Y.P. Tsang, K.L. Choy, P.S. Koo, G.T.S. Ho, C.H. Wu, H.Y. Lam and Valerie Tang
This paper aims to improve operational efficiency and minimize accident frequency in cold storage facilities through adopting an effective occupational safety and health program…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to improve operational efficiency and minimize accident frequency in cold storage facilities through adopting an effective occupational safety and health program. The hidden knowledge can be extracted from the warehousing operations to create the comfortable and safe workplace environment.
Design/methodology/approach
A fuzzy association rule-based knowledge management system is developed by integrating fuzzy association rule mining (FARM) and rule-based expert system (RES). FARM is used to extract hidden knowledge from real operations to establish the relationship between safety measurement, personal constitution and key performance index measurement. The extracted knowledge is then stored and adopted in the RES to establish an effective occupational and safety program. Afterwards, a case study is conducted to validate the performance of the proposed system.
Findings
The results indicate that the aforementioned relationship can be built in the form of IF-THEN rules. An appropriate safety and health program can be developed and applied to all workers, so that they can follow instructions to prevent cold induced injuries and also improve the productivity.
Practical implications
Because of the increasing public consciousness of occupational safety and health, it is important for the workers in cold storage facilities where the ambient temperature is at/below 10°C. The proposed system can address the social problem and promote the importance of occupational safety and health in the society.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the knowledge management system for improving the occupational safety and operational efficiency in the cold storage facilities.
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King Lun Tommy Choy, Kai Yuet Paul Siu, To Sum George Ho, C.H. Wu, Hoi Yan Lam, Valerie Tang and Yung Po Tsang
This paper aims to maintain the high service quality of the long-term care service providers by establishing a knowledge-based system so as to enhance the service quality of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to maintain the high service quality of the long-term care service providers by establishing a knowledge-based system so as to enhance the service quality of nursing homes and the performance of its nursing staff continually.
Design/methodology/approach
An intelligent case-based knowledge management system (ICKMS) is developed with the integration of two artificial intelligence techniques, i.e. fuzzy logic and case-based reasoning (CBR). In the system, fuzzy logic is adopted to assess the performance through the analysis of the long-term care services provided, nurse performance and elderly satisfaction, whereas CBR is used to formulate a customized re-training program for quality improvement. A case study is conducted to validate the feasibility of the proposed system.
Findings
The empirical findings indicate that the ICKMS helps in identification of those nursing staff who cannot meet the essential service standard. Through the customized re-training program, the performance of the nursing staff can be greatly enhanced, whereas the medical errors and complaints can be considerably reduced. Furthermore, the proposed methodology provides a cost-saving approach in the administrative work.
Practical implications
The findings and results of the study facilitate decision-making using the ICKMS for the long-term service providers to improve their performance and service quality by providing a customized re-training program to the nursing staff.
Originality/value
This study contributes to establishing a knowledge-based system for the long-term service providers for maintaining the high service quality in the health-care industry.
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Valerie Tang, K.L. Choy, G.T.S. Ho, H.Y. Lam and Y.P. Tsang
The purpose of this paper is to develop an Internet of medical things (IoMT)-based geriatric care management system (I-GCMS), integrating IoMT and case-based reasoning (CBR) in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an Internet of medical things (IoMT)-based geriatric care management system (I-GCMS), integrating IoMT and case-based reasoning (CBR) in order to deal with the global concerns of the increasing demand for elderly care service in nursing homes.
Design/methodology/approach
The I-GCMS is developed under the IoMT environment to collect real-time biometric data for total health monitoring. When the health of an elderly deteriorates, the CBR is used to revise and generate the customized care plan, and hence support and improve the geriatric care management (GCM) service in nursing homes.
Findings
A case study is conducted in a nursing home in Taiwan to evaluate the performance of the I-GCMS. Under the IoMT environment, the time saving in executing total health monitoring helps improve the daily operation effectiveness and efficiency. In addition, the proposed system helps leverage a proactive approach in modifying the content of a care plan in response to the change of health status of elderly.
Originality/value
Considering the needs for demanding and accurate healthcare services, this is the first time that IoMT and CBR technologies have been integrated in the field of GCM. This paper illustrates how to seamlessly connect various sensors to capture real-time biometric data to the I-GCMS platform for responsively supporting decision making in the care plan modification processes. With the aid of I-GCMS, the efficiency in executing the daily routine processes and the quality of healthcare services can be improved.
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H.Y. Lam, G.T.S. Ho, Daniel Y. Mo and Valerie Tang
Under the impact of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), this paper contributes in the deployment of the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT)-based system, namely AIoT-based…
Abstract
Purpose
Under the impact of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), this paper contributes in the deployment of the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT)-based system, namely AIoT-based Domestic Care Service Matching System (AIDCS), to the existing electronic health (eHealth) system so as to enhance the delivery of elderly-oriented domestic care services.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed AIDCS integrates IoT and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to (1) capture real-time health data of the elderly at home and (2) provide the knowledge support for decision making in the domestic care appointment service in the community.
Findings
A case study was conducted in a local domestic care centre which provided elderly oriented healthcare services to the elderly. By integrating IoT and AI into the service matching process of the mobile apps platform provided by the local domestic care centre, the results proved that customer satisfaction and the quality of the service delivery were improved by observing the key performance indicators of the transactions after the implementation of the AIDCS.
Originality/value
Following the outbreak of COVID-19, this is a new attempt to overcome the limited research done on the integration of IoT and AI techniques in the domestic care service. This study not only inherits the ability of the existing eHealth system to automatically capture and monitor the health status of the elderly in real-time but also improves the overall quality of domestic care services in term of responsiveness, effectiveness and efficiency.
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Grégory De Boe, Valérie Swaen and Marie Lamensch
This study examines conditions under which taxes and subsidies designed to mitigate corporate environmental impact positively influence corporate pro-environmental behavior (CPEB…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines conditions under which taxes and subsidies designed to mitigate corporate environmental impact positively influence corporate pro-environmental behavior (CPEB) adoption, considering unique dynamics within different industries.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review was conducted on 171 articles. Articles were coded using an inductive grid for comprehensive examination.
Findings
Taxes generally positively influence CPEB adoption, but reduced positive or even negative effects can arise. Subsidies, while often facilitating the achievement of environmental goals, variously impact CPEB. Explanations for variations include the level of taxation or subsidy, economic agent affected, subsidy source, nature of subsidy, factors external to tax or subsidy characteristics and conflicting environmental objectives. We suggest research avenues for each aspect, to enhance literature on the influence of tax policies on promoting CPEB.
Practical implications
Beyond general tax-policy considerations, we provide policymakers with recommendations for tax policies designed to promote CPEB.
Originality/value
We examine the distinctive effects of taxes and subsidies on CPEB adoption within diverse industries ((re)manufacturing, agriculture, shipping, automobile, freight transport and power generation). We compare specific effects across industries, and advocate detailed exploration of recurrent elements identified, emphasizing their potential significance in designing taxes and subsidies that promote CPEB.
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This paper explores the potential that block teaching offers to enhance employability in the context of large-scale classes. It suggests that block teaching, with its condensed…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the potential that block teaching offers to enhance employability in the context of large-scale classes. It suggests that block teaching, with its condensed structure, necessitates curriculum innovation, fosters participatory learning and peer-to-peer networking, and has been shown to increase student focus and enhance engagement and attainment, especially amongst diverse learners. As these are the same challenges that large-scale teaching faces, it is proposed that intensive modes of delivery could be scaled up in a way that may help to mitigate such problems as cohorts in business schools continue to increase in size.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on secondary research and provides an overview of literature that looks at block teaching, followed by that which explores the challenges of large-scale teaching contexts. It compares and contrasts the gaps in both to suggest a way that they could be combined.
Findings
The paper provides key insights into changes in the contemporary landscape of teaching within UK business schools, which have seen increasingly large cohorts and draws out the key strengths of intensive modes of delivery, which include helping students to time manage effectively, encouraging curriculum innovation and the creation of participatory learning opportunities as well as providing closer personal relationships between students and staff. Outlining some of the well-documented issues that can arise when teaching larger cohorts, the paper suggests that scaling up blocked delivery may offer a new way help to overcome them.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the chosen research approach, the research results are subject to generalisation. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions in large-scale teaching scenarios.
Practical implications
This paper includes implications for the development of innovative modes of teaching in the context of large cohorts, an experience that is increasingly common amongst British business schools and beyond.
Originality/value
This paper brings together two bodies of literature for the first time – that of intensive modes of teaching and that focuses on large-scale teaching contexts – for the first time to show how the former may help to overcome some of the key issues arising in the latter.
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Martin Vasko, Natalie Volfova and Alzbeta Zikova
The coronavirus pandemic that has been significantly affecting global economics in the last few years has strongly influenced the tourism industry. Given its up-to-now…
Abstract
The coronavirus pandemic that has been significantly affecting global economics in the last few years has strongly influenced the tourism industry. Given its up-to-now development, we can expect that it will be one of the main factors affecting the tourism industry even in the upcoming period of time. The accelerated digitalization of the field in the last decade significantly changed the consumers' position. They quickly became highly informed tourists who are exceedingly oriented in the offers. The expansion of content that the consumers jointly formed has contributed substantially to this situation, representing an essential source of sharing experience. At the same time, this information is essential for the initial purchasing stage from other customers' points of view. The flexibility of this way of communicating subsequently enhanced the development of mobile technology that modified in time and content of the tourists' consumer behavior model associated with the field of the online tourism market.
The current form of digital tourist is also connected with the ability to use such information to a greater extent, eliminating the risk connected with the choice of final destination and service itself. The significance of information has risen with the numerosity of the tourists' trips and the turnout of new destinations. Social media have been playing a significant role in this process of purchasing decisions for quite some time now. Still, the review systems also play an important role apart from social media. The digitalization of the tourism market brought in its development an incredible extent of information with which the current tourists can work. However, on the other side, it creates a large quantity of information that they have to work through in order to get relevant results. The period of last two years that was affected by the coronavirus crisis has nevertheless significantly affected not only the frequency of traveling, but it is also gradually showing in the consumers' attitude. Among the factors that recently played a significant informational role is relatively a new piece of information of medical nature that has a direct connection to the changes that affected tourism from the ongoing coronavirus crisis point of view. The question remaining is what role and significance the current consumers are assigning to this information. It is also important to investigate what factors affect their willingness to include this information in their decision-making. In this article, we are proceeding from extensive research oriented on online reputation management that took place within a study that was realized at the turn of the years 2021 and 2022.
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Playing online games is a highly gendered consumption activity. While female players are objectified and harassed within the gaming community, male players tend to be stigmatized…
Abstract
Playing online games is a highly gendered consumption activity. While female players are objectified and harassed within the gaming community, male players tend to be stigmatized through unfavorable stereotypes. More than a label of players, ‘gamer’ forms an identity that can grant membership in gaming communities. The gamer identity is defined through consumption, yet material elements have been granted a minor role within studies of gender identity in video games. Through 41 play-along interviews with children and youth aged 10–24 years, this article seeks to understand how consumption patterns shape and reinforce gender identities in games, and by which market mechanisms gendered consumption patterns are maintained. By drawing on Social Identity Theory, the findings suggest ‘legitimate’ gaming is associated with gendered expectations for the choice of gaming consoles, types of games, and in-game products. These expectations are organized within a hierarchy among players, where certain consumption patterns are assigned greater value. When female players adhere to these consumption patterns, they may face harassment and strategic disadvantages. Additionally, transactional interactions between genders and household dynamics imply female dependence. These gendered consumption patterns are encouraged and enabled through market mechanisms such as game design and marketing ideas. The findings are discussed in terms of how gendered consumption influences membership in the gaming culture and encourages the promotion of inclusion in game design and gaming platforms.
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Heather Dawn Skipworth, Marko Bastl, Corrado Cerruti and Carlos Mena
Disasters are growing in frequency and scale, unmasking the systemic vulnerabilities of modern supply chains and highlighting the need to understand how to respond to such events…
Abstract
Purpose
Disasters are growing in frequency and scale, unmasking the systemic vulnerabilities of modern supply chains and highlighting the need to understand how to respond to such events. In the context of an extreme event such as the COVID-19 pandemic, this research focuses on how networks of organizations leverage their combined resources and capabilities to develop, manufacture and deliver new products outside their traditional markets.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a theory elaboration process, the authors build on resource orchestration theory to develop data collection and analysis protocols to support a multi-case study research design. This research investigates four cases of newly formed networks that emerged in four different countries – Colombia, Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom–in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings
These four networks in the investigation share common characteristics in terms of motivation and approach, creating patterns from which theoretical generalizations are developed into a series of propositions regarding the process of network-level resource orchestration under extreme uncertainty.
Practical implications
The research shows how networks and the organizations within them can streamline processes, swiftly build new relationships and develop a balanced risk management approach to extreme uncertainty.
Originality/value
This research contributes to theory by extending the resource orchestration model to a network level and showing how extreme uncertainty can lead to the emergence of networks and alter the motivations and goals of the member organizations, allowing them to be more responsive.
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Valérie Hémar-Nicolas, Fanny Thomas, Céline Gallen and Gaëlle Pantin-Sohier
This paper aims to examine the image realism effect, studying how changing the front-of-package visual affects the acceptance of an insect-based food by consumers. By comparing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the image realism effect, studying how changing the front-of-package visual affects the acceptance of an insect-based food by consumers. By comparing reactions to realistic and less realistic images of an insect as an ingredient, this research investigated how visual imagery can affect consumers’ responses, reducing perceived disgust or increasing expected taste.
Design/methodology/approach
Three experiments studied the impact of realistic (photo) versus less realistic (drawing) images for two types of insects (mealworm, cricket) on consumers’ psychological distance from the image, perceived disgust, expected taste, willingness to eat, purchase intention and food choice.
Findings
Study 1 demonstrates that using a less realistic insect image reduces perceived disgust, with psychological distance from this image and perceived disgust mediating realism effect on willingness to eat. Study 2 shows that a less realistic insect image, perceived as more remote, improves expected taste and willingness to eat. Study 3 confirms the results by measuring behavior: consumers were more likely to choose the product with the less realistic image.
Research limitations/implications
The research focused on one kind of product and two ways of depicting this product, limiting the generalizability of the findings for other visual representations and product categories.
Practical implications
The findings suggest how brand managers can use the image realism effect on the packaging of novel, sustainable products to influence consumers, reducing their disgust and increasing their expected taste.
Originality/value
This research breaks new ground by explaining how visual cues on packaging affect the acceptance of insect-eating, drawing on construal level theory.