Search results

Mentally Healthy WA developed and implemented the Mentally Healthy Schools Framework in 2010 in response to demand from schools wanting to promote the community-based Act-Belong-Commit mental health promotion message within a school setting. Schools are an important setting for mental health promotion, therefore, the Framework encourages schools to adopt a whole-of-school approach to mental health promotion based on the World Health Organisation’s Health Promoting Schools framework. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A process evaluation was conducted consisting of six-monthly activity reports from 13 participating Western Australian schools. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with key school contacts in November 2011 with nine schools who had signed partner agreements prior to July 2011.

The schools valued promoting the mentally healthy message and the majority felt the programme was implemented successfully. More intensive implementation was facilitated by a proactive and enthusiastic school “champion” who had influence over other staff, and who did not have too many competing priorities. Factors inhibiting implementation included a lack of effective time management, lack of whole school commitment, and evaluation demands.

Act-Belong-Commit is a positive, proactive message making it easier for teachers to talk about mental health with their students. For schools reporting implementation success, the Mentally Healthy Schools Framework raised the profile of mental health in the school setting and fostered a sense of belonging among students.

This paper aims to present the design optimisation using genetic algorithm (GA) to achieve the highest strength to weight (S/W) ratio, for cold-formed steel residential roof truss.

The GA developed in this research simultaneously optimises roof pitch, truss configurations, joint coordinates and applied loading of typical dual-pitched symmetrical residential roof truss. The residential roof truss was considered with incremental uniform distributed loading, in both gravitational and uplift directions. The structural analyses of trusses were executed in this GA using finite element toolbox. The ultimate strength and serviceability of trusses were checked through the design formulation implemented in GA, according to the Australian standard, AS/NZS 4600 Cold-formed Steel Structures.

An optimum double-Fink roof truss which possess highest S/W ratio using GA was determined, with optimum roof pitch of 15°. The optimised roof truss is suitable for industrial application with its higher S/W ratio and cost-effectiveness. The combined methodology of multi-level optimisation and simultaneous optimisation developed in this research could determine optimum roof truss with consistent S/W ratio, although with huge GA search space.

The sizing of roof truss member is not optimised in this paper. Only single type of cold-formed steel section is used throughout the whole optimisation. The design of truss connection is not considered in this paper. The corresponding connection costs are not included in the proposed optimisation.

The optimum roof truss presented in this paper is suitable for industrial application with higher S/W ratio and lower cost, in either gravitational or uplift loading configurations.

This research demonstrates the approaches in combining multi-level optimisation and simultaneous optimisation to handle large number of variables and hence executed an efficient design optimisation. The GA designed in this research determines the optimum residential roof truss with highest S/W ratio, instead of lightest truss weight in previous studies.

This study aims to investigate which stock characteristics and corporate governance variables affect stock price overreaction and volatility during the COVID-19 pandemic period.

A set of stock characteristics and corporate governance variables which may affect price overreaction and volatility were identified following a review of the literature. A dummy variable was created for the cross-sectional analysis to take into account the unique sector effect in the consumer staples sector. Out of sample analysis was conducted to confirm the robustness of the main results.

The empirical results consistently show that size, dividend and trading volume determine the stock price reactions when the market is in turmoil during the pandemic period. Board size and average board tenure exhibit moderate effects on reducing the stock price reactions, but the effects become insignificant while controlling for the firm characteristics in the regressions. The results remain robust when tested out of the sample. More interestingly, a consumer staples sector effect is identified and tested. The test results show that the consumer staples sector effect mitigates the stock price reactions.

The results have practical implications for investors who aim to manage desired levels of risk in their portfolios during the pandemic. The results also provide meaningful insights to stock market speculators regarding pandemic-related speculation opportunities.

This study makes a meaningful connection between the irrational stock market anomalies and the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study examines the relationship between the competencies of the small business owners and their interest in international activities. Based on a review of the literature and a quantitative empirical survey among 803 newly founded Austrian companies, the chapter identifies the central explanatory variables of internationalization, thus contributing to a theoretically based conceptualization of this phenomenon. Previous conceptualizations of small firm internationalization are extended and specified. This reveals the necessity for a wider inclusion of utilized resources throughout the internationalization process. Moreover, the impact of the structure of social capital of a business owner on the decision to start international activities is examined. The findings elucidate differences between performance drivers with regard to the network, marketing, and technology competence of the small business manager. The study repudiates the Uppsala Model in favor of the “born global hypothesis.”

The study explores the pivotal role of green information technology and sustainable business processes and their impact on organizational value in an underdeveloped economy. It aims to develop a comprehensive model for driving organizational value through sustainable initiatives.

Data was gathered through 474 survey instruments (41% response rate) from top managers of IT firms using a convenience sampling technique. After ensuring reliability and validity, hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Data analysis utilized SPSS and AMOS 21.0.

The study revealed a significant positive impact of green information technology initiatives on financial and non-financial aspects, enhancing overall organizational value. Similarly, green information technology significantly influences sustainable business processes. Furthermore, sustainable business processes, encompassing economic, social, and environmental dimensions, enhance organizational value, including financial and non-financial performance. Consequently, a multifaceted sustainable model has been developed to optimize organizational value, providing new insights.

The findings imply that firms should focus on acquiring new green technologies and adopting sustainable processes, leading to enhanced profits and non-financial gains. This study aids managers in strategy development and implementation and guides policymakers in formulating context-specific policies. It enriches the existing literature on green IT, business process management, and organizational value.

The study rigorously tested a framework for fostering organizational value through green information technology and sustainable business processes in information technology firms. The proposed framework was validated using structural equation modeling.

This paper aims to conduct a systematic literature review on the fintech services and financial inclusion of the developing nations that particularly focuses on lower middle-income group nations (LMIGN) and upper middle-income group nations (UMIGN) to highlight the research areas that have not received attention and present opportunities for future research.

This paper adopts a systematic approach to examine 65 research articles published from 2016 to 2021, adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

The study identifies research gaps in two key themes: backward and outward linkages. In backward linkages, the literature on UMIGN should pay attention to the behavioural patterns associated with lending, investment and market provision-related fintech services. Further research is needed to understand the relationship between fintech services on the usage and quality dimension of financial inclusion in both LMIGN and UMIGN. For outward linkages, future research work should explore the role of fintech and financial inclusion in the development of LMIGN. This study provides valuable insights and guides future research directions by comprehensively mapping the existing studies.

This study does not use quantitative tools, such as meta and bibliometric analysis, to validate the findings.

This research paper offers new perspectives that introduce a novel framework for analysing literature on fintech, financial inclusion and its impact on the overall development of UMIGN and LMIGN.

One key determinant of entrepreneurial success is entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE), defined as an individual’s confidence in his or her ability to perform entrepreneurial tasks. Whereas previous research has examined how individual and business factors influence ESE, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of entrepreneurs’ social networks upon ESE. The paper examines such relationships for black and white entrepreneurs.

In total, 110 black and white entrepreneurs responded to a survey measuring ESE and critical constructs representing elements of the quality of entrepreneurs’ networks: emotional carrying capacity (ECC) and network ethnic diversity.

The authors found significant, positive relationships between both ECC and network ethnic diversity on ESE for white entrepreneurs but only found a significant positive relationship between ECC and ESE for black entrepreneurs.

While research is clear about the role that ESE plays in entrepreneurial activities, few studies have focused on the factors that improve ESE. In the present work, the authors study the role of context by examining how entrepreneurs’ social networks influence ESE. The authors examine such influences for both white and black entrepreneurs to better understand the implications of ethnicity.