Silvia Masiero and Amit Prakash
While the potential of information and communication technology (ICT) for poverty reduction is widely recognised, limited knowledge exists on its use in the social protection…
Abstract
Purpose
While the potential of information and communication technology (ICT) for poverty reduction is widely recognised, limited knowledge exists on its use in the social protection schemes devised for the world’s poor. Drawing on the institutionalist vision of IS development and organisational change put forward by Avgerou (2000), the authors propose that computerisation of these schemes entails two processes, namely, the progressive affirmation of ICT innovation and a shift in the programmes' organisational structure, which moves from a subsidy-based model to one grounded on direct cash transfers. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how the role of ICT in anti-poverty schemes results from concomitance of such processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on a study of the public distribution system (PDS), the main food security scheme in India, as it is being computerised in the state of Karnataka. Following an interpretive case study methodology, it investigates the ongoing computerisation of the Karnataka PDS through a combination of back-end and front-end technologies, based on biometric recognition of the programme’s users.
Findings
The data reveal that transformation of the PDS results from the simultaneous processes of institutionalisation of ICT innovation and deinstitutionalisation of the extant state-led subsidy scheme, in favour of a leaner social protection system centred on cash transfers to beneficiaries. This illustrates the point that ICT innovation is intertwined with the decline of an extant social welfare structure and the rise of a new one, based on the direct transfer of benefits.
Originality/value
The paper offers a new theoretical perspective to illuminate the computerisation of anti-poverty programmes, a phenomenon that affects the entitlements of millions of poor people on a global scale. In parallel, it draws practical implications for countries embarking on the digitalisation of their social protection schemes.
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Fareesa Malik, Richard Heeks, Silvia Masiero and Brian Nicholson
While digital labour platforms are being increasingly studied across the Global South, the existing literature does not conceptualise the theoretical link between such platforms…
Abstract
Purpose
While digital labour platforms are being increasingly studied across the Global South, the existing literature does not conceptualise the theoretical link between such platforms and socio-economic development. This paper theorises such a link drawing on the notion of institutional voids defined, as in Khanna and Palepu (2010), as “the absence of intermediaries to efficiently connect buyers and sellers” in an economy. We frame digital labour platforms as means to fill institutional voids, seeking to create “development” in the form of earning opportunities in contexts of deprivation.
Design/methodology/approach
We draw on an interpretive case study of an online work training project in a deprived region of Pakistan, where members of marginalised communities were trained to become freelancers for global digital labour platforms. We use the notion of market-enabling institutions aimed at filling institutional voids as a lens to study the project's declared goals, examining the extent to which these were met in practice for the workers who participated in the training.
Findings
Our analysis reveals three types of market-enabling institutions–credibility enhancers, aggregators and distributors, and transaction facilitators–through which digital labour platforms seek to fill institutional voids. However, workers' narratives reveal that institutional voids are only partially filled by these platforms, and their perpetuation results in diverse forms of power asymmetries leveraged by clients and owners of the platforms. We also observe the formation of solidarity networks among workers, networks that are intra-familial and societal rather than characterised by formal unionisation.
Originality/value
The paper offers a novel perspective to theorise the link between digital labour and socio-economic development. Applying such a perspective in a Global South context, it also finds the limits of the digital platforms' institutional void-filling potential, highlighting the emergence of power asymmetries and the emerging formation of worker solidarity networks.
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Silvia Midori Saito, Mariane Carvalho de Assis Dias, Daniela Ferreira Ribeiro, Regina Célia dos Santos Alvalá, Daiane Batista de Souza, Rodrigo Amorim Souza de Moraes Santana, Pilar Amadeu de Souza, Júlia Vicente Martins Ribeiro and Claudio Stenner
This paper aims to shed some light on the distribution of population, living in disaster risk areas in Brazil, on the intra-urban scale. The following three aspects are evaluated…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to shed some light on the distribution of population, living in disaster risk areas in Brazil, on the intra-urban scale. The following three aspects are evaluated in this paper: the distribution of exposed population according to municipal size classification; the population density in disaster risk areas; and the municipal human development classification for the municipalities with disaster risk areas.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is based on an explorative approach. The main database used is a result of the association of landslide and flood risk areas to demographic census, available for 825 Brazilian municipalities. Additional databases were integrated to characterize disaster risk management and municipal human development.
Findings
The results revealed that the population exposed to disaster areas is concentrated within the capitals and small cities in the country. Moreover, disaster risk areas are densely populated even in small cities, suggesting that it is a reality faced not only by the larger cities. Finally, disaster risk areas exist even inside municipalities with a high level of human development.
Practical implications
These findings could contribute to the understanding of the spatialisation of disaster risk in Brazil, a primordial step for the reduction of human losses.
Originality/value
A novel perspective about the Brazilian population exposed to disaster risk was obtained, revealing a current issue faced by the municipalities independent of the size classification and level of human development.
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Giulia Romano, Claudio Marciano and Maria Silvia Fiorelli
The chapter will describe the genealogy of the international social movement “Zero Waste (ZW)” and highlights its role of cultural, organizational, and scientific reference point…
Abstract
The chapter will describe the genealogy of the international social movement “Zero Waste (ZW)” and highlights its role of cultural, organizational, and scientific reference point for the waste management, in particular the public one in Italy. The chapter proposes to interpret ZW as a part of a wider social movement on “common goods” that in Italy proposed a radical critics of the neoliberal governance of local public services. The climax of this movement was the referendum of 2011, when 27 millions of Italian citizens voted against the privatization of waste, water, and transport management at an urban level. By door-to-door recycling, composting of community, pay as you throw system (PAYT), reuse centers, and environmental communication, ZW movement succeeded to create an apparatus of driver concepts for the management of waste. In particular, some of the proposed case studies were the actors that implemented the ZW strategy findings on the territory, experimenting new organizational and social practices aimed at increasing recycle and at converting the local economy into a circular one.
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Attempts by workers to take‐over and revive companies in crisis have been a recurring response to the threat of closure, particularly in times of economic recession. Being above…
Abstract
Attempts by workers to take‐over and revive companies in crisis have been a recurring response to the threat of closure, particularly in times of economic recession. Being above all a response to the threat of unemployment, they logically tend to occur in industries undergoing restructuring where the workforce possesses industry‐specific skills, or where a local community is economically dependent upon the threatened plant. Thus, the current wave of worker take‐overs — beginning in the 1970's and variously manifest throughout the European Community — conforms to a clear, overall pattern which often includes a solidaristic or co‐operative response to such crisis periods.
Silvia Ratna, Saide Saide, Afifah Mesha Putri, Richardus Eko Indrajit and Didi Muwardi
This study aims to provide a new overview and opportunities of blockchain (BCT), financial technology (fintech) and knowledge management (KM) over the past ten years. Its focus is…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to provide a new overview and opportunities of blockchain (BCT), financial technology (fintech) and knowledge management (KM) over the past ten years. Its focus is on their potential to drive new value creation and innovation processes within the digital landscape of the tourism and hospitality.
Design/methodology/approach
This systematic literature review and sociotechnical approach employs a literature analysis, analyzing and synthesizing 62 relevant articles published in the past decade form e-databases (Web of Science and Scopus).
Findings
This study reveals that researchers frequently discuss the potential advantages and challenges of BCT, fintech and KM in this industry. These include establishing systems that prioritize transparency and traceability, addressing blockchain security concerns, enhancing financial transaction efficiency and trustworthiness, and promoting innovation and improvement through KM strategies. Furthermore, this review suggests that the application of blockchain, fintech and KM has the potential to create new markets and opportunities in the tourism and hospitality industry. This study provides insights into the state and implementation of technology-based and knowledge-based for tourism and hospitality in times of crisis and digitization era.
Practical implications
Shifting to new lens (refers to sociotechnical theory), from technology adoption strategy, it is important to stay updated with emerging technologies such as BCT and fintech and upcoming technologies trends must align with tourism and hospitality business objectives, customer expectations and market demands. From the socio-dimension, KM is not confined to technological tools alone. Instead, it is a strategic approach that emphasizes fostering a culture of open communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing within the team of tourism and hospitality industry.
Originality/value
Through a literature review approach, this study establishes a new foundation in tourism and hospitality such as analyzing research gaps, understanding benefits and challenges, supporting methodologies/theoretical frameworks and informing the future research opportunities. Additionally, a novel contribution is the inclusion of sociotechnical approach that is allocated into socio or knowledge resources perspective (knowledge management), and technical or technology perspective (blockchain and fintech) that drives tourism and hospitality innovation.
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Paul Hampton, Ezekiel A. Chinyio and Silvia Riva
The purpose of this paper is to understand more precisely the culture and interpersonal behaviours associated with stress.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand more precisely the culture and interpersonal behaviours associated with stress.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted using a qualitative approach through an ethnographic methodology in relation to three companies. The greater part of the data collection period was structured into observations that ranged between 2 and 4 hr per day, 1–3 days per week, for a period of six months. A total of ten sites were explored; and on each site, the observations involved activities by 5–20 people.
Findings
The results showed the pivotal importance of interpersonal relationships in coping with the uncertainty of working conditions, the coordination of teamwork and managing responsibilities and power interactions. It was found that the impact of stress is multifaceted, affecting the physical status, interpersonal relationships, work performance and emotional well-being of construction workers. The workers who were studied emphasised five sources of support that help moderate work-related stress: additional tools such as communication systems and software, a facilitated access to professional help (e.g. psychological services), organisational changes in leadership, provision of resources for the well-being of personnel (e.g. job training) and better teamwork.
Practical implications
The study underlines the importance of dedicated services for stress management and specific training-related abilities devoted to reinforcing positive person–organisation dynamics. In particular, the abilities should relate to managing the impact of stress in terms of physique, interpersonal relationships, work performance and emotional well-being.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies to adopt a psychological perspective for understanding construction scenarios and phenomena and was conducted by a qualified psychologist.
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This study aims to address how the social structure of the hospitality management field has evolved from 1960 to 2016.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to address how the social structure of the hospitality management field has evolved from 1960 to 2016.
Design/methodology/approach
The informal social structure of the hospitality management literature was analyzed by collecting authorship data from seven hospitality management journals. Co-authorship analyses via network analysis were conducted.
Findings
According to the findings, throughout the history of hospitality management, international collaboration levels are relatively low. Based on social network analysis, the research community is only loosely connected, and the network of the community does not fit with the small-world network theory. Additional findings indicate that researchers in the hospitality management literature are ranked via degree centrality, closeness centrality and betweenness centrality. Cliques, which contain at least five researchers, and core researchers are identified.
Practical implications
This study helps both scholars and practitioners improve the informal structure of the field. Scholars must generate strong ties to strengthen cross-fertilization in the field; hence, they collaborate with authors who have strong positions in the field. Specifically, this provides a useful performance analysis. To the extent that institutions and individuals are rewarded for publications, this study demonstrates the performance and connectivity of several key researchers in the field. This finding could be interesting to (post)graduate students. Hospitality managers looking for advisors and consultants could benefit from the findings. Additionally, these are beneficial for journal editors, junior researchers and agencies/institutions.
Originality/value
As one of the first study in the field, this research examines the informal social structure of hospitality management literature in seven journals.