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1 – 10 of over 1000Mª Ángeles Minguela-Recover, Consuelo López-Fernández, José Antonio López-Sánchez and Juan Manuel Picardo-García
This study aims to analyze the well-being experience of home care workers regardless of the service management model. It also aims to analyze their emotional experiences of their…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the well-being experience of home care workers regardless of the service management model. It also aims to analyze their emotional experiences of their activity and working conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
This study, using a mixed qualitative and quantitative analysis, allows a combined analysis for a better understanding of the well-being experience of home care workers.
Findings
Home care workers experience intrinsic job satisfaction and demonstrate this with positive emotions regardless of their work situation.
Practical implications
Caring for the carer should be a business value. Measures oriented toward workers’ comfort generate greater happiness and commitment, which is automatically transferred to the quality of the care provided and reduces the psychosocial risks of their professional activity.
Social implications
Visualizing the social reality of an essential profession through research generates verifiable evidence that will help to improve the working conditions of home care workers in Spain.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this pioneering study in Spain introduces a greater understanding of how home care workers in Spain experience their work reality.
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Celia López-Bravo and José Peral López
Faced with the growing need to find new viable water supply models for urban areas, this article studies and maps the strategies and identifies the key criteria of sustainable…
Abstract
Purpose
Faced with the growing need to find new viable water supply models for urban areas, this article studies and maps the strategies and identifies the key criteria of sustainable development present in pioneering water supply systems in the medieval period. The main aim is to determine which of its innovative principles could be applied in present-day cities.
Design/methodology/approach
From a methodological perspective, two types of cases were established, such as water supply models for human consumption and pre-industrial hydraulic systems, all of which are located in Italy. For the first group, the cases of Venice and Siena were analysed, while for the second, in the context of the cities along the Aemilian Way, the case of Bologna was selected.
Findings
Five key criteria resulted from the analysis of the cases: exploitation, self-sufficiency, maintenance, rationalisation and reuse. The said concepts were defined and contextualised within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Originality/value
The Middle Ages were a historic moment in technological reinvention, before the development of modern systems of sanitation. With very limited resources, these traditional systems focused on rational use and deep cultural and geographical knowledge. This is why its recognition is of great importance today, in a time full of instabilities, with a view to the work that needs to be done for the development of more sustainable communities.
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Javier Fernandez-Montalvo and José J. López-Goñi
The purpose of this paper is to explore the prevalence and profile of mothers among women who sought treatment for drug addiction, as well as the therapeutic progression of these…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the prevalence and profile of mothers among women who sought treatment for drug addiction, as well as the therapeutic progression of these patients.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 180 Spanish women with addiction problems was assessed. Information was collected on the patients’ socio-demographic characteristics, consumption variables and psychological symptoms.
Findings
Of the total sample, 22.2 per cent (n = 40) of the women seeking treatment for substance use disorder were mothers. Compared with women without children, mothers scored significantly higher on several EuropASI and psychological variables. Specifically, mothers presented with more medical problems, worse employment/financial situations, and more severity in alcohol use. Moreover, having a history of lifetime physical and/or sexual abuse was related to belonging to the group of mothers. Regarding therapeutic progression, no statistically significant differences in the retention rate were found between mothers and non-mothers.
Originality/value
The results of this study show that mothers generally have more severe problems than non-mothers. Therefore, comprehensive, continuum-based, and client-centred care for mothers is paramount for effective treatment in mothers. The implications of these results for further research and clinical practice are discussed.
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This paper critiques the scope of neurotechnologies in significantly expanding the epistemological field of tourism and warns of their potential to undermine the cognitive…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper critiques the scope of neurotechnologies in significantly expanding the epistemological field of tourism and warns of their potential to undermine the cognitive capacity of tourists to act responsibly and responsively.
Design/methodology/approach
This study explores the intersections of neurotechnologies and tourism through an analysis that entails a two-step process: firstly, identifying key themes and debates within neurotourism literature; secondly, critically evaluating these discussions through the lenses of social tourism theory and neuroethics.
Findings
Firstly, the work questions the potential of neurotechnologies to significantly expand epistemological boundaries concerning a perennial question in tourism studies: namely, the goal pursued by tourists. Secondly, the paper introduces the framework of an ethics of neurotourism, which can aid in developing the ethical research agenda on neurotechnologies applied to tourism. This framework is used to argue that one of the key risks associated with the use of neurotechnologies in tourism is their capacity to encourage non-responsive and non-responsible tourist behaviour.
Originality/value
Both due to the traditional lack of interest in philosophy in tourism and the pro-business orientation of the tourism academy, critical studies on the relationship between neurotechnologies and tourism are limited. The primary contribution of this work is to underscore that the implementation of neurotechnologies in tourism not only has the potential to foster non-responsible behaviour by undermining tourists’ cognitive capacities to act responsibly, but also can diminish their responsiveness. In a neural context where tourists may already exhibit a reduced inclination towards moral engagement, this reduction in responsiveness can be particularly significant.
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José Fernández-Menéndez, Óscar Rodríguez-Ruiz, José-Ignacio López-Sánchez and María Isabel Delgado-Piña
The purpose of this paper is to study how job reductions affect product innovation and marketing innovation in a sample of 2,034 Spanish manufacturing firms in the period…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study how job reductions affect product innovation and marketing innovation in a sample of 2,034 Spanish manufacturing firms in the period 2007–2014.
Design/methodology/approach
Poisson and logistic regression models with random effects were used to analyse the impact of downsizing on some innovation outcomes of firms.
Findings
The results of this research show that the stressful measure of job reductions may have unexpected consequences, stimulating innovation. However downsizing combined with radical organisational changes such as new equipment, techniques or processes seems to have a negative impact on product and marketing innovation.
Originality/value
This research has two original features. First, it explores the unconventional direction of causality from the planned elimination of jobs to innovation outputs. Secondly, the paper looks at the combined effect of downsizing and other restructuring measures on different types of innovation. Following the threat-rigidity theory, we assume that this combination represents a major threat for survivors that leads to lower levels of product and marketing innovation.
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Jorge Armando López-Lemus, María Teresa De la Garza Carranza, Monica Lucia Reyes-Berlanga and Jose Guadalupe Lopez-Lemus
This study aims to identify the influence exerted by the performance of human resources (HR) through effectiveness and efficiency in the success of business projects in Mexico.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify the influence exerted by the performance of human resources (HR) through effectiveness and efficiency in the success of business projects in Mexico.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodological design was quantitative, explanatory, observational and transversal, where a sample of 502 was used. A structural equation model (SEM) was developed using the statistical software AMOS v25 to test the hypothesis. SPSS v25 was used for data analysis. Regarding the goodness and fit indices of the SEM, χ2 = 388.83/df = 143; χ2/df = 2.71; p < 0.001; GFI = 0.92; AGFI = 0.91; CFI = 0.96; TLI = 0.95; NFI = 0.94; IFI = 0.96; RMSEA = 0.05; RMR = 0.04; SRMR = 0.03, which turned out to be acceptable.
Findings
Through the results obtained through the SEM, it is shown that there is a positive and significant relationship between the performance of HR through their effectiveness (r = 0.65, p < 0.01) and efficiency (r = 0.64, p < 0.01) with respect to the success of the business projects. Likewise, the effectiveness of HR has a positive and significant influence on the efficiency (ß2 = 0.46; p < 0.001) and the success of business projects (ß3 = 0.89; p < 0.001) in Mexico. In the same way, efficiency positively and significantly influences the success of enterprises (ß4 = 0.35; p < 0.001) in Mexico.
Research limitations/implications
In this research, only the performance of the HR was assessed through efficiency and effectiveness as one of the variables that intervene in the development of the business project, and that is one of the main factors of analysis to achieve the success of the enterprise. In this sense, the results are limited to the extent that the findings can be generalized to business projects that are developed in different entities such as universities, incubators and other instances that promote the development of business projects and thereby guarantee success. In this sense, it is considered to carry out more research regarding these variables and others that can study the phenomenon and generate new scientific research.
Practical implications
HR performance is considered as one of the main factors that allow the success of business projects. However, some practical limitations are determined by the vision, strategies, as well as the orientation that entities such as universities, and incubators, among other organizations, determine to develop the business project and thus guarantee its success. Other practical implications lie in the leadership that the entrepreneur exercises in his/her work team and collaborators to generate synergy between them considering culture and identity, as well as the commitment to the business project.
Originality/value
The findings are relevant and of great value because they support entrepreneurship models, giving an alternative focus in the study to achieve success, specifically in the state of Guanajuato, which represents one of the main states that have with a greater number of ventures focused on the automotive, food, leather and footwear cluster, among other SMEs that promote business projects and is one of the main states of the Mexican Republic that contributes to the economic development of the region as well as the nation. Likewise, the study is relevant because there is currently not enough research focused on the variables analyzed on the success of business projects in the Mexican context.
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José López Rodríguez and Bill Serrano Orellana
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of firms’ general and specific human capital on the export propensity and intensity.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of firms’ general and specific human capital on the export propensity and intensity.
Design/methodology/approach
The resource-based view of the firm provides the theoretical background to examine export performance. Empirical analysis is carried out using a national representative sample of Spanish manufacturing firms and employing Logit and Tobit models. Export performance is evaluated in a dual way, as export propensity and export intensity. In relation to human capital a distinction is made between general and specific human capital.
Findings
The results shown that differences exist in the effect of general and specific human capital. While the firms’ general human capital (education of the firm’s employees) affects both export propensity and intensity, only some dimensions of specific human capital (employees’ experience at the workplace) affects export propensity and intensity but no the employees’ training. Moreover, the firms’ general human capital generates greater changes than the effect of specific human capital on the export behavior.
Originality/value
This paper extends a line of research underexplored in the literature by analyzing the effect of organizational human capital on the firm’s export performance; moreover, it is the first study for Spanish manufacturing firms; the distinction between general and specific human capital enhances our comprehension of the human capital as a determinant of export performance. In relation to the specific human capital, besides training, we add a new variable related to experience at the workplace.
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Alexander Aguirre, Antonio Zayas, Diego Gómez-Carmona and José Antonio López Sánchez
Tourism sustainability is a challenge for 21st-century destinations – this paper aims to analyse smart destinations' sustainability through a case study of Benidorm, the first…
Abstract
Purpose
Tourism sustainability is a challenge for 21st-century destinations – this paper aims to analyse smart destinations' sustainability through a case study of Benidorm, the first world destination to be certified under the UNE 178501 standard as smart tourism destination (STD).
Design/methodology/approach
The methodological component has been divided into developing a framework for measuring sustainability through economic, social and environmental open data. Moreover, studying the plan's contribution “Benidorm, Destino Turístico Inteligente y Sostenible” to the city's sustainability through a time series analysis.
Findings
The main contribution shows that Benidorm's transformation into an STD leads to more sustainable cities. Thus, the conversion of Benidorm into an STD has a sustained effect in the medium and long term, contributing to the sustainability of the city.
Research limitations/implications
An open question as a limitation is the subjectivity of the distribution of the relative weight of each indicator. However, statistical analyses are developed to explore the relationship between indicators and global sustainability.
Practical implications
The debate to contextualise this paper is bridging the gap between sustainability and tourism intelligence, giving an original framework for measuring destination sustainability that provides a reasonable starting point for comparing tourism sustainability in different destinations.
Social implications
Tourists in the 21st century prefer environmentally friendly tourism. Marketing campaigns based on destination sustainability must be based on data rather than mere slogans.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the originality of this paper provides a flexible framework for measuring sustainability from open data sources, being one of the first empirical analyses to study the effects on the sustainability of converting a mature destination into an STD.
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Francisco José López-Arceiz, Cristina del Río and Ana Bellostas
This study aims to analyse the role of persistence in the assessments carried out by sustainability agencies in the interaction between sustainability committee characteristics…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyse the role of persistence in the assessments carried out by sustainability agencies in the interaction between sustainability committee characteristics, sustainability strategies and performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors accessed a sample of European sustainable multinational and transnational companies (EMNs) for the period 2008–2017 from RobecoSAM universe. Using a set of simultaneous equation models, the authors test the effect of the sustainability committee on sustainability performance considering the sustainability strategy as a mediating element. Moreover, the authors analysed if the persistent assessment of sustainability agencies conditions the previous interaction.
Findings
Persistence of the sustainability assessment performed by an external agency is necessary to support the sustainability strategy and the sustainability committee, legitimating an organization in its institutional context.
Practical implications
This study provides practitioners with relevant insights into the identification of the sustainability strategy followed by an EMN and the effects associated with it can be useful for social and economic agents in decision-making processes.
Social implications
A persistent assessment could be a signal over time of the evolution of organizations, reinforcing the monitoring mechanisms. It is a stimulus to EMNs as they obtain both an indicator of their levels of performance and public recognition.
Originality/value
The lack of similarity in the levels of sustainable performance observed among companies can be explained by the persistence, which is an omitted variable in previous studies.
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Rafael Bakhtavoryan, Chrystian Suchini, Jose Lopez and Desire Djidonou
This study empirically identifies household demographic and socioeconomic characteristics as well as restaurant characteristics that affect the probability of households choosing…
Abstract
Purpose
This study empirically identifies household demographic and socioeconomic characteristics as well as restaurant characteristics that affect the probability of households choosing an ethnic restaurant (American, Asian, European, Mexican and other) in the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
A multinomial logistic regression model is applied using the data derived from the information from the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey conducted between April 2012 and January 2013.
Findings
The empirical findings suggest that such factors as the unit cost on away-from-home food items (i.e. price), region of residence, primary respondent's ethnicity, race, education level, marital status and employment status as well as such restaurant characteristics as availability of loyalty program and presence of coupons significantly affect the probability of households choosing a particular ethnic restaurant in the USA.
Research limitations/implications
The original dataset employed in this study does not permit the quantification of information associated with size, location, and number of years in operation for the ethnic restaurants considered. Also, the dataset does not permit the classification of the ethnic restaurants included in the “other” category.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, there has been no empirical micro-level analysis associated with determining factors impacting households' choice of ethnic restaurants using a polytomous logistic regression model allowing for a wide range of ethnic restaurants and covering the entire USA, based on an extensive set of household demographic and socioeconomic factors and restaurants characteristics. As such, the current study plugs this research gap, with the empirical findings furnished by this study being of importance to ethnic restaurant operators (owners) in the operators' effort to develop effective marketing strategies.
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