Laszlo Hetey, Eddy Neefs, Ian Thomas, Joe Zender, Ann-Carine Vandaele, Sophie Berkenbosch, Bojan Ristic, Sabrina Bonnewijn, Sofie Delanoye, Mark Leese, Jon Mason and Manish Patel
This paper aims to describe the development of a knowledge management system (KMS) for the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery (NOMAD) instrument on board the ESA/Roscosmos…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe the development of a knowledge management system (KMS) for the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery (NOMAD) instrument on board the ESA/Roscosmos 2016 ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) spacecraft. The KMS collects knowledge acquired during the engineering process that involved over 30 project partners. In addition to the documentation and technical data (explicit knowledge), a dedicated effort was made to collect the gained experience (tacit knowledge) that is crucial for the operational phase of the TGO mission and also for future projects. The system is now in service and provides valuable information for the scientists and engineers working with NOMAD.
Design/methodology/approach
The NOMAD KMS was built around six areas: official documentation, technical specifications and test results, lessons learned, management data (proposals, deliverables, progress reports and minutes of meetings), picture files and movie files. Today, the KMS contains 110 GB of data spread over 11,000 documents and more than 13,000 media files. A computer-aided design (CAD) library contains a model of the full instrument as well as exported sub-parts in different formats. A context search engine for both documents and media files was implemented.
Findings
The conceived KMS design is basic, flexible and very robust. It can be adapted to future projects of a similar size.
Practical implications
The paper provides practical guidelines on how to retain the knowledge from a larger aerospace project. The KMS tool presented here works offline, requires no maintenance and conforms to data protection standards.
Originality/value
This paper shows how knowledge management requirements for space missions can be fulfilled. The paper demonstrates how to transform the large collection of project data into a useful tool and how to address usability aspects.
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Sabina Cerimagic, Nariman Ahmadi, Howard Gurney, Tania Hossack and Manish I. Patel
– The purpose of this paper is to examine ethnic Australian urological cancer patients and the positive life changes that those patients report after cancer diagnosis.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine ethnic Australian urological cancer patients and the positive life changes that those patients report after cancer diagnosis.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 50 Australian urological cancer patients of ethnic origin were chosen to participate in this study. One-on-one semi structured interviews were conducted with the patients.
Findings
Cancer diagnosis often serves as an impetus for making positive lifestyle changes. Most (98 per cent) of this study’s participants reported that they made positive lifestyle changes following a diagnosis of cancer. Those positive lifestyle changes include: greater appreciation of health and life (100 per cent); improved diet (94 per cent); closer relationships with family and friends (90 per cent); more frequent visits to the doctor for check-ups (74 per cent); increased physical activity (48 per cent); starting a new hobby (36 per cent); greater knowledge about their health in general (32 per cent) and increased spirituality (22 per cent).
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of this study is the small sample of patients with ethnic diversity specific to western Sydney. Larger multicentre studies across Australia are required to confirm the findings. Additionally, this study focused on positive life changes, because 98 per cent of the participants reported positive lifestyle changes after diagnosis. However, there are related negative health behaviour changes, which this study has not addressed in depth. Furthermore, a comparison between positive life changes of ethnic Australian patients’ against the experience of post cancer diagnosis of non-ethnic Australian patients could investigate this issue further and possibly provide further insight.
Originality/value
The majority (98 per cent) of the participants report positive lifestyle changes following urological cancer diagnoses. The patient population of predominantly elderly (84 per cent), males (90 per cent) differs from the current literate which states that positive lifestyle changes (posttraumatic growth) are mainly found to be significantly correlated to being female, younger and non-white and greater event severity.
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Sabina Cerimagic, Nariman Ahmadi, Howard Gurney and Manish I. Patel
– The purpose of this paper is to examine doctor-patient communication, focusing on ethnic Australian urological cancer patients.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine doctor-patient communication, focusing on ethnic Australian urological cancer patients.
Design/methodology/approach
Samples of 50 Australian urological cancer patients of ethnic origin were chosen to participate in this study. The patients completed a 31-question survey, followed by a one-on-one semi-structured 30-40-minute interview with the patient.
Findings
Most (90 per cent, n=45) of the patients indicated that they can communicate with their doctor without feeling stereotyped or judged. However, despite these responses 48 per cent (n=24) of the patients reported they did not ask for the doctor to explain the medical terms or meanings they did not understand. This resulted in 46 per cent (n=23) of the patients not knowing the stage of their cancer.
Research limitations/implications
This is only a pilot study and the sample was limited to 50 patients. The limitations of this study make the results of the findings more suggestive rather than definitive. Further research would benefit by repeating this study with a larger sample size, to address the shortcomings of the study and to venture further into the realm of doctor and overseas patients communication in Australia.
Practical implications
This research found that patients from lower socioeconomic backgrounds for whom English is not their first language have low levels of medical literacy and therefore require additional written information about their illness and treatment such as informative brochures, educational booklets and educational videos on their illness.
Originality/value
To the knowledge, this is the first study that focuses on ethnic Australian urological cancer patients and their doctor-patient communication.
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Manish Mohan Baral, Subhodeep Mukherjee, Ramji Nagariya, Bharat Singh Patel, Anchal Pathak and Venkataiah Chittipaka
The micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) faced various challenges in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, making it challenging to remain competitive and survive in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) faced various challenges in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, making it challenging to remain competitive and survive in the market. This research develops a model for MSMEs to cope with the current pandemic's operational and supply chain disruptions and similar circumstances.
Design/methodology/approach
The exhaustive literature review helped in identifying the constructs, their items and five hypotheses are developed. The responses were collected from the experts working in MSMEs. Total 311 valid responses were received, and the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used for testing and validating the proposed model.
Findings
Critical constructs identified for the study are-flexibility (FLE), collaboration (COL), risk management culture (RMC) and digitalization (DIG). The statistical analysis indicated that the four latent variables, flexibility, digitalization, risk management culture and collaboration, contribute significantly to the firm performance of MSMEs. Organizational resilience (ORS) mediates the effects of all the four latent variables on firm performance (FP) of MSMEs.
Practical implications
The current study's findings will be fruitful for the manufacturing MSMEs and other firms in developing countries. It will enable them to identify the practices that significantly help in achieving the firm performance.
Originality/value
The previous researches have not considered the effect of “organizational resilience” on the “firm performance” of MSMEs. This study attempts to fill this gap.
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Subhodeep Mukherjee, Ramji Nagariya, Manish Mohan Baral, Bharat Singh Patel, Venkataiah Chittipaka, K. Srinivasa Rao and U.V. Adinarayana Rao
The circular economy is a production and consumption model that encourages people to share, lease, reuse, repair, refurbish and recycle existing materials and products for as long…
Abstract
Purpose
The circular economy is a production and consumption model that encourages people to share, lease, reuse, repair, refurbish and recycle existing materials and products for as long as possible. The blockchain-based circular economy is being used in many industries worldwide, but Indian electronic MSMEs face many problems in adopting a blockchain-based circular economy. The research aims to discover the barriers the electronic MSMEs face in adopting a blockchain-based circular economy and pull back from achieving environmental sustainability in their operations.
Design/methodology/approach
Fifteen barriers are identified from the literature review and finalized with experts' opinions. These barriers are evaluated by using interpretive structural modeling (ISM), MICMAC analysis and fuzzy TOPSIS method.
Findings
Lack of support from distribution channels, lack of traceability mechanism and customer attitudes toward purchasing remanufactured goods are identified as the most critical barriers.
Practical implications
The study will benchmark the electronic MSMEs in achieving environmental sustainability in the blockchain-based circular economy.
Originality/value
It is a study that not only establishes a hierarchical relationship among the barriers of blockchain adoption in Indian electronic MSMEs but also verifies the results with fuzzy TOPSIS method.
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Subhodeep Mukherjee, Manish Mohan Baral, B. Latha Lavanya, Ramji Nagariya, Bharat Singh Patel and Venkataiah Chittipaka
Blockchain can track the material from the manufacturer to the end customers. Therefore, it can ensure the product's authenticity, transparency and trust in the retail supply…
Abstract
Purpose
Blockchain can track the material from the manufacturer to the end customers. Therefore, it can ensure the product's authenticity, transparency and trust in the retail supply chain (SC). There is a need to trace and track the retail products before it reaches the customers to check the quality of the products so that expired products can be recycled and reused, which in turn will help gain customers' trust. This research aims to investigate retail employees' behavioural intention to adopt blockchain in the retail SC.
Design/methodology/approach
To examine the behavioural intention of employees in the retail SC, the research uses three theories – the technology acceptance model; the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology; and the theory of planned behaviour. The technology acceptance model measures the employee's acceptance of blockchain in the retail SC. The unified theory of acceptance is used in this research to measure how blockchain adoption will improve the performance of the employees. The theory of planned behaviour is used in this research to measure whether the employees intend to adopt blockchain. A survey was carried out in the retail stores of India. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used for data analysis.
Findings
This study found that the employees of the retail stores have a positive intention and attitude to adopt blockchain technology. Further, it was found that perceived behavioural control and effort expectancy was not promoting blockchain adoption in the retail sector.
Practical implications
This study will help the retail stores' employees understand the blockchain in their operations and will motivate the top management of the retail companies to adopt this technology. The study is limited to the retail SC in India only.
Originality/value
This study uses three theories technology acceptance model; the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology; and the theory of planned behaviour, which were not used in earlier studies of blockchain adoption in the retail SC.
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Subhodeep Mukherjee, Manish Mohan Baral, Venkataiah Chittipaka, Ramji Nagariya and Bharat Singh Patel
This research investigates the adoption of the industrial Internet of things (IIoT) in SMEs to achieve and increase organizational performance. With the latest technology, small…
Abstract
Purpose
This research investigates the adoption of the industrial Internet of things (IIoT) in SMEs to achieve and increase organizational performance. With the latest technology, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can create a competitive edge in the market and better serve customers.
Design/methodology/approach
Twelve hypotheses are proposed for this study. This study constructed a questionnaire based on technological, organizational, environmental and human perspectives. A survey is conducted on the SMEs of India using the questionnaire.
Findings
Eight hypotheses were accepted, and four hypotheses were not supported. The hypotheses rejected are infrastructure, organizational readiness, internal excellence and prior experience. The findings suggested that adopting IIoT in SMEs will increase organizational performance.
Research limitations/implications
This study will be helpful for the manager, top management and policymakers. This study identified the areas SMEs need to work on to adopt the technologies.
Originality/value
In the literature, no article considered IIoT adoption in SME firms as a human factor. Therefore, this study is unique, including human, technological, organizational and environmental factors.
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Manu Sharma, Manish Gupta and Sudhanshu Joshi
The purpose of the study is twofold. The first objective is to identify adoption barriers (AdoBs) in engaging young consumers in the Omni-channel retailing (OCR). The second…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is twofold. The first objective is to identify adoption barriers (AdoBs) in engaging young consumers in the Omni-channel retailing (OCR). The second objective is to develop interrelationship among identified AdoBs.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used interpretative structural modeling–fuzzy ( Matriced’ Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée a UN Classement) methods on 18 AdoBs identified from the existing literature and validated from 10 experts and 137 young consumers through pairwise comparison using the arithmetic hierarchical process method. The resulting ten barriers were further investigated for identifying the strength of relationships among them.
Findings
The study has identified price inconsistency as the dominant AdoB that restricts young consumers in engaging with OCR. The other critical AdoBs include lack of coordination among the channels, and information sharing and inconsistent price discount are the main barriers that affect all the other barriers among the 10 AdoBs identified in this study. The data also revealed that the young consumers exhibit the research-online purchase-offline effect in the purchase process.
Research limitations/implications
The research study has undertaken ten barriers only. The interrelationship among the barriers may be tested further with advanced techniques. The data have been collected from young consumers of emerging markets only which may be further extended for other markets.
Practical implications
This study helps practitioners and decision-makers understand about AdoBs faced by the young consumers influencing the purchase-intention process. Retailers or marketers are encouraged to focus on price consistency, advanced shared information system, proper coordination and developing trust of consumers in sharing their data to enhance the acceptability of Omni channels. Moreover, the identification of barriers and their strength offer marketers or retailers an opportunity to engage them in an effective manner and thus create value using communication channels.
Social implications
Social benefits of understanding barriers are helpful for transforming the existing retail channel into a fully integrated Omni-channel ecosystem. For this, AdoBs identified and their inter-relationships explored in this study could be used for engaging young consumers in OCR.
Originality/value
To date, the research on Omni-channel barriers in the present context is scant. The research provides insides on identified dimensions on young consumer engagement in OCR.
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Tanushree Mahato, Manish Kumar Jha, Akhaya Kumar Nayak and Neelam Kaushal
The purpose of the paper is to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis and systematic review to examine the research landscape of women empowerment through participation in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis and systematic review to examine the research landscape of women empowerment through participation in self-help groups (SHGs), identifying the eminent contributors, intellectual communities and future research agenda in the field of SHGs and women empowerment.
Design/methodology/approach
The global works of literature related to the theme of SHGs and women empowerment between 1998 and May 6, 2022 were scanned for bibliometric analysis and systematic review. A total of 176 English language documents from the Scopus database were extracted. Bibliometric analysis is conducted using Biblioshiny and VOSviewer software.
Findings
This study finds that SHGs are paramount in achieving rural women’s empowerment multidimensionally. Found that India is the most contributing country with 136 documents, and Ranjula Bali Swain and Fan Yang Wallentin are the most cited authors in the research field of SHGs and women empowerment. In addition, the paper proposes a comprehensive conceptual framework to portray rudimentary antecedents of women’s empowerment achieved through participation in SHGs.
Practical implications
This bibliometric analysis, along with a systematic review demonstrating a framework encapsulating the principal dimensions of women empowerment and their indicators, will be helpful to practitioners, government, policymakers and researchers working in the area of SHGs and women empowerment.
Originality/value
This study recognizes numerous significant contributions by eminent scholars and presents a concise review of the literature for novice researchers working in the area of SHGs and women empowerment.
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Dheeraj Joshi, M.L. Mittal, Milind Kumar Sharma and Manish Kumar
The purpose of this paper is to consider one of the recent and practical extensions of the resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) termed as the multi-skill…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider one of the recent and practical extensions of the resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) termed as the multi-skill resource-constrained project scheduling problem (MSRCPSP) for investigation. The objective is the minimization of the makespan or total project duration.
Design/methodology/approach
To solve this complex problem, the authors propose a teaching–learning-based optimization (TLBO) algorithm in which self-study and examination have been used as additional features to enhance its exploration and exploitation capabilities. An activity list-based encoding scheme has been modified to include the resource assignment information because of the multi-skill nature of the algorithm. In addition, a genetic algorithm (GA) is also developed in this work for the purpose of comparisons. The computational experiments are performed on 216 test instances with varying complexity and characteristics generated for the purpose.
Findings
The results obtained after computations show that the TLBO has performed significantly better than GA in terms of average percentage deviation from the critical path-based lower bound for different combinations of three parameters, namely, skill factor, network complexity and modified resource strength.
Research limitations/implications
The modified TLBO proposed in this paper can be conveniently applied to any product or service organization wherein human resources are involved in executing project activities.
Practical implications
The developed model can suitably handle resource allocation problems faced in real-life large-sized projects usually administered in software development companies, consultancy firms, R&D-based organizations, maintenance firms, big construction houses, etc. wherein human resources are involved.
Originality/value
The current work aims to propose an effective metaheuristic for a more realistic version of MSRCPSP, in which resource requirements of activities may be more than one. Moreover, to enhance the exploration and exploitation capabilities of the original TLBO, the authors use two additional concepts, namely, self-study and examination in the search process.