Ian Phau, Aaron Lim, Johan Liang and Michael Lwin
The purpose of this paper is to identify the antecedents affecting digital piracy of movies, and evaluate them in the context of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). It will…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the antecedents affecting digital piracy of movies, and evaluate them in the context of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). It will also determine via a proxy measurement, if individuals’ intentions to engage in digital piracy will translate into actual engagement in digital piracy of movies.
Design/methodology/approach
In all, 404 students at a large Western Australian University were surveyed using self-administered surveys. The data were analysed via a path analysis using structural equation modelling in order to identify the influences of antecedent factors on individual attitudes and intentions to engage in digital piracy. Finally, through the proxy measurement, actual engagement in digital piracy of movies was evaluated against consumer intentions to perform that behaviour.
Findings
The results confirm the identified antecedents (affect, moral judgement, social habit and self-efficacy) as appropriate in evaluating an individual's intentions to engage in digital piracy of movies. The findings indicated that social habit, self-efficacy and attitude towards digital piracy had a positive effect on individual intentions to engage in digital piracy of movies. It also showed that affect is an antecedent factor to attitudes towards digital piracy but also directly influences individual intentions to engage in digital piracy. Moral judgement and social habits was also found to have negative and positive influences on an individual's engagement in digital piracy of movies.
Practical implications
This study reinforces previous studies in showing that the neutralisation theory and TPB are effective in explaining attitudes towards digital piracy of movies and intentions to engage in it. It has also sought to ascertain if intentions to engage in digital piracy of movies would significantly influence behaviour to engage in digital piracy of movies via a proxy measurement.
Originality/value
This study adds to the literature of piracy in software and music downloads. In terms of digital movies, this study uncovers other possible factors that may affect engagement in digital piracy of movies, which could serve as the basis for future research into the phenomenon of digital piracy.
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Michael Lwin, Ian Phau and Aaron Lim
– This paper aims to explore the demographic and psychographic characteristics of Bruneians in relation to charitable donation behaviour.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the demographic and psychographic characteristics of Bruneians in relation to charitable donation behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected via an intercept approach at five major intersections of the central business district in the city of Brunei. Data were analysed using SPSS, with factor analysis being conducted before applying a series of t-tests and ANOVAs.
Findings
Overall there is no relationship between age, income and gender, and donating behaviour. Results show that perceived generosity does not play an important role in Brunei compared to previous studies. The cause of this phenomenon could be due to the influence of the Bruneian culture. That is, the government takes a large responsibility for charitable events in Brunei and for this reason charitable donations from citizens are limited. Analysis also showed the importance of religion in predicting donation behaviour.
Research limitations/implications
Further research in this paper should attempt to make more cross-cultural comparisons of donor characteristics. This would provide a more holistic perspective on donor behaviour and thus assist managerial decisions in the marketing of charities. The effects of religiosity on donation behaviour should be further analysed to ascertain the variances of donation behaviour across cultures with high dominance of religion.
Originality/value
The principal contribution of this paper is that it provides insights into the nuances and characteristics of Bruneians in relation to attitudes and behaviour towards charitable donations.
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Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American…
Abstract
Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.
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Ming Lang Tseng, Viqi Ardaniah, Tat-Dat Bui, Jiun-Wei Tseng (Aaron), Ming K. Lim and Mohd Helmi Ali
Sustainable waste management (SWM) leads to human safety by eliminating dangerous substances, increasing cost efficiency and reducing environmental impacts. Integrating social…
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainable waste management (SWM) leads to human safety by eliminating dangerous substances, increasing cost efficiency and reducing environmental impacts. Integrating social, economic and environmental factors is the standard for successfully implementing SWM. However, prior studies have not incorporated the triple bottom line with technological performance and occupational safety in establishing SWM. To drive sustainability in waste management, this study aims to provide a set of SWM attributes and identify a causality model based on the interrelationships among the attributes.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used the Delphi method to list the relevant attributes and the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) involving 18 experts from the medical and health-care industry to present the interrelationships indicating the group of cause–effect attributes of SWM.
Findings
The study selected 5 aspects and 20 criteria as the relevant attributes of SWM. The cause group consists of environmental impacts and occupational safety, with positive values of 27.031 and 24.499, respectively. The effect group includes technological performance, economic performance and social performance. In particular, the challenges and practices of technological performance are linked to environmental impacts and occupational safety.
Practical implications
The top four criteria for industrial improvement are green practices, government policy and rules, the awareness of workers and waste separation and collection. These results present deeper insights into theoretical and managerial implications.
Originality/value
This study contributes to addressing the challenges and practices of SWM in technological performance leading to environmental impacts and occupational safety. Studies on the technological performance aspect in the causality relationships between environmental impacts and occupational safety are lacking. This study describes SWM using qualitative information and quantitative data.
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Cyberloafing has emerged as a significant phenomenon in the modern workplace, largely driven by shifts in work dynamics. Recent discussions suggest that Dark Triad traits may play…
Abstract
Purpose
Cyberloafing has emerged as a significant phenomenon in the modern workplace, largely driven by shifts in work dynamics. Recent discussions suggest that Dark Triad traits may play a critical role in influencing cyberloafing behaviors; however, research exploring these traits in the context of cyberloafing remains limited. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the complex relationship between the Dark Triad personality traits – psychopathy, Machiavellianism and narcissism – and cyberloafing. Additionally, this study examines four other psychological variables and two demographic factors as potential correlates of cyberloafing.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey sample consisted of 155 working adults from the USA who participated via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). All participants were required to be full-time employees (working 35 or more hours per week) and hold MTurk Master qualifications.
Findings
The findings of this study provide credible support for the research hypotheses. While not all Dark Triad traits are linked to cyberloafing, the influence of certain traits is significant enough to draw meaningful conclusions. Specifically, the results of this study showed that Machiavellianism and psychopathy were associated with both forms of cyberloafing: browsing activities and emailing activities. However, narcissism was not related to any form of cyberloafing. Additionally, pay satisfaction and social media addiction were positively related to both forms of cyberloafing, while age was negatively related.
Research limitations/implications
This paper addresses several limitations, suggests avenues for future research and outlines practical implications for organizations aiming to mitigate the adverse effects of cyberloafing.
Originality/value
Cyberloafing – engaging in non-work-related online activities during work hours – has gained increasing attention because of its potential to disrupt productivity and organizational functioning. However, limited research has explored this important behavior in depth. Building on contemporary studies, this study investigates the underlying mechanisms and potential implications of how Dark Triad traits may either encourage or mitigate cyberloafing.
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Karen Lee Bar-Sinai, Tom Shaked and Aaron Sprecher
The purpose of the paper is to advance remote robotic fabrication through an iterative and pedagogical protocol for shaping architectural grounds. Advancements in autonomous…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to advance remote robotic fabrication through an iterative and pedagogical protocol for shaping architectural grounds. Advancements in autonomous robotic tools enable to reach increasingly larger scales of architectural and landscape construction and operate in remote and inaccessible sites. In parallel, the relation of architecture to its environment is significantly reconsidered, as the building industry's contribution to the environmental stress increases. In response, new practices emerge, addressing the reshaping and modulation of environments using digital tools. The context of extra-terrestrial architecture provides a ground for exploring these issues, as future practice in this domain relies on the use of remote autonomous means for repurposing local matter. As a result, the novelty in robotic construction laboratories is tied to innovation in architectural pedagogy.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper puts forth a pedagogical protocol and iterative framework for digital groundscaping using robotic tools. The framework is demonstrated through an intensive workshop led by the authors. To situate the discussion, digital groundscaping is linked to several conditions that characterize practice and relate to pedagogy. These conditions include the experimental dimension of knowledge in digital fabrication, the convergence of knowledge as part of the blur between the fields of architecture and landscape architecture and the bridging of heterogeneous knowledge sets (virtual and physical), which robotic fabrication on natural terrains entails.
Findings
The outcomes of the workshop indicate that iterative processes can assist in applying autonomous design protocols on remote grounds. The protocols were assessed in light of the roles of technological tools, design iterations and material agency in the robotic fabrication.
Originality/value
The paper concludes with observations linking the iterative protocol to new avenues in architectural pedagogy as means of advancing the capacity to digitally design, modulate and transform natural grounds.
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Thomas R. O'Neal, John M. Dickens, Lance E. Champagne, Aaron V. Glassburner, Jason R. Anderson and Timothy W. Breitbach
Forecasting techniques improve supply chain resilience by ensuring that the correct parts are available when required. In addition, accurate forecasts conserve precious resources…
Abstract
Purpose
Forecasting techniques improve supply chain resilience by ensuring that the correct parts are available when required. In addition, accurate forecasts conserve precious resources and money by avoiding new start contracts to produce unforeseen part requests, reducing labor intensive cannibalization actions and ensuring consistent transportation modality streams where changes incur cost. This study explores the effectiveness of the United States Air Force’s current flying hour-based demand forecast by comparing it with a sortie-based demand forecast to predict future spare part needs.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs a correlation analysis to show that demand for reparable parts on certain aircraft has a stronger correlation to the number of sorties flown than the number of flying hours. The effect of using the number of sorties flown instead of flying hours is analyzed by employing sorties in the United States Air Force (USAF)’s current reparable parts forecasting model. A comparative analysis on D200 forecasting error is conducted across F-16 and B-52 fleets.
Findings
This study finds that the USAF could improve its reparable parts forecast, and subsequently part availability, by employing a sortie-based demand rate for particular aircraft such as the F-16. Additionally, our findings indicate that forecasts for reparable parts on aircraft with low sortie count flying profiles, such as the B-52 fleet, perform better modeling demand as a function of flying hours. Thus, evidence is provided that the Air Force should employ multiple forecasting techniques across its possessed, organically supported aircraft fleets. The improvement of the forecast and subsequent decrease in forecast error will be presented in the Results and Discussion section.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited by the data-collection environment, which is only reported on an annual basis and is limited to 14 years of historical data. Furthermore, some observations were not included because significant data entry errors resulted in unusable observations.
Originality/value
There are few studies addressing the time measure of USAF reparable component failures. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no studies that analyze spare component demand as a function of sortie numbers and compare the results of forecasts made on a sortie-based demand signal to the current flying hour-based approach to spare parts forecasting. The sortie-based forecast is a novel methodology and is shown to outperform the current flying hour-based method for some aircraft fleets.
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Avi Friedman, Aaron Sprecher and Basem Eid Mohamed
The concept of employing web-based configuration systems towards mass customization of housing has been implemented by some prefabricated housing companies around the globe, and…
Abstract
The concept of employing web-based configuration systems towards mass customization of housing has been implemented by some prefabricated housing companies around the globe, and has become a challenging research area in the last few decades as an outcome of advancements in communication and design technologies. Different methodologies have been employed with the aim of efficiently engaging future homebuyers in the design of their homes. The thrust of this paper is to systematically formalize an advanced configuration system for mass customization of prefabricated housing for a company operating in the Canadian market. The focus is on one floor bungalows which are common within the Province of Quebec. Such housing models targets a specific market sector; elderly couples seeking retirement homes, with the aim of improving affordability through maintaining particular design and production qualities.
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Hasan Uvet, John Dickens, Jason Anderson, Aaron Glassburner and Christopher A. Boone
This research paper aims to examine two hybrid models of logistics service quality (LSQ) and its influence on satisfaction, loyalty and future purchase intention in a…
Abstract
Purpose
This research paper aims to examine two hybrid models of logistics service quality (LSQ) and its influence on satisfaction, loyalty and future purchase intention in a business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce context. This study extends the literature for LSQ by incorporating the second-order assurance quality construct, which comprises personnel contact quality, order discrepancy handling and order returns, into one of the hybrid models.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey-based approach is used to collect data. Participant responses to questions concerning multiple LSQ dimensions and behavioral perceptions from their most recent online shopping experience are measured using structural equation modeling.
Findings
Findings highlight the importance of including a second-order construct assurance quality as a more explanatory model. Results illustrate that online ordering procedures and assurance quality impact customer satisfaction more than other prominent LSQ dimensions. Furthermore, the findings revealed a customer loyalty is a partial mediator between customer satisfaction and future purchase intention. This underscores the significance of improved logistics services as a competitive edge for e-commerce retailers.
Research limitations/implications
Implications are limited to the e-commerce B2C domain.
Practical implications
The findings of this study underscore critical LSQ dimensions that garner greater satisfaction and retention in the online shopping experience. The results indicate that the effective and efficient handling of the initial order and any order problem significantly influences customer satisfaction and reaps the long-term benefits of customer retention.
Originality/value
The authors present and empirically test a hybrid model of LSQ in a B2C e-commerce domain that captures many of the important elements of the customer experience as espoused in the literature.
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Hasan Mohsen Alwadi, Naashia Mohamed and Aaron Wilson
This study arises from a recent school-based professional development (PD) programme conducted for English language teachers (ELTs) in a secondary school in the Kingdom of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study arises from a recent school-based professional development (PD) programme conducted for English language teachers (ELTs) in a secondary school in the Kingdom of Bahrain, where a participatory lesson study (PLS) strategy was implemented to develop four ELTs' teaching skills and their senior teacher's leadership. The influence of the PLS on creating a participatory PD experience for the participants was investigated through exploring their perceptions of their professional growth during their PLS experience.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a qualitative interpretive approach, a total of eight lesson study cases and 16 meetings were conducted and analysed.
Findings
The main factors that influenced the participants' perceptions of their professional growth in PLS were high self-efficacy and confidence; dominancy of their peers; the informality of the PLS practice; and reflective practice. Relatedly, the results revealed critical thoughts about PLS as a means for ELT's self-directed PD in non-native English-speaking contexts.
Originality/value
The study provides an alternative approach to PD that can be offered for ELTs in any ESL/EFL context that focusses on supporting non-native English-speaking teachers' practices by associating theory with practice. This approach has enabled them to gain the practical skills they need and develop their awareness about the theoretical principles of these practices. For the first time, teachers were given the role to act as the trainers and the theorisers of their own teaching practices.