Adil Baykasoglu, Burcu Felekoglu and Ceylin Ünal
Usage of learning management systems (LMSs) has become widespread with the disruption of face-to-face educations after the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several software products…
Abstract
Purpose
Usage of learning management systems (LMSs) has become widespread with the disruption of face-to-face educations after the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several software products, usually named as LMS to enable and support distance education. However, selection of a suitable LMS is a complex multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) problem that requires consideration of many criteria and inputs from different parties like students, academicians, education managers, etc. Usability evaluation of LMS is one of the critical steps in deciding which LMS system to be adapted. There are several studies related to usability evaluation of LMS in the literature, but utilization of MCDM methods and real life case studies are very rare. Based on this motivation, perceived usability evaluation of SAKAI-LMS that is in use at an academic department is performed by employing axiomatic design procedure (ADP). This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned issues.
Design/methodology/approach
ADP is considered as a suitable MCDM method for perceived usability evaluation as it allows an easy approach to data fusion and setting performance targets for decision makers. A questionnaire is developed to collect data from three types of system users about predetermined usability criteria and their importance. After detailed statistical analyses and weighting criteria via analytical hierarch process (AHP), ADP is carried out to evaluate usability of the LMS.
Findings
It is found that the proposed ADP based approach is easy to apply in practical circumstances and able to quantify perceived usability of the LMSs.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed approach provides an easy and practical evaluation of perceived usability of the LMSs for decision makers who are responsible for the implementation of LMSs. The developed novel and practical MCDM-based perceived usability approach for LMS in this study has been verified through a real life case study at an academic department. Perceived usability results, therefore, reflects only the views of this focus group and are not generalizable.
Originality/value
First time in the literature, a comprehensive ADP based MCDM approach is proposed based on the analyses of the related literature and information gathered from the system users.
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Anna Fredriksson, Mats Janné and Martin Rudberg
The use of third-party logistics (TPL) setups in construction has increased but is still a new phenomenon. The purpose was to increase understanding of how structural and…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of third-party logistics (TPL) setups in construction has increased but is still a new phenomenon. The purpose was to increase understanding of how structural and management dimensions are related in CLSs by describing how CTPL setups are used.
Design/methodology/approach
Ten dimensions to describe and structure CLSs were identified from the literature and used to structure a cross-case analysis of 13 Swedish CLSs.
Findings
The main findings are: (1) there are three typical initiators of CLSs: municipalities, developers and contractors; (2) CLSs are drivers for service differentiation and modularization among TPL providers as construction specific services are required; (3) CLSs play a new role in construction by coordinating logistics activities between the construction project and the vicinity of the site.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on 13 cases in the Swedish construction context. Additional studies of CLSs in other countries are needed.
Practical implications
The ten dimensions can be used as a guide in designing a CLS and in determining the order of design decisions. The identification and structuring of CTPL services also exemplify the variety of service offerings.
Originality/value
This is one of the first cross-case analyses of CLSs enabling the characterization of CTPL setups. This study identifies how different services included in the setup relate to the roles of SCM and logistics in construction.
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Ernesto Benini and Nicola Chiereghin
The purpose of this paper is to present a multi‐objective and multi‐point optimization method to support the preliminary design of an unmixed turbofan mounted on a sample UAV/UCAV…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a multi‐objective and multi‐point optimization method to support the preliminary design of an unmixed turbofan mounted on a sample UAV/UCAV aircraft.
Design/methodology/approach
An in‐house multi‐objective evolutionary algorithm, a flight simulator and a validated engine simulator are implemented and joined together using object‐oriented programming.
Findings
Optimal values are found of the pressure ratio and corrected mass flow of both the engine fan and compressor as they operate in on/off design conditions (multipoint approach), as well as the engine by‐pass ratio, that contextually minimize time and engine fuel consumption required to cover a fixed trajectory (mission profile). Furthermore, the optimal distribution of the thermodynamic quantities along the trajectory is determined.
Research limitations/implications
The research deals with a preliminary design of an engine, therefore no detailed engine geometry can be found.
Practical implications
The paper shows how a multiobjective and multipoint approach to the design of an engine can affect the choice of the engine architecture. In particular, major practical implications regard how the mission profile can affect the choice of the design point: in fact, there is no longer a definitive design point but the design of a UAV/UCAV should be addressed as a function of the mission profile.
Originality/value
The paper presents a multiobjective and multipoint approach to engine optimization as a function of the mission profile.
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The growing attention to green supply chain transparency prompts firms to disclose their environmental efforts and manage environmental issues along supply chains. Drawn upon…
Abstract
Purpose
The growing attention to green supply chain transparency prompts firms to disclose their environmental efforts and manage environmental issues along supply chains. Drawn upon diffusion theory, this study aims to investigate how customers’ environmental efforts can be diffused to suppliers for similar actions, as well as how customers’ (diffusors’) characteristics and suppliers’ (followers’) capability in digital technology application moderate the relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
This study collects secondary data of 1,514 unique customer-supplier dyad year observations of Chinese listed firms and their disclosed environmental efforts from 2009 to 2022. A fixed-effect regression model is used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
This study reveals a positive association between customers’ disclosed environmental efforts and those of their suppliers. Furthermore, the relationship is strengthened when customers are state-owned or when suppliers possess higher levels of digital technology application capability. These findings remain robust when alternative measures of variables are employed.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the supply chain transparency literature by uncovering the diffusion mechanism of environmental efforts from customers to their suppliers. It further identifies moderators for this diffusion, including customers’ (diffusors’) ownership and suppliers’ (followers’) capability. Lastly, our study extends the applicability of diffusion theory within a buyer–supplier context.
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Luke Jones, Tim Konoval and John Toner
The purpose of this chapter is to promote the importance, utility and necessity of applying a sociocultural lens to the analysis of the normalized appropriation of surveillance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this chapter is to promote the importance, utility and necessity of applying a sociocultural lens to the analysis of the normalized appropriation of surveillance technologies and wearables across sports settings.
Approach
The chapter synthesizes existing literature that has embraced a sociocultural lens to examine the implications of the increasingly normalized adoption of surveillance technologies in sport settings. In doing so we hope to provoke discussion regarding the contemporary effects of technologies in order that they may be better understood by not only sports scholars but those who operate within sport. To achieve this aim, we provide an exemplar of how Michel Foucault's concepts have been a useful heuristic for this endeavour.
Findings
Within the highly commercialized and spectacularized domain of corporate sport, the performing athletic body has become a commodity of vital importance. Correspondingly, sports practitioners across the globe have rallied to devise innovative ways to train, protect and improve athletes. As this chapter details, one of the main ways in which this project has occurred is through the increased appropriation of wearable (and increasingly invasive) surveillance technologies. A major finding from existing literature is that surveillance technologies can contribute to the unproblematized production of compliant athletic commodities in sports settings. Moreover, that this can have significant limiting outcomes for athletes' development and well-being and coaches' practices.
Research limitations/implications (if applicable)
The chapter argues for three future ‘touchstone’ areas of study: Surveillance technologies and athlete retirement, unintended consequences of more technology and resisting the regulatory intentions of behavioural nudges.
Originality/value
This chapter provides one of the first summaries of the socioculturally informed research that has examined the implications of the increasingly normalized presence of surveillance technologies across sports settings. In doing so, it also acts as one of the first resources designed to help those who coach and develop athletes to reflect upon the significant dangers and limiting outcomes that can be associated with the unconsidered deployment of surveillance technology.
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Albert Boaitey and Kota Minegishi
This paper aims to synthesize the literature on consumer preferences for farm animal welfare (FAW), with an emphasis on characterizing consumers based on their FAW preferences…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to synthesize the literature on consumer preferences for farm animal welfare (FAW), with an emphasis on characterizing consumers based on their FAW preferences. The objective is to provide insights into the salient characteristics associated with animal welfare conscious consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conduct a systematic review of the results of published research on consumer preferences for FAW. Approximately 350 papers were reviewed, and 52 were included in the analysis.
Findings
The authors’ review suggests that consumers are not homogenous in their preferences for FAW. The authors identify seven themes that enabled them to characterize consumers with higher FAW preferences. These themes (i.e. age, education and income, gender, country and cross-cultural differences, attitudes and consumer and citizen functions) are grouped under four main headings (socio-demographics, ethics and attitudes, product characteristics and public roles).
Research limitations/implications
The authors’ synthesis reflects the findings reported in the literature to this date; the identified characteristics may change with time as new evidence becomes available.
Practical implications
The information collected in this article would be useful to farmers and food and non-food retailers interested in effective product differentiation and marketing strategies regarding FAW standards. It can also inform policymakers about the state of consumer concerns for FAW.
Originality/value
To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first study that attempts to develop a systematic profile of consumers based on their FAW preferences.
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Jui‐Chi Huang and Tantatape Brahmasrene
This study examines the impact of expectations on the market share mechanism. The dynamic strategic pricing behaviors in the short‐run and the long‐run are also explored. The…
Abstract
This study examines the impact of expectations on the market share mechanism. The dynamic strategic pricing behaviors in the short‐run and the long‐run are also explored. The exchange rate expectations are incorporated into a switching cost model via the method of exchange rate pass‐through on product‐specific and country‐specific approach. By using the time series techniques, the results of the system estimations prove that the market share mechanisms are weakened by exchange rate expectations in open economies. Furthermore, not only is the degree of exchange rate pass‐through higher in the short‐run than in the long‐run but also many cases of pair‐wise rivalry are found. An improved understanding of the effects of exchange rate movements on foreign exporters pricing and pass‐through relations from this study may enhance competition in international markets.
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Few LR readers will lack sympathy with the drive towards archive preservation of cultural materials. To that extent, the report reviewed below will be welcomed. Many on the other…
Abstract
Few LR readers will lack sympathy with the drive towards archive preservation of cultural materials. To that extent, the report reviewed below will be welcomed. Many on the other hand may feel concern at the piecemeal development of media archives hitherto, the lack of central inspiration, leadership or coordination, the limited and specific nature of local initiatives and the tendency not so much to reinvent the wheel as too often to fail to do so. To what extent in these aspects does this document provide tangible grounds for encouragement?
AS WE RETREAT ever deeper into ourselves from the chaos around us—security chains on each door, ‘I spy’ peepholes obtained on mail order through Exchange and Mart in the upper…
Abstract
AS WE RETREAT ever deeper into ourselves from the chaos around us—security chains on each door, ‘I spy’ peepholes obtained on mail order through Exchange and Mart in the upper panels, anti‐rape courses for women the latest thing—it is the mildest of consolations to notice that in the world of the once‐silver screen goodies remain after a fashion goodies and baddies are unalterably the people from the other side of the tracks. This, and perhaps only this, can explain the way local cinema managers held on, week after week in some cases, to The Death Wish, in which Charles Bronson plays the average, if also tougher than average, citizen who turns one‐man vigilante to avenge the mugging of his wife and daughter. Bronson is not, of course, at the very best of times the nicest of characters: we recall that in The Stone Killers he was the cop who, had he not been a cop, would have been Public Enemy No. 1. He is said to be in box‐office terms the most profitable actor in the world: as Saigon died, his menacing figure looked down even there from the abandoned cinemas. Eye for an eye moralities are neither new nor localized: but it is instructive that amidst change so pervasive, such attitudes are with us still.
To be successful, the voice of the customer needs to be matched to the voice of the process. SPC can be used to close that gap by defining the type of variation that causes the…