bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The influence of religious belief and psychological factors on borrowing behaviour among Malaysian public sector employees
Authors: Mahdzan Nurul Shahnaz , Zainudin Rozaimah , Shaari Mohd Sayuti
Published: April 2022

Purpose

This study investigates the borrowing behaviour of public sector employees in Malaysia by focusing on religious belief and psychological factors. The first objective of the study is to examine the differences in the borrowing behaviour according to demographic and socioeconomic factors of the civil servants. The second objective of the study is to investigate the influence of religious belief, excessive consumption, materialism and financial literacy towards two aspects of borrowing behaviour: personal loans and credit card usage.

Design/methodology/approach

Primary data was collected using a digital survey which was distributed using a convenience sampling approach to public sector employees working in Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A sample of 340 public sector employees was obtained for analysis.

Findings

The study found that civil servants of different education backgrounds and income levels tend to differ in their borrowing behaviour. Specifically, those with lower levels of education, or lower income levels, tend to have a higher tendency of borrowing through personal loans. Multiple regression analyses reveal that public sector employees with either higher religious belief or higher financial literacy have a lower tendency of borrowing either through credit cards or personal loans. However, those who spend excessively or those who have higher levels of materialism tend to display more aggressive borrowing behaviour in terms of credit card usage and personal loans.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the literature by exploring the role of religious belief on borrowing behaviour. In addition, the study contributes to the literature by examining a specific group in the Malaysian society, i.e. public sector employees, due to the perturbing state of indebtedness among civil servants in Malaysia.
Sustaining customer loyalty of fresh food e-tailers: an empirical study in China
Authors: Cui Li , He Shanshan , Deng Hepu , Wang Xiaoyi
Published: April 2022

Purpose

With the rapid development of fresh food e-commerce, sustaining customer loyalty is becoming critical for fresh food e-tailers (FFE) to be competitive. This study aims to investigate how to sustain customer loyalty of FFE in China.

Design/methodology/approach

A comprehensive literature review leads to the development of a conceptual model using the American customer satisfaction index (ACSI). This model is then tested and validated through structural equation modelling (SEM) of the survey data in China.

Findings

The study reveals that trust and perceived product risk significantly affect customer loyalty. It states that trust is significantly influenced by customer satisfaction and perceived product risk. Furthermore, the study shows that perceived risk of online shopping does not significantly influence customer trust and loyalty.

Originality/value

This study is the first in China for exploring how to sustain customer loyalty of FFE. The findings are significant for FFE to develop customer loyalty by formulating appropriate policies and strategies.
Antecedents of big data analytics adoption: an analysis with future managers in a developing country
Authors: Moraes Gustavo Hermínio Salati Marcondes de , Pelegrini Gisela Consolmagno , de Marchi Laís Porfírio , Pinheiro Gabriela Trindade , Cappellozza Alexandre
Published: April 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the antecedents’ factors that positively and negatively influence the intention to use big data analytics (BDA) by future managers of companies.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample comprised 364 business students from a public university in Brazil. The methodology had a quantitative approach, with the use of structural equation modeling.

Findings

This paper presented a robust model with a high explanatory factor for the intention to use BDA, in which the elements of positive influence on the intention to use are expected performance, social influence and cost–benefit, and the negative influence factor is resistance to use.

Research limitations/implications

Research on BDA has improved the understanding of the phenomenon, mostly emphasizing the technical dimensions of BDA and underestimating organizational and human dimensions. This research contributed to the literature by presenting new insights into these organizational and human aspects by presenting influencing factors for future managers. User resistance is a variable that can incorporate technology adoption theories in BDA.

Practical implications

The results present a positive perception of future managers in the decision on financial resources in the acquisition of new technologies and enable managers to improve planning, investment and choice of technologies while presenting insights from the next generation. Issues regarding privacy, security and ethical aspects are key to minimizing user resistance.

Originality/value

This paper fills a significant research gap on the adoption of BDA, presenting the perception of future managers on fundamental aspects of adoption in a developing country. In addition, the research offers a theoretical model with new latent variables for a current and relevant topic.
Factors affecting BIM implementation: evidence from countries with different income levels
Authors: Al-Mohammad Mohammad S. , Haron Ahmad Tarmizi , Esa Muneera , Aloko Mohammad Numan , Alhammadi Yasir , Anandh K.S. , Rahman Rahimi A.
Published: April 2022

Purpose

This study aims to empirically analyze the symmetries and asymmetries among the critical factors affecting building information modeling (BIM) implementation between countries with different income levels. To achieve that aim, the study objectives are to identify: critical factors affecting BIM implementation in low-, lower-middle-, upper-middle- and high-income countries; overlapping critical factors between countries with different income levels; and agreements on the critical factors between countries with different income levels.

Design/methodology/approach

This study identified potential BIM implementation factors using a systematic literature review and semi-structured interviews with architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) professionals. Then, the factors were inserted into a questionnaire survey and sent to AEC professionals in Afghanistan, India, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. The collected data was analyzed using the following techniques and tests: mean, standard deviation, normalized value, Kruskal–Wallis, Dunn and Mann–Whitney.

Findings

Five critical factors overlap between all countries: “availability of guidelines for implementing BIM,” “cost-benefit of implementing BIM,” “stakeholders’ willingness to learn the BIM method,” “consistent views on BIM between stakeholders” and “existence of standard contracts on liability and risk allocation.” Also, the criticality of the factors often differs between income levels, especially between low- and high-income countries, suggesting a significant gap between low- and high-income countries in BIM implementation.

Originality/value

This study differs from prior works by empirically analyzing the symmetries and asymmetries in BIM implementation factors between countries with different income levels (i.e. low-, lower-middle-, upper-middle- and high-income countries).
The effect of job insecurity on employee silence: test an interactive model
Authors: Yu Shengxian , Liu Shanshi , Xu Chao
Published: April 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of job insecurity on employee silence by developing a moderated mediation model. The model focuses on the mediating role of ego depletion underpinning the relationship between job insecurity on employee silence and the moderating role of perceived coworker support and career growth opportunity in influencing the mediation.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducts a questionnaire from 309 employees of six Chinese financial enterprises in two waves, with a one-month interval between the two waves. Moreover, this study uses bootstrapping and confirmatory factor analysis to verify the hypothesis.

Findings

Job insecurity has a significant positive impact on employee silence, and ego depletion partly mediated the relationship between job insecurity and employee silence. Perceived coworker support and career growth opportunity negatively moderated the relationship between job insecurity and ego depletion and also moderated the indirect effect of job insecurity on employee silence through ego depletion.

Practical implications

The study provides evidence for the positive effects of job insecurity on ego depletion, which, in turn, is significantly associated with employee silence. It highlights the important role of perceived coworker support and career growth opportunities in reducing employee negative perceptions and behaviors.

Originality/value

This empirical study provides preliminary evidence of the mediating role of ego depletion in the positive relationship between job insecurity and employee silence. The moderated mediation model also extends the existing finding by adding substantive moderators (perceived coworker support and career growth opportunity) to explain how the effect of job insecurity on employees’ behaviors unfolds.
The moderating effects of entrepreneurial orientation on technological opportunism and innovation performance
Authors: Urban Boris , Maphumulo Mandla
Published: April 2022

Purpose

Research shows how with the evolution of technologies, technological opportunism enables firms to effectively identify and exploit innovations and opportunities through strategic management practices, such as adopting an entrepreneurial orientation. The study’s purpose is to explain the nature of the relationship between technological opportunism and innovation performance, while accounting for any possible moderating effects of entrepreneurial orientation.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional design was used to collect primary data from targeted respondents (n = 347) in the South African banking sector. Initially, instrument validity and reliability is established and the hypotheses are tested using multiple regression analyses.

Findings

The findings support the hypotheses insofar higher levels of technological opportunism are positively associated with higher levels of innovation performance, which is moderated by entrepreneurial orientation in terms of innovativeness, risk-taking and proactiveness. Moreover, competitive hostility, as a control played a significant role in the moderation effect between technological opportunism and innovation performance.

Practical implications

Leaders need to appreciate the importance of an entrepreneurial organization in leveraging technological opportunities which is pivotal for emerging economies, rather than individual entrepreneurial activities, which are rarely scalable in African economies.

Originality/value

The study provides an original contribution by increasing the theoretical and empirical reach of research on entrepreneurial orientation and technological opportunism. Since the original scales have primarily been employed in developed economies, by verifying their psychometric properties, this now allows for further replication studies to take place in other similar emerging market contexts.
State-space approach to nonlocal thermo-viscoelastic piezoelectric materials with fractional dual-phase lag heat transfer
Authors: Ezzat Magdy A. , Ezzat Shereen M. , Alkharraz Modhi Y.
Published: April 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop a comprehensive size-dependent piezoelectric thermo-viscoelastic coupling model that accounts for two fundamentally distinct size-dependent models that govern fractional dual-phase lag heat transfer and viscoelastic deformation, respectively.

Design/methodology/approach

The fractional calculus has recently been shown to capture precisely the experimental effects of viscoelastic materials. The governing equations are combined into a unified system, from which certain theorems results on linear coupled and generalized theories of thermo-viscoelasticity may be easily established. Laplace transforms and state–space approach will be used to determine the generic solution when any set of boundary conditions exists. The derived formulation is used to two concrete different problems for a piezoelectric rod. The numerical technique for inverting the transfer functions is used to generate observable numerical results.

Findings

Some analogies of impacts of nonlocal thermal conduction, nonlocal elasticity and DPL parameters as well as fractional order on thermal spreads and thermo-viscoelastic response are illustrated in the figures.

Originality/value

The results in all figures indicate that the nonlocal thermal and viscoelastic parameters have a considerable influence on all field values. This discovery might help with the design and analysis of thermal-mechanical aspects of nanoscale devices.
A systematic review of work–family enrichment in the hospitality industry
Authors: Liu Tianjian , Wei Chunhao (Victor) , Lee Yee Ming
Published: April 2022

Purpose

This study aims to systematically review the work–family enrichment (WFE) studies in hospitality and tourism management and provide insight into the patterns and trends of WFE literature to practitioners and future researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

This study design followed the guidelines of preferred reporting items of systematic reviews and meta-analysis. A final sample of 23 studies related to WFE that published from 2000 to 2021 was selected and systematically analyzed.

Findings

This study resulted in a framework that the antecedents and outcomes of WFE at the organizational, job and individual levels. Moderators between antecedents and outcomes were also identified. Theories such as conservation of resources theory, boundary theory, role theory and expansion theory were frequently applied in the investigation of WFE.

Research limitations/implications

This study generated a framework that illustrates the organization characteristics, the job characteristics and individual factors that have examined in hospitality literature on the topic of WFE. This study also pointed out theories that have been used in investigating WFE. However, this systematic review may subject to publication bias and number of reviewed articles remained relatively small.

Practical implications

This study provides suggestions on how hospitality operators could use internal marketing strategies and certain leadership styles (e.g. transformational and servant leaderships) to enhance employees’ WFE.

Originality/value

This study summarized the publication trends and patterns of the WFE studies in hospitality and tourism management in the past two decades, which provides suggestions for future scholars to further explore this research topic.
Board characteristics and environmental disclosures: evidence from sensitive and non-sensitive industries of India
Authors: Kumari P.S. Raghu , Makhija Harnesh , Sharma Dipasha , Behl Abhishek
Published: April 2022

Purpose

The study aims to identify the impact of board characteristics (BC) on a firm's environmental performance, and provides future research directions in the area of BC impact on environmental disclosures (ED) in case of India's environmentally sensitive and non-sensitive industries (SI and NSI).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collect firm-level data from Prowess and Bloomberg, which cover 1,158 firm-year observations from National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) 500 listed companies from 2015 to 2020, and use a dynamic panel regression analysis to get deeper insights on the relationship of ED and BC.

Findings

The study found that lagged environment disclosure score is positively and significantly associated with current environmental disclosure scores. The presence of sustainability committee, board size and frequency of meetings has a positive and significant association with ED for sensitive as well as non-sensitive industry groups. Factors such as board Independence, board gender diversity and CEO duality have no significant impact on ED of both sensitive and non-sensitive industry groups.

Originality/value

Based on agency theory and stakeholder theory authors study for the first time in the context of India the effect of BC on ED using a large sample and covering an extensive period of six years. This study contributes by offering deep insights about the impact in case of “environmentally sensitive, non-sensitive and also all industries case”. The findings of this study are valuable for corporate managers and regulators who are interested in improving ED practices through a better-governed corporate mechanism.
Ethical leadership and its influence on employee voice behavior: role of demographic variables
Authors: Dua Ashok Kumar , Farooq Ayesha , Rai Sumita
Published: April 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of relationship between ethical leadership and employee voice behavior. Study of employee voice behavior is important, because leaders in organizations make numerous decisions based on employees’ work-related inputs which do influence the decision quality and team performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were collected through structured questionnaire from Indian organizations. Data were analysed through statistical techniques such as confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

Findings

The findings showed that ethical leadership did impact the employee voice in a positive and significant but moderate manner. The study also found no significant differences in ethical leadership and voice behavior across demographic variables such as gender, age, educational qualification and job level in the Indian context.

Research limitations/implications

The study is conducted using single cross-sectional research design, and for better causal inferences of the relationship between various variables, future research studies may be conducted with longitudinal research design, multiple data sources and variety of industries with large sample size.

Practical implications

With erosion of ethical values and corporate scandals, managers need to develop and display ethical leadership as employees emulate their leaders’ ethical behavior because ethical leadership, or its perception, relates positively and significantly to employee voice behavior.

Originality/value

There is less study to understand ethical leadership and its influence on voice behavior in developing countries, especially in India. Ethical leadership behavior encourages employees to voice their work-related constructive opinions and concerns for improved decision-making and reduced unethical practices. Also, there is scarcity of research that explores the impact of demographic variables and this study is an effort to understand this gap.
Demystifying the evaluation of brands endorsed by religious leaders in the emerging markets
Authors: Arli Denni , Gupta Narain , Sardana Deepak , Sharma Piyush
Published: April 2022

Purpose

This paper uses social identity theory to investigate the sequential mediating effects of extrinsic religiosity and perceived role of religious leaders in the impact of consumers' intrinsic religiosity on perceived value of brands endorsed by religious leaders.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper comprises two survey-based studies with urban consumers in two emerging markets, India (N = 303) and Indonesia (N = 150).

Findings

Intrinsic religiosity has a direct positive effect on extrinsic religiosity, which in turn mediates the effect of intrinsic religiosity on the perceived value of the brands endorsed by religious leaders in both India and Indonesia. However, extrinsic religiosity has a significant positive effect on the perceived value of these brands through the perceived role of religious leaders in India but not in Indonesia.

Research limitations/implications

Samples for both the studies are drawn from urban consumers in India and Indonesia, which also have large rural populations. Hence, future research may use both urban and rural samples from other countries to replicate our results.

Practical implications

The study findings may help both local and global brand managers in the emerging markets with religious societies, such as India and Indonesia, to understand how they may use endorsements by religious leaders to manage the differences in the impact of consumers' intrinsic versus extrinsic religiosity on their brand perceptions and evaluations.

Originality/value

This paper extends social identity theory to the international marketing context by showing that religious consumers in the emerging markets are likely to support the brands endorsed by religious leaders vis-à-vis other national or multinational brands. Thus, religious identification offers a unique sacred worldview and unlimited group membership, unlike other social groups, especially in the highly religious emerging markets.
Expanding the experiential advantage model: exploring the mediating roles of a sense of meaning and moderating effects of motivational autonomy
Authors: Li Bin , Wang Sijun , Lei Li , Li Fangjun
Published: April 2022

Purpose

This study aims to test the experiential advantage argument from both the hedonic and eudaimonic well-being perspectives and seeks to explore the mediating roles of a sense of meaning, as well as the moderating effects of consumers’ motivational autonomy, in a novel context – China.

Design/methodology/approach

Study 1 (n= 203) used a between-subject experiment where participants role-played an imaginary purchase with experiential versus material focus; Study 2 (n= 290) used a recall method where participants were asked to recall their past experiential purchase or material purchase that cost more than RMB500 (about US$70); Study 3 (n= 185) used a between-subject experiment where participants were assigned to one of the four scenarios (two types of purchases (experiential vs material) × 2 levels of motivational autonomy (high vs low).

Findings

The authors find that the experiential advantage argument holds true for eudaimonic well-being as well as hedonic well-being in three studies with Chinese consumers. In addition, the authors find that a sense of meaning serves as an additional mediator for the experiential advantage argument. Further, the authors find that the level of motivational autonomy positively moderates the effect size of experiential advantages and the mediating roles of a sense of meaning.

Research limitations/implications

The authors only address the two ends of the experiential–material purchase continuum. Whether the discovered mediation roles of a sense of meaning and the moderation roles of motivational autonomy hold for hybrid experiential products remain unknown.

Originality/value

The authors enriched the experiential advantage literature through exploring the mediation roles of a sense of meaning and the moderating effects of motivational autonomy in the experiential advantage model.
Instagram celebrities and positive user responses. The mediating role of user “like”
Authors: Ahmadi Arash , Fakhimi Shahab , Ahmadi Yavar
Published: April 2022

Purpose

The objective of this paper is to compare the effects of two types of celebrities (Instagram celebrity vs. traditional celebrity) on users' willingness to look for product information (promoted products). User “likes” (user's intention to give “like” the promoted brand post) and Instagram involvement are examined as applied moderators in the proposed theoretical model of this research.

Design/methodology/approach

203 participants contribute to an experimental study and were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions (Instagram celebrity vs. traditional celebrity). An American-South African woman as a traditional celebrity and an American woman as an Instagram celebrity were selected for this study.

Findings

The outcomes demonstrate the power of Instagram celebrity in excess of the traditional celebrity. In addition, the findings indicate how users are more eager to “like” the post promoted by the Instagram celebrity. It also confirms that highly involved users (vs. lowly involved users) have a greater effect on the relationship between the Instagram celebrity and users' willingness to look for the product information.

Practical implications

Managerial implications for social media marketing and Instagram marketing campaigns are provided. From the view of marketing planning, the findings speak to the potency of campaigns using Instagram celebrity as an effective branding strategy.

Originality/value

This research in addition to highlighting the role of user “like” and user involved with Instagram, contributes to a better understanding of the importance of the promoted product information search in online marketing campaigns.
Activist public relations in developing contexts where rules and norms collide: insights from two activist organizations against gender-based violence in Bangladesh
Authors: Ali Habib Mohammad , Saniei Shima , O'Leary Patrick , Boddy Jennifer
Published: April 2022

Purpose

This study aims to broaden the understanding of activist public relations in developing contexts. The power of formal laws and policies in developing contexts diminishes by traditional norms and authorities, and therefore, a great deal of activist public relations efforts is devoted to controlling destructive norms and informal authorities. Activist public relations literature often assumes powerful formal institutions that are capable to control behaviors. The authors challenge this assumption by exploring activist public relations against gender-based violence (GV) in Bangladesh.

Design/methodology/approach

This study took an interpretative and social constructionist approach to examine public relations practices of two GV activist organizations in Bangladesh. The data were collected through observation, interviews and document analysis of four campaigns. The data were coded in NVivo.

Findings

The data show that the activist organizations used public relations campaigns for informal institutional work. The campaigns included educating various publics and storytelling to build supporting identities, norms and networks to address GV in Bangladesh.

Research limitations/implications

The study has been limited to advocacy campaign of the non-governmental organizations.

Practical implications

The knowledge from this study can be applied to the social development sectors where public relations is used to activate activism. In addition, the public relations practitioners and scholars can find how activists public relations is emerging in developing context.

Originality/value

The findings suggest that activist public relations in developing contexts carry out institutional work and create informal institutions to compensate for the formal institutional voids. In addition, this paper highlights the role of public relations in institutional work, to create and maintain contributory institutions or disrupt disturbing institutions.
Social media communication and destination brand equity
Authors: Stojanovic Igor , Andreu Luisa , Curras-Perez Rafael
Published: April 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to further the knowledge of what effect destination and tourist social media communications have on destination brand equity.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors performed a quantitative study with 433 international tourists and social media users using an online survey and structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results show that user-generated content (UGC) and destination-generated content (DGC) both positively affect tourist behavior through the mediating role of destination brand equity. Of the two, UGC is more important for building a positive destination image and more valuable for improving perceived destination quality and value. The results also show that affective image is a powerful predictor of tourist behavior.

Practical implications

The findings provide useful insights for destination management organizations (DMOs) and social media marketing strategies. DMOs need to generate content that was highly relatable and evokes emotion, and encourage tourists to share their own experiences to improve destination brand equity and future behavior.

Originality/value

The study was conducted in the passive, pretrip stage before a travel decision is taken, which offers unique insight into how social media communications affect: destination brand equity and users’ decisions to choose certain destinations over others.
An ISM-MICMAC approach for analyzing dependencies among barriers of supply chain digitalization
Authors: T.S. Deepu , Ravi V.
Published: April 2022

Purpose

Supply chain digitalization (SCD) facilitates a competitive advantage and is equally challenging. A literature analysis reveals that research related to SCD is available, but analysis of key barriers and their interrelations for effective SCD is limited. This paper aims to identify and find out interrelationships among the key barriers affecting SCD in the electronic supply chain (SC).

Design/methodology/approach

Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) is used to identify the contextual relationship among the SCD barriers. The model is validated using MICMAC analysis.

Findings

The findings of this study have implications at both theoretical and practical levels. The proposed ISM model can help organizations analyze and interpret interrelationships among barriers to SCD. It can lead to better insights and understanding for minimizing the dominant barriers to effective SCD.

Originality/value

This study tries to bridge the gap in identifying and finding the interrelationships among the key barriers to effective SCD in an electronic SC. The result assists practicing managers and academicians in effective decision-making on the SCD process.
Investigating assortative mating processes inside Internet-dating-service settings
Authors: Schibik Aaron , Strutton David , Thompson Kenneth
Published: April 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate assortative mating processes inside Internet-dating-service settings. Unattached consumers traditionally sought to satisfy their need for love through conventional search processes, including old-fashioned match-making. That was then, this is now; dozens of internet-mediated dating websites promising romantic-love-matches currently operate internationally. These dating services cultivate dating-exchanges by offering new-fashioned match-making processes. Despite these trends, theoretical and practical questions related to how and why dating services marketers might induce superior romantic exchanges between customers by managing assortative mating processes remain unanswered until now.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey-based approach was used to test hypotheses. Pretests were conducted to develop reliable measures of assortative mating propensity. Seven subconstructs of assortative mating were identified by analyzing data from a representative sample. The measurement model was validated before hypotheses testing. The focal assortative mating construct was measured formatively; assortative mating subdimensions functioned as indicators. The model was tested by structural equation modeling.

Findings

Assortative mating processes facilitated superior preference-selection outcomes for individuals seeking consumer-to-consumer romantic relationships inside internet-mediated service settings. Insights were generated about how and why assortative mating processes exercised positive effects on consumers’ attitudes toward online dating and about how dating services marketers might leverage assortative mating tendencies to benefit consumers.

Originality/value

A novel concept was introduced to the services marketing literature, as were several theoretical implications. The study simultaneously measured consumers’ propensities to engage in assortative mating and captured the effects of various physical/behavioral consumer characteristics. This study develops new and practical insights about how dating service marketers could manage the effects of assortative mating processes.
A framework to assess environmental sustainability of expressway projects in Sri Lanka
Authors: Wijewantha Pamila , Kulatunga Udayangani
Published: April 2022

Purpose

Infrastructure projects play a significant role in community development. Infrastructure consists of many subcategories such as roads, bridges, railways, airports, communication infrastructure and harbors. The expressway is an essential part of modern transportation infrastructure. Due to its span and complexity, expressway construction results in several environmental impacts comparatively higher than typical road construction. In that event, environmental sustainability assessment in expressway construction and determining environmental measures to address those impacts is essential. Therefore, this research intends to investigate the environmental measures applicable to expressway projects in Sri Lanka.

Design/methodology/approach

This study involves a comparative analysis of different environmental impacts validated through expert interviews. The data required to perform the analysis were extracted through expert interviews and the Battelle method.

Findings

The findings revealed the importance of environmental indicators for expressway projects in Sri Lanka by assigning weightages. The Construction Phase received the highest weightage among three themes indicating that the construction phase causes greater environmental impact in expressway construction. Furthermore, the Site Maintenance Plan and Tree Compensating received the highest weightages under indicators.

Originality/value

The study makes an original contribution through the identification of indicators that lead to the improvement of environmental sustainability in expressway projects in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the use of the Battelle method within the context of measuring environmental sustainability of expressways projects in general — and within the context of Sri Lanka — is a novel research approach.
Job attitudes and career behaviors relating to employees' perceived incorporation of artificial intelligence in the workplace: a career self-management perspective
Authors: Presbitero Alfred , Teng-Calleja Mendiola
Published: April 2022

Purpose

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be deployed in workplaces. While there are many positive outcomes of AI integration, understanding the extent of its consequences on employees is limited. Hence, this study examines employee perceptions of AI and the consequent influences on employee job attitudes and career behaviors. Utilizing the career self-management perspective, the authors explore the mechanisms related to employee perceptions of AI and potential career exploration behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors tested several hypotheses using employee survey data (N = 345 call center agents) collected from a firm that recently integrated AI in their operations. The authors collected data on four occasions (one-week intervals between data collection) to determine employee perceptions of AI taking over jobs (Time 1); job insecurity (Time 2); psychological distress (Time 3); and career exploration behavior (Time 4).

Findings

The findings reveal that perceptions of AI taking over jobs are significantly associated with higher career exploration behaviors. In addition, the authors found job insecurity and psychological distress as pathways that explain why employees having perceptions of AI taking over their jobs influences their career exploration behaviors.

Originality/value

These findings fill a gap in the literature by revealing how AI integration in the workplace, despite its many positive outcomes for organizations, can have a negative influence on employees. The negative employee perceptions of AI can lead to career exploration behaviors. From the career self-management perspective, the authors offer novel insights that have practical implications for talent management, particularly the need to communicate effectively to employees about AI integration in the workplace to avoid them feeling threatened and leaving their jobs.
Teacher communication and learner willingness to communicate in English as a foreign language: a structural equation modeling approach
Authors: Alrabai Fakieh
Published: April 2022

Purpose

This study aims to propose and test a model that examines the potential connections between two teacher situational variables (teacher immediacy and credibility) and three learner affective factors (motivation, attitudes and communication confidence) and to examine how such associations predict learners’ L2WTC (Foreign/second language willingness to communicate) in a language class via a comprehensive communication model to structurally verify the theoretically based associations among these variables.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 214 females and 198 males took part in the study with age range between 19 and 38 years. Participants filled in a verified, translated Arabic version of the questionnaires using an online questionnaire. Data were gathered using questionnaires and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis and sequential mediation analysis using bootstrapping methods to identify and verify direct and indirect paths in the model.

Findings

The initial L2 communication structural model showed acceptable goodness of model fit. Teacher credibility and immediacy behaviors only indirectly predicted L2WTC through the mediation of affective variables. Motivation and communication confidence mediated the relationship between credibility and L2WTC, while the association between immediacy and L2WTC was mediated by communication confidence.

Originality/value

The findings of this study have important pedagogical implications globally for professions related to communication instruction, especially with regard to teacher credibility behaviors and particularly for practitioners and beneficiaries in EFL contexts where learners are widely acknowledged for their unwillingness to communicate in foreign language classes.
Plant diversity improves resistance of plant biomass and soil microbial communities to drought
Authors: Li Yan , Wang Jiang , Shen Congcong , Wang Jichen , Singh Brajesh K. , Ge Yuan
Published: April 2022

Biodiversity is known to affect ecosystem resistance and have implications for the maintenance of ecosystem functions and services under climate change. Compared to numbers of studies focusing on above‐ground vegetation, the response of below‐ground communities to abiotic stresses along plant diversity gradients is often ignored and is considered an important knowledge gap in ecosystem ecology. Here we conducted an integrative research to evaluate the resistance of plant biomass, and soil microbial communities and associated functional profiles to drought under varying plant diversity.

We carried out a 3‐year manipulation experiment by factorially controlling plant diversity gradient (1, 2, 4 and 8 species richness) and soil moisture treatment (drought and non‐drought), and investigated the responses of plant biomass, soil bacterial and fungal diversity and community composition, soil glomalin, and five key soil enzymes.

We found that plant diversity significantly improved the resistance of soil fungal communities and microbial functional profiles characterized by soil glomalin and five key enzymes, which was partly driven by the availability and accessibility of soil resources (e.g. soil moisture and organic matter) mediated by plant diversity. Furthermore, our results indicated that the enhanced resistance of fungal communities was consistent with ecological insurance theory that diverse fungal communities at high plant diversity had a higher probability of containing taxa that adapt to drought.

Synthesis. Our study provides novel empirical insights into the mechanism underlying the regulatory effect of plant diversity on resistance of above‐ground vegetation and below‐ground biota to drought, with implications for understanding ecosystem response to climate change and improving biodiversity conservation practices.
Continuation of air services at Berlin‐Tegel and its effects on apartment rental prices
Authors: Breidenbach Philipp , Cohen Jeffrey , Schaffner Sandra
Published: April 2022

Berlin‐Brandenburg airport (BER) became well‐known far beyond German borders due to substantial planning problems and multiple opening delays. Originally planned to open in March 2012, BER finally opened in 2020, after seven delay announcements. Focusing on the two most surprising and meaningful announcements, these unexpected delays form an exogeneous shock for residents surrounding the largest existing airport, Berlin‐Tegel, which was expected to close immediately upon opening of BER. We use these delay announcements as a quasi‐experiment to analyze separately the effects on apartment rental prices of aircraft noise (due to arriving/departing flight paths) and airport proximity (accessibility). The results suggest there is a negative effect of aircraft noise on rental prices of 2%–5%, while there are positive proximity effects from Berlin‐Tegel of 1%–3%. We consider heterogeneity using quantile regression and find the negative noise effects are larger for higher priced apartments. We disentangle aircraft noise and other (environmental) noise effects, and herein find that aircraft noise lowers property values by 2%–2.8%, while properties facing additional environmental noise experience a separate 1.7% decrease. In a joint model of noise and proximity, we observe the proximity benefits and the noise externalities essentially cancel each other out.
Unraveling Financial Fraud: The Role of the Board of Directors and External Advisors in Conducting Independent Internal Investigations*
Authors: Files Rebecca , Liu Michelle
Published: April 2022

Although firms are encouraged by the SEC and Department of Justice to conduct internal investigations following financial misconduct, prior research finds few benefits for investigating firms. This study examines a novel aspect of internal investigations—namely, whether the investigation is conducted by independent versus nonindependent teams—and explores the impact of these teams on investigation outcomes. Consistent with our predictions, we find that firms whose internal investigations are led by independent teams are more likely to retain external advisors, have a higher likelihood of CEO turnover, and face a lower likelihood of an SEC enforcement action than do firms whose investigations are led by nonindependent teams. Our findings demonstrate that the SEC grants enforcement leniency to firms that conduct an internal investigation, but this finding only holds when the investigation leader is considered independent. These results also suggest that appointing independent groups to lead internal investigations protects the firm, at the expense of the CEO, following accounting fraud. Our paper has important implications for researchers studying accounting irregularities as we are the first to show that independent board members and external advisors play a direct role in the resolution of financial misconduct through their job on the internal investigation team.
Single‐site employment (multiple jobholding) in residential aged care: A response to COVID‐19 with wider workforce lessons
Authors: Jepsen Denise Mary , Barker Robyn Toni
Published: April 2022

Objective

This study aimed to capture stakeholder views and issues arising from the implementation of the innovative single‐site employment guiding principles (SSE‐GP) that the Australian Government, in consultation with the sector, introduced into hot spot residential aged care facilities (RACFs) in July 2020 in response to COVID‐19.

Methods

Interviews with 74 stakeholders around Australia were conducted in October–November 2020. Provider interviews included employees and managerial and human resources staff in profit and non‐profit services who did, and did not, have COVID‐19 outbreaks. Sector interviews included representatives from peak bodies, unions, government, academics, advocates, labour hire and registered training organisations.

Results

There was broad but not total agreement on SSE‐GP's effectiveness. Beyond specific SSE‐GP feedback, six strategic workforce issues were identified. The quality of resident care was mixed, sometimes improved and sometimes diminished. The extent of employees' multiple jobholding surprised many providers, and rostering and unplanned absenteeism are a substantial strain for both providers and employees. Innovative work practices are often difficult for smaller providers lacking employment relations specialists. Future SSE‐GP is seen by larger providers as voluntary and organisation‐ rather than facility‐specific, and unions saw only mandated SSE‐GP as appropriate for future outbreaks. Last, all staff, management and executives had additional stress that placed their well‐being at risk.

Conclusions

Although SSE‐GP revealed new and existing weaknesses in the Australian RACF workforce, the broad industry consultation and collaboration demonstrated that the sector can meet COVID‐19's urgent and complex challenges. The experience provided lessons for further workforce challenges that remain to be addressed.
Benefits of and barriers to telehealth for the informal caregivers of elderly individuals in rural areas: A scoping review
Authors: Lyu Miaohua , Zhao Qiheng , Yang Yuhang , Hao Xiaonan , Qin Yuan , Li Kun
Published: April 2022

Introduction

Maintaining care for elderly individuals in rural areas is heavily dependent on support from informal caregivers. Many informal caregivers of the elderly in rural areas feel burdened and urgently require professional support. Interests in telehealth that can provide support irrespective of geographical location have been increasing.

Objective

To identify the benefits of and barriers in telehealth engagement for rural caregivers to provide evidence for service improvement.

Design

A scoping review method was used following PRISMA‐ScR guidelines and Arksey and O'Malley's five‐stage framework. Five databases were searched. The search terms were chosen based on the target intervention (i.e. telehealth), target population (caregivers of elderly individuals) and target context (rural areas). Two authors independently assessed the eligibility of studies and extracted data from eligible studies.

Findings

Of 4220 retrieved studies, 19 articles met the inclusion criteria. This study identified four benefits of and two barriers to telehealth for rural caregivers. Four subthemes were identified as the key benefits in using telehealth for caregivers: decrease in psychological distress, increase in care efficiency, increase in social support and increase in access to resources, while inadequate telehealth infrastructures and caregivers’ own reasons were the primary barriers in using telehealth for those populations.

Conclusions

Telehealth was shown to significantly benefit rural caregivers. Future research can be designed and conducted for overcoming the barriers to telehealth. Additionally, the benefits identified by this review need to be translated from research into practice for rural caregivers’ care.