This paper aims to explore the issue of digital adoption within a business and its impact on employees and to argue that digital adoption is as much a challenge for Human…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the issue of digital adoption within a business and its impact on employees and to argue that digital adoption is as much a challenge for Human Resources (HR) as it is for Information Technology (IT).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on Felix Eichler’s experience as the co-founder and CTO of Userlane, a business that has helped hundreds of organisations accelerate their digital transformation efforts by improving software adoption amongst employees.
Findings
Technology adoption in a business is as much an HR issue as it is an IT one. This is because is many cases, use of technology is closely linked to productivity and overall employee satisfaction. Businesses can overcome slow adoption by implementing an embedded, inclusive and practical approach to software training.
Originality/value
This paper sheds light on the often overlooked issue of digital adoption and supports the emerging viewpoint that HR teams need to be more actively involved in supporting technology transformation within a business.
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It's no surprise that the early 1980s have witnessed a resurgence of interest in etiquette books, since that's that usual reaction after a period of loose morals. The current…
Abstract
It's no surprise that the early 1980s have witnessed a resurgence of interest in etiquette books, since that's that usual reaction after a period of loose morals. The current vogue features the New Right, short haircuts, and proper behavior, a predictable backlash after the “Age of Aquarius,” the hedonistic 1960s: the age of love‐ins, be‐ins, and smoke‐ins. Two bestselling etiquette books in particular have parlayed this social milieu into commercial success: Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior (1982), and Eve Drobot's Class Acts (1982). Ms. Drobot, a Canadian journalist, realizes that those of the tribal 1960s have “shucked blue‐jeans in favor of 3‐piece suits: we are junior members of law firms…we have to take clients out to lunch, attend cocktail parties, and travel on business.”
Monique Filassi, Andréa Leda Ramos de Oliveira, Arun Abraham Elias and Karina Braga Marsola
This study aims to analyze the complexities of the Brazilian soybean supply chain (SSC) and develop strategic interventions to improve the origin system’s performance.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the complexities of the Brazilian soybean supply chain (SSC) and develop strategic interventions to improve the origin system’s performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used stakeholder interviews to identify the SSC bottlenecks and determine and assess drivers of competitiveness. A methodological framework based on the systems thinking approach for developing long-term structural changes was used. The problem was structured using behavior over time graph and causal loop modeling to propose three investment strategies to solve the logistics problem in SSC.
Findings
This study highlights the gaps in coordination between stakeholders and the public sector regarding the public policy for infrastructure investment. Three strategic interventions were developed to address the agro-industrial logistical problem, namely, investment in storage, multimodal transport systems and improvements in existing transport infrastructure. To overcome transport and storage logistics limitations, the authors suggest different forms of partnerships, including public-private partnerships.
Research limitations/implications
This research is limited to evaluating an agricultural commodity (soybean) and does not include its by-products. The sample of stakeholders was limited and the boundary of analysis was Brazil. Nevertheless, the study showed how strategic interventions could be developed following a holistic analysis.
Practical implications
The proposed integrated approach illustrates the development of three strategic initiatives. It can be implemented by stakeholders, including the public sector, which is the basis for providing assertive long-term investments in Brazilian logistics.
Social implications
The SSC analysis could promote the implementation of systemically determined interventions and strategies. It could significantly improve the performance of agricultural systems and help the formulation of public policies aimed at rural development.
Originality/value
The use of system dynamics to identify intervention points is an essential contribution to mitigating the SSC’s hindrances. Moreover, the combining methodologies resulted in comprehensive intervention strategies.
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Francisco Gonzalez, Blanca Cimadevila, Julio Garcia-Comesaña, Susana Cerqueiro, Eladio Andion, Jorge Prado, Jorge Bermudez and Felix Rubial
The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze a teleconsultation modality based on a simple telephone call, using either landline or mobile phone, made available to more…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze a teleconsultation modality based on a simple telephone call, using either landline or mobile phone, made available to more than two million people. Telecommunication systems are an increasingly common feature in modern healthcare. However, making teleconsultations available to the entire population covered by a public health system is a challenging goal.
Design/methodology/approach
This retrospective longitudinal observational study analyzed how this modality was used at the primary care level in Galicia, a region in the Northwest of Spain, in 2014 and 2015, focusing on demand, gender and age preferences, rural vs urban population and efficiency.
Findings
Of 28,472,852 consultations requested in this period, 9.0 percent were telephone consultations. Women requested more telephone consultations (9.9 percent of total consultations) than men (7.7 percent of total consultations). The highest demand occurred for the over 85 age group for both men and women. In both years, 2014 and 2015, the number of telephone consultations per inhabitant was higher in urban (0.53 and 0.69) than in rural areas (0.34 and 0.47). In 10.9 percent of cases, the telephone consultations required further face-to-face consultation.
Originality/value
Conventional voice telephone calls can efficiently replace conventional face-to-face consultations in primary healthcare in roughly 10 percent of cases. Women are more likely than men to use primary care services in both face-to-face and telephone consultation modalities. Public healthcare systems should consider implementing telephone consultations to deliver their services.
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Saker Sabkha, Christian de Peretti and Dorra Mezzez Hmaied
The purpose of this paper is to study the volatility spillover among 33 worldwide sovereign Credit Default Swap (CDS) markets and their underlying bond markets.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the volatility spillover among 33 worldwide sovereign Credit Default Swap (CDS) markets and their underlying bond markets.
Design/methodology/approach
In contrast to prior studies, the authors incorporate heteroscedasticity, asymmetric leverage effects and long-memory features of sovereign credit spreads simultaneously through a bivariate FIEGARCH model and a Bayesian cointegrated vector autoregressive model.
Findings
Similar to the literature, the findings confirm that strong evidence of credit risk spillover between credit markets is accentuated during two recent crisis periods. However, the country-by-country analysis indicates that countries exhibit different sensitivity levels and divergent reactions to financial shocks. Further, the authors show that the bidirectional interrelationship evolves over time and across countries emphasizing the necessity of time-varying national regulatory policies and trading positions.
Originality/value
Based on a large data set that covers the recent two financial crises and using complex methods, the work focuses on sovereign tensions that have repercussions on banks’ solvency and refinancing conditions. Yet, the study is a hot topic since that during crisis periods in the financial markets, direct and indirect interconnections increase between sovereign risk and banking risk. Using new econometric approaches, the results show that each country exhibits a different behavior toward the credit risk which is relevant to both portfolio managers and policy makers. The time-varying spillover effects detected between markets are an accurate indicator of financial stability, allowing policy makers to put in place personalized economic policies. On the other hand, markets’ participants could take advantages of the results by adjusting their trading and hedging positions on the dynamic co-movements. The findings reveal, as well, that the sovereign crisis has more weakened the global financial and banking system than the subprime crisis. The authors previously tackled the cross-country contagion phenomenon in the CDS markets, and this manuscript builds on the prior study to enhance the obtained results.