Anabel Renteria, Luisa F. Garcia, Jorge A. Diaz, Luis C. Delfin, Jaime E. Regis, Elizabeth I. Reza, David Espalin, Tzu-Liang Bill Tseng and Yirong Lin
The purpose of this study is to evaluate different 3D structures for humidity sensing that will enable the fabrication of complex geometries with high moisture sensitivity.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to evaluate different 3D structures for humidity sensing that will enable the fabrication of complex geometries with high moisture sensitivity.
Design/methodology/approach
Humidity sensors based on alumina ceramics were fabricated using direct ink write (DIW) technique. Different engineered surface area, polymer binder ratio and post-processing treatment were considered to increase moisture sensitivity.
Findings
It was found that the binder ratio plays an important role in controlling the rheology of the paste during printing and determining the pore size after post-processing treatment. The sensibility of the fabricated humidity sensor was investigated by measuring its capacitance response toward relative humidity (RH) varying from 40% to 90% RH at 25°C. It is shown that using 3D lattice design, printed alumina humidity sensor could improve sensitivity up to 31.6 pF/RH%, over an order of magnitude higher than solid alumina.
Originality/value
Most of the alumina humidity sensors available are films in nature because of manufacturing difficulties, which limited its potential of higher sensitivity, and thus broader applications. In this paper, a novel 3D alumina humidity sensor was fabricated using DIW 3D printing technology.
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Paula M. Hernandez-Diaz, Jorge-Andrés Polanco, Sergio Andrés Osuna-Ramírez, Erika Jaillier-Castrillón, Tatiana Molina-Velasquez and Manuela Escobar-Sierra
This paper aims to find the incidence of university sustainability, as sustainability practices, in university performance at private universities.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to find the incidence of university sustainability, as sustainability practices, in university performance at private universities.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative research using structural equation modelling. Data collection and analysis followed sustainability and performance scales from previous research. The scales were validated by surveying students, teachers and administrative staff of five private universities in Medellin, Colombia. The responses (i.e. 5,344 useful answers) were collected between April 2019 and December 2020 and analysed using the Smart partial least square (PLS) software and the PLS calculation methodology.
Findings
The results confirmed the reliability and validity of the sustainability and performance university measurement models and validated the dimensions proposed to determine sustainability and performance holistically in private universities. The results confirmed that universities implementing sustainability holistically in their system positively impact their performance as higher education institutions. The university sustainability is forecasting the University Performance in about 60% of the universities analysed, with a considerable contribution from sustainability in outreach and strategic management.
Research limitations/implications
This study was cross-sectional and empirically validated the model of sustainability and performance at five private universities in a single period and territory. A broader validation from longitudinal studies considering other universities in Colombia and Latin America is suggested to understand local and regional trends better.
Practical implications
Results provided a model for better understanding the incidence of sustainability in performance holistically at private universities in developing countries such as Colombia. In addition, the proposed dimensions and model could help regional decision-making on higher education.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first attempts relating a structural equation model and inter-university research on the incidence of sustainability in private university performance. This work contributes to a local consensus on sustainability and performance models at private universities. Furthermore, from this research emerged a joint policy framework for incorporating sustainability holistically and regionally as an effective strategy for universities and their commitment to sustainable development.
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Jose O. Diaz and Karen R. Diaz
“When James Boswell returned from a tour of Corsica in 1765 he wrote: ‘It is indeed amazing that an island so considerable, and in which such noble things have been doing, should…
Abstract
“When James Boswell returned from a tour of Corsica in 1765 he wrote: ‘It is indeed amazing that an island so considerable, and in which such noble things have been doing, should be so imperfectly known.’ The same might be said today of Puerto Rico.” Thus began Millard Hansen and Henry Wells in the foreword to their 1953 look at Puerto Rico's democratic development. Four decades later, the same could again be said about the island.
Fabiola Gómez-Jorge and Eloísa Díaz-Garrido
Organizations increasingly promote the health and well-being of their employees. There is a growing need for organizations to develop a long-term humanistic approach towards their…
Abstract
Purpose
Organizations increasingly promote the health and well-being of their employees. There is a growing need for organizations to develop a long-term humanistic approach towards their workforce. This study aims to examine how self-esteem influences the organization, the employee and society within the context of higher education institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
The research has been carried out among the teaching and research staff of a higher education institution in Spain. For this, a structured questionnaire was used. Data analysis was conducted using 272 valid questionnaires. A linear regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between self-esteem and the variables of the model.
Findings
We identified a positive correlation between self-esteem and productivity, job satisfaction and altruism, where significant differences were observed according to gender, age, seniority and professional category of the teaching staff. The results revealed that teachers with high self-esteem are more productive, satisfied and participate in more altruistic activities than their counterparts with low self-esteem.
Originality/value
This study reveals the importance that worker self-esteem has on their behavior in the work environment and in society as a whole, to improve the overall results of the organization. We identified self-esteem as an attribute that improves productivity, job satisfaction and altruism, that can be used to reduce job turnover intention and improve job retention levels, positively affecting the organization. We also contribute to the achievement of some Sustainable Development Goals. This study offers a theoretical contribution by extending the application of social learning theory to the context of self-esteem within higher education institutions.
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Paula M. Hernandez-Diaz, Jorge-Andrés Polanco and Sandra Milena Castaño
This paper aims to know how university’s strategic managers, from botacademic and administrative systems, perceive the relationship between sustainability and accreditation as…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to know how university’s strategic managers, from botacademic and administrative systems, perceive the relationship between sustainability and accreditation as sustainability incorporation and the quality of their processes are amongst the actual challenges of universities.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper opted for an inductive, exploratory study using the case study approach, including 19 in-depth interviews to administrative and academic managers in a private, high-quality certified university in Colombia. The data were assessed using the content analysis methodology. The Colombian accreditation guidelines were the base to analyse the data as accreditation is part of the quality assurance system.
Findings
This paper provides empirical insights into how the implementation of sustainability in universities relates to the Colombian accreditation factors. The main links found were in the areas of the university’s social impact and organisational responsibility, which are highly relevant to graduates, external stakeholders and sustainability skills. Sustainable campus operation was associated with environmental management and improvement of the quality of the physical plant, with social and economic benefits in the long-term. Additionally, this research found a need for administrative and academic managers to understand and increase their commitment to sustainability.
Research limitations/implications
Because it was a case study, results are not generalisable. Consequently, further research on similar lines is required to universalise the mentioned observation and results.
Practical implications
The accreditation factors related to sustainability, inductively defined and exposed in this paper, provide an idea of how sustainability implementation could contribute to higher education quality assurance.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to filling the knowledge gap about embedding sustainability in Latin-American universities. This paper postulates a starting point considering accreditation standards and the link of the strategic manager’s perceptions of sustainability.
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Jorge Alejandro Silva, Dulce María Monroy Becerril and Esteban Martínez Díaz
This systematic review of literature purposes to explore the impact of climate change on Mexico's water resources, exploring the impacts and efforts to address the problem as well…
Abstract
Purpose
This systematic review of literature purposes to explore the impact of climate change on Mexico's water resources, exploring the impacts and efforts to address the problem as well as their effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
The researcher relied on several tools to obtain scholarly articles. The primary approach was using preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The Journal Impact Factor was an important consideration for the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The work also excluded all journals predating 2009. The work emphasized using journal articles. However, it consulted textbooks and documents from the government and water conservation sources. Contextually the sources with the highest Journal Impact Factor index were selected, paying heed to their relevance to the topic under investigation. Fifty sources out of seventy were included in the systematic review.
Findings
Mexico's already strained water resources have been negatively impacted by climate change, behooving the Mexican government to implement various mitigative strategies. However, scholars reported mixed results on the effectiveness of the various policies and programs implemented by the Mexican government. Key impediments to sustainable implementations entailed the political and social contexts surrounding the conservation policies in Mexico.
Originality/value
Numerous articles have explored the impact of climate change on Mexico's water resources, but many focus on a specific aspect. This work took a holistic approach, synthesizing multiple impacts and providing a sociological perspective on the effects, mitigation efforts, and implementation challenges.
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Jorge Alejandro Silva Rodríguez de San Miguel, Esteban Martínez Díaz and Dulce María Monroy Becerril
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between climate change and internal migration in the Americas.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between climate change and internal migration in the Americas.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review type of research synthesize the state of knowledge; it was searched through the Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, among other databases, for articles that focused on climate migration, gender, water stress and models for predicting movement.
Findings
Decreased water availability and increased prevalence to water-related disasters causes internal migration. Also, male out migration is quite prevalent in South American nations with women being left to take care of the families.
Research limitations/implications
There is a need for further primary research to analyse what actions the Americas are taking to carve out a large policy-making space for themselves in climate change and internal migration.
Originality/value
The 32 papers explored in the discussion section present a novel insight into climate change, water usage, gender and internal migration. The papers also elucidate that cultural and ideological conflicts are bound to occur as the communities move with the receiving society finding it hard to accommodate the needs of the climate migrants.
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José Roberto Díaz-Reza, Jorge Luis García-Alcaraz, Alfonso Jesus Gil-López, Julio Blanco-Fernández and Emilio Jimenez-Macias
The purpose of this paper is to measure the relationships between advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) categories (stand-alone, intermediated and integrated systems…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to measure the relationships between advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) categories (stand-alone, intermediated and integrated systems) implementation and design, process and commercial benefits obtained.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey is designed with benefits gained from AMT implementation as well as its categories, which is applied to the maquiladora industry. A structural equation model with data from 383 responses is used to measure the relationship between AMT categories and benefits gained using nine hypotheses that are tested statistically significant using partial least squares. Also, using conditional probabilities, a sensitivity analysis reports how low and high levels from AMT implementation influence on the obtained benefits.
Findings
Integrated systems are the most important AMT for maquiladoras and have the strongest impact on design, processes and commercial benefits.
Research limitations/implications
Data obtained support the model, but results may be different in another industrial sector and countries with different labor culture and technological level.
Practical implications
Managers in maquiladora industry must focus their attention on integrated manufacturing systems, because high implementation levels guarantee the biggest probability to gain benefits in design, production process and commercial.
Originality/value
The relationship between AMT and their benefits has not been measured in depth, and this paper contributes to understand that problem. In addition, this paper is the first to report a sensitivity analysis that enables managers to acknowledge the probability of obtaining certain benefits.
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Jorge Antonio Arribas Díaz and Catalina Martínez-Mediano
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the application of quality management systems (QMS) based on international standards of quality in education (ISO 9001:2008) and ascertain…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the application of quality management systems (QMS) based on international standards of quality in education (ISO 9001:2008) and ascertain the influence of this quality model on primary and secondary schools in Spain.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted in 26 publicly funded, private schools in Spain. The research design was a three-phase, mixed-methods evaluation. In all, 809 teachers answered the main survey questionnaire in Phase 3, which was validated through expert reviews and exploratory factor analysis against two theoretically derived dimensions of quality. The total scores of the two dimensions demonstrated Cronbach’s alpha reliability estimate > 0.95. A discriminant function analysis was applied next to compare three groups of schools based on teachers’ QMS ratings, using students’ achievement and other school quality indicators as predictors.
Findings
The QMS model was perceived to have contributed to improvements in documentation and management through evaluation, continuous improvement processes, the schools’ external image, management of resources and user satisfaction levels. Some of the improvements lasted over time. The schools rated as “high” by teachers on QMS implementation levels had better educational outcomes, as well as user perception and satisfaction levels, as compared to schools rated as “low”. Drawbacks of the QMS model were perceived as high bureaucratic workloads and a top–down management culture.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that ISO standards of QMS can be adopted in primary and secondary education institutions successfully, and that they are suitable for improving schools and educational systems overall.
Originality/value
The study’s originality lies in the demonstrated outcomes of the QMS approach, originally created for industrial environments, in a large Spanish primary and secondary education institution using a three-phase, mixed-methods design.
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Alcides Padilla and Jorge David Quintero Otero
This article offers a review of the literature on regional business cycles (BCs) in emerging economies. The objective is synthesizing the existing studies based on theoretical…
Abstract
Purpose
This article offers a review of the literature on regional business cycles (BCs) in emerging economies. The objective is synthesizing the existing studies based on theoretical, empirical and methodological approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodological framework includes the following stages: research questions, bibliography location, the selection of articles and the evaluation of the literature, analysis and synthesis, and the reporting and use of results.
Findings
The evidence suggests that expansionary phases last longer than recessions'; public expenditure shows a pro-cyclical behavior; and factors such as productive structure and international trade explain the synchronization of regional BCs.
Originality/value
Up until now, there is no research that performs a review of regional BCs in emerging economics.