Shakil M. Rahman, Ahmad Tootoonchi and Michael L. Monahan
The purpose of this paper is to determine if rural firms can utilize technology to communicate with their customers, compete for business, reduce costs, and improve operations to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine if rural firms can utilize technology to communicate with their customers, compete for business, reduce costs, and improve operations to maintain competitive advantage.
Design/methodology/approach
Businesses in the service area were anonymously surveyed to identify the perceived needs and benefits the firms had concerning digital technology. The various business sectors such as manufacturing, retail, construction, wholesale, financial services, healthcare, and food services were juxtaposed with there data to see if there were any correlations between the needs and perception of the categories of business and size of the businesses. The total number of respondents was 309, from five counties in three contiguous states located in Appalachia.
Findings
This study revealed answers to the following research questions: what percentage of annual business revenue is spent to improve technology? Does the business use computers and does it vary by industry and size? Is technological information important to business and does it vary by industry and size? What methods do businesses utilize to contact their customers and do they vary by size? Can technology reduce costs in business? Does new technology help business stay competitive?
Research limitations/implications
This study focused on five counties in Appalachia and its findings may not necessarily be applied to other populations. Future research could focus on underrepresented categories of business such as wholesale firms. In addition, the definition of technology needs to be consistent from business to business. Furthermore, the specific software applications used by firms, the training and their return on investment could be evaluated via the firm's classification, size, ownership, location, and number of employees.
Practical implications
Firms in Appalachia need to be encouraged to invest their hard‐earned profits in technology. These investments must be aligned with their business plans to provide cost‐saving, efficiency, and/or customer‐relationship benefits. Furthermore, state and country governments should promote technological advances, infrastructure development, and technological literacy. While this study focused on businesses in Appalachia, its implications and impact are far reaching. In this time of recession, unemployment, and financial hardships, the use of electronic technology may be a stimulus for job creation and competitiveness. Digital technologies have enabled firms of any size and at any location to improve their marketing, communications, and business operations to reach customers and improve efficiencies. Investments in electronic technologies could enable them to not only reach new customers, but also be competitive with their larger, urban counterparts.
Originality/value
This paper provides both theoretical and empirical data to increase the body of knowledge about small business practices in Appalachia. In addition, it cites the importance of technology for competitiveness.
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Shakil Ahmed and Md Habibur Rahman Sobuz
Construction management is ameliorated by the lean construction concept in many direct and indirect ways to reduce waste of construction process and improve the value. The purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction management is ameliorated by the lean construction concept in many direct and indirect ways to reduce waste of construction process and improve the value. The purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges of the implementation of lean construction in the Bangladeshi construction industry and to prioritize these factors that constitute these challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive literature review was used for shorting the global challenges of implementing lean construction. Subsequently, these challenges were incorporated into a structured questionnaire for survey. A total of 164 valid responses were collected from Bangladeshi construction practitioners involved in different types of construction organizations. The results were analyzed using the Relative Important Index (RII) and Mann–Whitney U test.
Findings
The findings revealed 41 challenges of lean construction implementation in the Bangladeshi construction industry. The highest ranking challenges are the lack of awareness about lean construction, lack of skills, training and lean techniques, unwillingness to change the existing culture, lack of management commitment, fragmented and cyclic nature of the construction project and unavailing communication between all project participants. The study also discusses some universally applicable solutions to overcome these challenges.
Originality/value
By the findings of this study, the Bangladeshi construction industry could get a new insight into the challenges of implementing lean construction. It could play a very important part in the body of knowledge, as it reveals the challenges of implementing lean construction for the first time with the socio-economic context of Bangladesh. Exploring the findings, the study could help the stakeholders, companies, academician, researchers and government to focus their effort and resources on the significantly appropriate issues. Furthermore, this study may beneficial to those developing countries especially in South Asia, who have shared the same socio-economic status with Bangladesh.
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Md. Wasiul Islam, Md. Mahfuz Ur Rahman and Shakil Ahmed
Visits to locations connected to historical atrocities, tragedy, suffering, or presumably dreadful events are referred to as “dark tourism”. While Bangladesh may not be widely…
Abstract
Visits to locations connected to historical atrocities, tragedy, suffering, or presumably dreadful events are referred to as “dark tourism”. While Bangladesh may not be widely known for dark tourism, several unexplored avenues may be of interest to those who engage in this type of unique and unconventional tourism experience. In addition to creating job opportunities and income generation in Bangladesh, it can achieve educational objectives, communicate with a broad audience, raise awareness of events of the past, and quench people's thirst for information, which can help them to comprehend a society. Though Bangladesh has several somber locations connected to tragic events including World War II, liberation war sites, mass killing sites, shipbreaking yards, Rohingya refugee camps, riots, and the mother language movement, traditional tourism predominates there. If managed responsibly, these varied resources, somber locations, and histories, some of which date back to 1800, could make Bangladesh a dark tourism destination. Although dark tourism in Bangladesh has the potential to contribute to historical awareness, preservation, educational opportunities, and socioeconomic development, it is yet unexplored due to a lack of knowledge, experience, policy, effective marketing, and some controversies. By approaching responsibly, Bangladesh can leverage its history to attract visitors' interests in exploring the darker aspects of the country's past. Hence, this chapter is designed to explore the status and potential significance, prospects, and challenges of dark tourism in Bangladesh. The findings will help policymakers, tourists, and other stakeholders to explore and enjoy enormous benefits from Bangladesh's untapped dark tourism opportunities.
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Md. Mehrab Hossain, Shakil Ahmed, S.M. Asif Anam, Irmatova Aziza Baxramovna, Tamanna Islam Meem, Md. Habibur Rahman Sobuz and Iffat Haq
Construction safety is a crucial aspect that has far-reaching impacts on economic development. But safety monitoring is often reliant on labor-based observations, which can be…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction safety is a crucial aspect that has far-reaching impacts on economic development. But safety monitoring is often reliant on labor-based observations, which can be prone to errors and result in numerous fatalities annually. This study aims to address this issue by proposing a cloud-building information modeling (BIM)-based framework to provide real-time safety monitoring on construction sites to enhance safety practices and reduce fatalities.
Design/methodology/approach
This system integrates an automated safety tracking mobile app to detect hazardous locations on construction sites, a cloud-based BIM system for visualization of worker tracking on a virtual construction site and a Web interface to visualize and monitor site safety.
Findings
The study’s results indicate that implementing a comprehensive automated safety monitoring approach is feasible and suitable for general indoor construction site environments. Furthermore, the assessment of an advanced safety monitoring system has been successfully implemented, indicating its potential effectiveness in enhancing safety practices in construction sites.
Practical implications
By using this system, the construction industry can prevent accidents and fatalities, promote the adoption of new technologies and methods with minimal effort and cost and improve safety outcomes and productivity. This system can reduce workers’ compensation claims, insurance costs and legal penalties, benefiting all stakeholders involved.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first attempt in Bangladesh to develop a mobile app-based technological solution aimed at reforming construction safety culture by using BIM technology. This has the potential to change the construction sector’s attitude toward accepting new technologies and cultures through its convenient choice of equipment.
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Eijaz Ahmed Khan, Md. Maruf Hossan Chowdhury, H.M. Kamrul Hassan, A.K.M. Shakil Mahmud and Mohammad Shamsuddoha
Recycling is associated with positive social and environmental impact, but previous studies have overlooked the cost of recycling operations. Based on the dynamic capability view…
Abstract
Purpose
Recycling is associated with positive social and environmental impact, but previous studies have overlooked the cost of recycling operations. Based on the dynamic capability view, the purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate risk factors and resilience strategies within the recycling industry, prioritize these factors and identify the optimal combination of resilience strategies and risk factors to improve market performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The research questions were addressed in three subsequent studies. In Study 1, qualitative interviews were conducted to identify risk factors and strategies to mitigate those risks. In Study 2, quality function deployment methodologies were implemented via case studies derived from three different companies. Based on the results of Studies 1 and 2, in addition to the use of fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, Study 3 aimed to determine the optimal combination of risk factors and strategies impacting market performance.
Findings
The results across the three studies revealed a number of risk factors as well as which risk factors and resilience strategies have the greatest impact on market performance. Specifically, it was found that higher levels of readiness, response and recovery strategies lead to greater market performance, whereas weak readiness, response and recovery strategies, along with low societal, environmental and health and safety risk factors, significantly inhibit performance.
Originality/value
This research extends current understandings of market performance in relation to recycling industry management and offers insight for decision-makers toward combating significant risk factors in business-to-business settings.
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Shakil Ahmed, Md. Mehrab Hossain and Iffat Haq
Construction management is enriched in many ways by direct and indirect support of lean construction concept. The objectives of this study are to assess the current level of…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction management is enriched in many ways by direct and indirect support of lean construction concept. The objectives of this study are to assess the current level of awareness about lean construction practice, to identify the potential benefits and challenges to implement lean construction in the Bangladeshi construction industry and to prioritize them.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive literature review has been done to design a questionnaire for the survey. The final questionnaire has been designed with 27 lean tools, 41 challenges, and seven benefits of implementing lean principles in the construction industry. A total of 164 valid responses have been collected from Bangladeshi construction practitioners involved in different types of construction organizations. The result has been analyzed by Relative Important Index (RII).
Findings
The findings revealed 41 challenges to implement lean construction with seven benefits in the Bangladeshi construction industry. The result shows that an appreciable number of respondent familiar with the techniques of lean construction but they don't practice. The findings have also pointed out that the lean construction approach adds a positive impact especially on quality, safety, cost, productivity, and environmental level. The top-ranked challenges to implementing lean construction are: lack of awareness and skill, poor management, traditional culture and attitude of employees, inadequate resources and equipment and nonuse of modern techniques and technologies.
Originality/value
This study reveals real scenario of lean construction in Bangladesh. It contributes to the body of knowledge, as it uncovers for the first time the awareness level, benefits and challenges to implement lean construction with reference to the social, economic and cultural context of Bangladesh. Exploring the findings, the study could help the stakeholders, construction firms, academician, researchers and government to focus their effort and resources on the significantly appropriate issues. Again, the study may be beneficial to developing countries especially in South Asia which share the same socio-economic status with Bangladesh.
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Disaster-resistant housing practices are widely promoted in developing countries as an integral component of climate adaptation efforts, particularly in rural hazard-prone areas…
Abstract
Purpose
Disaster-resistant housing practices are widely promoted in developing countries as an integral component of climate adaptation efforts, particularly in rural hazard-prone areas. However, how the prevailing housing practices are intertwined with rural livelihoods and how the external initiatives to promote disaster-resistant housing practices materialize in a contested marginalized space are key questions with social vulnerability implications that seldom receive adequate attention. This paper aims to explore these questions through case studies of two hazard-prone rural areas in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
The two study areas were selected considering the variation of risk patterns: one located in cyclone hazard-prone southern District of Noakhali and the other located in a flood hazard-prone area of Rajbari District. Existing housing practices in these two communities, their adoption of disaster-resistant housing options and their overall livelihood challenges were explored through questionnaire surveys, focus group discussions and transect walks.
Findings
As this study shows, safe housing practices are tertiary concerns for people living in those contested spaces after meeting livelihood challenges. Further, in the absence of formal land tenure, adaptation efforts that introduce disaster-resistant housing practices may fail to be effective.
Practical implications
The findings of this study demonstrate the need for a reorientation in the present approaches of climate adaptation (particularly, in case of housing practice) to make them more responsive to the adaptation challenges of socially vulnerable populations.
Originality/value
Most of the prior studies on disaster and rural housing have focused on the post-disaster housing recovery, but there is yet to have enough study that looked at households’ current housing strategies and, in particular, how land tenure and livelihood challenges influence their choices. This study fills this research gap and also provides evidence in support of considering the risk priority of marginalized vulnerable population while responding to the broader concerns of climate change.
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Mohamed Hamour, Mohammad Hassan Shakil, Ishaq Mustapha Akinlaso and Mashiyat Tasnia
This paper aims to analyse the concept of form over substance and introduces the term substance gap to the literature. The substance gap is defined as the difference between the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse the concept of form over substance and introduces the term substance gap to the literature. The substance gap is defined as the difference between the way a concept is expressed and its intended result. Besides, the study investigates the issue from both classical and contemporary viewpoints.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology adopted in this paper is descriptive research.
Findings
This paper has depicted the substance gap in contemporary contracts and found that form is equally important as substance in Islamic finance contracts. This paper offers a fresh outlook on form and substance to highlight the importance of the issue and its significance. The findings of the study will help researchers address the issue at its roots and help them to bridge the gap between the form and substance of Islamic finance contracts.
Originality/value
This paper investigates the substance gap in contemporary contracts that exists between the fiqh rules and conditions of an Islamic contract, and their development and construction. Further, the gap could also be attributed to the pressure to cope with a complicated modern finance environment.
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Madeeha Irshad, Muhammad Shakil Ahmad and Omer Farooq Malik
The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of consumers’ motivations (i.e. remuneration, social, and empowerment) on online purchase intentions mediated through trust…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of consumers’ motivations (i.e. remuneration, social, and empowerment) on online purchase intentions mediated through trust towards retailers present on social media.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from consumers residing in the three metropolitan cities of Pakistan, and the research model was tested using the covariance-based structural equation modelling in Amos.
Findings
The results showed that remuneration and social motivations positively influenced consumers’ online purchase intentions directly, as well as indirectly mediated through trust. However, trust fully mediated the relationship between empowerment motivation and consumers’ online purchase intentions.
Originality/value
The existing literature reveals that only a handful of studies have endeavoured to understand consumers’ trust in the context of social media marketing, and the literature in this field is not matured yet. The novelty of this research lies in its contribution to understanding the impacts of consumers’ motives (i.e. remuneration, social, and empowerment) on trust towards retailers present on social media, which have not been explored before. In addition, it examines trust towards retailers present on social media as an underlying mechanism that affects the relationships between consumers’ motives and online purchase intentions.
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Khurram Shahzad, Shakeel Ahmad Khan, Asfa Muhammed Din Javeed, Abid Iqbal and Shakil Ahmad
The purpose of this study is to know the perceptions of university librarians in Pakistan about the benefits of electronic learning for continuing professional development (CPD)…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to know the perceptions of university librarians in Pakistan about the benefits of electronic learning for continuing professional development (CPD), to identify the motivating factors to engage librarians in electronic learning programmes for CPD and to investigate the challenges of adopting electronic learning faced by university librarians in Pakistan for CPD.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research method followed by a survey research design was applied to address the study’s objectives. Quantitative data was gathered from the target population through a questionnaire. The target population of the study was consisted of all library professionals working in the Higher Education Commission (HEC)-recognized public and private sector universities of Pakistan.
Findings
The findings of the study showed that respondents positively realized the benefits of electronic learning for CPD. According to the results, organizational support is a prominent motivational factor for librarians to attend electronic learning programmes and develop their professional skills. Findings revealed that lack of technical support is identified as the most prominent problem in the effective adoption of electronic learning technologies. Technical challenges, such as inadequate infrastructure, poor networks, broadband access issues and low bandwidth, create obstacles for librarians in implementing electronic learning for their CPD.
Originality/value
This study is fruitful for library leadership to apply the emerging technologies to benefit from electronic learning for career development to deliver value-added services to the end users of university libraries.