Geoffrey R. Browne, Helena Bender, James Bradley and Alexis Pang
This paper aims to describe the development, promotion and evaluation of sustainability learning experience database (SLED), a university-curated database of sustainability…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe the development, promotion and evaluation of sustainability learning experience database (SLED), a university-curated database of sustainability experiences to augment formal student learning. Its purpose was to encourage students to participate in experiential learning, to facilitate students’ critical appraisal of programs ostensibly designed to create sustainability and to, thus, develop students’ sustainability self-efficacy and employability.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 55 sustainability experiences were curated and placed into the SLED database, which was promoted to students in nine subjects. Supporting materials designed to assist critical evaluation, reflection on experiences and to build student employability were also developed. A comprehensive mixed-methods evaluation of the program was conducted.
Findings
The quantitative evaluation revealed some changes in environmental behaviors, depth of critical sustainability thinking and graduate attributes. The qualitative evaluation revealed that students see the value of a university-curated database of experiences and provided ideas for improvements to the database. It also revealed examples of higher-order learning facilitated by SLED.
Research limitations/implications
Recruitment and attrition of research subjects, common challenges in pedagogical research, were experienced. “Opt-out” is one response to this but it comes with ethical challenges.
Originality/value
This exploratory study demonstrates the potential of SLED to build students’ sustainability efficacy and suggests ways in which it and similar programs can be developed for improved student and sustainability outcomes. Namely, the use of an online platform closely associated with existing learning management systems, higher-level institutional stewardship, closer curriculum integration and close partnering with credentialing programs.
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Yaasin Abraham Mayi, Alexis Queva, Morgan Dal, Gildas Guillemot, Charlotte Metton, Clara Moriconi, Patrice Peyre and Michel Bellet
During thermal laser processes, heat transfer and fluid flow in the melt pool are primary driven by complex physical phenomena that take place at liquid/vapor interface. Hence…
Abstract
Purpose
During thermal laser processes, heat transfer and fluid flow in the melt pool are primary driven by complex physical phenomena that take place at liquid/vapor interface. Hence, the choice and setting of front description methods must be done carefully. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent front description methods may bias physical representativeness of numerical models of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process at melt pool scale.
Design/methodology/approach
Two multiphysical LPBF models are confronted: a Level-Set (LS) front capturing model based on a C++ code and a front tracking model, developed with COMSOL Multiphysics® and based on Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method. To do so, two minimal test cases of increasing complexity are defined. They are simplified to the largest degree, but they integrate multiphysics phenomena that are still relevant to LPBF process.
Findings
LS and ALE methods provide very similar descriptions of thermo-hydrodynamic phenomena that occur during LPBF, providing LS interface thickness is correctly calibrated and laser heat source is implemented with a modified continuum surface force formulation. With these calibrations, thermal predictions are identical. However, the velocity field in the LS model is systematically underestimated compared to the ALE approach, but the consequences on the predicted melt pool dimensions are minor.
Originality/value
This study fulfils the need for comprehensive methodology bases for modeling and calibrating multiphysical models of LPBF at melt pool scale. This paper also provides with reference data that may be used by any researcher willing to verify their own numerical method.
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Hsiu-Yuan (Jody) Tsao, Colin L. Campbell, Sean Sands, Carla Ferraro, Alexis Mavrommatis and Steven (Qiang) Lu
This paper aims to develop a novel and generalizable machine-learning based method of measuring established marketing constructs through passive analysis of consumer-generated…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop a novel and generalizable machine-learning based method of measuring established marketing constructs through passive analysis of consumer-generated textual data. The authors term this method scale-directed text analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
The method first develops a dictionary of words related to specific dimensions of a construct that is used to assess textual data from any source for a specific meaning. The method explicitly recognizes both specific words and the strength of their underlying sentiment.
Findings
Results calculated using this new approach are statistically equivalent to responses to traditional marketing scale items. These results demonstrate the validity of the authors’ methodology and show its potential to complement traditional survey approaches to assessing marketing constructs.
Research limitations/implications
The method we outline relies on machine learning and thus requires either large volumes of text or a large number of cases. Results are reliable only at the aggregate level.
Practical implications
The method detail provides a means of less intrusive data collection such as through scraped social media postings. Alternatively, it also provides a means of analyzing data collected through more naturalistic methods such as open-response forms or even spoken language, both likely to increase response rates.
Originality/value
Scale-directed text analysis goes beyond traditional methods of conducting simple sentiment analysis and word frequency or percentage counts. It combines the richness of traditional textual and sentiment analysis with the theoretical structure and analytical rigor provided by traditional marketing scales, all in an automatic process.
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Ai Yue, Bin Tang, Yaojiang Shi, Jingjing Tang, Guanminjia Shang, Alexis Medina and Scott Rozelle
The purpose of this paper is to describe the policy and trends in rural education in China over the past 40 years; and also discuss a number of challenges that are faced by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the policy and trends in rural education in China over the past 40 years; and also discuss a number of challenges that are faced by China’s rural school system.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use secondary data on policies and trends over the past 40 years for preschool, primary/junior high school, and high school.
Findings
The trends over the past 40 years in all areas of rural schooling have been continually upward and strong. While only a low share of rural children attended preschool in the 1980s, by 2014 more than 90 percent of rural children were attending. The biggest achievement in compulsory education is that the rise in the number of primary students that finish grade 6 and matriculate to junior high school. There also was a steep rise of those going to and completing high school. While the successes in upscaling rural education are absolutely unprecedented, there are still challenges.
Research limitations/implications
This is descriptive analysis and there is not causal link established between policies and rural schooling outcomes.
Practical implications
The authors illustrate one of the most rapid rises of rural education in history and match the achievements up with the policy efforts of the government. The authors also explore policy priorities that will be needed in the coming years to raise the quality of schooling.
Originality/value
This is the first paper that documents both the policies and the empirical trends of the success that China has created in building rural education from preschool to high school during the first 40 years of reform (1978-2018). The paper also documents – drawing on the literature and the own research – the achievements and challenges that China still face in the coming years, including issues of gender, urbanization, early childhood education and health and nutrition of students.
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Maria Elisabete Neves, Rui Guedes, Catarina Proença and Belen Lozano
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of political connections and gender diversity on the performance of Iberian companies as a singular market and considering…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of political connections and gender diversity on the performance of Iberian companies as a singular market and considering Portugal and Spain separately.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used panel data methodology, specifically GMM system estimation model by Arellano and Bond (1991) for the period from 2015 to 2020.
Findings
Results show that the performance of listed Iberian companies is influenced by political connections, by gender diversity and that gender diversity has a mitigating effect on the effects of political connections in each country. The mitigating effect of women is evident in both Portugal and Spain, as they are more cautious and principled, which is valued by short-term investors interested in an immediate investment. However, considering the Iberian Peninsula as a whole, the results indicate that – in the long term – women's political relationships can benefit performance through a better reputation and image, which can lead to better social and economic results in the long term.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is original and covers an important gap in the literature when considering political connections and women's impact on these connections as determinants of the performance of Iberian companies.
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Alexis A. Adams-Clark, Marina N. Rosenthal and Jennifer J. Freyd
Although prior research has indicated that posttraumatic stress symptoms may result from sex-based harassment, limited research has targeted a key posttraumatic outcome �…
Abstract
Purpose
Although prior research has indicated that posttraumatic stress symptoms may result from sex-based harassment, limited research has targeted a key posttraumatic outcome – dissociation. Dissociation has been linked to experiences of betrayal trauma and institutional betrayal; sex-based harassment is very often a significant betrayal creating a bind for the target. The purpose of this paper is to extend existing research by investigating the relationship between sex-based harassment, general dissociation, sexual dissociation and sexual communication.
Design/methodology/approach
This exploratory study utilized self-report measures from a sample of male and female Oregon residents using Amazon Mechanical Turk (N=582).
Findings
Results of regression analyses indicated that harassment statistically predicted higher general dissociation, higher sexual dissociation and less effective sexual communication, even after controlling for prior sexual trauma experiences. Results did not indicate any significant interactions between gender and harassment.
Practical implications
When considering the effects of sex-based harassment on women and men, clinicians and institutional organizations should consider the role of dissociation as a possible coping mechanism for harassment.
Originality/value
These correlational findings provide evidence that sex-based harassment is uniquely associated with multiple negative psychological outcomes in men and women.
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The image of Mel Gibson and Hugh Jackman (as Wolverine) in the Mad Max and X-Men franchises represents traditional heroic action masculinity. This chapter explores the roles of…
Abstract
The image of Mel Gibson and Hugh Jackman (as Wolverine) in the Mad Max and X-Men franchises represents traditional heroic action masculinity. This chapter explores the roles of female action heroes in defying patriarchy and subverting action film genre stereotypes in male-dominated franchises. In contrast to past characterisations of Max, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) provides both a departure to the role of Max as the male saviour seeking vengeance, by focusing on Imperator Furiosa and offering space for a portrayal of femininity characterised by inclusivity and tolerance. In Logan (2017), the decay of Wolverine is central to the narrative. Rather than the portrayal of an immortal hypermasculine hero in the previous X-Men films (with emphasis on men in X-Men), a new female mutant Laura assumes his mantle. In this context, I consider the gender roles and depiction of women in these films, and how they may be read as offering a futuristic vision of utopia in dystopian narrative worlds.
In the distant future, the social and economic systems build by the patriarchy are crumbling, causing an environmental crisis and divisive society, where people who are different (mutants) are hunted down. Mad Max: Fury Road and Logan both offer an alternative depiction of women and girls, providing new perspectives to navigate an uncertain dystopian world through fierce female warriors Furiosa, and mutant girl Laura. Ultimately this chapter demonstrates that survival in the post-apocalyptic and dystopian worlds represented in Mad Max: Fury Road and Logan may be achieved via a subversive feminist solution/utopia to the crisis of masculinity.
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Lei Qi, Ji Li, Zhiqiang Pang and Bing Liu
The purpose of this study is to enrich the literature on employee relations with a new model focusing on the effect of institutional structure and that of employees’…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to enrich the literature on employee relations with a new model focusing on the effect of institutional structure and that of employees’ organizational identification on the relationship between institutional structure in an organization and employees’ pro-environmental behaviors, which represents an alternative approach for understanding employees’ pro-environmental performance.
Design/methodology/approach
We collect multi-level and multi-source data from 52 four- or five-star hotels in China (N = 963). For data analysis, we adopt the approach of multilevel structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results suggest that organizations’ green institutional structure (G-structure) can significantly influence employees’ organizational identification, which in turn can increase their pro-environmental performance.
Originality/value
We propose a new multi-level theoretical perspective to explain employees’ pro-environmental behaviors. While prior studies on the issue mainly consider only the effects of such micro-level variables as ability, motivation and personality, we focus on the effect of organizational institution and its interaction with micro-level variables so that we can evaluate the effect a commonly-studied contextual variable, i.e. green institutions, on the behaviors. Moreover, in this new theoretical model, we also take into account the effect of another insufficiently-tested micro-level variable, i.e. employees’ identification, which has not been considered as frequently as other micro-level variables in studying employees’ pro-environmental performance. Our results highlight the importance of all these variables and suggest a valuable alternative model for more comprehensive research of employees’ green performance.
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Dimitrios Kafetzopoulos, Elpida Tryfon Samara and Ypatia Theodorakioglou
The main purpose of this study is to provide a relatively integrated perspective on the role of market orientation, strategic flexibility and technological capability as multiple…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this study is to provide a relatively integrated perspective on the role of market orientation, strategic flexibility and technological capability as multiple organizational capabilities and their potential effectiveness in promoting business model innovation (BMI) and business performance.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve this objective, an empirical survey was conducted among 379 firms in Greece. Initially, exploratory factor analysis and then confirmatory factor analysis were applied. Finally, the structural relationships among the latent factors were determined through structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results show the positive effect of market orientation on strategic flexibility and technological capability. Strategic flexibility drives firms to BMI and then business performance. Furthermore, it is essential that firms build up technological capability to be effective in BMI and business performance.
Research limitations/implications
Data were collected at only one point in time from one country, Greece. This might pose limitations on the generalizability of our results. Future research could also explore how organizations develop strategic flexibility and BMI capabilities in different environmental contexts and organizational structures.
Practical implications
This study sends the message that companies focusing on market orientation and technological capability can led to higher strategic flexibility and BMI capabilities, which in turn act as a catalyst for business improvement.
Originality/value
The proposed model provides plausible guidelines that advance the research on multiple organizational capabilities in companies.