Brenda Groen, Theo van der Voordt, Bartele Hoekstra and Hester van Sprang
This paper aims to explore the relationship between satisfaction with buildings, facilities and services and perceived productivity support and to test whether the findings from a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the relationship between satisfaction with buildings, facilities and services and perceived productivity support and to test whether the findings from a similar study of Batenburg and Van der Voordt (2008) are confirmed in a repeat study after 10 years with more recent data.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were traced from a database with data on user satisfaction and perceived productivity support. These data were collected through the work environment diagnostic tool WODI light. The data include responses from 25,947 respondents and 191 organisations that have been analysed by stepwise multiple-regression analyses.
Findings
In total 38% of the variation of office employees’ satisfaction with support of productivity can be explained by employee satisfaction with facilities, the organisation, current work processes and personal- and job-related characteristics. The most important predictor of self-assessed support of productivity is employee satisfaction with facilities. In particular, psychological aspects, i.e. opportunities to concentrate and to communicate, privacy, level of openness, and functionality, comfort and diversity of the workplaces are very important. The findings confirm that employee satisfaction with facilities correlates significantly with perceived productivity support. Other factors that are not included in the data set, such as intrinsic motivation, labour circumstances and human resource management may have an impact as well.
Originality/value
This research provides a clear insight in the relation between employee satisfaction with facilities and the perceived support of productivity, based on survey data collected over almost 10 years in 191 organisations.
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Hester van Sprang, Jasper Driessen and Brenda Groen
This study aims to explore modern learning (ML) scenarios in Dutch higher education towards 2030 and corresponding consequences for facility management (FM) and corporate real…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore modern learning (ML) scenarios in Dutch higher education towards 2030 and corresponding consequences for facility management (FM) and corporate real estate strategies (CRES) of universities of applied sciences (UAS).
Design/methodology/approach
The designing an accommodation strategy model is used to retrieve the match between demand and supply in real estate of Dutch UAS for both present and future. Application of this model resulted in a scenario-planning session with six education experts to determine future demand in education towards 2030. Subsequently, corporate real estate (CRE) managers of nine Dutch UAS were interviewed concerning this subject (one per UAS).
Findings
The results show that CRES of Dutch UAS is only partly aligned to consequences of ML scenarios towards 2030. Most UAS have real estate portfolios that are only partially flexible, so changes in qualitative and quantitative demand due to ML scenarios are not easy to adapt to. The consequences for FM and real estate of the ML scenarios “institute learning” and “mass customization” seem manageable for Dutch UAS, whereas the other ML scenarios, namely, “navigator” and “natural learning”, would create major portfolio problems.
Originality/value
There is an ongoing interest in developments in higher education combined with FM and CRES and its alignment with the corporate vision. Previous studies into modern ways of learning mainly focused on the past and present. However, this study is explorative and explores possible future ML scenarios. These scenarios can contribute to awareness amongst UAS in The Netherlands and abroad regarding their long-term vision. Moreover, these scenarios will help Dutch UAS facility and CRE managers to develop a more future-proof strategic real estate strategy aligned with the corporate vision.
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Should allowance for fatigue be made in Rating? The orthodox answer to this is that it should not.
The purpose of this paper is to systematically and comprehensively review the extant literature on measurement issues in police use of force.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to systematically and comprehensively review the extant literature on measurement issues in police use of force.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study uses a narrative meta-review of measurement issues in police use of force through a systematic and exhaustive search of several academic databases (e.g. Criminal Justice Abstracts, EBSCO Host, PsychInfo, etc.).
Findings
The current meta-review identified 56 studies that matched the inclusion criteria. These studies examined public and police officer perceptions of use of force, rates of use of force, types of force used, neighborhood contextual correlates of use of force, and severity of force used. A wide variety of approaches were used to measure use of force, and operationalization of use of force was inconsistent across studies. This indicates a need for high-quality research focusing on comparable operationalization of variables, consistency in measurement, and use of more rigorous research techniques. The use of validated measures is essential moving forward.
Practical implications
The practical implications derived from this meta-review indicate a need for future researchers to carefully evaluate the measurement approaches used in use of force studies. The lack of consistency in measurement of use of force research is concerning, and a focused effort is required to validate measures.
Originality/value
The state-of-the-art review on measurement issues in police use of force is the first of its kind. This study comprehensively reviews the literature on measurement issues in police use of force. This study will be useful for those who wish to further explore measurement issues in police use of force issues in policing and those who wish to work toward validated use of force measures.
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Pedro Antonio Martín-Cervantes and María del Carmen Valls Martínez
This chapter explores how the irruption of plastic materials in contemporary society, in the same way that it facilitated a wide range of human activities, eventually degenerated…
Abstract
This chapter explores how the irruption of plastic materials in contemporary society, in the same way that it facilitated a wide range of human activities, eventually degenerated into a global danger through the contamination of rivers and seas, damaging the human food chain. In doing so, the historical background of this situation has been outlined. Moreover, the countries and areas at present that have polluting plastic substances and those that can be most easily recycled is highlighted. It should be noted that it is precisely in the area of recyclability where most hopes have been placed to counteract plastic contamination aimed at avoiding single-use plastic products. Subsequently, the different positions adopted by the members of society on this problem have been described and, by way of example, the state of the situation in a specific country, Spain, has been summarised.
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Carina Mae Font and Xavier Font
This research considers new and unexplored explanations of why consumers continue to engage in environmentally damaging, fast fashion consumption. It explains why rational…
Abstract
Purpose
This research considers new and unexplored explanations of why consumers continue to engage in environmentally damaging, fast fashion consumption. It explains why rational arguments alone do not prevent fast fashion consumption or encourage consumers to move toward greater adoption of sustainable fashion consumption behaviours.
Design/methodology/approach
This research compared the effects of a “neutral” control and an “intrasexual rivalry” experimental condition on: (1) likelihood to buy, and (2) willingness to pay, of frequent female fast fashion shoppers (N = 184).
Findings
Women use fast fashion as a conspicuous signal to other women, although this is not necessarily why they waste fast fashion purchases. Mating motives appear to produce a significant increase in fast fashion buying behaviour with women feeling intrasexual pressure to engage in consumption, and utilising consumption themselves as a self-promotion strategy.
Practical implications
Retailers tackling wasteful fast fashion consumption can demonstrate that sustainable consumption provides a superior conspicuous signal to fast fashion consumption, instead of solely using rational messaging.
Originality/value
Grounded in evolutionary psychology, this study uses three theories of intrasexual rivalry, conspicuous consumption and conspicuous waste to understand how both the volume and variety of fast fashion consumed are used as conspicuous signals in a mate attraction context.
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– The purpose of this paper is to promote visual autoethnography as a tool to explore and represent the captive qualities associated with gardening.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to promote visual autoethnography as a tool to explore and represent the captive qualities associated with gardening.
Design/methodology/approach
Visual autoethnography is presented as a method to explore the personal meaning of gardening. Visual autoethnography allows the writer to enmesh narratives of memory, sensual experiences and the self with images that amplify personal meaning.
Findings
The garden is a sensual landscape offering potential for personal expression and the vagaries of the human spirit. Despite its prominence as a leading leisure time activity in Aotearoa New Zealand gardening has received little serious scrutiny. What does this tell us? Is there a need to restore meaning or at least bring meaning to the fore of garden conversations be they personal, agreed, shared, reinforced or not?
Originality/value
While research into gardens and gardening has largely focussed on the other, this paper explores meaning through the self. The meaning of gardening is presented as a highly reflexive endeavor. Images allow the reader to migrate to the ethnographic site and share the ineffable properties that can be associated with what Francis Bacon once described as the purest of human pleasures.
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Cooperative reference is defined as “a process through which information assistance is provided, at least in part, by referring the user or the user's questions to…
Abstract
Cooperative reference is defined as “a process through which information assistance is provided, at least in part, by referring the user or the user's questions to library/information personnel at another institution, according to a system of formally established protocols.”
Hester Bornman and S.H. von Solms
In this paper I will discuss definitions of hypermedia, multimedia and hypertext. Hypertext is the grouping of relevant information in the form of nodes. These nodes are then…
Abstract
In this paper I will discuss definitions of hypermedia, multimedia and hypertext. Hypertext is the grouping of relevant information in the form of nodes. These nodes are then connected together through links. In the case of hypertext the nodes contain text or graphics. Multimedia is the combining of different media types for example sound, animation, text, graphics and video for the presentation of information by making use of computers. Hypermedia can be viewed as an extension of hypertext and multimedia. It is based on the concept of hypertext that uses nodes and links in the structuring of information in the system. In this case the nodes consist of all the different data types that are mentioned in the multimedia definition above. The ‘node‐and‐link’ concept is used in organisation of the information in hypermedia systems. The ‘book’ metaphor is an example of the way these systems are implemented. This concept is explained and a few advantages and disadvantages of making use of hypermedia systems are discussed. A new approach for the development of hypermedia systems, namely the knowledge‐based approach is now looked into. Joel Peing‐Ling Loo proposed this approach because he thought that it is the most effective way for handling this kind of technology. A semantic‐based hypermedia model is developed in this approach to formulate solutions for the restrictions in presenting information authoring, maintenance and retrieval. The knowledge‐based presentation of information includes the use of conventional data structures. These data structures make use of frames (objects), slots and the inheritance theory that is also used in expert systems. Relations develop between the different objects as these objects are included in the database. Relations can also exist between frames by means of attributes that belong to the frames.