Gai Murphy, Brian Lindley and Peter Marshall
Current approaches to the control of house mouse infestations rely heavily on a reactive service, where treatments are undertaken in response to complaints. The impact of…
Abstract
Current approaches to the control of house mouse infestations rely heavily on a reactive service, where treatments are undertaken in response to complaints. The impact of buildings on the distribution and persistence of house mouse infestations has received little attention. This paper reports the results of 117 surveys of domestic properties in an urban area of Manchester. Results found that mice were not uniformly distributed within the domestic properties surveyed and that general characteristics and construction of the property, food hygiene within the kitchen area and overall fitness influenced distribution. The paper highlights the need for an integrated approach to control to ensure long‐term eradication of chronic house mouse infestations.
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Norma Ford and Gai Murphy
Genetic modification (GM) has been called “the new biotechnology” and has been hailed as a leading enabling technology, facilitating major innovation in health care, as well as in…
Abstract
Genetic modification (GM) has been called “the new biotechnology” and has been hailed as a leading enabling technology, facilitating major innovation in health care, as well as in the chemical, agricultural and food sectors. GM techniques facilitate the combination of DNA which would not occur naturally and, although there are no records of disease or accidents associated with GM work, potential risks do exist. Legislation designed to ensure that workers are adequately protected against hazards also limits the risk of environmental damage. Human error plays an important role in accident causation; therefore appropriate instruction, supervision and training for personnel working with GM/GMOs (genetically modified organisms) is essential. This article reviews the regulatory controls for GM work and discusses the findings of a preliminary study undertaken to identify the level, content, format and extent of biosafety training currently provided at sites undertaking GM work. While high levels of biosafety training were reported, the content, organisation and management varied between the establishments undertaking GM work. Recommendations are made regarding the management of biosafety training including the need to establish competency levels for all those working with, and supervising and managing work with, GMOs.
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This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the literature examining the relationship between automation and employment, with a focus on understanding the debates of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the literature examining the relationship between automation and employment, with a focus on understanding the debates of automation displacement and enablement, and the mediating role of employee augmentation in driving organisational productivity.
Design/methodology/approach
A semi-systematic literature review was conducted across the areas of automation, work-design and employee skills over the past 3 years.
Findings
The academic literature was found to still be in its infancy, with empirical evidence in an organisational setting scarce. However, research suggests that automation does not cause job displacement or a negative impact on employment. In contrast, data suggest that automation leads to new job creation, task enlargement and skills enhancement. The findings suggest that organisations should employ augmentation alongside automation to drive productivity, in a way that promotes strong work-design, builds trust and leverages human creativity. A further recommendation is made for organisations to focus on continuous upskilling to combat the shortening shelf-life of skills and adapt to the constant change brought around by advances in automation.
Originality/value
Through a synthesis of diverse perspectives and academic evidence, this paper contributes to the nuanced understanding of the complexities surrounding automation and its impact on employment. This literature review underscores the need for organisational strategies that leverage augmentation to harness productivity savings, alongside a renewed focus on widespread employee skills enhancement. In addition to creating new recommendations for practitioners and organisational leaders, this paper also furthers the research agenda through a list of research gaps for scholarly attention.
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Elisabete Neves, Vítor Oliveira, Joana Leite and Carla Henriques
This paper aims to better understand if speculative activity is a factor or even the main factor in the run-up of oil prices in the spot market, particularly in the recent price…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to better understand if speculative activity is a factor or even the main factor in the run-up of oil prices in the spot market, particularly in the recent price bubble that occurred in the period from mid-2003 to 2008.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used is based on an existing vector autoregressive model proposed by Kilian and Murphy (2014), which is a structural model of the global market for crude oil that accounts for flow demand and flow supply shocks and speculative demand oil shocks.
Findings
From the output of the authors’ structural model, the authors ruled out speculation as a factor of rising oil prices. The authors have found instead that the rapid oil demand caused by an unexpected increase in the global business cycle is the most accurate culprit. Despite the change of perspective in the speculative component, the authors’ conclusions concur with the findings of Kilian and Murphy (2014) and others.
Originality/value
As far as the authors are aware, this is the first time that a study has used as a spread oil variable, a speculative component of the real price, replacing the oil inventories considered by Kilian and Murphy (2014). Another contribution is that the model used allows estimating traditional oil demand elasticity in production and oil supply elasticity in spread movements, casting doubt on existing models with perfect price-inelastic output for crude oil.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of meta-tags by the leading higher educational institutions (HEIs). It explores the various kinds of messages conveyed by HEIs…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of meta-tags by the leading higher educational institutions (HEIs). It explores the various kinds of messages conveyed by HEIs in the meta-description tags of their website homepage. It further examines that whether the messages conveyed by HEIs are in accordance with the prospective students’ perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
A list of leading 200 universities was procured from the website of The Times Higher Education. Meta-keywords and meta-description tags of the HEIs websites’ homepage were drawn using online software. Descriptive analysis of the meta-tags was conducted to analyze their use by HEIs. Quantitative content analysis tool was applied to understand the messages conveyed by HEIs.
Findings
Meta-description tags are defined by more than half (58.79 percent), whereas meta-keywords are written by approximately a quarter (27.47 percent) of HEIs on their homepage. While defining their meta-description tags, HEIs frequently used words related to the themes such as institution, focus area, academic programs, image building, geography, student group and environment.
Practical implications
It will help the HEIs to understand the importance of meta-tags. Moreover, HEIs will be able to define their meta-description tags better.
Originality/value
This is the first research paper to explore and analyze the meta-tags of the HEIs websites.
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Lorraine Higham, Alessandra Girardi and Holly Victoria Edwards
Autism-specific characteristics have been associated with internet criminal activities. Internet and non-internet offenders differ on a series of demographic, psychological and…
Abstract
Purpose
Autism-specific characteristics have been associated with internet criminal activities. Internet and non-internet offenders differ on a series of demographic, psychological and offending variables. However, the clinical and criminal presentation of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in forensic secure care settings has been underexplored. This paper aims to explore the profiles of internet offenders with ASD admitted to a secure psychiatric unit.
Design/methodology/approach
This study provides the results of a service evaluation of individuals with ASD. The demographic, clinical and criminal characteristics of a small sample of internet offenders with ASD admitted to secure care are described and discussed.
Findings
Internet offenders present in secure care with high rates of comorbid disorders, histories of violence and traumatic experiences, mood disorders and difficulties with relationships. Of the 24 internet offenders discussed, 18 of them committed an offence of a sexual nature involving children.
Originality/value
This paper highlights the potential risks for individuals with ASD in using the internet and the possible difficulties associated with detecting this because of rapid advancements in technology.
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Organisations bear a graver responsibility than they regularly realise. This chapter expands the foregoing sentence through a reflection on what the other chapters have said �…
Abstract
Organisations bear a graver responsibility than they regularly realise. This chapter expands the foregoing sentence through a reflection on what the other chapters have said – that marketers' responsibility should go beyond the sale of a product and should include the consciousness of the social and environmental consequences of the product and that responsibility should start with strategy and accompany the product or service from ideation to commercialisation. The messages going out from the company about its sustainability initiatives must also be ethical. The chapter also presents the book chapters' practical value for teaching, research and consultancy as well as for business application and policy making or policy advocacy. Finally, the chapter calls for generally acceptable standards to measure product greenness and for more self-regulation especially in less regulated regions. The overall message is that, through the marketing function, managers can and must orient the firm's internal dynamics towards embracing both business goals and the common good by taking all stakeholders into consideration and creating value to be shared by all.
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Bill B. Francis, Iftekhar Hasan and Gokhan Yilmaz
This chapter investigates whether core competence of managers and their expansive (vs. specialized) managerial style affects firms' innovative ability, capacity, and efficiency…
Abstract
This chapter investigates whether core competence of managers and their expansive (vs. specialized) managerial style affects firms' innovative ability, capacity, and efficiency. Using exogenous CEO departures as a natural experiment, it establishes a causal link between managerial capability and innovation. Importantly, it reveals that firms with talented managers receive significantly more nonself citations; make significantly lower self-citations and lesser citations to the others, indicating novel and explorative innovation achievements. Also, managers with higher general (specialized) ability are cited more (less) by patents from a wider range of fields. Lastly, career concern is identified as a mechanism linking higher ability and innovation.