Azin Fathianpour, Mostafa Babaeian Jelodar, Suzanne Wilkinson and Barry Evans
As evacuation is one of the most used response actions to such disasters, it is essential to understand correctly what a resilient evacuation would mean. One critical factor in…
Abstract
Purpose
As evacuation is one of the most used response actions to such disasters, it is essential to understand correctly what a resilient evacuation would mean. One critical factor in evacuation resilience is the resilience level of evacuation infrastructures. Also, UN sustainable development has a goal to build resilient infrastructures. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of resilient evacuation infrastructures.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic methodology for reviewing articles has been implemented to understand how vulnerable cities can be more prepared, especially for pedestrian evacuation.
Findings
This study has developed an evacuation scoring system framework for pedestrians to investigate evacuation infrastructure in terms of different resilience features, such as redundancy, safe-to-fail, readiness and capacity. The most practical evacuation system will be estimated. The output of this study can provide insight into a final output to provide the features of a successful pedestrian evacuation system for future policy drafting for infrastructure strategy decision-makers.
Practical implications
Climate change has made the risks of natural hazards such as tsunamis more intense for humans. Many people in the world live in hazardous environments and are susceptible to disasters. A community must be prepared to mitigate the destructive event and quickly respond to be called resilient.
Originality/value
This is an original work. The researcher has gone through a deep literature review and developed a cluster showing the features a resilient evacuation infrastructure should have.
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Louca-Mai Brady, Lorna Templeton, Paul Toner, Judith Watson, David Evans, Barry Percy-Smith and Alex Copello
Young people’s involvement should lead to research, and ultimately services, that better reflect young people’s priorities and concerns. Young people with a history of treatment…
Abstract
Purpose
Young people’s involvement should lead to research, and ultimately services, that better reflect young people’s priorities and concerns. Young people with a history of treatment for alcohol and/or drug problems were actively involved in the youth social behaviour and network therapy study. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of that involvement on the study and what was learnt about involving young people in drug and alcohol research.
Design/methodology/approach
The initial plan was to form a young people’s advisory group (YPAG), but when this proved problematic the study explored alternative approaches in collaboration with researchers and young people. Input from 17 young people informed all key elements of the study.
Findings
Involvement of young people needs to be dynamic and flexible, with sensitivity to their personal experiences. Engagement with services was crucial both in recruiting young people and supporting their ongoing engagement. This research identified a need to critically reflect on the extent to which rhetorics of participation and involvement give rise to effective and meaningful involvement for young service users. It also highlights the need for researchers to be more flexible in response to young people’s personal circumstances, particularly when those young people are “less frequently heard”.
Research limitations/implications
This research highlights the need for researchers to be more flexible in response to young people’s personal circumstances, particularly when those young people are “less frequently heard”. It highlights the danger of young people in drug and alcohol research being unintentionally disaffected from involvement through conventional approaches and instead suggests ways in which young people could be involved in influencing if and how they participate in research.
Practical implications
There is an apparent contradiction between dominant discourses and cultures of health services research (including patient and public involvement) that often do not sit easily with ideas of co-production and young people-centred involvement. This paper provides an alternative approach to involvement of young people that can help to enable more meaningful and effective involvement.
Originality/value
The flexible and young people-centred model for involvement which emerged from this work provides a template for a different approach. This may be particularly useful for those who find current practice, such as YPAG, inaccessible.
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Gwen C. Marchand and Kayana Sanders
Few studies in K-12 education have investigated the impact of changing schools during the academic year, or within-year transitions, on student motivation and achievement. Yet…
Abstract
Few studies in K-12 education have investigated the impact of changing schools during the academic year, or within-year transitions, on student motivation and achievement. Yet, many students face this type of transition, including children from low-income families living in urban areas, students from migrant worker and military families, and students with chronic behavioral problems. The evidence that does exist suggests that when students move between schools during the academic year, they may struggle with academic learning, behavior in school, and social interactions. This chapter approaches within-year academic transitions as a developmental context for student motivation. Drawing upon general systems theories and a specific theory of motivational development, the within-year transition is presented as an environmental demand that may lead to changes in student motivation and shifts in classroom actions, such as engagement. Continuity of subject learning and the formation of relationships are discussed as two challenges to student adjustment over the transition period. Student social and personal resources during the transition period are important factors in determining how a student adapts to a new school in the face of these challenges. Several methodological hurdles and possible approaches to conducting research in this area are discussed, as well as topics in need of additional research in this empirically overlooked area. The chapter concludes with suggestions drawn from the research literature as to how districts, schools, and classroom teachers can help support students transitioning between schools within the academic year.
Throughout the past few decades a considerable philosophical literature has appeared, covering the various aspects of the history of philosophy and practically all of the…
Abstract
Throughout the past few decades a considerable philosophical literature has appeared, covering the various aspects of the history of philosophy and practically all of the systematic disciplines. Annual reports of this literature have been prepared for the past twenty years by James Collins, St. Louis University, for the Cross Currents review. These surveys are the best single source for keeping abreast of publications in the field. The collected reviews (1957–1977) are now available from Cross Currents at Dobbs Ferry, New York.
THE blueprint, vital communication link between designer, engineer and manufacturer, is currently undergoing a radical change in its traditional format at the Boeing Airplane…
Cory A. Campbell and Sridhar Ramamoorti
We use design thinking in the context of accounting pedagogy to exploit recent advances in cybernetics in the form of generative artificial intelligence technology. Relying on the…
Abstract
We use design thinking in the context of accounting pedagogy to exploit recent advances in cybernetics in the form of generative artificial intelligence technology. Relying on the intuition that supplementing or augmenting human argumentation (natural intelligence or NI) with parallel AI output can produce better student written assignments, we posit the “augmentation premise,” that is, ((NI + AI) > AI > NI). To test the augmentation premise, we compare student written submissions in an Accounting Information Systems (AIS) course with and without the benefit of parallel generative AI output. We then evaluate how the generative AI output enhances student-crafted revisions to their initial submissions. Using a summative quality improvement index (QII) consisting of quantitative and qualitative assessments, we present preliminary evidence supporting the augmentation premise. The augmentation premise likely extends to other accounting subdisciplines and merits generalization for enriching accounting pedagogy.
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Since the publication of the 1987 Brundtland Report, discussions about sustainable development have been nothing short of a buzz among politicians and academics. This chapter…
Abstract
Purpose
Since the publication of the 1987 Brundtland Report, discussions about sustainable development have been nothing short of a buzz among politicians and academics. This chapter takes stock of an emerging strand of the sustainable city literature that recognizes local political dynamics, conflicts of interest, and power struggles.
Approach
The review is organized into three sections. The first section reviews how past studies have utilized sustainable urban development as an opportunity for advancing theories of urban politics, highlighting recent developments in the growth machine, regulatory state, and risk society theses. The second section examines a range of studies that place the questions of scale, unit, and boundary at the center of inquiry. The third section draws together a body of research that interrogates different meanings of sustainability.
Implications
The first section discusses the extent to which social and political processes in the sustainability age exhibit a pattern consistent with established theoretical accounts. The second section focuses on studies that address how urban sustainable development has brought challenges to existing configurations of spatial relations. These studies pose important methodological and epistemological questions for studying environmental politics. In the third section, the focus is placed on political implications of urban sustainable development, which is subject to multiple interpretations.
Originality
This chapter ends with a review of an emerging thesis – strategic urbanism, which draws attention to the patterns of change in urban politics. Much of the contributions to this thesis are based on urban sustainability politics in recent years.
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President Bill Clinton has had many opponents and enemies, most of whom come from the political right wing. Clinton supporters contend that these opponents, throughout the Clinton…
Abstract
President Bill Clinton has had many opponents and enemies, most of whom come from the political right wing. Clinton supporters contend that these opponents, throughout the Clinton presidency, systematically have sought to undermine this president with the goal of bringing down his presidency and running him out of office; and that they have sought non‐electoral means to remove him from office, including Travelgate, the death of Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster, the Filegate controversy, and the Monica Lewinsky matter. This bibliography identifies these and other means by presenting citations about these individuals and organizations that have opposed Clinton. The bibliography is divided into five sections: General; “The conspiracy stream of conspiracy commerce”, a White House‐produced “report” presenting its view of a right‐wing conspiracy against the Clinton presidency; Funding; Conservative organizations; and Publishing/media. Many of the annotations note the links among these key players.
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Abiot Tessema and Heba Abou-El-Sood
Audit rotation (AR) is a key policy initiative implemented in global jurisdictions to deal with concerns about audit quality. Auditing financial reports involves communicating…
Abstract
Purpose
Audit rotation (AR) is a key policy initiative implemented in global jurisdictions to deal with concerns about audit quality. Auditing financial reports involves communicating attested value-relevant company information to investors, and hence audit quality plays a role in the quality of financial reporting information. This paper aims to investigate whether AR affects the degree of information asymmetry (IS) between investors. It further aims to examine whether voluntary AR results in less asymmetric information compared to mandatory AR. Additionally, it examines whether political connections moderate the association between AR and IS.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use data from publicly traded banks across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for the period 2010–2018. The authors include several variables to control for corporate governance and other firm-specific characteristics by using country-year fixed-effects regression model.
Findings
The authors find higher IS for banks that periodically rotate auditor, while banks voluntarily choose to rotate auditors obtain high-quality audits, which results in higher trading volume and lower stock return volatility, hence lower IS. The results suggest that when banks voluntarily choose to rotate auditors, investors perceive these banks as more committed to obtaining high-quality audits relative to mandatory AR. Providing higher quality audits enhances the credibility of reported information and thus reduce the level of IS. Moreover, IS following AR is higher for politically connected banks than for similar but politically unconnected banks. Finally, investors perceive voluntary AR as a disciplining tool, which mitigates IS. This mitigating role is not affected by bank political connectedness.
Research limitations/implications
This study has limitations as the definition of AR could be interpreted as binary or too narrow, and hence it may not be appropriate to generalize findings to different contexts. Nonetheless, this study casts light on a new perspective to reconcile the existing mixed evidence on the influence of AR on IS and the moderating role of political connections. A further limitation is that because of data unavailability, the authors were unable to use other proxies (e.g. bid-ask spreads and analyst forecast dispersion) of IS.
Practical implications
The present findings provide insight to regulators, policymakers and standard setters on the potential adverse effect of political connections on the role of AR in mitigating IS. The results underscore the importance of voluntary AR, and suggest that regulators, policymakers and standard setters encourage firms to rotate their auditors periodically.
Originality/value
This study provides evidence in a setting that is unique at the economic, social and regulatory levels. Prior literature is lacking and has been centered on developed countries or focusing on single-country specifications. The data set of this study is unique and allows us to examine the interplay between political influence that arises through ownership and management roles of influential members of state.
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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the implications of and assess the economic and sustainable impact of environmentally friendly technological packages introduced into…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the implications of and assess the economic and sustainable impact of environmentally friendly technological packages introduced into agribusiness players in the centre of chilli-producing regions of Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a theory of optimisation in production as a fundamental analysis. Producers are assumed to maximise profit by allocating rational amounts of inputs as the components of technological packages. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used. The rate of technology adoption was evaluated, and agribusiness performance was measured using an economic advantage and technical efficiency. Data were compiled using group discussions and individual surveys.
Findings
The packages of technologies improved economic and sustainability performance of agribusiness resulting from efficient use of agrochemicals and water resource, and increase the production. Socio-economic and technical factors influenced performance farmers, as agribusiness players responded positively towards the ecological technology packages.
Research limitations/implications
The sustainability of agribusiness was indicated by the reduction in agrochemical use and by the efficient use of water irrigation. There are other measures of sustainability, which are beyond this study. Additional studies are expected to fill the gap.
Practical implications
Considerable potential exists for broad adoption of these technological packages in Indonesia if they are disseminated effectively and in a close partnership with local extension agencies, farmers’ organisations, local non-governmental organisations and private sectors.
Originality/value
This study provides a realistic representation of a current condition because this is an empirical study conducted at the grass-root level. Sustainability of agribusiness practices was achieved with ecological technological packages.