Search results

Current research aims to explore the dominant themes shared in online reviews by customers visiting chain coffee shops as well as which of these themes were linked with satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

The data for the current research was gathered from TripAdvisor using a Python-based web crawler. In total, 20,499 online reviews were scrapped and analyzed using Leximancer software.

The analyses revealed six themes describing chain coffee shop experiences. These are “product quality,” “ambiance and atmosphere,” “customer service,” “menu variety,” “location and convenience” and “price and value.” Dissatisfaction factors are sourced from issues such as “price and value,” “ambiance and atmosphere as well as “menu variety.”

This study fills a research lacuna by using a large dataset of online reviews to comprehensively analyze customer experiences in chain coffee shops, identifying critical themes and sentiment trends. This novel approach offers valuable insights for improving service strategies within the competitive coffee chain industry.

With the rise in demand and adoption of smart city initiatives, it is imperative to plan the railway infrastructure, as it will have a huge positive impact if adequately integrated into the planning process. Given the complexities involved, a whole systems thinking framework provides a useful platform for rail transport planners.

This paper proposes a simple, adoptable framework utilising systems thinking concepts and techniques taking into cognisance the key stakeholders. Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom is the adopted case study.

Selected systems thinking tools and techniques are adopted to develop a framework for mapping stakeholders and attributes when developing sustainable rail transport systems, taking note of their core functionalities and the complex systems wherein they exist.

The desire to build future (smart) cities is to effectively match infrastructural resources with a rapidly growing population, and the railway sector can play a strategic role in building a much more competitive low-carbon-emission transport system, which is a driving force for sustainable development.

The urban rail service has become vital to urban development as railway stations serve as hubs for sustainable mobility to meet local requirements. Moreover, it takes extra effort to input railway development into smart city plans, as it is a herculean task to get governments to focus on it with clarity of purpose in passing legislation.

The developed framework reduces complexities when planning and designing rail transport systems compared to many of the existing reductionist planning approaches. The simplicity of the framework would also make it easily adoptable by a wide range of users.

The purpose of this study was to explore and critique the benefits and disbenefits that transport orientated development (TOD) brings to neighbourhoods in proximity to public transport hubs.

This is an exploratory study that may also be described as a rapid review that aims to provide coverage of the available literature in a systematic process that is simplified to produce information in a timely manner. Due to the relatively small number of available studies from peer-reviewed sources, the variety of methods and data used and the constrained time available for this study, the study did not immediately lend itself to a more thorough systematic literature review.

The literature shows the discourse on TOD upholds its promise to create a high-density mixed-use walkable neighbourhood supported by transport infrastructure, increasing accessibility, minimising vehicle dependency, reducing traffic congestion, moderating urban sprawl and reducing pollution. There are few articles on the negative aspects of TOD, particularly concerning social exclusion, crime, sustainability and concerns about gentrification of neighbourhoods.

The study did not immediately lend itself to a more thorough systematic literature review due to the relatively small number of available studies, the variety of methods and data used and the constrained time available for this study.

This study allows social investigators, policymakers and developers understand the benefits and disbenefits of TOD including policy implications regarding potential criminogenic factors.

In successfully meeting city and metropolitan growth, sustainable development is compulsory. Sustainability is a must-focus for any project, particularly for large and mega rail infrastructure. This paper aims to investigate to what degree social, environmental and economic factors influence the government when planning sustainable rail infrastructure projects. To respond to such a matter, this paper focuses on two Australian mega-rail projects: the South West Rail Link (SWRL) and the Mernda Rail Extension (MRE).

As the basis of an experimental evaluation framework strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) and factor analysis were used. These two methods were specifically selected as comparative tools for SWRL and SWRL projects, to measure their overall sustainability effect.

Using factor analysis, in the MRE, the factors of network capacity, accessibility, employment and urban planning were seen frequently throughout the case study. However, politics and economic growth had lower frequencies throughout this case study. This difference between the high-weighted factors is likely a key element that determined the SWRL to be more sustainable than the MRE. The SWOT analysis showed the strengths the MRE had over the SWRL such as resource use and waste management, and natural habitat preservation. These two analyses have shown that overall, calculating the sustainability levels of a project can be subjective, based on the conditions surrounding various analysis techniques.

This paper first introduces SWRL and MRE projects followed by a discussion about their overall sustainable development. Both projects go beyond the traditional megaprojects' goal of improving economic growth by developing and enhancing infrastructure. Globally, for such projects, sustainability measures are now considered alongside the goal of economic growth. Second, SWOT and factor analysis are undertaken to further evaluate the complexity of such projects. This includes their overall sustainable development vision alignment with environmental, economic and social factors.

This paper aims to propose a model for democratization of Islamic home financing to tackle the issue of sustainability of homeownership affordability.

A conceptual framework and fractional equity model (FEM) are developed to incorporate big data analytics, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology in an ecosystem for affordability and sustainability of homeownership via the proposed financing model. In addition, the FEM adopts the simulation approach to show its validity in terms of liquidity when compared with traditional home financing. In this regard, this paper is focused on developing and demonstrating the feasibility of a new financing model, rather than testing specific hypotheses or relationships. This is to propose the democratization model for Islamic Home Financing that will not benefit the prospective home buyers without compromising the profitability of the financial institutions.

The findings indicate that the proposed end-to-end solution within the financing ecosystem can lead to more efficient matching market between the buyers and sellers of houses, reduced transaction costs, greater transparency and enhanced efficiency which in the end could lead to lower costs of owning homes and sustained financial resilience among house owners. The findings indicate that the FEM model is able to increase homeownership with more elements of liquidity, marketability and sustainability for homebuyers.

This research highlights the potential of big data and blockchain technology in democratizing Islamic home financing and evidence that the transfer of ownership is possible through tokenization. However, this will require a mature financing environment to adapt the technology for practical application.

The model proposes a solution to propagate shared prosperity among stakeholders such as the house buyers/owners, sellers, investors as well the government agencies. The proposed FEM model provides alternative home financing that is more marketable, flexible and sustainable for households/buyers and financiers.

It is hoped that with the proposed financing ecosystem to promote affordability and sustainability of homeownership via big data analytics, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology can lead to greater financial resilience for homeowners which can then be translated to enhanced well-being, increased productivity and can further promote economic growth.

This research is a concept paper based on academic research and industry collaboration with a technology provider.

This study aims to examine the extent to which companies internalize, adopt and communicate the issue of sustainability. With this aim, research questions address companies’ approaches to sustainable development goals (SDGs), the extent to which the concept of sustainability is reflected in the goals, vision, mission and values of the organizations and the interrelationship between corporate identities, SDGs, sustainability projects and communication activities of the companies.

Content analysis is employed on the sustainability reports, websites, social media accounts, media releases and news of the corporations listed in BIST Sustainability Index (2020) in Türkiye. The typology of sustainability communication processes (Newig et al., 2013) is utilized for data analysis to reveal an overall picture of the companies’ approach to sustainability communication.

Research findings demonstrated that only 11 companies internalize, adopt and communicate the issue of sustainability. A total of 32 companies make no mention of sustainability in their vision, mission, purpose or values. It is observed that few companies establish their entire communication on sustainability strategy. Although some of the companies’ purpose of existence is sustainability, and they manage valuable projects, their approach to communication is still tactical. The study reveals that most of the companies take a tactical approach to sustainability and fewer adopt strategic actions and communications.

In Türkiye, research on sustainability involves either optimistic evaluations of governmental organizations or limited case studies on specific SDGs, particular sectors or social media analyses. This research exposes the holistic picture of sustainability and communication among the companies listed in the BIST Sustainability Index. The results of the holistic approach suggest that organizations should improve their communication about sustainability and communication for sustainability to activate their publics.

This study aims to examine the influence of green feature adoption on building value within Jakarta, Indonesia’s market. It assesses the presence of green premiums or brown discounts through a supply-demand analysis, evaluates their impact on building values, and identifies factors influencing green features’ value reflection and development.

This study employs a qualitative approach to investigate the green feature reflection on building value in Jakarta, Indonesia. Data is gathered through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with appraisers, the GBCI, and developers.

The study’s findings reveal a positive acceptance of green buildings in Jakarta’s market, with most appraisers recognising a higher perceived value in these sustainable structures. Factors contributing to this higher value perception encompass green building certifications, reduced operational costs, and increased appeal to potential tenants. Conversely, hindering factors include a lack of law enforcement and limited availability of market data.

The study highlights practical considerations for construction and real estate stakeholders on the factors influencing green building development. Supporting factors for green building development include sustainability training, compliance with green building standards, and incentives. Conversely, obstacles encompass enforcement challenges, stakeholder expertise deficits, and resistance to change.

This study is the first in Indonesia, magnifying its significance and potential impact. It pioneers exploring green building features’ influence on building value in Jakarta, presenting a unique contribution to the existing literature. This originality emphasises the imperative for sustainable development in the region and sets the stage for future research and policy initiatives.

The primary aim of this paper is to concurrently use the data types to enhance econometric analysis in the housing market in developing countries, particularly Namibia.

Scholarly discussions on econometric analysis in the housing market in sub-Saharan Africa suggest that the inadequacy of time series data has impeded studies of such nature in the region. Hence, this paper aims to comparatively analyse the impact of economic fundamentals on house prices in Namibia using real and interpolated data from 1990 to 2021 supported by the ARDL model.

It was discovered that in all the three types of data house prices were affected by fundamentals except real GDP in the long term. It was also noted that there were not much significant variations between the real data and the interpolated data frequencies. However, the results of the annual data and the semi-annual interpolated data were more analogously comparable to the quarterly interpolated data

It is suggested that the adoption of interpolated data frequency type should be based on the statistical significance of the result. In addition, the need to monitor the nexus of the housing market and fundamentals is necessary for stable and sustainable housing market for enhanced policy direction and prudent property investment decision.

The study pioneer to concurrently use the data types to enhance econometric analysis in the housing market in developing countries.

This case study aims to provide an insight into the specific needs and constraints of rural communities related to energy access in India; help the students in assessing the effectiveness of the strategies in meeting the goals of the organization; help students understand the broader social responsibility of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in contributing to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; and empower the students to use the “theory of change methodology” to plan, execute and evaluate change implementation at the community/organizational level.

This case study is about a non-profit organization, Chirag Rural Development Foundation (CRDF), which provided solar lighting to empower villages in India. The NGO started its operations as a student-led initiative in 2010, and since then it was involved in various activities for rural upliftment using solar as the base. They initially provided solar equipment for home lighting which eventually grew into street lighting, school lighting and then water-lifting using solar pumps for drinking and livelihood under the integrated village development program. In 2021, Sabah Vig, the chief executive officer of CRDF, realized that the organization had grown much beyond the scope for which it was initially established. She felt the need to structure them and appropriately measure their complete sustainable impact so that CRDF could effectively track progress, optimize resource allocation and demonstrate tangible outcomes to the stakeholders.

This case study is suitable for postgraduate students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS11: Strategy.