Christine Renner and Elaine Palmer
Service firms manage variability using both demand‐side tactics (levelling customer demand), and supply‐side tactics (increasing available capacity). One popular way of increasing…
Abstract
Service firms manage variability using both demand‐side tactics (levelling customer demand), and supply‐side tactics (increasing available capacity). One popular way of increasing available capacity is the outsourcing of non‐core services. This article uses a case study to examine the impact of an outsourced non‐core service on a hospital’s overall service system. Findings show that the outsourced service provides access to more sophisticated technology, increases in‐house capacity and saves capital expenditure. However, the outsourcing also increases the scheduling problems that the hospital faces. These problems are largely due to communication delays from the involvement of more than one organisation. These delays decrease the response time available to match changes in demand for the outsourced service. Given the obvious benefits of such outsourcing, the article concludes that management should pay close attention to the communication pathways between organisations, in order to minimise the end effects identified in this study.
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Since the mid-2000s, there has been a marked resurgence in Hollywood action films featuring older male heroes, predominantly showcasing stars ranging from their mid-fifties into…
Abstract
Since the mid-2000s, there has been a marked resurgence in Hollywood action films featuring older male heroes, predominantly showcasing stars ranging from their mid-fifties into their seventies. This ‘geri-action’ cycle – a less-than-kind label that combines geriatric and action – has revitalised the careers of aged action stars such as Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A core element of the cycle, beyond action franchise revivals and all-star ensembles featuring stars from the 1980s and 1990s, has been the emergence of late-career action turns by ageing Hollywood actors in globally successful French-produced, Hollywood-style action films. Part of a larger trend in French cinema towards the production of films in a distinctly commercial register, the ‘globalised’ aesthetic of French action film cannily mimics Hollywood action film style and aesthetics. These French-produced geri-action films are the roots of the cycle, represent some of its biggest box office successes and have transformed the career of several acclaimed recent-to-action Hollywood stars, exemplified by the prolific late action career of Oscar-nominated actor, Liam Neeson, most notably across three Taken films (2008–2014, EuropaCorp). Despite this, these French-produced geri-action films have predominantly been examined as a Hollywood and American phenomenon.
Geri-action quickly became synonymous with 1980s Hollywood action cinema's white male ‘hard bodies’, who are still widely understood to diagnose national anxieties and social ills – and violently embody their so-called “cures”. These French geri-action films similarly feature protagonists who forcefully struggle against perceived threats to the cultural position of traditional (white) masculinities and professional and paternal redundancy. Yet they also showcase deep-seated European anxieties about the threat of porous borders, immigration and social change, presaging a later shift in the cycle in Hollywood. Focusing on films that have received comparatively less scholarly attention, Taken 2 (2012), 3 Days to Kill (2014) and The Commuter (2018), this chapter examines the productive confluence of lower budget French-produced geri-action films and their ageing recent-to-action stars. These films depend on their stars to fortify their globalised Hollywood aesthetic and the stars' personae permit efficiencies such as clipped pacing. At the same time, budget constraints enhance the action performance of recent-to-action stars as unadorned, visceral and authentic-feeling. The films often stage fight sequences in confined, everyday spaces of work and tourism with ageing heroes who must creatively ‘make do’ with objects available to them. Equally, stunt coordination and choreography, editing and sound design make ageing and less experienced action performers appear to move faster and hit harder. Taken together, French-produced geri-action and its recent-to-action stars have transformed not only who stars in ‘Hollywood’ action cinema but who produces it.
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Liu Yang, Nannan Yu, Xuesong Li and Jian Wang
In public health emergencies, seeking confirmed cases’ activity trajectory information (CCATI) is crucial to the public’s efforts to combat the epidemic. The public can stabilize…
Abstract
Purpose
In public health emergencies, seeking confirmed cases’ activity trajectory information (CCATI) is crucial to the public’s efforts to combat the epidemic. The public can stabilize their sentiments and mitigate the risk of cross-infection by obtaining CCATI. We investigated the factors influencing users' intentions to seek CCATI to enhance the government’s risk communication capabilities and improve information platform services.
Design/methodology/approach
We analyzed how information ecological factors affect the intention to seek CCATI through perceived value. Data was collected from 429 Chinese citizens during the fourth wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We used the structural equation model technology and bootstrap mediation effect test to examine the model.
Findings
Information understandability, information relevance, perceived severity and perceived vulnerability directly and positively affect the intention of seeking CCATI. While, the above relationships are also partially mediated by emotional value and functional value. Social support directly and negatively affects the intention of seeking CCATI, while the relationship is also partially mediated by emotional value and functional value. Curiosity directly and positively affects the intention of seeking CCATI, while the relationship is also partially mediated by emotional value. The relationship between the quality of the search service and the intention of seeking CCATI is not significant, instead, it is fully mediated by functional value. The influence effect of information relevance on the intention of seeking CCATI is the greatest, followed by perceived vulnerability. The mediating effect of functional value is higher than emotional value.
Practical implications
The findings may help governments enhance their risk communication capabilities and improve epidemic prevention and control measures, enhancing the appeal of information platforms.
Originality/value
We focused on CCATI, an area with limited scholarly attention. We analyzed CCATI-seeking factors using an information ecology theory, introducing perceived value as a mediator, thus offering novel perspectives and models.
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Christine Dagmar Malin, Jürgen Fleiß, Isabella Seeber, Bettina Kubicek, Cordula Kupfer and Stefan Thalmann
How to embed artificial intelligence (AI) in human resource management (HRM) is one of the core challenges of digital HRM. Despite regulations demanding humans in the loop to…
Abstract
Purpose
How to embed artificial intelligence (AI) in human resource management (HRM) is one of the core challenges of digital HRM. Despite regulations demanding humans in the loop to ensure human oversight of AI-based decisions, it is still unknown how much decision-makers rely on information provided by AI and how this affects (personnel) selection quality.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents an experimental study using vignettes of dashboard prototypes to investigate the effect of AI on decision-makers’ overreliance in personnel selection, particularly the impact of decision-makers’ information search behavior on selection quality.
Findings
Our study revealed decision-makers’ tendency towards status quo bias when using an AI-based ranking system, meaning that they paid more attention to applicants that were ranked higher than those ranked lower. We identified three information search strategies that have different effects on selection quality: (1) homogeneous search coverage, (2) heterogeneous search coverage, and (3) no information search. The more applicants were searched equally often (i.e. homogeneous) as when certain applicants received more search views than others (i.e. heterogeneous) the higher the search intensity was, resulting in higher selection quality. No information search is characterized by low search intensity and low selection quality. Priming decision-makers towards carrying responsibility for their decisions or explaining potential AI shortcomings had no moderating effect on the relationship between search coverage and selection quality.
Originality/value
Our study highlights the presence of status quo bias in personnel selection given AI-based applicant rankings, emphasizing the danger that decision-makers over-rely on AI-based recommendations.
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Lydia Tan-Chia, Yanping Fang and Pow Chew Ang
The purpose of this paper is to report on an exploratory study, Project En-ELT (enhancing English language learning and teaching), which used lesson study to mediate curriculum…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on an exploratory study, Project En-ELT (enhancing English language learning and teaching), which used lesson study to mediate curriculum innovation to enhance student learning by engaging teachers in learning and implementing effective English language teaching strategies and formative assessment practices in seven lower secondary schools in Singapore over two years. It aims to portray how lesson study can be adapted to build teacher pedagogical capacity in carrying out the language development goals formulated in the revised national English Language Syllabus 2010.
Design/methodology/approach
Project evaluation is embedded systematically into the research design from the very beginning of the pilot to in between each step of lesson study process across three consecutive cycles in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program from the project advisors’, participating teachers’ and students’ perspectives. Both the quantitative and qualitative data were collected in and across the instructional steps and lesson study cycles to create immediate evidence-based feedback to inform continuous on-going adjustment and improvement.
Findings
Findings indicate that across the three cycles the lesson study teams moved from isolated to collaborative planning; from poor understanding and mechanical execution of the retelling strategy to a more sophisticated and skilful use of reciprocal teaching. An increase was found in teacher confidence and positive attitude towards the value of the project in developing their language and teaching effectiveness. There was enhanced student engagement and collaborative participation in the lessons while assessment for learning was fostered in the classroom.
Originality/value
Program evaluation provided feedback loops to ensure that each enactment stage and cycle learns from and builds on the limitations and strengths of the previous one(s) so internal consistency, continuity and coherence can be achieved for concrete implementation; different perspectives from the project officers/researchers, teachers and students were collected consistently and analyzed to gauge the accuracy of the findings; the collaboration between Ministry of Education curriculum officers, specialists and teachers, through lesson study, was able to create democratic relations rested upon interdependence, and mutual respect and trust; and it provides an illustrative case of how lesson study can be used effectively to help schools carry out national curriculum and pedagogical innovations. The project has important implications for addressing the issues of implementation and sustainability of innovative curriculum practices.
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Pi-Chuan Sun, Hsien-Long Huang and Fang-Yi Chu
The purpose of this paper is to examine how health consciousness and nutrition self-efficacy influence attitudes towards and use of nutrition labels, the moderating effect of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how health consciousness and nutrition self-efficacy influence attitudes towards and use of nutrition labels, the moderating effect of nutrition knowledge between health consciousness and nutrition label attitude, and the impact of the consumer’s ethical evaluation of a business on nutrition label use.
Design/methodology/approach
This study proposes an integrative model that includes health consciousness, nutrition self-efficacy, nutrition knowledge, nutrition label attitude, ethical evaluation, and nutrition label use. Empirical data were collected from a famous website in Taiwan by a non-ordered questionnaire to decrease the priming effect, and 306 valid questionnaires were collected. The collected data were analysed using SPSS and AMOS software.
Findings
The results show that both health consciousness and nutrition self-efficacy have direct effects on nutrition label attitude, and this attitude will influence label use. There is a moderating effect of nutrition knowledge, in terms of both subjective and objective nutrition label knowledge, between health consciousness and nutrition label attitude. However, the moderating effect in the low nutrition label knowledge group is slightly greater than in the high nutrition label knowledge group. The consumer’s ethical evaluation of businesses affects nutrition label use.
Originality/value
This study is the first to indicate that nutrition label knowledge, both subjective and objective, will moderate the relationship between consumers’ health consciousness and their attitude towards nutrition labels. Furthermore, this study affirms the relationship between the consumer’s ethical evaluation of a firm and nutrition label use.
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Sarah Jane Flaherty, Mary McCarthy, Alan M. Collins, Claire McCafferty and Fionnuala M. McAuliffe
Health apps offer a potential approach to support healthier food behaviours but a lack of sufficient engagement may limit effectiveness. This study aims to use a user engagement…
Abstract
Purpose
Health apps offer a potential approach to support healthier food behaviours but a lack of sufficient engagement may limit effectiveness. This study aims to use a user engagement theoretical lens to examine the factors that influence app engagement over time and may prompt disengagement.
Design/methodology/approach
A phenomenological exploration of the lived experience was used. Women from a lower socioeconomic background (based on the occupation and employment status of the household’s primary income earner) were randomly assigned to use one of two apps for a minimum of eight weeks. Multiple data collection methods, including accompanied shops, researcher observations, interviews, participant reflective accounts and questionnaires, were used at different time-points to examine engagement. Theoretical thematic analysis was conducted to explore the engagement experience and relevant social, personal and environmental influences.
Findings
Healthy food involvement appears to drive app engagement. Changes in situational involvement may contribute to fluctuation in engagement intensity over time as the saliency of personal goals change. Negatively valenced engagement dimensions may contribute to the overall expression of engagement. A lack of congruency with personal goals or an imbalance between perceived personal investment and value was expressed as the primary reasons for disengagement.
Research limitations/implications
Situational involvement may act as a trigger of different engagement phases. There is a need to better distinguish between enduring and situational involvement in engagement research.
Practical implications
Individual characteristics may shape engagement and propensity for disengagement, which highlights the practical importance of incorporating tailored features into app design.
Originality/value
Findings broaden the current conceptualisation of engagement within the digital space and prompt a reconsideration of the role of situational involvement and negatively valenced dimensions throughout the engagement process.