Svetoslav Covachev and Gergely Fazakas
This study aims to examine the impact of the beginning of the Russia–Ukraine war and the Wagner Group’s attempted military coup against Putin’s regime on the European defense…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of the beginning of the Russia–Ukraine war and the Wagner Group’s attempted military coup against Putin’s regime on the European defense sector, consisting of weapons manufacturers.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use the event study methodology to quantify the impact. That is, the authors assume that markets are efficient, and abnormal stock returns around the event dates capture the magnitudes of the impacts of the two events studied on European defense sector companies. The authors use the capital asset pricing model and two different multifactor models to estimate expected stock returns, which serve as the benchmark necessary to obtain abnormal returns.
Findings
The start of the war on February 24, 2022, when the Russian forces invaded Ukraine, was followed by high positive abnormal returns of up to 12% in the next few days. The results are particularly strong if multiple factors are used to control for the risk of the defense stocks. Conversely, the authors find a negative impact of the rebellion initiated by the mercenary Wagner Group’s chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on June 23, 2023, on the abnormal returns of defense industry stocks on the first trading day after the event.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of the impact of the Russia–Ukraine war on the defense sector. Furthermore, this is the first study to measure the financial implications of the military coup initiated by the Wagner Group. The findings contribute to a rapidly growing literature on the financial implications of military conflicts around the world.
Details
Keywords
Gergely Szolnoki, Moritz Nikolaus Lueke, Maximilian Tafel, Marvin Blass, Niklas Ridoff and Calle Nilsson
The pioneers of online wine tastings have set a new standard and introduced an innovative tool that combines various goals: contacting existing and recruiting new customers…
Abstract
Purpose
The pioneers of online wine tastings have set a new standard and introduced an innovative tool that combines various goals: contacting existing and recruiting new customers, entertaining participants and boosting sales. Within the framework of the study, the authors addressed questions such as the reasons for offering online wine tasting, profitability and the basic characteristics and future perspectives of this new interactive online tool.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-methods research was conducted using a sequential exploratory design to analyse online wine tastings during Covid-19 pandemic. First, 40 in-depth interviews in Germany were conducted and, based on these results, a global online survey was undertaken with 1,423 wineries from more than 40 countries.
Findings
The survey results clearly show the effect of Covid-19 on the growing tendency to employ online wine tastings. This tool is about more than just providing entertainment for wine lovers in that it also has a tangible business aspect.
Practical implications
Based on these results, the authors assume that online wine tastings will continue to be offered after the Covid-19 crisis.
Originality/value
This paper offers a situation analysis of the first 10 months of the Covid-19 pandemic in the field of online wine tastings worldwide. The authors conducted a quantitative online survey that built on a qualitative pre-study. Given the fact that no academic paper has been published on the topic, this paper provides first insights on a global scale.
Details
Keywords
Krisztina Demeter, Levente Szász, Béla-Gergely Rácz and Lehel-Zoltán Györfy
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different manufacturing technologies are bundled together and how these bundles influence operations performance and, indirectly…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different manufacturing technologies are bundled together and how these bundles influence operations performance and, indirectly, business performance. With the emergence of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies, manufacturing companies can use a wide variety of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT) to build an efficient and effective production system. Nevertheless, the literature offers little guidance on how these technologies, including novel I4.0 technologies, should be combined in practice and how these combinations might have a different impact on performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a survey study of 165 manufacturing plants from 11 different countries, we use factor analysis to empirically derive three distinct manufacturing technology bundles and structural equation modeling to quantify their relationship with operations and business performance.
Findings
Our findings support an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary perspective. I4.0 technologies build on traditional manufacturing technologies and do not constitute a separate direction that would point towards a fundamental digital transformation of companies within our sample. Performance effects are rather weak: out of the three technology bundles identified, only “automation and robotization” have a positive influence on cost efficiency, while “base technologies” and “data-enabled technologies” do not offer a competitive advantage, neither in terms of cost nor in terms of differentiation. Furthermore, while the business performance impact is positive, it is quite weak, suggesting that financial returns on technology investments might require longer time periods.
Originality/value
Relying on a complementarity approach, our research offers a novel perspective on technology implementation in the I4.0 era by investigating novel and traditional manufacturing technologies together.
Details
Keywords
The history of the profession in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries is not a long one; it results from their history, their size, their spending on research and…
Abstract
The history of the profession in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries is not a long one; it results from their history, their size, their spending on research and innovation, their position in geopolitics and world economy. Nevertheless, what makes it exciting is the fact that we are just at the birth of the profession in the region. Historically, there have been very few professionals either related to or officially recognised as Research Managers and Administrators (RMAs) in CEE countries, resulting in their limited resources and capabilities. Nevertheless, some RMAs have found the way to start mutually beneficial collaboration for the sake of their own professional development, for their institution’s and country’s competitiveness by launching networks of RMAs or using regional or European funds for capacity building and developing training or educational programmes.
This chapter aims to provide a short summary of the profession in CEE countries while highlighting a few cases which show how the RMA profession is moving forward but still lagging behind.
Details
Keywords
Tanja Stiller, Eliza Truszkiewicz, Theresia Schrank, Bernd Erwin Haar, Gerald Meier, Wolfgang Kraschitzer, Gerald Pinter, Jürgen Lackner and Michael Berer
A key characteristic of powder bed fusion for polymers is that also the non-processed powder in the powder bed is exposed to elevated temperatures. This alters the properties of…
Abstract
Purpose
A key characteristic of powder bed fusion for polymers is that also the non-processed powder in the powder bed is exposed to elevated temperatures. This alters the properties of the remaining powder, which is compensated by refreshing the used powder with new powder. Nonetheless, it is discarded after a certain number of process iterations, which is economically and ecologically highly disadvantageous. Research works intensively to analyse and reduce the concurring effects responsible for powder ageing. This study aims to give a comprehensive overview of the cumulative changes in the powder and the printed parts when conducting several subsequent build cycles.
Design/methodology/approach
New polyamide powder (PA12) was used in a total of nine subsequent build cycles with constant sintering parameters and without powder refreshing. After each iteration, the powder and parts were tested for their morphological, thermal and rheological properties.
Findings
The results are related to three main changes in the powder during the build cycles: decreasing bulk density (through agglomeration), increasing melt viscosity (through polyamide post-condensation) and increasing melting peak and onset temperatures (through thermal annealing of the powder).
Originality/value
Even though the ageing of PA12 powder in powder bed fusion is well-known, it is not yet fully understood. Studies are not complete and due to different ageing conditions only partially comparable. The detailed study aims to help understand the related effects of powder ageing for process-relevant properties and to show which factors require control to limit the powder ageing.
Details
Keywords
Eija Raatikainen, Leigh Anne Rauhala and Seija Mäenpää
The main goal of the one semester long intervention for first-year Bachelor of Social Services students was to enable them to increase their awareness of a variety of cultures and…
Abstract
Purpose
The main goal of the one semester long intervention for first-year Bachelor of Social Services students was to enable them to increase their awareness of a variety of cultures and practices encountered in social pedagogical work and to support the development of their ability to interact empathically with clients.
Design/methodology/approach
The aim of this article is to describe an educational intervention focused on teaching Qualified Empathic skills to social work students in higher education at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Finland. We introduce the concept of Qualified Empathy to describe professional empathic working skills and define it as: Qualified Empathy requires compassion for empathic action and it includes the ability for professional self-reflection, emotional skills and a healthy set of boundaries. Qualified Empathy encompasses the ability to tell the difference between sympathy and empathy, as it includes the capacity to use compassion to act in an empathic way in professional contexts (Raatikainen et al., 2017). The study was a case study, designed to explore the students' experiences of their one semester long educational intervention (n = 20). Our research question was: How do students construct Qualified Empathy as a dimension of their own professional expertise?
Findings
The results of the study demonstrate the progress areas of the students' Qualified Empathy skills. The development stages in the three progress areas are: (1) from emotional reaction to emotional response, (2) from understanding to empathic acting and (3) from client perspective to a more systemic approach. Implications of the results for Social Services students are discussed.
Research limitations/implications
In this study, as in all studies, some limitations need to be taken into account. One limitation of this study is the size and “nature of data”. Secondly, challenges with the concept of Qualified Empathy need to be addressed and more research is needed to define it more concretely. Even so, as it is a new concept, we need more discussion on the differences in the definition of empathy and Qualified Empathy. However, this study offers one new perspective for discussion which is the need for empathy training, in social work education practices and in the field. An important ethical aspect of research emphasizes that its implementation must not be to the detriment of the people being researched (Juuti and Puusa, 2020, pp. 168).
Practical implications
Our findings demonstrate that educational interventions can improve students' empathy skills to more qualified skills. We emphasized that maintaining the skill demands continuous reflection as a lifelong process. This article provides an overview of an educational intervention to improve students' Qualified Empathy skills and suggests a definition for educators to frame the teaching of professional empathy or empathy in a professional context – especially in the social work context. Furthermore, with this educational intervention in social work, we offer a way to support the students to – not only – have a more professional approach to empathy but also to find a way to establish a more emotionally sustainable environment for professionals in social services. It is essential for social work education to focus on the growth of Qualified Empathy in students through supervision and guidance which supports their professional competence. By doing so, we contribute to the development of more sustainable working environments in the social work context.
Social implications
Professional empathy is seen as an important factor in building a socially sustainable society from the perspectives of employees, clients and patients. We noticed that it is important to allow time and space for the learners to internalize the concept of Qualified Empathy. When we allow for this, students begin to recognize and assign more value to it and, as we suggest, they become more adept in their interactions and work with clients.
Originality/value
The study was a case study, designed to explore the students' experiences of their one semester long educational intervention (n = 20). Our research question was: How do students construct Qualified Empathy as a dimension of their own professional expertise? The results of the study demonstrate the progress areas of the students' Qualified Empathy skills. The development stages in the three progress areas are: (1) from emotional reaction to emotional response, (2) from understanding to empathic acting and (3) from client perspective to a more systemic approach. Implications of the results for Social Services students are discussed.
Details
Keywords
Rocco Palumbo, Capolupo Nicola and Paola Adinolfi
Promoting health literacy, i.e. the ability to access, collect, understand and use health-related information, is high on the health policy agenda across the world. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Promoting health literacy, i.e. the ability to access, collect, understand and use health-related information, is high on the health policy agenda across the world. The digitization of health-care calls for a reframing of health literacy in the cyber-physical environment. The article systematizes current scientific knowledge about digital health literacy and investigates the role of health-care organizations in delivering health literate health-care services in a digital environment.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review was accomplished. A targeted query to collect relevant scientific contributions was run on PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. A narrative approach was undertaken to summarize the study findings and to envision avenues for further development in the field of digital health literacy.
Findings
Digital health literacy has peculiar attributes as compared with health literacy. Patients may suffer from a lack of human touch when they access health services in the digital environment. This may impair their ability to collect health information and to appropriately use it to co-create value and to co-produce health promotion and risk prevention services. Health-care organizations should strive for increasing the patients’ ability to navigate the digital health-care environment and boosting the latter’s value co-creation capability.
Practical implications
Tailored solutions should be designed to promote digital health literacy at the individual and organizational level. On the one hand, attention should be paid to the patients’ special digital information needs and to avoid flaws in their ability to contribute to health services’ co-production. On the other hand, health-care organizations should be involved in the design of user-friendly e-health solutions, which aim at engaging patients in value co-creation.
Originality/value
This contribution is a first attempt to systematize extant scientific knowledge in the field of digital health literacy specifically focused on the strategies and initiatives that health-care organizations may take to address the limited digital health literacy pandemic.