Examines the sources of stress associated with high levels of job dissatisfaction and mental health among practice managers and women general practitioners, and compares the job…
Abstract
Examines the sources of stress associated with high levels of job dissatisfaction and mental health among practice managers and women general practitioners, and compares the job satisfaction, mental health and job stress among practice managers and women general practitioners. Women general practitioners (n = 75) and practice managers (n = 51) completed anonymous questionnaires. Lack of communication and co‐operation between colleagues and staff were the main sources of dissatisfaction and lack of mental wellbeing for both groups. In addition, wishful thinking coping factor was predictive of job dissatisfaction and mental ill‐health. There was no significant difference between practice managers and women general practitioners on the mental health scale. Women general practitioners experienced less job satisfaction with regard to the amount of work, and hours of work than the practice managers. There may be substantial benefit in initiating a support network system for these professionals.
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Usha R. Rout, Cary L. Cooper and Helen Kerslake
Expands on research which has demonstrated that employment has positive or neutral effects on women’s health. This pilot study examines whether these positive effects could also…
Abstract
Expands on research which has demonstrated that employment has positive or neutral effects on women’s health. This pilot study examines whether these positive effects could also be found in employed mothers by comparing working mothers with non‐working mothers on measures of mental health, self‐esteem, and mother role satisfaction. Also this study assesses the stress experienced by these mothers and examines the coping strategies used by them. Of the 200 questionnaires distributed, 101 were returned giving a 50.5 per cent return rate of which 78 per cent were working mothers and 22 per cent non‐working mothers. The working mothers had better mental health and reported less depression than the non‐working mothers. The most frequently reported source of stress for working mothers was not having enough time to do everything, whereas for non‐working mothers lack of social life was a major stressor. The findings of this study support the expansion hypothesis, which emphasizes the benefits rather than the costs of multiple role involvement.
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Sumesh Soman and Dhanya Mohanan
The study has a twofold purpose. The first purpose is to understand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women's work–home integration and stress from both a constructivist and…
Abstract
Purpose
The study has a twofold purpose. The first purpose is to understand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women's work–home integration and stress from both a constructivist and positivist perspective. The other purpose is to emphasize the need for enterprises to understand the embedded considerations of occupational stress of women for strategy formulation.
Design/methodology/approach
The study has used a convergent parallel design to obtain data. A total of 63 respondents (a survey with a sample of 53 and ten narratives) was identified using the snowball technique. The respondents were married and working professionals from Kerala. Perceived stress scale was used to procure data on their stress in the home-based work during the pandemic lockdown. Simultaneously narratives were taken from ten respondents from the same pool. The data were analyzed using R software version 4.0.2.
Findings
The findings reflect that home-based work was stressful for women, and they weighed home tasks over work needs. There was no age difference in perceived stress, while it significantly differed by profession and designation they hold. Also, a mother felt more stressed than a non-mother. Quantitative data heavily backed up the narratives. Of the sample, 76% experienced higher stress levels.
Practical implications
This research will help users understand the stress distribution in women workers and how various sample characteristics influence stress. The enterprise could use this study to introduce a gender touch to their strategy. The study also adds value to the existing literature on home-based work during the pandemic.
Originality/value
The study systematically measures the stress felt by women during home-based work using a perceived stress scale. The mixed approach to the study helps to gain a deep understanding of the topic. This study is an original contribution by the authors to the collection of home-based work and stress literature.
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I begin by examining some ways in which organisations have attempted to improve their recruitment and selection procedures to minimise bias and unfair discrimination, and focus on…
Abstract
I begin by examining some ways in which organisations have attempted to improve their recruitment and selection procedures to minimise bias and unfair discrimination, and focus on the assessment centre as a potentially useful technique in this respect, especially for managerial selection. I go on to examine the assessment centre in more detail, including its origins, construction and uses, before discussing the strong evidence for its validity as a selection and assessment procedure. I then describe some recent British innovations in assessment centre design and practice, especially in its use for management and organisation development purposes, before discussing some of my own recent research, in collaboration with Ivan Robertson and Usha Rout, on participants' attitudes towards the use of assessment centres for selection and development purposes, including gender differences in attitudes.
Baljit Kaur Rana, Carolyn Kagan, Suzan Lewis and Usha Rout
Even though an increasing number of British South Asian women have moved into paid employment over the years as a reflection of social and cultural mobility and change, their…
Abstract
Even though an increasing number of British South Asian women have moved into paid employment over the years as a reflection of social and cultural mobility and change, their work‐family experiences are not widely reported. This paper examines the experiences of British South Asian full‐time managerial or professional women combining work and family life. A qualitative study based in the north‐west of England was conducted utilising semi‐structured interviews with 17 women. Five themes are discussed: cultural influences on domestic responsibilities; additional responsibilities and commitments to extended family and community members; work‐family priorities and “superwoman syndrome”; stereotypes of roles and responsibilities at work; and experiences of discrimination. Managerial or professional British South Asian women are subjected to the same cultural family commitments and expectations as other non‐professional British South Asian working women. Practical implications of the findings are related to managing diversity approaches and organisational culture change.
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Zaheer Doomah, Asish Seeboo and Tulsi Pawan Fowdur
This chapter provides an overview of the potential use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and associated artificial intelligence (AI) techniques in the land transport sector…
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the potential use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and associated artificial intelligence (AI) techniques in the land transport sector in an attempt to achieve related United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets. ITS applications that have now been extensively tested worldwide and have become part of the everyday transport toolkit available to practitioners have been discussed. AI techniques applied successfully in specific ITS applications such as automatic traffic control systems, real-time image processing, automatic incident detection, safety management, road condition assessment, asset management and traffic enforcement systems have been identified. These methods have helped to provide traffic engineers and transport planners with novel ways to improve safety, mobility, accessibility and efficiency in the sector and thus move closer to achieving the various SDG targets pertaining to transportation.
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Balakrishnan A.S. and Usha Ramanathan
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of digital supply chain (DSC) technologies in automotive supply chain resilience (SCR) practices to improve the supply chain…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of digital supply chain (DSC) technologies in automotive supply chain resilience (SCR) practices to improve the supply chain performance (SC-Perf.) objectives of companies operating in the automotive industry. This study also compares the results of the associated SC-Perf objectives before and after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak lockdown situation.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors undertook in-depth empirical research using a questionnaire survey to explore the performance of automotive supply chains. The sample for this study consisted of practitioners from supply chain entities such as automotive original equipment manufacturers, Tier-1 component manufacturers and lead logistics providers in Asia-Pacific (AP) emerging markets. Research questions, framework and hypotheses were developed using the literature review.
Findings
The research outcome from analysis of the data the authors collected from an emerging market context, specifically the automotive sector, emphasizes the role of DSC technologies and encourages the firm’s SCR practices which, in turn, supports the SC-Perf objectives. The DSC technologies competency moderates the SCR and SC-Perf objectives relation, and the moderation effect is higher for post-COVID-19 pandemic outbreak lockdown situation than at prior state.
Research limitations/implications
The scope of the study is restricted to the automotive firms in the AP region. The data were collected from a representative sample of the population through a questionnaire survey. The small size of the sample incurs a certain level of subjectivity.
Practical implications
This research provides practical insights for practitioners and academicians on DSC technologies’ influence in SCR practices to improve the firm’s SC-Perf. This research shares the literature insights on use of DSC technologies across the sector to allow the automotive firm to reassess the existing operational practices.
Originality/value
The paper adds insights on introducing or implementing DSC technologies across AP automotive firms to increase the operations’ performance by improving SCR practices and sustainability.
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Somia Boubedra, Cherif Tolba, Pietro Manzoni, Djamila Beddiar and Youcef Zennir
With the demographic increase, especially in big cities, heavy traffic, traffic congestion, road accidents and augmented pollution levels hamper transportation networks. Finding…
Abstract
Purpose
With the demographic increase, especially in big cities, heavy traffic, traffic congestion, road accidents and augmented pollution levels hamper transportation networks. Finding the optimal routes in urban scenarios is very challenging since it should consider reducing traffic jams, optimizing travel time, decreasing fuel consumption and reducing pollution levels accordingly. In this regard, the authors propose an enhanced approach based on the Ant Colony algorithm that allows vehicle drivers to search for optimal routes in urban areas from different perspectives, such as shortness and rapidness.
Design/methodology/approach
An improved ant colony algorithm (ACO) is used to calculate the optimal routes in an urban road network by adopting an elitism strategy, a random search approach and a flexible pheromone deposit-evaporate mechanism. In addition, the authors make a trade-off between route length, travel time and congestion level.
Findings
Experimental tests show that the routes found using the proposed algorithm improved the quality of the results by 30% in comparison with the ACO algorithm. In addition, the authors maintain a level of accuracy between 0.9 and 0.95. Therefore, the overall cost of the found solutions decreased from 67 to 40. In addition, the experimental results demonstrate that the authors’ improved algorithm outperforms not only the original ACO algorithm but also popular meta-heuristic algorithms such as the genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) in terms of reducing travel costs and improving overall fitness value.
Originality/value
The proposed improvements to the ACO to search for optimal paths for urban roads include incorporating multiple factors, such as travel length, time and congestion level, into the route selection process. Furthermore, random search, elitism strategy and flexible pheromone updating rules are proposed to consider the dynamic changes in road network conditions and make the proposed approach more relevant and effective. These enhancements contribute to the originality of the authors’ work, and they have the potential to advance the field of traffic routing.
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The case illustrates an entrepreneurial voyage and venture creation and through it helps in identifying the reasons and causes for that venture's failure. It also enables…
Abstract
The case illustrates an entrepreneurial voyage and venture creation and through it helps in identifying the reasons and causes for that venture's failure. It also enables discussion on the importance of planning a venture, more importantly; financing, managing, growing, and ending a venture and on how to avoid the pitfalls that befall such enterprises. This case can be used in Entrepreneurship courses as well as MBA, PGP and Executive Education programmes on Entrepreneurship.
Amresh Kumar, Pallab Sikdar, Manali Gupta, Pratibha Singh and Neena Sinha
The purpose of the study is to identify the key antecedents relating to the interaction design of the e-groceryretail mobile applications and offer innovative marketing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to identify the key antecedents relating to the interaction design of the e-groceryretail mobile applications and offer innovative marketing interventions to facilitate consumer–brand interaction and generate continuous usage intention.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from the subjects using a personally administered questionnaire by adopting a non-probability method. The target respondents of this study were individuals who are users of smartphone and have purchased groceries through mobile applications at least once in two months. On the basis of responses received, a sequential predictive analytic method that includes structural equation modelling (SEM) and artificial neural network (ANN) techniques were employed.
Findings
The findings of the study highlighted the critical role of collaboration design in harbouring satisfaction and maintaining a regular clientele for e-grocery applications by confirming the presence of complementary mediation. Such validated proposition and tested research model backed by significant methodological rigour advances the research based on post-acceptance behavioural affordances in interactive marketing literature.
Originality/value
The study endeavours to understand users' post-acceptance behaviour by analysing the contemporary factors relating to the interaction design of the platform in terms of mobile application attributes that would drive user patronage intentions. Further, the study highlights the pioneering role of collaboration design for e-grocery retailers, as the recent alliances among strategic players to achieve synergistic business leadership have proven to be a game-changing evolution in the industry.