Stacic Beck, Jeffrey B. Miller and Mohsen M. Saad
Why did inflation fall so dramatically after the establishment of a currency board in Bulgaria in 1997? The establishment of the currency board was the response to a very severe…
Abstract
Why did inflation fall so dramatically after the establishment of a currency board in Bulgaria in 1997? The establishment of the currency board was the response to a very severe financial crisis where inflation reached hyperinflationary levels. After the currency board was introduced, inflation fell even more spectacularly than it had risen with prices rising less than 10% annually during 1998 and 1999. Was this sudden drop in inflation due to a “discipline” effect caused by a reduction in money growth rates or to a “confidence” effect that created lower inflation expectations thus leading to higher money demand? We find strong indirect evidence for a confidence effect but less support for a discipline effect.
Xuan Wang, Tao Huang, Wenping Zhang, Qingfeng Zeng and Xin Sun
This study aims to investigate the role of information normalization in online healthcare consultation, a typical complex human-to-human communication requiring both effectiveness…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the role of information normalization in online healthcare consultation, a typical complex human-to-human communication requiring both effectiveness and efficiency. The globalization and digitization trend calls for high-quality information, and normalization is considered an effective method for improving information quality. Meanwhile, some researchers argued that excessive normalization (standardized answers) may be perceived as impersonal, repetitive, and cold. Thus, it is not appreciated for human-to-human communication, for instance, when patients are anxious about their health condition (e.g. with high-risk disease) in online healthcare consultation. Therefore, the role of information normalization in human communication is worthy to be explored.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from one of the largest online healthcare consultation platforms (Dxy.com). This study expanded the existing information quality model by introducing information normalization as a new dimension. Information normalization was assessed using medical templates, extracted through natural language processing methods such as Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). Patient decision-making behaviors, namely, consultant selection and satisfaction, were chosen to evaluate communication performance.
Findings
The results confirmed the positive impact of information normalization on communication performance. Additionally, a negative moderating effect of disease risk on the relationship between information normalization and patient decision-making was identified. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that information normalization can be enhanced through experiential learning.
Originality/value
These findings highlighted the significance of information normalization in online healthcare communication and extended the existing information quality model. It also facilitated patient decision-making on online healthcare platforms by providing a comprehensive information quality measurement. In addition, the moderating effects indicated the contradiction between informational support and emotional support, enriching the social support theory.
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Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some…
Abstract
Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.
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This chapter begins with a brief history of the ways in which alcohol has been ingrained in American culture since the arrival of European settlers and their enslavement of…
Abstract
This chapter begins with a brief history of the ways in which alcohol has been ingrained in American culture since the arrival of European settlers and their enslavement of African people. The chapter then addresses important aspects of alcohol and other drug use among college students. Because of the popularity of alcohol and cannabis among college students, they occupy the primary focus of the chapter, although other psychoactive drugs are briefly discussed as well. The chapter draws from data collected by the Healthy Minds Study, the Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) and the American College Health Association (ACHA) in describing the prevalence of alcohol and cannabis use among college students, as well as trends in the use of both substances. The reasons college students drink and use cannabis are explored, as are the many consequences, including academic, legal, physical and interpersonal. The chapter examines a number of prevention strategies that colleges have used to minimize the negative consequences of substance use, including large-scale scare tactics, educational efforts and norming campaigns, as well as individually tailored programs; the effectiveness of each is reviewed.
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Alexandra L. Ferrentino, Meghan L. Maliga, Richard A. Bernardi and Susan M. Bosco
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in…
Abstract
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in business-ethics and accounting’s top-40 journals this study considers research in eight accounting-ethics and public-interest journals, as well as, 34 business-ethics journals. We analyzed the contents of our 42 journals for the 25-year period between 1991 through 2015. This research documents the continued growth (Bernardi & Bean, 2007) of accounting-ethics research in both accounting-ethics and business-ethics journals. We provide data on the top-10 ethics authors in each doctoral year group, the top-50 ethics authors over the most recent 10, 20, and 25 years, and a distribution among ethics scholars for these periods. For the 25-year timeframe, our data indicate that only 665 (274) of the 5,125 accounting PhDs/DBAs (13.0% and 5.4% respectively) in Canada and the United States had authored or co-authored one (more than one) ethics article.
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Julie Nichols, Jeffrey Newchurch, Robert Rigney, Tinesha Miller and Bonita Sansbury
This chapter came about, after five years of working with the Ngadjuri community on speculative student cultural centre designs. Ideation for those conversations and studio-based…
Abstract
This chapter came about, after five years of working with the Ngadjuri community on speculative student cultural centre designs. Ideation for those conversations and studio-based interactions, in addition to time and cultural tours spent on Country, revealed a variety of opinions and hopes that exist within the Ngadjuri community for a place to celebrate their cultural heritage. This heritage has an incredible history, and the idea of a cultural centre has been topical since the late Uncle Vince Copley Senior worked with other Ngadjuri community members such as Robert Rigney, on Country and in an advocacy role for Ngadjuri more than 30 years ago. This series of yarnings from a two-part transcription process re-awakens those desires of Elders now passed. The transcriptions are complemented with literature around yarning as a research methodology that delivers current, immediate, and insightful personal thoughts, although only as personal as the lead yarner wishes to share. In addition, the literature contextualises the key themes of which the yarnings divulge. Research has indicated how yarning interactions and interrelationships create a unique dynamic between the researcher and the community members. It is these rich experiences where knowledge is shared in a two-way exchange that is noteworthy for the galleries, libraries, archives, and museums [GLAM] sector. GLAM sector priorities must implement policy to pursue future Indigenisation of their epistemological methods and ontological systems. To address any future data curation of Ngadjuri cultural heritage materials on Country or in GLAM, hearing the personal stories and desires seemed timely and necessary.
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Becker appoint works manager Becker Equipment & Lifts Ltd., a TI Company of Wembley, have strengthened their manufacturing departments by the appointment of Jeffrey Miller as…
Abstract
Becker appoint works manager Becker Equipment & Lifts Ltd., a TI Company of Wembley, have strengthened their manufacturing departments by the appointment of Jeffrey Miller as Works Manager. Becker manufacture the Bexuda range of precise‐volume liquid filling machines, and are the UK's leading manufacturers of electrohydraulic passenger lifts.
The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive…
Abstract
The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive advantage provided by BI capability is not well researched. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for successful BI deployment and empirically examines the association between BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage. Taking the telecommunications industry in Malaysia as a case example, the research particularly focuses on the influencing perceptions held by telecommunications decision makers and executives on factors that impact successful BI deployment. The research further investigates the relationship between successful BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage of the telecommunications organizations. Another important aim of this study is to determine the effect of moderating factors such as organization culture, business strategy, and use of BI tools on BI deployment and the sustainability of firm’s competitive advantage.
This research uses combination of resource-based theory and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory to examine BI success and its relationship with firm’s sustainability. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and a two-phase sequential mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. The chapter presents a qualitative field study to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. The study includes a survey study with sample of business analysts and decision makers in telecommunications firms and is analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling.
The findings reveal that some internal resources of the organizations such as BI governance and the perceptions of BI’s characteristics influence the successful deployment of BI. Organizations that practice good BI governance with strong moral and financial support from upper management have an opportunity to realize the dream of having successful BI initiatives in place. The scope of BI governance includes providing sufficient support and commitment in BI funding and implementation, laying out proper BI infrastructure and staffing and establishing a corporate-wide policy and procedures regarding BI. The perceptions about the characteristics of BI such as its relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and observability are also significant in ensuring BI success. The most important results of this study indicated that with BI successfully deployed, executives would use the knowledge provided for their necessary actions in sustaining the organizations’ competitive advantage in terms of economics, social, and environmental issues.
This study contributes significantly to the existing literature that will assist future BI researchers especially in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In particular, the model will help practitioners to consider the resources that they are likely to consider when deploying BI. Finally, the applications of this study can be extended through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.
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Daniel R. Clark and Jeffrey G. Covin
The literature on international entrepreneurship offers two competing views on why new ventures internationalize: (a) the nature of the opportunity pulls them international or (b…
Abstract
The literature on international entrepreneurship offers two competing views on why new ventures internationalize: (a) the nature of the opportunity pulls them international or (b) the founder pushes the firm international. While these two internationalization drivers are not independent, they do represent unique causal mechanisms. Previously, the tools available to understand the entrepreneur’s disposition toward internationalization were limited. The present study uses the theoretical foundation of the international entrepreneurial orientation construct and from it develops and tests an attitudinally-based individual-level measure of disposition toward internationalization. To ensure the validity and reliability of the new measure, termed International Entrepreneurial Orientation Disposition, studies were conducted to: develop new scale items, examine their psychometric properties and construct validity, and demonstrate criterion validity. A strong measurement model is developed using structural equation modeling (CFI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.07), and the measure is shown to be useful as a predictor of perceived international venture attractiveness.
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Mental health is not simply the absence of psychological problems any more than physical health is the absence of disease. This chapter explores various aspects of optimal mental…
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Mental health is not simply the absence of psychological problems any more than physical health is the absence of disease. This chapter explores various aspects of optimal mental health and wellbeing among college students. It examines the question of what is required for college students to both feel their best and function at or near their highest levels. It also discusses the characteristics of peak mental health, including its transient nature. Predictive factors such as exercise, diet, sleep and social connection will be explored. Regarding the features of optimal wellbeing, the following variables are described: integrity, values, mindfulness, self-compassion, flow and resilience. These variables are considered in an integrated fashion as components, as well as byproducts, of wellness. Hettler’s multidimensional model of wellness is presented at the outset of the chapter, followed by Keyes’ theory of flourishing.