Ana M. Mejías, Enrique Paz and Juan E. Pardo
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the best way to implement sustainable practices in the Logistics Social Responsibility field. Using the best practices (BPs) approach, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the best way to implement sustainable practices in the Logistics Social Responsibility field. Using the best practices (BPs) approach, the authors have answered the question about how logistics function can take on board the principles of sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review has been applied, with an analysis of 194 papers from relevant logistics/supply chain management (SCM)-related journals over a 20-year time frame.
Findings
The authors have identified a first set of traditional BPs that are still relevant in the sustainability context, a second set of innovative sustainable BPs and a third set that can be considered sustainable BPs evolved from the traditional cost-efficiency approach, serving as a link between the other ones. This proposed taxonomy of BPs charts a progressive path toward integration of sustainable principles in SC-logistics operations.
Research limitations/implications
The methodological approaches applied entail inherent limitations. However, the authors have set out to ensure rigor by following a structured process approach.
Originality/value
The work contributes by filling two recurring gaps identified in the literature: the need to integrate social and environmental issues and develop more practical tools for implementing sustainable SCM. The progressive way of implementing sustainable BPs has advantages for logistics managers, especially when companies have limited resources for transforming their logistics process into a sustainable process. Additionally, future academic research topics are proposed.
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Benigno Marco Fanni, Emanuele Gasparotti, Augusto Esposito, Francesca Danielli, Francesca Berti, Sergio Berti, Giancarlo Pennati, Lorenza Petrini and Simona Celi
This study aims to develop a realistic 3D printing-based simulator for the training and planning of the left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) to be used in the cath lab.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop a realistic 3D printing-based simulator for the training and planning of the left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) to be used in the cath lab.
Design/methodology/approach
Starting from a pre-operative computed tomography dataset of a patient already treated with LAAO, the model was obtained, consisting in the right and left heart, opportunely assembled to replicate the position and orientation of the patient's anatomy while lying on the cath lab table. Different 3D printing techniques and materials were used to mimic the interaction between the cardiac tissue and the clinical instrumentation. The simulator was tested in the cath lab under proper image guidance by three LAAO expert operators. The clinicians were required to assign a score in terms of realism to each material used to fabricate the fossa ovalis and the LAA.
Findings
The simulated interventions were successfully performed by the operators, who were able to navigate in the system and release the occluder device as during a real procedure. The intraoperative images acquired during the simulations were highly comparable with data from a real intervention, with a mean percentage difference below 10%.
Originality/value
This study demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed simulator to faithfully replicate the LAAO procedure and its potentiality to be used for multiple purposes, including the training of the young clinicians, the evaluation of the most complicated cases and the design of novel occluder devices, in a fully realistic setting.
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Paola Ginestra, Stefano Pandini and Elisabetta Ceretti
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the production of scaffolds with specific morphology and mechanical behavior to satisfy specific requirements regarding their stiffness…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the production of scaffolds with specific morphology and mechanical behavior to satisfy specific requirements regarding their stiffness, biological interactions and surface structure that can promote cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions though proper porosity, pore size and interconnectivity.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study was focused on the production of multi-layered hybrid scaffolds made of polycaprolactone and consisting in supporting grids obtained by Material Extrusion (ME) alternated with electrospun layers. An open source 3D printer was utilized, with a grain extrusion head that allows the production and distribution of strands on the plate according to the designed geometry. Square grid samples were observed under optical microscope showing a good interconnectivity and spatial distribution of the pores, while scanning electron microscope analysis was used to study the electrospun mats morphology.
Findings
A good adhesion between the ME and electrospinning layers was achieved by compression under specific thermomechanical conditions obtaining a hybrid three-dimensional scaffold. The mechanical performances of the scaffolds have been analyzed by compression tests, and the biological characterization was carried out by seeding two different cells phenotypes on each side of the substrates.
Originality/value
The structure of the multi-layered scaffolds demonstrated to play an important role in promoting cell attachment and proliferation in a 3D culture formation. It is expected that this design will improve the performances of osteochondral scaffolds with a strong influence on the required formation of an interface tissue and structure that need to be rebuilt.
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José María Martín Martín, Juan F. Prados-Castillo, Mónica de Castro-Pardo and Juan De Dios Jimenez Aguilera
The expansion of online platforms for renting tourist accommodations has given rise to a great deal of controversy in society. Likewise, the arrival of tourists in residential…
Abstract
Purpose
The expansion of online platforms for renting tourist accommodations has given rise to a great deal of controversy in society. Likewise, the arrival of tourists in residential settings has led to a wide range of positive and negative impacts, resulting in conflicts between different stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether there is variation in the perception of the impacts associated with peer-to-peer accommodation platforms among different stakeholders? Additionally, it also seeks to investigate what kind of impacts generate the highest level of conflict among stakeholders?
Design/methodology/approach
Given the relative novelty of the problem, this paper proposes an exploratory study that sheds light on some of the main issues with the purpose of supporting further research in the future. The aim is to analyze which impacts are perceived as more positive or negative by each group and to create indexes of conflict for these groups regarding their perception of the impacts. This study is based on fieldwork carried out in April 2020, which consists of 600 online surveys of local residents in the city of Granada. This city, one of Spain’s main tourist spots, suffers the highest tourist pressure in the country.
Findings
The exploratory study suggests that the greatest consensus is generated in the assessment of economic impacts, either negative or positive. The greatest conflicts are related to the assessment of the effect of this activity on housing preservation. The group comprising accommodation owners of tourist flats is the one that shows a more dissenting opinion from the rest, confronting especially the group formed by citizens whose income depends on tourism.
Originality/value
There is a lack of studies on the perception of tourism impacts associated with online tourism rental platforms. This is the first study to analyze both, how the main stakeholders associated with this activity assess the different impacts derived from this form of tourist accommodation as a whole and the conflicts derived from such an assessment. An additional innovation is that the analysis investigates the potential fear of disease transmission caused by tourists. It would be interesting to continue this research by applying the same questionnaire in different environments, such as rural areas or societies with different structures from the one analyzed here. Likewise, future in-depth analysis of some of the conflicts is recommended so as to ascertain their origin.
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Juan Mundel, Yadira Nieves-Pizarro, Douglas Wickham and Melinda Aiello
Little is known about patriotic appeals and Latin American symbols in ads. The purpose of this study was to content analyze Argentine and English print newspaper ads to examine…
Abstract
Purpose
Little is known about patriotic appeals and Latin American symbols in ads. The purpose of this study was to content analyze Argentine and English print newspaper ads to examine how advertising expression and content differed in the two countries while they were fighting the Malvinas/Falkland Islands War.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 3,707 ads were analyzed from La Nación and The Times from April 1, 1982, to December 31, 1982. Appeals, advertised products, cultural values and code-switching were studied.
Findings
The War resulted in marginal changes to advertising in Argentina and England. Interestingly, while the use of national symbols was scarce across both countries, Argentina accounted for the majority of the references to the war. A number of Argentine brands that adapted their names from English to Spanish are taken into account.
Research limitations/implications
By drawing comparisons to English ads, this paper illustrates the boundaries of strategies and appeals in two different cultures over the same time period. This study extends the literature on the use of advertising during periods of conflict.
Practical implications
This content analysis provides a look at the strategies, tactics and symbols used by print advertisers in Argentina and England during the War.
Originality/value
The study provides a depiction of advertising campaigns featured in Argentine and English newspapers during one of the most recent armed conflicts in South America. The study provides a summary of changes in advertising as a result of the War. In doing so, the paper extends the advertising literature to an understudied market.
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Sonia Dasí Rodríguez, Juan Francisco Martínez Pérez and Manuela Pardo del Val
In an environment where favoring organizational learning is imperative, the option of business cooperation is considered an optimal means to transmit knowledge between companies…
Abstract
In an environment where favoring organizational learning is imperative, the option of business cooperation is considered an optimal means to transmit knowledge between companies and to encourage the generation of new ones. But differences in organizational cultures of the cooperation partners can make this process difficult. Through an empirical study of small and medium‐sized companies that had established international cooperation agreements during 1997 and 1998 in the Valencian community (Spain), the influence of the differences in size and in national culture of the partners in organizational learning is observed.
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Juan A. Marin-Garcia, Amable Juarez-Tarraga and Cristina Santandreu-Mascarell
The purpose of this paper is to perform a context analysis about a specific Kaizen program, suggestion systems in permanent teams, and identified the barriers and facilitators…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to perform a context analysis about a specific Kaizen program, suggestion systems in permanent teams, and identified the barriers and facilitators that companies encounter while implementing them from the workers’ perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors applied an inductive method, the Grounded Theory, to develop a specific context theory using the information that emerged from a convenience sample of 182 workers in several countries.
Findings
The facilitators and barriers identified for the workers in the field study are aligned with those identified in previous studies, generally obtained using information provided by managers. The methodology enabled us to identify the relationships between them and their level of relevance.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitations were linked with the source of the data as the authors worked with a convenience sample and only analyzed the information provided by the workers.
Practical implications
The identified facilitators, their relationships and their relevance, contribute to understand the functioning phenomena of suggestion systems in permanent teams to facilitate organizations using this continuous improvement program more effectively.
Originality/value
The originality of this study, apart from identifying facilitators from the workers’ perspective, is that the used method enabled us to identify the relationships between them and know how the operators perceived their relevance.
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Carlos Dávila Ladrón de Guevara, Araceli Almaraz Alvarado and Mario Cerutti
Taking as reference a sample of around a hundred biographical materials on entrepreneurs in Mexico and Colombia, the purpose of this chapter is dual. Both to show the relevance…
Abstract
Taking as reference a sample of around a hundred biographical materials on entrepreneurs in Mexico and Colombia, the purpose of this chapter is dual. Both to show the relevance and varied modalities that the biographical approach has enjoyed in business history research since the 1990s, and to display the intrinsic potential this modality of scholarship entails for entrepreneurship endeavors. In particular, it discusses the prospects to incorporate this body of empirical works into the large Latin American audience attending undergraduate, graduate and executive education programs in business, economic history and related fields. The chapter is organized into three sections. The first two are devoted to illustrate relevant patterns in the entrepreneurial trajectory of individuals and entrepreneurial families studied in each of the two countries under consideration. The last section identifies some conceptual issues that may impact current debates on Latin American business development as exemplified in recent business and economic history journal venues and scholarly conferences.
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The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the profile of public administration concerning its capacity to authoritatively assign values to a society, and in particular to the…
Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the profile of public administration concerning its capacity to authoritatively assign values to a society, and in particular to the political system in Mexico. Many of the recent transformations in the Mexican public administration have occurred in a context in which a democratic opening of the political system has been the main trait of public life. This is the main light under which these changes in Mexico's federal public administration in recent years should be read.
The article explores the structural features of both the government and the federal public administration in Mexico. In particular, the transformation of the administrative apparatus not only in quantitative but also in qualitative terms is explained as a result of a change in the balance between the public and private sectors in recent decades, as well as the experience of the Professional Career Service and its impact on public officials in Mexico. We examine the links of the bureaucracy with political parties and civil society, as well as the political relationships within the public administration itself. We also describe accountability within the federal public administration. We explore recent reform and change processes in Mexico's administrative apparatus. Finally, some considerations are given to the opportunities and challenges facing the contemporary Mexican public administration as a result of having huge problems and at the same time partial solutions.
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Jorge Cegarra-Sánchez, Ettore Bolisani, Juan-Gabriel Cegarra-Navarro and Eva Martínez Caro
An online learning community is defined as the context where knowledge sharing takes place virtually. Prior research has revealed that it is fundamentally important for higher…
Abstract
Purpose
An online learning community is defined as the context where knowledge sharing takes place virtually. Prior research has revealed that it is fundamentally important for higher education institutions to leverage on internal and external sources of knowledge, which can improve the value of relational capital. However, in a higher education setting, the positive effects of relationship improvement because of knowledge sharing can be jeopardized by the circulation of unverified information (i.e. counter-knowledge). The purpose of this study has been to analyse if online learning communities can counteract the effects of counterknowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
This study examined the relevance of online learning communities to counteract counter-knowledge, along with how this, in turn, can affect the creation of relational capital from the perspective of 210 undergraduate students using partial least squares.
Findings
Results support that online learning communities may help universities to not only create relational capital but also contribute to clarify misunderstandings and prevent counter-knowledge learned from badly informed sources.
Originality/value
There has been very limited research aimed at developing an adequate framework to analyze the role played by unverified information in universities. Therefore, this study fills this gap and proposes a framework focusing on the concept of online learning communities.