Rob Poole, Catherine Robinson and Lindsey Poole
Over the past 30 years there has been a steady increase in the availability and affordability of alcoholic drinks in the UK. This has been associated with a dramatic increase in…
Abstract
Over the past 30 years there has been a steady increase in the availability and affordability of alcoholic drinks in the UK. This has been associated with a dramatic increase in alcohol‐related harm, involving premature death, chronic health problems and social ills. These adverse outcomes are not inevitable. They could be avoided by rational policy‐making that followed the scientific evidence. Efforts to directly influence drinking culture and to encourage ‘responsible drinking’ have failed. Sharply increasing the price and restricting the availability of alcohol would be likely to have major benefits for the well being of the UK population.
Hugh Worrall, Richard Schweizer, Ellen Marks, Lin Yuan, Chris Lloyd and Rob Ramjan
Support groups are a common feature of the mental health support engaged by carers and consumers. The purpose of this paper is to update and consolidate the knowledge and the…
Abstract
Purpose
Support groups are a common feature of the mental health support engaged by carers and consumers. The purpose of this paper is to update and consolidate the knowledge and the evidence for the effectiveness of mental health support groups.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a systematic literature review of relevant databases around support groups for mental health. Support groups are defined as meetings of people with similar experiences, such as those defined as carers of a person living with a mental illness or a person living with a mental illness. These meetings aim to provide support and companionship to one another.
Findings
The results show that there is a consistent pattern of evidence, over a long period of time, which confirms the effectiveness of mental health support groups for carers and people living with mental illness. There is strong, scientifically rigorous evidence which shows the effectiveness of professionally facilitated, family-led support groups, psychoeducation carers support groups, and professionally facilitated, program-based support groups for people living with mental illness.
Research limitations/implications
This research implies the use of support groups is an important adjunct to the support of carers and people with mental illness, including severe mental illness.
Originality/value
This research brings together a range of studies indicating the usefulness of support groups as an adjunct to mental health therapy.
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S. Mostafa Rasoolimanesh, Rob Law, Dimitrios Buhalis and Cihan Cobanoglu
Irene Cheng Chu Chan, Jing Ma, Rob Law, Dimitrios Buhalis and Richard Hatter
This paper aims to investigate the temporal dynamics of users browsing activity on a hotel website in order to derive effective marketing strategies and constantly improve website…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the temporal dynamics of users browsing activity on a hotel website in order to derive effective marketing strategies and constantly improve website effectiveness. Users' activities on the hotel's website on yearly, monthly, daily and hourly basis are examined and compared, demonstrating the power of informatics and data analytics.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 29,976 hourly Weblog files from 1 August 2014 to 31 December 2017 were collected from a luxury hotel in Hong Kong. ANOVA and post-hoc comparisons were used to analyse the data.
Findings
Users' browsing behaviours, particularly stickiness, on the hotel website differ on yearly, monthly, daily and weekly bases. Users' activities increased steadily from 2014 to 2016, but dropped in 2017. Users are most active from July to September, on weekdays, and from noon to evening time. The month-, day-, and hour-based behaviours changed through years. The analysis of big data determines strategic and operational management and marketing decision-making.
Research limitations/implications
Understanding the usage patterns of their websites allow organisations to make a range of strategic, marketing, pricing and distribution decisions to optimise their performance. Fluctuation of website usage and level of customer engagement have implications on customer support and services, as well as strategic partnership decisions.
Originality/value
Leveraging the power of big data analytics, this paper adds to the existing literature by performing a comprehensive analysis on the temporal dynamics of users' online browsing behaviours.
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Bright Akwasi Gyamfi, Divine Q. Agozie, Murad A. Bein, Festus Victor Bekun and Festus Fatai Adedoyin
Discussions on environment-friendly production connected with the concerns of growing biomass emissions have gained much attention. In this regard, this study aims to explore the…
Abstract
Purpose
Discussions on environment-friendly production connected with the concerns of growing biomass emissions have gained much attention. In this regard, this study aims to explore the issue of biomass energy consumption and its related emission effects on the economic and environmental well-being of the economy of Cyprus.
Design/methodology/approach
This study sources time series data on specific variables from the Global Material Flow and the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI, 2020) between 1990 and 2016. The Robust least square (ROB-L2) in conjunction with Pesaran autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) methodology analysis techniques was used in addition to the Granger causality tests to examine the direction of causality flow between the variables under consideration.
Findings
The results indicate that biomass energy usage in the long run reduces pollution and negatively correlates with CO2 emissions level. Also, the decline of emission is influenced by increased foreign direct investment (FDI), thus, activities of foreign investors contribute to combating emission in the country. According to empirical results, non-renewable energy consumption showed both positive and negative influences on increased emission level, whereas economic growth is increasing carbon dioxide emission for the case of Cyprus.
Originality/value
This study applies current reliable data that offers renewed insights and sheds light on the state of affairs on biomass utilization from a developing country perspective. Additionally, it extends the discourse on the impact of biomass utilization on CO2 emissions by considering the impact of FDI, trade flow and energy consumption in a carbon-income function built on the liner version of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. Although this is by no means exhaustive, the study pioneers the discourse on how FDI with biomass utilization among other relevant variables influences carbon dioxide emission.
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Garrett Lane Cohee, Jeff Barrows and Rob Handfield
Each year, the US defense industry outsources nearly $400 bn of domestic goods and services through competitive bids. These procurement activities are quite often complex and…
Abstract
Purpose
Each year, the US defense industry outsources nearly $400 bn of domestic goods and services through competitive bids. These procurement activities are quite often complex and specialized in nature because of a highly regulated federal acquisition contracting environment. Ongoing calls to improve supplier management and drive innovation in the defense industry offers an opportunity to adopt Early Supplier Integration (ESI) initiatives that have proven successful in the private sector. This paper identifies critical ESI activities and acquisition practices that the defense industry should adopt to ensure enhanced effectiveness in new product development.
Design/methodology/approach
Leveraging a conceptual ESI model derived from the research, an in-depth case study of 12 product development projects from a major defense contractor was performed. In the context of project performance, critical ESI activities and moderating effects were assessed.
Findings
Three key ESI activities have the greatest impact on aggregate project performance: system design involvement, design adjustment opportunities and design for manufacturability/assembly/testability involvement. Use of formal supplier agreements also significantly impacts project performance during the development phase. In addition, project complexity and product team maturity were identified as environment moderators; higher complexity projects tended to negatively moderate the impact of ESI upon performance, and higher team maturity levels tended to positively moderate the impact of ESI upon performance.
Originality/value
The results provide a sound framework for empirical validation through future quantitative studies and defense industry analyses. In addition, insights and recommendations for interpretation and adaptation of federal acquisition regulations to allow increased utilization of ESI within the defense industry are substantiated.
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Max Baker, Rob Gray and Stefan Schaltegger
This article explores and contrasts the views of two influential research projects within the social and environmental accounting space. Both projects advocate for sustainability…
Abstract
Purpose
This article explores and contrasts the views of two influential research projects within the social and environmental accounting space. Both projects advocate for sustainability. The first here referred to as the Critical Social and Environmental Accounting Project (CSEAP), was developed and championed by Rob Gray and calls for immediate radical structural change. The second one is called the Pragmatic Sustainability Management Accounting Project (PSMAP), championed by Stefan Schaltegger, and advocates for an entrepreneurial process of creating radical solutions in joint stakeholder collaboration over time.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is the culmination of a decade-long debate between Gray and Schaltegger as advocates of CSEAP and PSMAP, respectively. Specifically, the paper explores the differences and agreements between CSEAP and PSMAP on whether and how companies should pursue sustainability and the role of accounting in these efforts. The paper focusses on critical issues that exemplify the tension in their views: general goals, the role of structure and agency and how to creating change and transformation.
Findings
The article contrasts CSEAP's uncompromising antagonising approach to accountability and fundamental systemic change with PSMAP's pragmatic approach to sustainability accounting with its management and entrepreneurship-orientated approach to change and unwavering support for transformative managers on the front lines. Despite their apparent differences, the paper also outlines areas of agreement between these two positions and how accounting and sustainability can move forward.
Research limitations/implications
The debate tries to reconcile language and conceptional differences in the social and environmental accounting (SEA) and sustainability management accounting (SMA) communities to reduce confusion in the research space over what sustainability is for organisations and what role accounting plays in this. The authors hope that the tension between the different positions outlined in this paper generates new insights and positions on the topic.
Practical implications
While the two views explored in this paper are primarily incompatible, each generates implications for practice, research and education. Debates like this are crucial to moving from discursive disagreement to creating a tolerant and robust foundation for moving forward and achieving much-needed sustainable transitions in the economy and society.
Originality/value
The authors offer shared understandings, points of continuing disagreement and alternative views on the nature of sustainability. The debate forges a bridge of understanding where both sides can learn from each other.
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Anu Suominen, Vilho Jonsson, Eric Eriksson, Jessica Fogelberg and Johan Bäckman
One of the two main tasks of innovation leadership, a practice to inspire and enable creativity and innovation in organisations, is to construct a creativity-enabling…
Abstract
One of the two main tasks of innovation leadership, a practice to inspire and enable creativity and innovation in organisations, is to construct a creativity-enabling organisational environment. One form of this main task is using developmental interactions, like mentoring, as innovation leadership practices. A hackathon is one type of innovation contest with three designed phases: pre-hackathon, hackathon event and post-hackathon, involving multiple stakeholders with distinct roles, such as hackers and mentors. In a hackathon, the central activity of mentors is to support the hackers’ innovation process, especially in idea creation and concept development. The mentor role has not been focal in hackathon studies; thus, this chapter addresses the role, impact, and ways to acknowledge the mentors as an integral, contributing innovation leadership practice in hackathons. As an empirical study, this chapter presents the results of a public sector case in a Swedish multi-disciplinary municipality conducting intra-organisational hackathons in three different collocations. The chapter contributes to the literature on innovation leadership at the team level with mentorship in innovation contests in the public sector context by revealing the dual-role tension of innovation leadership in mentor activities in the hackathon event phase from both the hackers’ and mentors’ viewpoints, and the necessity of mentor-benefitting training in pre-hackathon phase.
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In the last issue, Rob Hill and Geoff Shepherd gave a critical account of the Transitional Employment part of the Clubhouse programme. This has produced strong reactions, and here…
Abstract
In the last issue, Rob Hill and Geoff Shepherd gave a critical account of the Transitional Employment part of the Clubhouse programme. This has produced strong reactions, and here Colin MacLean takes issue with both their premises and their conclusions. What about the user/member view? Watch this space…