Marianne Bradford, Dave Henderson, Ryan J. Baxter and Patricia Navarro
As technology integration in auditing continues to grow, it is important to understand how auditors perceive connections between use of generalized audit software (GAS) and audit…
Abstract
Purpose
As technology integration in auditing continues to grow, it is important to understand how auditors perceive connections between use of generalized audit software (GAS) and audit benefits.
Design/methodology/approach
The DeLone and McLean information systems success model (2003) is adapted with audit-related uses of GAS as antecedents to information quality. Survey data on 188 current users of GAS, who are financial and IT auditors, is analyzed with partial least squares method.
Findings
For financial auditors, detecting material misstatements antecedent is the only significant indicator of information quality for GAS. For IT auditors, detecting control deficiencies and fraud significantly impacts information quality. Information quality influences use for both auditors; however, it only influences satisfaction with GAS for financial auditors. System quality impacts GAS satisfaction for only IT auditors and has no impact on GAS use for either type of auditor. Service quality influences use of GAS for financial, but not IT auditors. For both groups, service quality has no impact on satisfaction with GAS, and GAS use and satisfaction with GAS positively increases their perceptions of audit benefits.
Originality/value
Financial and IT auditors who use GAS are both focused on matching GAS use with their primary audit objectives. Results suggest that as GAS use increases, system quality may be important to satisfaction. Training should first focus on the usefulness of GAS to the audit to increase extent of use. Lastly, the more auditors use GAS and are satisfied with it, the greater their perception GAS contributing directly to benefit the audit.
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Laura P. Lopez-Arredondo, Cynthia B. Perez, Jesus Villavicencio-Navarro, Kathya E. Mercado, Martin Encinas and Patricia Inzunza-Mejia
The purpose of this paper is to address the need of a reengineering of the software development process in a Mexican technology services company. In general, the main risk faced…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the need of a reengineering of the software development process in a Mexican technology services company. In general, the main risk faced by small- and medium-sized software developers (SMEs) is the inability to meet delivery times or to adjust to project requirements, whether through lack of follow-up on the critical activities of the development process or through an inadequate distribution of workloads among members of the project team.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used to carry out the reengineering of the software development process is Hammer and Champy, which consists of six stages: introduction to the current situation of the company and the need for change; identification of the business processes; selection of the business process to be redesigned; understanding of the process selected; proposal for reengineering the business process selected; and the results of the comparison between the current situation of the process and the proposed reengineering of the process through the use of Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN 2.0).
Findings
Based on the results, the paper shows the importance of the analysis and implementation of the reengineering in a software development company. It describes step-by-step how to apply the methodology of Hammer and Champy in a business process through simulated scenarios, using BPMN 2.0. By carrying out the implementation of the proposed reengineering, the company would therefore save 45.12 percent of costs, 41.17 percent of time, and a better distribution of resources, at the same time guaranteeing the satisfaction of its clients.
Originality/value
The study addresses the current needs of small- and medium-sized software developers, providing a step-by-step guide to the implementation of a process reengineering methodology, performing an analysis and modeling of processes in BPMN 2.0 and providing results through a simulation of the critical process, with the aim to observe the flow of activities and the significant improvements that would be achieved by implementing the reengineering proposal. This simulation schema allows business owners to observe the potential of the changes and to verify the positive impact they would have on the company before beginning to make operational changes in the organization.
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Natalia Vorobiova, Patrícia Pinto, Pedro Pintassilgo and Joice Lavandoski
This paper addresses the motivations of tourists who visit the region of La Rioja, Spain, which is well known for its internationally recognized, high-quality wines, yet remains…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper addresses the motivations of tourists who visit the region of La Rioja, Spain, which is well known for its internationally recognized, high-quality wines, yet remains understudied as a wine tourism destination. The paper aims to ascertain whether tourists are attracted to La Rioja because of its famous wines and wine-related activities or if other motivations exist.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were derived from 217 questionnaires regarding tourists’ motivations. A tourist survey was applied in La Rioja’s capital city, Logroño, and segmentation analysis was undertaken. The data were first grouped into five factors regarding motivations for one’s visit. These factors were then used to create two clusters: “wine tourists” and “other tourists”.
Findings
The results enabled us to detect different segments of tourists. The existence of two clusters suggests that tourists are motivated to visit the region for various reasons that are not necessarily wine-related. Thus, the region should be marketed to tourists beyond the theme of wine, as there is a demand for diverse experiences.
Originality/value
Using the push and pull theory, this study contributes to the literature on the profile of visitors to wine tourism destinations by identifying differences in terms of motivations and other personal characteristics between “wine tourists” and the “other tourists”. It also adds to the few existing studies on wine tourism segmentation in Spain through its focus on La Rioja, which is one of the most famous Spanish wine tourism destinations.
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This paper aims to offer Sitio San Roque, an informal settlement in the Philippines as a case study to explore long-term "forgetful" urban development planning in the Philippines…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to offer Sitio San Roque, an informal settlement in the Philippines as a case study to explore long-term "forgetful" urban development planning in the Philippines, and the renewed visibility of the urban poor under COVID-19 lockdown. It connects scholarship on informality to issues of housing and political rights in Metro Manila to further investigate how vulnerable communities in the Global South are faring in the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an exploration of Sitio San Roque, an informal settler community in Metropolitan "Metro" Manila, Philippines. This paper refers to recent journalistic reports pertaining to the community's ongoing evictions and arrests while under Metro Manila's "enhanced community quarantine." Furthermore, it converses with literature from disciplines including health-care policy, urban studies and recent studies on COVID-19 and vulnerable communities to critically discuss the plight of the urban poor in the pandemic-stricken Metro Manila.
Findings
The urban poor and members of informal communities such as Sitio San Roque are especially vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 because of precarious livelihoods and housing instability. The creation of informality in Metro Manila can be traced to political tensions, economic agendas and development planning since the time of Marcos' administration and also to global restructuring during the 1990s. However, also important to note is that under Metro Manila's lockdown, informal settlers are further disenfranchised and stigmatized via ongoing demolitions and evictions, as well as by processes of policing and criminalization by the state. The use of military and police personnel as a way to enforce lockdown in the metropolis further impedes on the rights of informal settlers and the urban poor.
Originality/value
Recent scholarship and reports discuss the challenges for informal communities and the urban poor in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly due to their housing conditions and loss of economic stability. This paper contributes to a critical understanding of these issues by adding the dimensions of political and housing rights. It refers to the case study of members of Sitio San Roque, who have experienced continuous threats of demolitions and arrests by state police for protesting the lack of government aid under lockdown. Both military approaches of governance and housing informality work in tandem to expose the vulnerabilities of the urban poor in Metro Manila's pandemic. Finally, this paper extends on urban studies scholar Gavin Shatkin's concept of “forgetful planning” (2004) by applying his discussions to the current context. Informal settlers have long been “forgotten” by the state's development plans, but are now remembered and deemed more visible in Metro Manila's ECQ.
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Santiago Martinez, Alberto Jardon, Jose Maria Navarro and Patricia Gonzalez
The increasing of mechanization levels used in tasks execution in construction, as a way to increase productivity, requires its rationalization, the adoption of new assembly‐ready…
Abstract
Purpose
The increasing of mechanization levels used in tasks execution in construction, as a way to increase productivity, requires its rationalization, the adoption of new assembly‐ready materials and methods, and the application of robotics capabilities. In this way, using concepts as design for manufacture and assembly and lean construction, modular products can be developed for their assembly by robotics systems onsite. This paper aims to review developments.
Design/methodology/approach
A brief review of a different approach to the practical introduction of robotics technologies in the modular building process is presented.
Findings
A higher automation level is desirable in order to achieve the productivity levels of other industries. This discussion shows how concepts related to lean production are applied to the design of new materials and products with different levels of finishing that make modular assembly possible. Also a discussion of where and when the automation of assembly tasks is affordable is presented from a logistic point of view.
Originality/value
An analysis of onsite and mobile manufacturing facilities is considered, based on the authors' experiences in two European Union projects focused on modular assembly applied to the building industry: FutureHome and ManuBuild. Re the first, the robotized assembly of the modular structural 3D elements shows how careful design of modules and automatic cranes permits unmanned precision assembly. Re the second, a small modular piping system (service core) is designed for proving the viability of an onsite mobile factory.
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Yuting Xiao, Xi Zhang and Patricia Ordóñez de Pablos
This study aims to explore the complex relationship between leadership and organizational knowledge sharing by investigating the moderating role of exchange ideology on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the complex relationship between leadership and organizational knowledge sharing by investigating the moderating role of exchange ideology on the relation between transformational leadership in attributed charisma and knowledge sharing and the influence of attributed charisma and knowledge sharing on task performance. The influence of leadership in organizational knowledge sharing process has been gradually highlighted.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the review of relevant literature and survey, a structural equation model considering four factors in the model together is now constructed and provides four hypotheses which can be verified. Self-completed questionnaires were collected from 163 students in the context of a graduate class in China.
Findings
The findings illustrate the relationship between leadership theory and knowledge sharing from a perspective of social exchange theory. In particular, results show that both transformational leadership and knowledge sharing have positive impacts to task performance and for individuals with low exchange ideology the positive influence from attributed charisma to knowledge sharing is stronger.
Originality/value
This research introduces exchange ideology as a moderator and explains the complex relationship between transformational leadership and knowledge sharing with sufficient proof. Transformational leadership in attributed charisma is more effective to those individuals with low exchange ideology in facilitating their knowledge effort. This paper can be theoretically and practically helpful to researchers and enterprise leaders in organizational knowledge management.
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Philip DeCicca, Donald Kenkel, Feng Liu and Hua Wang
The U.S. 2009 Tobacco Control Act opened the door for new antismoking policies by giving the Food and Drug Administration broad regulatory authority over the tobacco industry. We…
Abstract
The U.S. 2009 Tobacco Control Act opened the door for new antismoking policies by giving the Food and Drug Administration broad regulatory authority over the tobacco industry. We develop a behavioral welfare economics approach to conduct cost-benefit analysis of FDA tobacco regulations. We use a simple two-period model to develop expressions for the impact of tobacco control policies on social welfare. Our model includes: nudge and paternalistic regulations; an excise tax on cigarettes; internalities created by period 1 versus period 2 consumption; and externalities from cigarette consumption. Our analytical expressions show that in the presence of uncorrected internalities and externalities, a nudge or a tax to reduce cigarette consumption improves social welfare. In sharp contrast, a paternalistic regulation might either improve or worsen social welfare. Another important result is that the social welfare gains from new policies do not only depend on the size of the internalities and externalities, but also depend on the extent to which current policies already correct the problems. We link our analytical expressions to the graphical approach used in most previous studies and discuss the information needed to complete cost-benefit analysis of tobacco regulations. We use our model as a framework to reexamine the evidence base for strong conclusions about the size of the internalities, which is the key information needed.
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Carles Mulet-Forteza, Erika Lunn, José M. Merigó and Patricia Horrach
This study aims to present a bibliometric overview of articles published in the field of tourism, leisure and hospitality and analyzed by researchers mainly affiliated with…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to present a bibliometric overview of articles published in the field of tourism, leisure and hospitality and analyzed by researchers mainly affiliated with European institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a bibliometric study of journals included in the Web of Science related to the field of tourism, leisure and hospitality in 2019. The review incorporates various techniques to determine the field’s structure from a scientific and intellectual perspective.
Findings
The results are valuable for several reasons. First, they will support researchers in identifying those topics with the greatest potential for advancing research in this field. Second, they will constitute an important aid in the design of new policies for journal publishers.
Practical implications
This study can lead to advances in the tourism, leisure and hospitality field, as it identifies the publication trends of researchers who are mainly affiliated with European institutions. It also offers useful information for practitioners and academics in their endeavor to identify gaps in the extant literature and future trends.
Originality/value
No other studies have analyzed this field for a period of this length.
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Neema Florence Vincent Mosha and Edith Talina Luhanga
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in full or partial lockdowns of higher education institutions (HEIs) in most countries worldwide. On the other hand, HEIs around the world…
Abstract
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in full or partial lockdowns of higher education institutions (HEIs) in most countries worldwide. On the other hand, HEIs around the world were faced with the difficult questions of how to continue to provide training, learning and research activities to students during outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics. Online and blended learnings are relatively new modes of teaching and learning activities which enable HEIs to offer either online only or a combination of online and physical-based programs of study respectively. Adoption of such learning practices helped ensure continued HEIs operations during outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics. However, there are HEIs which still have no or limited investment in online and blended learning. This chapter outlines the different models of online and blended learning that HEIs can adopt, demystify the benefits, values and challenges posed by these models, necessary infrastructure including information and communication technologies (ICTs) as well as required staff and student support services to ensure effective and efficient uptake and usage. It further shows that with a deliberate initial investment in the necessary infrastructure, staff and student support services, the resources of and potential for online and blended programs can be enormous. It also outlines remote learning models that HEIs can adopt, how to support students’ readiness for online and blended learning, the benefits and challenges posed by employing online and blended learning in HEIs and the necessary infrastructure and support services.