Sexual harassment is often the result of the abuse of power by perpetrators over victims. This study investigated the effects of customer reward power, customer coercive power…
Abstract
Purpose
Sexual harassment is often the result of the abuse of power by perpetrators over victims. This study investigated the effects of customer reward power, customer coercive power, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and personal factors on full-time life insurance salespeople's intentions to report customer sexual harassment.
Design/methodology/approach
This study collected quantitative data through questionnaire surveys. A total of 743 valid questionnaires were collected.
Findings
Two types of customer sexual harassment (quid pro quo and hostile work environment) were evaluated. PBC was found to be the most influential factor affecting whistleblowing intentions. Regression analysis indicated that customer reward power significantly affected whistleblowing intentions toward quid pro quo customer sexual harassment. The male salespeople experienced stronger customer coercive power than did the female salespeople.
Originality/value
Not every society views customer power and customer sexual harassment in the same manner. By examining Taiwan's life insurance salespeople and including the concept of customer power, this study broadens the understanding of whistleblowing intentions toward the two types of customer sexual harassment.
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Thomas T. H. Wan, Yi-Ling Lin and Judith Ortiz
This study is to examine factors contributing to the variability in chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and asthma hospitalization rates when the influence of patient…
Abstract
Purpose
This study is to examine factors contributing to the variability in chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and asthma hospitalization rates when the influence of patient characteristics is being simultaneously considered by applying a risk adjustment method.
Methodology/approach
A longitudinal analysis of COPD and asthma hospitalization of rural Medicare beneficiaries in 427 rural health clinics (RHCs) was conducted utilizing administrative data and inpatient and outpatient claims from Region 4. The repeated measures of risk-adjusted COPD and asthma admission rate were analyzed by growth curve modeling. A generalized estimating equation (GEE) method was used to identify the relevance of selected predictors in accounting for the variability in risk-adjusted admission rates for COPD and asthma.
Findings
Both adjusted and unadjusted rates of COPD admission showed a slight decline from 2010 to 2013. The growth curve modeling showed the annual rates of change were gradually accentuated through time. GEE revealed that a moderate amount of variance (marginal R 2 = 0.66) in the risk-adjusted hospital admission rates for COPD and asthma was accounted for by contextual, ecological, and organizational variables.
Research limitations/implications
The contextual, ecological, and organizational factors are those associated with RHCs, not hospitals. We cannot infer how the variability in hospital practices in RHC service areas may have contributed to the disparities in admissions. Identification of RHCs with substantially higher rates than an average rate can portray the need for further enhancement of needed ambulatory or primary care services for the specific groups of RHCs. Because the risk-adjusted rates of hospitalization do not vary by classification of rural area, future research should address the variation in a specific COPD and asthma condition of RHC patients.
Originality/value
Risk-adjusted admission rates for COPD and asthma are influenced by the synergism of multiple contextual, ecological, and organizational factors instead of a single factor.
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Yi‐ling Lin, Peter Brusilovsky and Daqing He
The goal of the research is to explore whether the use of higher‐level semantic features can help us to build better self‐organising map (SOM) representation as measured from a…
Abstract
Purpose
The goal of the research is to explore whether the use of higher‐level semantic features can help us to build better self‐organising map (SOM) representation as measured from a human‐centred perspective. The authors also explore an automatic evaluation method that utilises human expert knowledge encapsulated in the structure of traditional textbooks to determine map representation quality.
Design/methodology/approach
Two types of document representations involving semantic features have been explored – i.e. using only one individual semantic feature, and mixing a semantic feature with keywords. Experiments were conducted to investigate the impact of semantic representation quality on the map. The experiments were performed on data collections from a single book corpus and a multiple book corpus.
Findings
Combining keywords with certain semantic features achieves significant improvement of representation quality over the keywords‐only approach in a relatively homogeneous single book corpus. Changing the ratios in combining different features also affects the performance. While semantic mixtures can work well in a single book corpus, they lose their advantages over keywords in the multiple book corpus. This raises a concern about whether the semantic representations in the multiple book corpus are homogeneous and coherent enough for applying semantic features. The terminology issue among textbooks affects the ability of the SOM to generate a high quality map for heterogeneous collections.
Originality/value
The authors explored the use of higher‐level document representation features for the development of better quality SOM. In addition the authors have piloted a specific method for evaluating the SOM quality based on the organisation of information content in the map.
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A negative framing of immigrants to stir populist sentiment is a widespread tactic repeatedly deployed by the British press. Following the accession of ten new and predominantly…
Abstract
Purpose
A negative framing of immigrants to stir populist sentiment is a widespread tactic repeatedly deployed by the British press. Following the accession of ten new and predominantly Eastern European member‐states to the European Union in 2004, this gambit was again utilised to provocatively portray migrant workers newly arriving in the United Kingdom as an external economic threat. The aim of this paper was to uncover the recurrent ways in which Polish migrants were emotively framed by the top daily British newspapers during this period of EU enlargement.
Design/methodology/approach
A bespoke collection of newspaper articles was assembled and examined using a corpus‐based discourse analysis. The analysis was subsequently triangulated with relevant responses to a series of public opinion surveys.
Findings
Results show that the British press conformed to classic media representations of migrants when referring to Poles in particular, by depicting them as an external economic threat “flooding” the country; in addition a novel stereotype of the “Polish plumber” was used to present them arriving to take the jobs of native manual labourers.
Originality/value
The study adds to the understanding of media attitudes towards new migrants in the UK, and demonstrates the utility of triangulated corpus‐based discourse analysis for those who seek to highlight systematic characterisations of migrants in the popular press.
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Shiang-Wuu Perng, Horng Wen Wu, Yi-Ling Guo and Tao-Hsuan Liu
The purpose of this study is to value the thermal and hydraulic transport augmentation of turbulent fluid flow within the round-pipe axis fixed by a twisted-staggered…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to value the thermal and hydraulic transport augmentation of turbulent fluid flow within the round-pipe axis fixed by a twisted-staggered concave/convex dimples tape.
Design/methodology/approach
This study meets the report’s novel design by axis-inserting a twisted plastic tape with staggered concave/convex dimples of varying diameters (4 and 6 mm) and depths (1, 1.4 and 1.8 mm). Introducing a realizable model integrated with an improved wall function and SIMPLE solving procedure evaluates the thermo-hydraulic transport as Reynolds number is feasible as 5,000, 10,000, 15,000 and 20,000. In addition, using the findings from the present experimental work validates the numerical methodology.
Findings
This paper reveals that the staggered concave/convex dimples on the axis-fixed plastic tape can significantly improve thermo-hydraulic transport within this outer-heated tube. Furthermore, the processed dimples can cause flow disturbance, which increases turbulent kinetic energy and accelerates fluid mixing around a twisted plastic tape, resulting in enhanced thermal convection. The six kinds of twisted tapes (C1−C6) result in the thermo-hydraulic performance index (η) of 1.18–1.32 at Re = 5000. Among all the cases, the dimples using 4 mm combined with 6 mm diameter and 1.4 mm height (C4) earn the highest, around 1.40 at Re = 5,000.
Research limitations/implications
The conditions of constant hydraulic-thermal characteristics of working fluid (air), steady Newtonian fluid considered, and the ignored radiative heat transfer and gravity are the research limitations of the numerical simulation.
Practical implications
The given results can benefit from a round tube design of a thermal apparatus axis fixed by a twisted-staggered concave/convex dimples tape to augment the thermo-hydraulic transport.
Originality/value
Staggered concave/convex dimples on the surface of a twisted tape allow for impinging and swirling flow along the tape. These processed dimples can induce flow disturbance, which increases the turbulent kinetic energy and facilitates fluid mixing in a twisted tape. Furthermore, the hybrid-diameter dimples have enough flow channels for fluid separation-reattachment, and the thermo-hydraulic performance index has improved. This paper then presents a helpful passive approach for cooling a thermal device.
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Muh-Chyun Tang, Yu-En Jung and Yuelin LI
Chinese internet literature (CIL) platforms afford freedom for creative expression and opportunities for direct interactions between writers and fans and among fans. Enabled by…
Abstract
Purpose
Chinese internet literature (CIL) platforms afford freedom for creative expression and opportunities for direct interactions between writers and fans and among fans. Enabled by these platforms' technological and commercial arrangement, a new form of literary production and consumption has emerged, the most significant of which is the role of fans participation. A social network analysis of the interaction patterns in online fan communities was conducted to investigate fan communication activities at scale. Of particular interest is how the socio-technical system of the site influences its network topology.
Design/methodology/approach
Online forums for 10 popular fiction titles in Qidian, the leading CIL platform, were analyzed. Social networks were constructed based on a post–reply–reply threaded discussion structure. Various aspects of fan interactions were analyzed, including number of replies per post, post length and emerging network patterns.
Findings
Similarities in network topology shared by CIL fan forums and other online communities, such as small-world and scale properties, were discovered; however, distinct network dynamics were also identified. Consistent with previous findings, writers and moderators, along with a few highly ranked fans, occupied the central positions in the network. This was due to their social roles and the nature of their posts rather than, as the conventional explanation goes, preferential attachment.
Originality/value
The findings demonstrate how community-specific circumstances and norms influence interaction patterns and the resultant network structure. It was revealed that in the CIL sites, the users adopted the technologies in unexpected ways. And the resulting network topology can be attributed to the interplay between the sites' official arrangement and users' adaptive tactics.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-11-2021-0596.