logistic regression and chi-square analyses were made to identify risk and protective factors.
Findings
Suicidal thoughts were found in 43.2% of the 88 UM that answered the question on suicidal thoughts. Being a parent had some protective influence on the prevalence of suicidal thoughts while the housing situation, having been exposed to crime and having mental illness were all statistically significant risk factors for suicidal thoughts. However, due to low sample size, few variables presented statistically significant differences.
Originality/value
This study presents an alarmingly high prevalence of suicidal thoughts among undocumented migrants in Sweden, a difficult-to reach, vulnerable and rarely studied group. Targeted strategies are imperative to include undocumented migrants in suicidal prevention programmes.
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Utilizing the Marxist theory of unequal exchange to explain the terms of trade between nations, this paper elucidates one possible mechanism that…
Abstract
Purpose
Utilizing the Marxist theory of unequal exchange to explain the terms of trade between nations, this paper elucidates one possible mechanism that gives rise to ecologically unequal exchange between developed and developing economies.
Design/methodology/approach
We propose a two-sector linear production model and demonstrate that a decrease in the organic composition of capital and an increase in the rate of surplus value in a sector will lead to a relative price decrease and value transfer out of that particular sector, as well as increasing the environmental costs of trade. Furthermore, we measure the levels of unequal exchange (value transfer) and ecologically unequal exchange of 40 economies and empirically validate their relationship.
Findings
The findings suggest that an important cause of the ecologically unequal exchange is the value transfer between economies caused by the international division of labor and real wage disparities. The inequality in international trade is a significant factor contributing to the gap in the ecological environment level between developed and developing economies.
Originality/value
By introducing the theory of unequal exchange or value transfer into the analysis of ecological unequal exchange, we provide a mathematical framework for analyzing ecological unequal exchange and a method for calculating the scale of ecological unequal exchange and value transfer, thereby enhancing the theoretical depth and practical significance of the ecological unequal exchange theory.
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Niall O'Riordan, Paul Ryan and Ulf Andersson
The authors’ contention in this paper is that the expression of subsidiary strategy in IB literature has become fragmented and incomplete. Therefore, this study aims to propose a…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors’ contention in this paper is that the expression of subsidiary strategy in IB literature has become fragmented and incomplete. Therefore, this study aims to propose a rethink on how IB scholarship approaches the important issue of subsidiary strategy by holistically examining the discrete and integrated set of activities, choices and decisions that constitute the subsidiary strategy process for, in this context, assuming a competence-creating role within the multinational enterprise (MNE).
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model is designed to illustrate the holistic process of subsidiary strategy from assigned to assumed role and how a subsidiary can navigate a pathway to elevated performance and survival.
Findings
The paper identifies the key integrated elements that constitute a holistic strategic process that can enhance a subsidiary’s standing within the MNE and maximise its survival prospects.
Research limitations/implications
Particular focus is placed on subsidiaries that strategise to advance their internal corporate role to competence creator via upgraded knowledge capabilities.
Originality/value
This paper offers a roadmap for IB scholars to contribute to a future discourse around the subsidiary strategy process for assuming a competence-creating role.