Andrea Hrckova, Robert Moro, Ivan Srba and Maria Bielikova
Partisan news media, which often publish extremely biased, one-sided or even false news, are gaining popularity world-wide and represent a major societal issue. Due to a growing…
Abstract
Purpose
Partisan news media, which often publish extremely biased, one-sided or even false news, are gaining popularity world-wide and represent a major societal issue. Due to a growing number of such media, a need for automatic detection approaches is of high demand. Automatic detection relies on various indicators (e.g. content characteristics) to identify new partisan media candidates and to predict their level of partisanship. The aim of the research is to investigate to a deeper extent whether it would be appropriate to rely on the hyperlinks as possible indicators for better automatic partisan news media detection.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors utilized hyperlink network analysis to study the hyperlinks of partisan and mainstream media. The dataset involved the hyperlinks of 18 mainstream media and 15 partisan media in Slovakia and Czech Republic. More than 171 million domain pairs of inbound and outbound hyperlinks of selected online news media were collected with Ahrefs tool, analyzed and visualized with Gephi software. Additionally, 300 articles covering COVID-19 from both types of media were selected for content analysis of hyperlinks to verify the reliability of quantitative analysis and to provide more detailed analysis.
Findings
The authors conclude that hyperlinks are reliable indicators of media affinity and linking patterns could contribute to partisan news detection. The authors found out that especially the incoming links with dofollow attribute to news websites are reliable indicators for assessing the type of media, as partisan media rarely receive links with dofollow attribute from mainstream media. The outgoing links are not such reliable indicators as both mainstream and partisan media link to mainstream sources similarly.
Originality/value
In contrast to the extensive amount of research aiming at fake news detection within a piece of text or multimedia content (e.g. news articles, social media posts), the authors shift to characterization of the whole news media. In addition, the authors did a geographical shift from more researched US-based media to so far under-researched European context, particularly Central Europe. The results and conclusions can serve as a guide how to derive new features for an automatic detection of possibly partisan news media by means of artificial intelligence (AI).
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at the following link: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-10-2020-0441.
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Priscila Cembranel, Luiza Gewehr, Leila Dal Moro, Paulo Guilherme Fuchs, Robert Samuel Birch and José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Andrade Guerra
This study aims to investigate the contribution of higher education institutions (HEIs) to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and propose strategies to cultivate a culture…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the contribution of higher education institutions (HEIs) to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and propose strategies to cultivate a culture centred on the SDGs in HEIs.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used encompassed an integrative literature review, combining bibliographic analysis on how HEIs incorporate the SDGs into their practices, adopting a qualitative approach for the analysis and categorization of the results.
Findings
The multifaceted contributions of HEIs in promoting the SDGs stand out, through their roles in teaching, research, management and integration and communication between university and society.
Research limitations/implications
While influencing policies at various levels, HEIs encounter challenges in the effective integration of SDGs into their strategies. This underscores the need for contextualized governance, understanding students’ perspectives on sustainability and active external collaboration in policy formulation.
Practical implications
There is an urgent need to integrate SDGs into academic programmes, emphasizing the importance of redesigning curricula, actively involving teachers, researchers and students, establishing partnerships and promoting research applied to SDGs.
Social implications
The social relevance of the study lies in the emphasis on an SDG-centred culture, involving teaching, research, outreach, community engagement and governance practices.
Originality/value
The study’s uniqueness lies in identifying persistent challenges during the transition to an SDG-centred culture, necessitating multisectoral collaboration and educational programmes that integrate sustainability principles into the strategy of HEIs.
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This paper aims to provide details of commercially available domestic robots and recent product developments and consider whether a significant boost in the robot population is…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide details of commercially available domestic robots and recent product developments and consider whether a significant boost in the robot population is imminent.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a short introduction, this paper first provides a brief overview of existing domestic robots and identifies recent product trends. It then discusses some newer product developments which extend the capabilities of domestic robots. This is followed by a consideration of the many recently launched companion robots, and the paper concludes with a discussion of the likely impact on the domestic robot market.
Findings
This paper shows that domestic robots have benefited from developments in artificial intelligence, sensor technology and connectivity, which have led to greater versatility and enhanced ease of use. Several new product developments are extending the range of functions conducted by domestic robots. Many small, mobile companion/social robots have recently been developed which interact with humans by speech and vision and conduct functions such as entertainment, the control of household appliances and security.
Originality/value
This paper provides an insight into the wide range of domestic robots which are available or under development and considers their commercial prospects.
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This study aims to explore the conditions that lead to the occurrence of third-party interveners’ coordination in conflict resolution efforts.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the conditions that lead to the occurrence of third-party interveners’ coordination in conflict resolution efforts.
Design/methodology/approach
The studied theme is elaborated by means of an analysis of two case studies: the Maoist armed conflict of Nepal and the Moro conflict of the Philippines. Importantly, this study solicits the views of third-party practitioners and other relevant stakeholders in the field and attempts to demonstrate how they perceive key issues in third-party coordination.
Findings
Third-party coordination is a contingent process, with varying needs and relevance in different phases and types of conflict. The escalation of violence, issues of international concern such as human rights and the homogeneity of interveners are other core elements that have often played a key role in third-party coordination.
Research limitations/implications
In the existing literature, there are no such indicator-based explanations regarding the occurrence of third-party coordination; thus, the findings of this research on this particular theme are well-developed and better conceptualized than what has been discussed in the literature to date.
Practical implications
The analysis undertaken in this study can contribute to the design of better policies and strategies for third-party coordination.
Originality/value
This study is based on in-depth interviews and interactions with a diverse range of third-party practitioners and other stakeholders working in real-world conflicts, who have perhaps the best understanding of various dimensions of third-party coordination. No previous research has been conducted on this particular theme by incorporating direct interaction with a wide range of interveners from two distinct conflict contexts.
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Francesca Dal Mas, Grazia Dicuonzo, Maurizio Massaro and Vittorio Dell'Atti
The objective of this study is to deepen how blockchain technology through smart contracts can support the development of sustainable business models (SBMs). Particularly, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study is to deepen how blockchain technology through smart contracts can support the development of sustainable business models (SBMs). Particularly, the authors aim to determine the key elements enabling SBMs by applying smart contracts.
Design/methodology/approach
The research context focusses on the case study of SmartInsurance, which is a fictitious name for a start-up in the insurance sector and the real name of which is not to be revealed. The start-up was able to collect 18m euros in 80 s in a crowdfunding operation, using smart contracts and a revolutionary business model. Internal as well as external documents of different sources are analysed and coded to gather information about the company, its values and its business and what it pursues with employing blockchain technology.
Findings
The results show how smart contracts can reduce the costs of transactions, increase social trust and foster social proof behaviours that sustain the development of new SBMs.
Originality/value
This study contributes to both the transaction cost theory and social proof theory, showing how new technologies such as the blockchain can provide a fresh perspective to support the development of SBMs.
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Jeffrey D. Kushkowski, Charles B. Shrader, Marc H. Anderson and Robert E. White
Multiple disciplines such as finance, management and economics have contributed to governance research over time. However, the full intellectual structure of the governance…
Abstract
Purpose
Multiple disciplines such as finance, management and economics have contributed to governance research over time. However, the full intellectual structure of the governance “field” including the exchange of knowledge across disciplines and the large variety of governance topics remains to be uncovered. To appreciate the breadth of corporate governance research, it is necessary to understand the disciplinary sources from which the research stems. This manuscript focuses on the interdisciplinary underpinnings of corporate governance research.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper employs bibliometric analysis to trace the evolution of corporate governance using articles included in the ISI Web of Science database between 1990 and 2015. Journals included in these categories encompass a full range of business disciplines and provide evidence of the multi-disciplinary nature of corporate governance. It also uncovers the topics treated by disciplines under the governance umbrella using a machine learning method called latent Dirichtlet allocation (LDA).
Findings
Corporate governance research deals with a number of strategy-related topics. Unlike strategy topics that reside in a single discipline, corporate governance crosses disciplinary boundaries and includes contributions from accounting, finance, economics, law and management. Our analysis shows that over 80% of corporate governance articles come from outside the field of management. Our LDA solution indicates that the major topics in governance research include corporate governance theory, control of family firms, executive compensation and audit committees.
Originality/value
The results illustrate that corporate governance is far more interdisciplinary than previously thought. This is an important insight for corporate governance academics and may lead to collaborative research. More importantly, this research illustrates the usefulness of LDA for investigating interdisciplinary fields. This method is easily transferable to other interdisciplinary fields and it provides a powerful alternative to existing bibliometric methods. We suggest a number of topic areas within library and information science where this method may be applied, including collection development, support for interdisciplinary faculty and basic research into emerging interdisciplinary areas.
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Kristie M. Young, William W. Stammerjohan, Rebecca J. Bennett and Andrea R. Drake
Psychological contracts represent unofficial or informal expectations that an individual holds, most commonly applied to an employer–employee relationship. Understanding…
Abstract
Psychological contracts represent unofficial or informal expectations that an individual holds, most commonly applied to an employer–employee relationship. Understanding psychological contracts helps explain the consequences of unmet expectations, including increased budgetary slack and reduced audit quality. This chapter reviews and synthesizes accounting behavioral research that discusses psychological contracts and that was published in academic and practitioner journals in the areas of financial accounting, management accounting, auditing, taxes, non-profit organizations, accounting education, and the accounting profession itself. Despite the prevalence of psychological contracts in the workplace and the applicability to behavioral research, accounting literature remains limited regarding applications of psychological contracts. This chapter aggregates research across all areas of accounting to provide suggestions for use of psychological contracts in future research and thus create a connected research stream.