Jacqui Cameron, Steven W. Bothwell, Ken Pidd and Nicole Lee
Risky alcohol use can reduce productivity at work and impact employees’ mental health and wellbeing. Several risk factors converge in male-dominated industries, which can increase…
Abstract
Purpose
Risky alcohol use can reduce productivity at work and impact employees’ mental health and wellbeing. Several risk factors converge in male-dominated industries, which can increase risky drinking and deteriorate mental health. This paper aims to explore the prevalence of risky drinking and psychological distress in a male-dominated industry compared with that in the general population.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from four manufacturing sites in Australia. In total, 450 workers were invited to participate in a survey that measured drinking behaviours using AUDIT-C and psychological distress using the K10, along with demographics including age, gender, job role and ethnicity. The observed outcome measures were compared with general population data available through publicly available data sets.
Findings
Surveys were returned by 341 employees, of which 319 completed AUDIT-C. AUDIT-C and K10 scores were significantly correlated (R = 0.31, p < 0.0001). Hazardous drinking was more prevalent among workers than in Australian general population (66.1% vs 23.6%). Binge drinking was greater among workers than in the general population (25.4% vs 26.5%). The difference was higher among female workers than among male workers (35.1% vs 10.8%).
Originality/value
The findings of this study show a significantly greater risk of alcohol-related harm among workers in male-dominated industries compared with that in the general population. This risk is more pronounced among women, who also experienced greater rates of moderate and high psychological distress compared with those experienced by the general population. A fitness-for-work approach is proposed to minimise alcohol-related harm among workers in male-dominated industries. Moreover, male-dominated industries are proposed to consider the interconnectivity of other workplace health and safety factors.
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Ken Pidd, Vinita Duraisingam, Ann Roche and Allan Trifonoff
Young Australian workers are at elevated risk of mental health and alcohol and other drug related problems. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
Young Australian workers are at elevated risk of mental health and alcohol and other drug related problems. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between alcohol and drug (AOD) use, psychological wellbeing, and the workplace psychosocial environment among young apprentices in the construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional survey of a cohort of 169 construction industry apprentices in their first year of training was undertaken. The survey included measures of psychological distress (K10), quantity/frequency measures of alcohol and illicit drug use, and workplace psychosocial factors.
Findings
Construction industry apprentices are at elevated risk of AOD related harm and poor mental health. Levels of psychological distress and substance use were substantially higher than age/gender equivalent Australian population norms. Job stress, workplace bullying, and general social support accounted for 38.2 per cent of the variance in psychological distress. General social support moderated the effects of job stress and bullying on psychological distress. Substance use was not associated with psychological distress. However, workplace social support accounted for 2.1 per cent of the variance in AUDIT-C scores, and 2.0 per cent of the variance in cannabis use. Workplace bullying explained 2.4 per cent of the variance in meth/amphetamine use.
Practical implications
Construction trades apprentices are a high-risk group for harmful substance use and poor mental health. Study results indicate that psychosocial wellbeing interventions are warranted as a harm reduction strategy.
Originality/value
This is the first study of its kind to describe a cohort of Australian construction trade apprentices in terms of their substance use and psychological wellbeing. The study shows workplace psychosocial factors may predict young workers psychological wellbeing.
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Rekha Rao-Nicholson, Peter Rodgers and Zaheer Khan
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relevance of academic research in the business and management studies stream to various stakeholders. The stakeholder theory is used to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relevance of academic research in the business and management studies stream to various stakeholders. The stakeholder theory is used to examine the influence of research on various key beneficiaries and investigate the link between the domain of research and locus of impact.
Design/methodology/approach
Research Excellence Framework 2014 (REF 2014) conducted in the UK provides a useful context and data for our research as REF 2014 encouraged universities to submit the information on research activities and their beneficiaries. This information is in the form of impact case studies which details the research, location of research and beneficiaries.
Findings
The findings suggest that research with an international focus has a positive impact on industry stakeholders, especially multinational corporations as well as non-governmental organizations. Second, it shows how research has made a commercial impact in innovation and small and medium enterprises’ growth while having limited impact on other domains such as social, legal, political and healthcare. More broadly, the findings indicate the degree of regional diversity. Also, the wider results-driven agenda in the UK can overestimate the research contribution to some stakeholders in the society.
Research limitations/implications
Self-selection bias as universities might submit only few case studies.
Practical implications
For research to generate long-term benefits for the wider society, it needs to engage more deeply with the whole range of stakeholders.
Originality/value
This study contributes to understanding how research is consumed by stakeholders. The results indicate that while locally relevant research encourages local consumption; it is not assimilated across various stakeholders.
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Thomas Thron, Gábor Nagy and Niaz Wassan
This paper sets out to investigate the impact of various supply chain advancements within a perishable goods environment.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper sets out to investigate the impact of various supply chain advancements within a perishable goods environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses discrete event simulation to evaluate diverse adjustments within the distribution framework of a food manufacturer and their major customers. Analysed aspects include level of safety inventory held, inventory issuing, replenishment and through‐put policies and increased demand transparency due to collaboration between manufacturer and various retailers. The importance and the impact of these factors are investigated using a wide variety of performance measures.
Findings
Several promising practice designs are generated and recommended for implementation to improve the experienced shortcomings. Engaging in collaborative replenishment is emphasized in particular even in cases of limited scope. The analysis further reveals the importance of advanced inventory dispatch policies.
Research limitations/implications
The research focused on the delivery framework of a particular manufacturer and the chosen products. Hence, research findings may differ and need to be modified before drawing conclusions for different products, companies or industries.
Originality/value
Evaluating the impact of various stages of collaboration within a perishable product supply chain environment has not been addressed much within prior SCM research. The analysis tackles a variety of issues that specifically arise within a perishable goods framework and aims to support practitioners by identifying possible pitfalls and areas of improvement.
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Thomas Thron, Gábor Nagy and Niaz Wassan
Most collaborative SCM research has focused on the ideal situation of a manufacturer engaging with all its downstream partners. In view of extensive entry costs, lack of trust or…
Abstract
Purpose
Most collaborative SCM research has focused on the ideal situation of a manufacturer engaging with all its downstream partners. In view of extensive entry costs, lack of trust or simply non‐suitability of electronic data processing systems this, however, provides only limited support to actual problems of many companies. The paper seeks to investigate various common supply chain performance measures to show what impact increasing adoption of collaborative replenishment between manufacturer and several major customers has on each market participant.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses discrete event simulation to evaluate various adjustments within the distribution frameworks of two food‐manufacturers and their major customers.
Findings
The analysis suggests that manufacturer and customers can substantially benefit from even a partial increase in demand visibility. This nevertheless can be costly since favouring some customers due to sharing a collaborative replenishment system, while others often seem to experience heavier delivery delays and declining service‐level.
Research limitations/implications
The research focused on the delivery framework of the two involved manufacturers and the chosen products. Hence, research findings may differ and need to be modified before drawing conclusions for different products, companies or industries.
Practical implications
The analysis aims to help practitioners to identify possible opportunities and threats within an expanding collaborative SC replenishment system.
Originality/value
Investigating heterogeneous delivery frameworks within an emerging collaboration system has not been addressed much within prior SCM research. It aims to help mainly small‐ or medium‐sized enterprises to reveal possible advantages and drawbacks within the process of emerging with a varying number of customers from a traditional predetermined reorder‐point into a collaborative VMI/CPFR system.
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This paper presents a model for equipment selection in earthmoving operations, utilizing multi‐attribute utility theory, analytical hierarchy process and computer simulation…
Abstract
This paper presents a model for equipment selection in earthmoving operations, utilizing multi‐attribute utility theory, analytical hierarchy process and computer simulation. Fleet configurations in the developed model are generated randomly from predefined fleet scenarios within a specified range. Simulation experiments are conducted for these generated configurations. The performance of these configurations is obtained from simulation experiments in the form of four measures which represent loader utilization, hauler utilization, project duration and project total cost. The utility values which represent the degree of satisfaction with those measures are estimated. These utility values are multiplied by their corresponding measures’ weights, calculated utilizing the analytical hierarchy process, in order to estimate the expected utility for each configured fleet. The fleet configuration that has the largest utility value is selected as the optimum fleet for the case at hand. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the different features of the developed model.
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Mohammad Reza Fathi, Mohammad Hasan Maleki, Seyed Mohammad Sobhani and Can Deniz Koksal
The purpose of this study is to formulate exploratory scenarios of Operations Research through the critical uncertainty approach and Soft Systems Methodology.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to formulate exploratory scenarios of Operations Research through the critical uncertainty approach and Soft Systems Methodology.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, to formulate plausible scenarios, the discipline of operation research internal and external experts’ opinions of this field have been gathered through Delphi approach and uncertainty questionnaires. After use of the most important uncertainties, plausible scenarios of operations research have been mapped with the help of experts through co-thinking workshops.
Findings
Four scenarios are presented in this study. These scenarios include Solar System, Esfandiar's Eye, Rival’s Setraps and Legendary Simurgh. Naturally, the imagination of such a unitary future for all academic communities is an expectation far from reality, and given the conditions of each of these futures or any integration of them is imaginable.
Originality/value
Operations Research models have been faced with variously multiple changes since its emergence until now. Investigation into the future of operations research on the necessity for his planning has not received a reasonable notice in the literature. Sporadic activities that have been carried out are also lacking in the necessary methodology. Also, there has been no research about future study using the soft Operation Research tools (Soft Systems Methodology).
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Roberta Hill, Tony Bullard, Phillip Capper, Kathryn Hawes and Ken Wilson
This paper reports findings from five case studies of New Zealand organisations that introduced new initiatives such as TQM and “learning organisation” concepts as a result of…
Abstract
This paper reports findings from five case studies of New Zealand organisations that introduced new initiatives such as TQM and “learning organisation” concepts as a result of facing a business environment of continuous change and uncertainty. The case studies, carried out between 1993‐96, highlight seven crucial limitations in the debate about the appropriate skills for such environments. Research findings also provide: evidence of the core skills that employees and managers need for such environments; and a new paradigm of the critical organisational characteristics, culture and form that facilitate learning in these conditions; and the implications for managers, human resource practitioners and training providers.