Palash Saha, Subrata Talapatra, H.M. Belal, Victoria Jackson, Amanda Mason and Olatunde Durowoju
This study aims to investigate the influence of the interrelationship between the deployment of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and the application of lean production (LP…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the influence of the interrelationship between the deployment of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and the application of lean production (LP) practices on the degree of organizational sustainability performance (SP) enhancement of the Bangladeshi ready-made garment (RMG) sector.
Design/methodology/approach
Previously, researchers have applied the resource-based view (RBV) or dynamic capability view (DCV) to describe the interaction of resources and capacities (technologies, management practices, SP) to analyze their effectiveness. However, in light of several contemporary academic discussions, this study contends that these organizational views are inappropriate for explicating SP. Hence, as the foundation of this study’s theoretical framework, the authors used the practice-based view (PBV), which is recommended as a useful window to evaluate the function of practices that are common and simple to emulate in execution. To test the theoretical framework and research hypothesis, this study used partial least square (PLS) analysis. For that, the authors carried out a systematic survey to collect data from 80 Bangladeshi RMG factories.
Findings
The results of this research imply that LP is a crucial factor in enhancing organizational SP. Moreover, the results also indicate that the adoption of I4.0 technologies along with LP can assist in delivering the lean objectives more efficiently and, therefore, the combined application of LP practices and I4.0 technologies play a significant role in enhancing organizational SP.
Originality/value
Though the present literature indicates the probable significant association between LP and SP or I4.0 technologies and SP, no study, with the best of the authors’ knowledge, has empirically examined the combined impacts of correlation between LP and I4.0 on SP. This is also a unique study to apply the PBV theory to explain the organizational SP through the combination of common resources and technologies.
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A great deal of international research has been focussed on the client briefing stage of projects and facilities. The authors have studied this research and propose a method of…
Abstract
A great deal of international research has been focussed on the client briefing stage of projects and facilities. The authors have studied this research and propose a method of advising clients at the strategic or pre‐design stage. This approach is termed strategic needs analysis. This technique analyses and reviews client objectives, proposes alternatives and confronts participants with making choices. A case study based on testing the technique in Melbourne, Australia, is presented. Management briefings, participant selection, interactive workshops, and the use of neural network‐based software forms part of the structure for strategic decision making. Facilities managers can provide vital information to this process and inform decision making at this critical stage. The role of the construction disciplines in this process is discussed and the new skills required by this profession are presented.
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Alexander W. Wiseman and Ryan N. Glover
Little is known about the impact of HIV/AIDS on education worldwide. Much of the mystery surrounding HIV/AIDS and education lies in the fact that their intersection is…
Abstract
Little is known about the impact of HIV/AIDS on education worldwide. Much of the mystery surrounding HIV/AIDS and education lies in the fact that their intersection is contextualized by many other factors. For example, many of the children who are at risk of not finishing school or have never had the chance to attend school live day-to-day in communities with high HIV/AIDS infection rates. To exacerbate the problem, in some countries the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates are in marginalized and extremely poor communities while in others it is among the most affluent communities. Girls, young women, orphaned and vulnerable children either living or working in disadvantaged communities have some of the highest risk for HIV/AIDS infection because of their frequent exposure to HIV/AIDS. But, those who are more mobile due to their occupations or wealth are also at high risk in countries worldwide.
Peter Rushbrook and Lesley Preston
In the late 1960s the Victorian vocational education sector was in crisis. The federal Martin Report into tertiary education excised many of the sector’s university‐level courses…
Abstract
In the late 1960s the Victorian vocational education sector was in crisis. The federal Martin Report into tertiary education excised many of the sector’s university‐level courses and relocated them into new Colleges of Advanced Education (CAEs), leaving many ‘middle‐level’ and technician vocational courses in limbo. Junior technical schools also offered apprenticeship and middle‐level courses, further confusing where courses were, or should be situated, suggesting an overall ‘gap’ in program provision. This challenge came when the Technical Schools Division (TSD), the smallest of Victoria’s three division structure (primary, secondary and technical) continued its struggle to maintain sectoral identity through courting acceptance from private industry and the public sector for its credentialed programmes. With significant others, TSD Director Jack Kepert, followed by Director Ted Jackson, responded by designing policy to reshape the TSD’s structure and functions and its reporting relationships within a new technical college and junior technical school system. Jackson’s policy statement, The future role of technical schools and colleges (1970) facilitated these changes. The paper narrates the events constituting this period of policy innovation and evaluates their contribution to the creation of a more seamless
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the professional context of the educator and architects who designed and conceived Woodleigh School in Baxter, Victoria, Australia…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the professional context of the educator and architects who designed and conceived Woodleigh School in Baxter, Victoria, Australia (1974-1979) and to identify common design threads in a series of schools designed by Daryl Jackson and Evan Walker in the 1970s.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was derived from academic and professional publications, film footage, interviews, archival searches and site visits. Standard analytical methods in architectural research are employed, including formal, planning and morphological analysis, to read building designs for meaning and intent. Books, people and buildings were examined to piece together the design “biography” of Woodleigh School, the identification of which forms the basis of the paper's argument.
Findings
Themes of loose fit, indeterminate planning, coupled with concepts of classroom as house, and school as town, and engagement with a landscape environment are drawn together under principal Michael Norman's favoured phrase that adolescents might experience “a slice of life”, preparing them for broader engagement with a world and a community outside school. The themes reflect changing aspirations for teenage education in the 1970s, indicating a free and experimental approach to the design of the school environment.
Originality/value
The paper considers, for the first time, the interconnected role of educator and architect as key protagonists in envisioning connections between space and pedagogy in the 1970s alternative school.
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The researcher emphasised with current research the need for an induction programme for beginning teachers in the South African context to overcome the challenges experienced by…
Abstract
Purpose
The researcher emphasised with current research the need for an induction programme for beginning teachers in the South African context to overcome the challenges experienced by beginning teachers while bridging from pre-service teaching to in-service teaching and to introduce and illuminate the design of a new multimodal induction model.
Design/methodology/approach
The researcher followed a narrative approach by discussing previous research regarding the insufficient pre-service training beginning teachers received and the lack of a structured induction programme in the South African context.
Findings
Research has shown that South African beginning teachers have faced similar difficulties as beginning teachers worldwide, but South African beginning teachers are not subjected to formal induction programmes. While the South African Department of Basic Education offered guidelines for the beginning teacher orientation programme, there is almost no evidence in the literature that schools follow such guidelines.
Research limitations/implications
The implications of this paper give other researchers in this field a broader perspective on how the new multimodal induction model can make a measurable contribution to the school, the mentor, the beginning teacher and, most importantly, the learner.
Practical implications
The Department of Basic Education in South Africa and Principals need to follow the guidelines of this multimodal induction model to retain beginning teachers and improve the performance of learners.
Originality/value
This is a new model developed by the researcher to explore the benefits of promoting excellence in the teaching profession through a technology-rich, integrated induction programme to increase the productivity, retention and leadership of beginning teachers, enhance and prevent the loss of human capital, with the ultimate goal of improving learners' growth and performance.
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Denitsa Dineva and Kate L. Daunt
Research into the dark side of online brand-managed communities (OBCs) and, specifically, consumer-to-consumer (C2C) conflicts within this context are scarce. This paper aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Research into the dark side of online brand-managed communities (OBCs) and, specifically, consumer-to-consumer (C2C) conflicts within this context are scarce. This paper aims to explore the different forms of C2C conflicts in OBCs, measure their direct impact on observing consumers and brands and investigate their appropriate moderation by exclusively focusing on two actors: brands versus consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
This research adopts a sequential exploratory approach. First, the authors capture different forms of C2C conflict via netnographic observations of five brand-managed communities. Second, the identified forms of C2C conflict are used in an online experiment to examine their impact on OBCs’ social and commercial outcomes. Third, further two online experiments were used to assess how brand versus consumer conflict moderators impact perceived credibility and conflict de-escalation.
Findings
The authors uncover three prominent forms of C2C conflict based on whether conflict occurs between supporters, non-supporters or outsiders of the OBC. The authors further show that these affect consumers’ engagement behaviours and emotional responses, while brands suffer from diminished credibility and could be targets of unfavourable electronic word-of-mouth. Finally, for managing C2C conflict, the findings confirm that brands are perceived as more suitable, while under certain conditions consumers can also be viewed as appropriate moderators.
Research limitations/implications
This research used a range of participant self-selected brands and is limited to brand-managed (as opposed to consumer-managed) communities on Facebook. While beyond the scope of this paper, the dynamics for consumer-managed communities may differ.
Practical implications
This article offers guidance to marketing practitioners on the different nuances of undesirable consumer interactions in brand-managed communities on social media, their impact on customer engagement and brand perceptions and when/whether brands or consumers may be suited to moderating these.
Originality/value
This paper makes novel contributions to the literature on consumer (mis)behaviours and OBC management. The findings are among the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to examine the direct social and commercial consequences of C2C conflicts and to provide comparative insights into the appropriateness of two different moderators in OBCs.