Musa Dauda Hassan and Dietmar Wolfram
The purpose of this study is to examine the information needs and seeking behaviors of African refugees in the Midwest United States. The research also investigates the sources…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the information needs and seeking behaviors of African refugees in the Midwest United States. The research also investigates the sources participants consulted and their satisfaction with their information seeking and the information found.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative research study recruited 18 African refugees to participate in one or more data collection modes used in the study (questionnaire, interview, focus group). The data were analyzed using qualitative open, axial and selective coding approaches to identify themes.
Findings
The analysis of the data collected provides evidence that refugees had specific information needs centered on housing, health care, employment and education. They were not necessarily satisfied with the information they were able to find. Participants reported initially relying heavily on their caseworkers as sources of information when they first arrived in the United States until they were able to establish larger networks of contacts, which then expanded their information behaviors.
Research limitations/implications
The number of participants and regional focus of the study do not allow for generalization of the findings to all African refugees in the United States. Still, the findings shed light on how to better serve the information needs of African refugees to help them adjust to life in their new environment.
Practical implications
The findings of the study provide guidance for agencies that assist African refugees in adjusting to life in the United States.
Originality/value
This study represents one of the few investigations of the information needs and seeking behaviors of African refugees in the United States.
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Md. Anowar Hossain Bhuiyan, Md. Abud Darda and Md. Belal Hossain
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) influences an organization in deciding its ethical approaches in the corporate practices and also important to maintain sustainable…
Abstract
Purpose
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) influences an organization in deciding its ethical approaches in the corporate practices and also important to maintain sustainable development. Islamic banks are capturing almost 40% of the total bank account holders in Bangladesh and contributing to the socio-economic and environmental development of the country through their CSR activities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of CSR activities of Islamic banks for sustainable development in Bangladesh from the perception of the beneficiaries.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on a questionnaire survey of 200 conveniently selected beneficiaries from five purposively selected Islamic banks in Bangladesh. Respondents’ agreement score for various CSR-related activities has been observed in a five-point Likert scale and, finally, to identify the impact of CSR, exploratory factor analysis has been done.
Findings
Results revealed that respondents are expressing strong agreement for almost all the activities, and they are much satisfied with ongoing CSR activities by Islamic banks, which implies positive attitudes of beneficiaries regarding CSR activities. The results of factor analysis further confirm the perception of respondents toward CSR activities of Islamic banks in terms of social enhancement, education and health, socio-economic well-being and contemporary arts and culture.
Originality/value
The Islamic banks should enhance their CSR activities for socio-economic development, provide more allocation in education programs, increase sponsorship in sports events and assist in flourishing Bangladeshi arts and culture.
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Nila Armelia Windasari, Ni Putu Desinthya Ayu Azhari and Ilham Fauzan Putra
This study aims to examine customer preferences toward Sharia hospitals and to provide a new viewpoint by looking at consumers’ perspectives on choosing health-care services…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine customer preferences toward Sharia hospitals and to provide a new viewpoint by looking at consumers’ perspectives on choosing health-care services. Despite the growing demand for halal products, halal services, particularly hospital and Sharia-based health-care services, receive very little attention in the literature compared to other Sharia-type services such as Sharia banking, insurance or even hospitality. Previous research on health care discussed under the Sharia perspective mainly focused on service quality, directing discussions to the service providers’ perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses choice-based conjoint analysis to examine customer preferences toward Sharia health-care service. There are five attributes with three levels each. To reduce respondent fatigue, the authors used SPSS Orthoplan to generate an orthogonal factorial design, which resulted in 21 choice cards. Cross-sectional data were collected from an online survey using a platform from Populix, an independent panel survey provider, to ensure no sample selection bias. A total of 270 responses were obtained to represent Muslim populations across Indonesia.
Findings
The results showed that the highest preference is highly rated to the familiarity and certification of the hospital brand that implies trust and guarantees to add value with the existence of halal certification for hospitals. In addition, this study revealed that Sharia services have higher positive signals over the physical infrastructure in determining preferences. On the other hand, add-on components that support the integration of other halal industries, such as halal culinary tourism, halal tourism and integration with transportation and halal accommodation, are still minor in the current preference.
Originality/value
Previous research on health care discussed under the Sharia perspective mainly focused on service quality, which directs the discussions to the service providers’ perspectives. This study provides a new point of view by looking at consumers’ perspectives about their preferences and decisions to choose a Sharia hospital.
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Kamel A. Fantazy, Syed Awais Ahmad Tipu and Vinod Kumar
– The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework conceptualizing the relative openness of a supply chain and its impact on organizational performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework conceptualizing the relative openness of a supply chain and its impact on organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The literature on system theory and the attributes of supply chain management are used to develop a framework describing the relative openness of a supply chain.
Findings
Different supply chain terminologies – such as adaptive supply chain network, best value supply chain, and open inter-organizational system – partially draw upon the basic premises of an open system. The relative openness of a supply chain and, consequently, the dynamics of different supply chain attributes remain understudied. This supports the idea that an open system perspective of the supply chain is imperative to improve the understanding of the influence of supply chain openness on organizational performance.
Originality/value
The conceptual framework posits that different supply chain attributes affect the openness of supply chain to a varying degree which ultimately influences the organizational performance. The proposed framework and research propositions will serve as a springboard for conducting future empirical studies.
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Rashmi Ranjan Panigrahi, Duryodhan Jena, Jamini Ranjan Meher and Avinash K. Shrivastava
This study aims to examine the effect of supply chain agility (SCA) on operational performance (OP) measurements of steel manufacturing firms. It also investigates the role of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the effect of supply chain agility (SCA) on operational performance (OP) measurements of steel manufacturing firms. It also investigates the role of cost efficiencies concerning enhance OPs.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on an experimental research design by collecting data from responses 398 responses of key officials of India’s steel manufacturing firms. Analyses are carried to explore this modern concept with the help of Smart-partial least square (PLS) version 3.3.2 with confirmatory factor analysis and PLS structural equational modelling.
Findings
SCA factor (SCAF) directly has influenced the firm’s OP. It also represents cost efficiencies that have partial mediation between the SCAF and OP. The impact of cost efficiencies on OPs is strongly significant as compared to the impact of SCAF on cost efficiencies.
Practical implications
Management teams in the manufacturing industry should stress the role of SCA as a comprehensive concept in responding to market needs in a volatile environment. SCA reflects one of its winning strategies in today’s dynamic and competitive world. Managers must thoroughly know the ramifications of agility to develop a mechanism for determining the procedures and identifying inequality in SC operation.
Originality/value
This study speaks explicitly about the linkage between SCAF, OP, CE. It is an addition to the existing theories of RBV. Enhancements in OP measurements, specifically performance and flexibility, will lead to better firm performance. study conceptualizing the complementing effects of SCA (IS capability) and OPs and second cost efficiencies play positive partial mediating effect in between the link. The achievement of SC agile is especially a critical approach to Boost customer satisfaction and differentiate market position.
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Abubakar Sani Halilu, Arunava Majumder, Mohammed Yusuf Waziri, Kabiru Ahmed and Aliyu Muhammed Awwal
The purpose of this research is to propose a new choice of nonnegative parameter t in Dai–Liao conjugate gradient method.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to propose a new choice of nonnegative parameter t in Dai–Liao conjugate gradient method.
Design/methodology/approach
Conjugate gradient algorithms are used to solve both constrained monotone and general systems of nonlinear equations. This is made possible by combining the conjugate gradient method with the Newton method approach via acceleration parameter in order to present a derivative-free method.
Findings
A conjugate gradient method is presented by proposing a new Dai–Liao nonnegative parameter. Furthermore the proposed method is successfully applied to handle the application in motion control of the two joint planar robotic manipulators.
Originality/value
The proposed algorithm is a new approach that will not either submitted or publish somewhere.
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Sourabh Kumar and Mukesh Kumar Barua
This research identifies the supply chain performance indices and designs an evaluation framework to assess and compare the Indian petroleum supply chain performance. We presented…
Abstract
Purpose
This research identifies the supply chain performance indices and designs an evaluation framework to assess and compare the Indian petroleum supply chain performance. We presented a case study of three Indian petroleum companies. For this purpose, we identified fifteen performance criteria extracted from previous literature and expert inputs and classified them into four groups.
Design/methodology/approach
A fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) method is employed for evaluating the performance of the Indian petroleum supply chain.
Findings
The design and evaluation framework suggests that the top three performance measurement criteria, the purity of the products, compliance with environmental laws, and new technology adoption. The result findings also indicate that company C contributes to a maximum satisfaction level of 77%. Simultaneously, companies A and B hold satisfaction levels of 72% and 67%.
Practical implications
The managers should ensure that environmental standards, new technology adoption, and quality are significant concerns in the petroleum supply chain. The managers should follow national and international policies to preserve the environment and ensure safety in operational activities.
Originality/value
This paper makes two contributions in the domain of performance measurement of the petroleum supply chain. First, it identifies the prominent supply chain performance indices. Second, it proposes a model to assess and compare the performance of Indian petroleum companies.