Ravi Sharma, Charcy Zhang, Stephen C. Wingreen, Nir Kshetri and Arnob Zahid
The purpose of this paper is to describe the application of soft systems methodology (SSM) to address the problematic situation of low opt-in rates for Precision Health-Care (PHC).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the application of soft systems methodology (SSM) to address the problematic situation of low opt-in rates for Precision Health-Care (PHC).
Design/methodology/approach
The design logic is that when trust is enhanced and compliance is better assured, participants such as patients and their doctors would be more likely to share their medical data and diagnosis for the purpose of precision modeling.
Findings
The authors present the findings of an empirical study that confronts the design challenge of increasing participant opt-in to a PHC repository of Electronic Medical Records and genetic sequencing. Guided by SSM, the authors formulate design rules for the establishment of a trust-less platform for PHC which incorporates key principles of transparency, traceability and immutability.
Research limitations/implications
The SSM approach has been criticized for its lack of “rigour” and “replicability”. This is a fallacy in understanding its purpose – theory exploration rather than theory confirmation. Moreover, it is unlikely that quantitative modeling yields any clearer an understanding of complex, socio-technical systems.
Practical implications
The application of Blockchain, a platform for distributed ledgers, and associated technologies present a feasible approach for resolving the problematic situation of low opt-in rates.
Social implications
A consequence of low participation is the weak recall and precision of descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytic models. Factors such as cyber-crime, data violation and the potential for misuse of genetic and medical records have led to a lack of trust from key stakeholders – accessors, participants, miners and regulators – to varying degrees.
Originality/value
The application of Blockchain as a trust-enabling platform in the domain of an emerging eco-system such as precision health is novel and pioneering.
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Deirdre O'Shea and Melrona Kirrane
The purpose of the paper is to focus on personal and social background factors as potential channels for the transmission of work related attitudes in young adults. The paper aims…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to focus on personal and social background factors as potential channels for the transmission of work related attitudes in young adults. The paper aims to examine the extent to which gender, parental job type, job status, and education, as well as school experience, influence the development of attitudes towards work and family life.
Design/methodology/approach
The study comprised a quantitative (questionnaire based) survey with a sample of 782 final year undergraduate students attending various third level institutions in Ireland and the USA.
Findings
The results indicated that individuals who had grown up in traditional mixed families had more positive attitudes towards balancing work and home roles than did those who had grown up in traditional single earner families. Father's educational level also emerged as a significant factor in the career‐family attitudes of the participants.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this research indicate that young people have developed attitudes towards managing the work/family interface on entering the workforce, which they acquire through a social learning process. Limitations included the cross‐sectional nature of the design and future longitudinal research is needed.
Practical implications
Organizations and managers need to be aware of the well‐developed attitudes of new entrants in order to address early issues of psychological contract and person‐organizational fit, which have an impact on career success and career management.
Originality/value
The findings of the paper break new ground on the role of social learning on the formation of attitudes towards managing the work‐family interface. Such attitudes proceed to inform behavioral patterns and decisions in the harmonious management of the two domains.
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Yingying Hu, Ling Zhao, Sumeet Gupta and Xiuhong He
The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore the negative consequences of ubiquitous connectivity enabled by personal IT ensembles (PITEs) usage; and second, to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore the negative consequences of ubiquitous connectivity enabled by personal IT ensembles (PITEs) usage; and second, to investigate the gender differences in the adverse effects of ubiquitous connectivity.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs a socio-technical approach to identify the technical and interpersonal dimensions of PITE-enabled ubiquitous connectivity and develops a theoretical model to investigate their stress-inducing effects based on the framework of technostress. Furthermore, the moderating role of gender is examined based on the social role theory. The authors test the model on a sample of 439 Chinese netizens.
Findings
Ubiquitous technical and interpersonal connectivity induce four stressors: information overload, communication overload, life invasion and privacy invasion. These stressors further lead to psychological exhaustion and reluctance to try new ITs. The ubiquitous technical connectivity exerts stronger effects on stressors for female users than male users, and interpersonal connectivity exerts a stronger effect for male users than female users.
Originality/value
This study primarily contributes to the small amount of research on PITE-enabled ubiquitous connectivity by considering ubiquitous connectivity from a socio-technical perspective and examining the stress-related effects and outcomes of both technical and interpersonal dimensions of ubiquitous connectivity. This study also provides valuable insights into the gender differences in the stress-inducing effects of the two dimensions of ubiquitous connectivity.
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Ilan Alon, Haakon Stole Klemetsen, Aušrinė Šilenskytė and Ilan Gildin
This study aims to explore the innovative governance structures enabled by blockchain-based decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) in the context of international business…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the innovative governance structures enabled by blockchain-based decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) in the context of international business (IB). As nonhierarchical entities managed through collective voting and peer-to-peer interactions, DAOs challenge traditional assumptions of multinational corporation (MNC) governance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors perform a literature review, which combines qualitative content analysis of both academic papers on DAO and whitepapers with quantitative analysis of bibliometrics using VosViewer.
Findings
The findings highlight DAOs’ ability to generate new research questions and offer a foundation for future studies on decentralized governance in IB. Through a bibliometric analysis of 73 papers from Web of Science and qualitative content analysis, the authors identify four primary research streams in the DAO literature. A deep dive into financial DAOs, or DeFi DAOs, reveals insights into their governance mechanisms and implications for the studies in the field of IB.
Research limitations/implications
Research on DAOs is in its early stages, and the practice in IB is nascent. As the regulatory, economic and technological landscape for DAOs changes, more research will be needed on the governance mechanisms and their sustainability.
Originality/value
This paper advances the field by providing a multilevel analysis of DAOs’ potential impact on IB, considering macro (country), meso (MNC/DPE) and micro (multicultural team and individual) levels.