Viktorija Knapić, Borut Rusjan and Katerina Božič
Existing research evidence shows a fragmented understanding of the roles of first-line employees (FLEs) as essential factors for successful lean implementation in small- and…
Abstract
Purpose
Existing research evidence shows a fragmented understanding of the roles of first-line employees (FLEs) as essential factors for successful lean implementation in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), provoking recent calls for additional research on the identification of enablers and barriers for lean acceptance among workers. Therefore, this paper aims to identify related enablers and barriers to lean implementation among FLEs and determine future research avenues for improving the understanding of lean methodology implementation in SMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
Relying on a systematic literature review methodology, the authors aimed to synthesize and evaluate available peer-reviewed papers on the role of FLEs in lean implementation in SMEs. General descriptive and thematic analysis comprehensively depicted the selected research topic and identified the main themes within collected papers and potential future research questions.
Findings
The authors identified four main themes related to FLEs’ role in lean implementation: cultural change factors, employee characteristics, management involvement and lean job design. Within each theme, the authors present a comprehensive overview of FLE-related factors and associated enablers and barriers that should be considered for a successful lean implementation in SMEs.
Practical implications
The research outcomes are important to practicing managers in SMEs, helping them facilitate lean acceptance and enhance the likelihood of successful lean implementation.
Originality/value
The insights from this study present building blocks in developing a lean implementation model for SMEs that considers the FLEs’ role more comprehensively.
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The purpose of this is to classify the social and economic factors which impact the involvement of women in self-help groups (SHGs) for their economic as well as social…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this is to classify the social and economic factors which impact the involvement of women in self-help groups (SHGs) for their economic as well as social empowerment.
Design/methodology/approach
The research has been conducted in Nainital district of Uttarakhand (India) in 2018. Primary data have been gathered from women respondent only on factors relating to the ownership of asset, housing characteristics and other demographic details. Both SHG and non-SHG women members have been chosen as key informants during the survey. Multi-stage purposive and stratified random sampling has been used for the selection of respondents and SHGs. The logit regression model has been formulated to describe the causes that influence the participation of women in SHGs. Also, an empowerment index has been constructed to measure the effect of SHGs on women empowerment.
Findings
The results show that factors including age, education, family type and distance from the market have a significant impact on the participation of women in SHGs. Also, there is a significant difference in both these values which suggests that the value of the empowerment index gets significantly increased after joining the SHGs.
Practical implications
Analytically derived factors have been used to develop an empowerment index. Hence, the present research is valuable for marketing practitioners, entrepreneurs and professionals from the development sector who intend to work amongst SHGs, primarily with women. The paper is valuable for academic researchers in this area so that the limited body of knowledge, on the empowerment index, could be developed.
Originality/value
The present research is unique because the authors did not find work, especially in the context of rural India, in the said area. Factors impacting the participation of women in SHGs along with the impact of participation on empowerment have been explored using the logit regression model, leading to the development of an empowerment index.
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The purpose of this study is to explore the potential and growth of big data across several industries between 2016 and 2020. This study aims to analyze the behavior of interest…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the potential and growth of big data across several industries between 2016 and 2020. This study aims to analyze the behavior of interest in big data within the community and to identify areas with the greatest potential for future big data adoption.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses Google Trends to characterize the community’s interest in big data. Community interest is measured on a scale of 0–100 from weekly observations over the past five years. A total of 16 industries were considered to explore the relative interest in big data for each industry.
Findings
The findings revealed that big data has been of high interest to the community over the past five years, particularly in the manufacturing, computers and electronics industries. However, over the 2020s the interest in the theme decreased by more than 15%, especially in the areas where big data typically had the greatest potential interest. In contrast, areas with less potential interest in big data such as real estate, sport and travel have registered an average growth of less than 10%.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is original in complementing the traditional survey approaches launched among the business communities to discover the potential of big data in specific industries. The knowledge of big data growth potential is relevant for players in the field to identify saturation and emerging opportunities for big data adoption.