Phuong Minh Khuong, Russell McKenna and Wolf Fichtner
The connection between urbanization and energy consumption in the context of cross-country and cross-sector analyses is poorly understood, especially in the Association of South…
Abstract
Purpose
The connection between urbanization and energy consumption in the context of cross-country and cross-sector analyses is poorly understood, especially in the Association of South East Asian (ASEAN). This paper aims to present the first extensive multi-level analysis of the relationship between urbanization and energy consumption in ASEAN countries from 1995 to 2013.
Design/methodology/approach
The multi-level (across country and sector) index decomposition method is used to analyze urbanization, energy mix, energy intensity and activity effects on energy demand. Urbanization is measured by two representative factors, name the urban population and the number of non-agriculture workers.
Findings
Despite the decreasing rate of urbanization, its effect on energy consumption has played the most important role since 2000. Since then, the effect has continued to increase at the national and sectoral levels across the whole region. The strongest urbanization impacts are encountered in the residential sector, followed by transportation and industrial sectors with much weaker effects in the commercial sector. The way in which urbanization impacts energy consumption depends strongly on the income level of the country studied.
Practical implications
The results provide quantitative relationships between urbanization and energy demand. For example, if the urban population and the non-agriculture workers decreased by 0.1 per cent per year, this would reduce energy demand by 1.4 per cent and 2.6 per cent per year respectively.
Originality/value
This contribution provides detailed quantitative insights into the relationships between urbanization and energy demand at sectoral, national and international levels, which are invaluable for policymakers in the region.
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Phuong Minh Khuong, Hasan Ü. Yilmaz, Russell McKenna and Dogan Keles
With the growing deployment of variable renewable energy sources, such as wind and PV and the increasing interconnection of the power grid, multi-regional energy system models…
Abstract
Purpose
With the growing deployment of variable renewable energy sources, such as wind and PV and the increasing interconnection of the power grid, multi-regional energy system models (ESMs) are increasingly challenged by the growth of model complexity. Therefore, the need for developing ESMs, which are realistic but also solvable with acceptable computational resources without losing output accuracy, arises. The purpose of this study is to propose a statistical approach to investigate asynchronous extreme events for different regions and then assess their ability to keep the output accuracy at the level of the full-resolution case.
Design/methodology/approach
To extract the extreme events from the residual demands, the paper focuses on analyzing the tail of the residual demand distributions by using statistical approaches. The extreme events then are implemented in an ESM to assess the effect of them in protecting the accuracy of the output compared with the full-resolution output.
Findings
The results show that extreme-high and fluctuation events are the most important events to be included in data input to maintain the flexibility output of the model when reducing the resolution. By including these events into the reduced data input, the output's accuracy reaches the level of 99.1% compared to full resolution case, while reducing the execution time by 20 times.
Originality/value
Moreover, including extreme-fluctuation along with extreme-high in the reduced data input helps the ESM to avoid misleading investment in conventional and low-efficient generators.
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The need to make the war effort successful encouraged the government to seek as many ways as possible to mobilise resources. The use of the skills of advertisers was recognised in…
Abstract
The need to make the war effort successful encouraged the government to seek as many ways as possible to mobilise resources. The use of the skills of advertisers was recognised in political circles and during the period of Asquith's premiership Le Bas had a major influence. The greatest campaign was to recruit men for the army.
Tsz Yan Cheung, Lincoln Fok, Chi-Chiu Cheang, Chi Ho Yeung, Wing-Mui Winnie So and Cheuk-Fai Chow
The problem of plastic wastes is serious nowadays worldwide, although plastic wastes recycling is already in practice. To promote sustainability in plastic waste recycling, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The problem of plastic wastes is serious nowadays worldwide, although plastic wastes recycling is already in practice. To promote sustainability in plastic waste recycling, the quality of wastes collected should be maintained well, resulted from a good recycling practice. This paper aims to study a new plastic recycling bin (PRB) and poster interventions on the enhancement of university hall residential students’ proenvironmental knowledge, attitudes and intended behaviours (KAB) and actual recycling behaviours; informative and feedback posters were used as interventions.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a quasi-experimental setting to examine the effects of the new PRB on students’ KAB and actual behaviours in recycling, whereas the quality of the recycled plastic was measured according to the extent of cleanliness (CLE), separation (SEP), compression (COM) and sortedness (SOR).
Findings
Results showed that significant positive enhancements in KAB only happened with the use of blended interventions, which included promotion through the PRB and posters, suggesting that the use of the PRB and posters was useful in achieving better recycling behaviour.
Originality/value
Blended intervention study by using new design plastic recycling bin and poster on the effect of students’ proenvironmental and recycling KAB.
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Purpose – This chapter explores the significance of emotional exchanges between historians and their research participants in the production of critical histories of the late…
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter explores the significance of emotional exchanges between historians and their research participants in the production of critical histories of the late twentieth-century British women’s movement. It argues for the importance of exploring the ways in which positive emotions, including feelings of excitement, reverence and commonality, influence the research process and potentially complicate historians’ capacity to produce histories that critically assess popular narratives of the development of the women’s movement.
Methodology/Approach – This chapter draws on qualitative assessments of my own experiences carrying out oral history interviews with women’s movement members to explore the emotional exchanges that take place during the research process. It utilises several historiographical concepts, including being a ‘fan of feminism’, discussions about historical subjectivity and oral history debates about empathy, to reflect on my emotional responses whilst carrying out research.
Findings – This chapter demonstrates that positive emotional exchanges between historians and their research participants influence the production of critical histories of the women’s movement. It highlights how historians’ personal identifications with their areas of study impact on their emotional engagement with research participants, potentially complicating or contravening their wider historical aims.
Originality/Value – Several historians have explored how negative emotional exchanges with research participants influenced their production of critical histories of the women’s movement. By focusing on the influence of positive emotional exchanges, this chapter provides an original contribution to this area of reflexive discussion, as well as wider assessments of historical subjectivity and researcher empathy.
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Bus use in later life tends to increase, especially in countries where there is cheaper or free travel on buses for older people. That said, there are still many barriers to bus…
Abstract
Bus use in later life tends to increase, especially in countries where there is cheaper or free travel on buses for older people. That said, there are still many barriers to bus use. The most major barrier for older people is feeling unsafe on the bus, especially at night. Accessibility issues are also important, with concerns for step-free access and getting a seat. A bus driver driving off before the older person has sat down is another major concern for older people. The presence of a friendly helpful, understanding bus driver is seen as a huge benefit for older people. Training to support bus drivers in providing an age friendly service are therefore highly recommended. In many countries, public transport is supplemented by community transport offering a door-to-door on demand facility to help older people stay mobile where there is a lack of accessible public buses. There are real advantages for older people using such buses, especially creating a safe environment taking older people to important places, such as hospitals or shops. Such services can be supplemented by journeys for days out and these are very popular with users. Older people aren’t large users of railway services. Barriers include concerns over getting a seat, worry about what happens if connections are missed and services are disrupted. Older people are more likely to want staff to help them complete their journey and emphasise the need for seats, cleanliness and facilities over journey length and cost.
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This chapter describes a case study of a social change project in medical education (primary care), in which the critical interpretive evaluation methodology I sought to use came…
Abstract
This chapter describes a case study of a social change project in medical education (primary care), in which the critical interpretive evaluation methodology I sought to use came up against the “positivist” approach preferred by senior figures in the medical school who commissioned the evaluation.
I describe the background to the study and justify the evaluation approach and methods employed in the case study – drawing on interviews, document analysis, survey research, participant observation, literature reviews, and critical incidents – one of which was the decision by the medical school hierarchy to restrict my contact with the lay community in my official evaluation duties. The use of critical ethnography also embraced wider questions about circuits of power and the social and political contexts within which the “social change” effort occurred.
Central to my analysis is John Gaventa’s theory of power as “the internalization of values that inhibit consciousness and participation while encouraging powerlessness and dependency.” Gaventa argued, essentially, that the evocation of power has as much to do with preventing decisions as with bringing them about. My chosen case illustrated all three dimensions of power that Gaventa originally uncovered in his portrait of self-interested Appalachian coal mine owners: (1) communities were largely excluded from decision making power; (2) issues were avoided or suppressed; and (3) the interests of the oppressed went largely unrecognized.
The account is auto-ethnographic, hence the study is limited by my abilities, biases, and subject positions. I reflect on these in the chapter.
The study not only illustrates the unique contribution of case study as a research methodology but also its low status in the positivist paradigm adhered to by many doctors. Indeed, the tension between the potential of case study to illuminate the complexities of community engagement through thick description and the rejection of this very method as inherently “flawed” suggests that medical education may be doomed to its neoliberal fate for some time to come.
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Connie R Wanberg, Elizabeth T Welsh and Sarah A Hezlett
Organizations have become increasingly interested in developing their human resources. One tool that has been explored in this quest is mentoring. This has led to a surge in…
Abstract
Organizations have become increasingly interested in developing their human resources. One tool that has been explored in this quest is mentoring. This has led to a surge in mentoring research and an increase in the number of formal mentoring programs implemented in organizations. This review provides a survey of the empirical work on mentoring that is organized around the major questions that have been investigated. Then a conceptual model, focused on formal mentoring relationships, is developed to help understand the mentoring process. The model draws upon research from a diverse body of literature, including interpersonal relationships, career success, training and development, and informal mentoring. Finally, a discussion of critical next steps for research in the mentoring domain is presented.
Sahat Sihombing, Endang Siti Astuti, Mochammad Al Musadieq, Djamhur Hamied and Kusdi Rahardjo
This paper aims to examine factors that affect employee performance at Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine factors that affect employee performance at Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN).
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research approach was used with generalized structure component analysis (GSCA) as the analysis tool. This study was specific to Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi) areas, considering that 60 per cent of employees of BTN, who were also the study population, resided in the Jabodetabek areas. This study was conducted for a month in 2016. By using the representative sample, the results could be generalized.
Findings
The results of the analysis suggested that the structural model showed that the servant leadership (X1) significantly affected rewards (Y1) and organizational culture (Y2), but it had no significant effect on employee performance (Y3). Other results showed that there was a significant effect of rewards (Y1) on organizational culture (Y2) and employee performance (Y3), and that there was a significant effect of organizational culture (Y2) on employee performance (Y3).
Originality/value
Russell and Stone (2002) studied the servant leadership in a review of servant leadership attributes, and McCann et al. (2014) studied servant leadership, employee satisfaction and organizational performance in rural community hospitals. Thereby, the originality of this paper is shown on servant leadership variable for relationship between rewards, organizational culture and employee’s performance. The method used is GSCA and the location of this research is at BTN throughout Indonesia, where there are no previous research studies that have discussed the same topic on these locations.
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Geraldine Grady and Alma M. McCarthy
This paper aims to explore how mid‐career professional mothers perceive themselves in relation to their work and family roles, how they experience these roles, how they merge…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how mid‐career professional mothers perceive themselves in relation to their work and family roles, how they experience these roles, how they merge their work, family and individual self, and what meaning they make of this integration.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used in‐depth qualitative interviews with 18 participants aged between 37 and 55 with at least one dependent child under the age of 18, in dual‐earning/career households.
Findings
The study reports that a complex relationship of work‐related dynamics and personal factors shaped the meaning for these women amid competing priorities of work, family and individual lives. Organisation and co‐ordination of multiple activities with support from various sources was fundamental to finding balance. A deep sense of motherhood was evident in that their children were their number one priority but career was of high importance as they sought stimulation, challenges, achievement and enrichment in their work. Now, in mid‐career transition, the respondents seek more self‐care time in an effort to find new meaning in the work, family and self equation.
Research limitations/implications
The study raises important issues for the management of professional working mothers and the implications of the study for individuals and organisations are set out.
Originality/value
This paper makes contributions to work‐life integration and career theory. It provides one of the first empirical studies on work‐life integration in Ireland using the construct of meaningful work and secondly builds on the kaleidoscope career model theory.