bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Digital storytelling with chatbots: mapping L2 participation and perception patterns
Authors: Bailey Daniel , Southam Ashleigh , Costley Jamie
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This study aims to increase language learning (L2) output by incorporating a digital storytelling chatbot system (known as a “storybot”) that focused interactions on a narrative. This study also sought to investigate student perceptions of these storybot interactions and improve on poor perception rates from previous studies.

Design/methodology/approach

This one-sample exploratory study was of student-storybot participation rates and student perceptions towards a storybot activity designed to increase L2 output. A combination of storybot participation analytics and survey analysis of student perception was carried out.

Findings

The use of storybots in the L2 class resulted in mixed participation rates. Students read nine times more than they wrote, indicating a high degree of reading comprehension necessary for storybot interaction. Survey results revealed that students believed storybots helped them meet their L2 goals, were relevant to their L2 and were easy to navigate.

Research limitations/implications

Interactions were through text messaging so no impact on speech or pronunciation could be observed. Further, the context was within a single university class in South Korea, restricting the generalization of findings to outside regions or with younger learners. Finally, while storybots proved to be valuable reading comprehension activities, the next step in this line of chatbot research should incorporate more writing prompts.

Practical implications

Storybots revealed explicit benefits to reading comprehension, as measured by cohesion between storybot delivered comprehension questions and student responses. Moreover, storybots can be used as examples for students in their own story creation, classroom forms to collect relevant student information regarding learning objectives and platforms for class quizzes.

Social implications

Storybots scaffold students through conversations, which abide by socio-pragmatic norms, providing models for L2 learners to incorporate in real-world text-based communication. Additionally, a wide range of idiomatic expressions is contextualized in comprehensible interactions that students can learn from the storybot then practice with friends.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the growing research on the use of chatbots for second L2 and offers specific insight into the use of narrative storybots as a means to increase L2 output and potentially benefit L2 reading comprehension.
The impact of corporate governance on the relationship between earnings management and CEO compensation
Authors: Assenso-Okofo Oheneba , Jahangir Ali Muhammad , Ahmed Kamran
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The study examines whether corporate governance moderates the relationship between CEO compensation and earnings management.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses 1,800 firm-year observations from 2005 to 2010 and employ multiple regression analyses and other sensitivity tests.

Findings

The study finds a positive relationship between CEO compensation and earnings management. The study’s results also suggest that CEO bonus compensation increases in relation to earnings management and therefore the study infers that managers may become involved in earnings management to increase their compensation. However, the study finds that the relationship is moderated by a strong corporate governance system which reduces the impact of earnings management on CEO compensation.

Research limitations/implications

The study is conducted in a specific context, and therefore it may be subject to a set of limitations. The study emphasises exclusively on whether executives manage earnings to increase their compensation. The study does not consider the issue of several other and potentially contradictory motivations here.

Practical implications

The study’s findings highlight potential implications and offer useful propositions for stakeholders, particularly accounting and corporate governance regulators, to consider. The findings offer a basis for the accounting professions to further discuss and improve accounting standards to provide adequate regulations and monitoring to decrease managerial opportunistic behaviours in earnings manipulations. The findings also emphasise the need for appropriately designed CEO compensation packages in such a manner that improves the manager–shareholder alignment and reduces the information asymmetry problem. The results signify that corporate governance plays a vital role in mitigating the relationship between CEO compensation and earnings management.

Originality/value

This study adds to the existing literature by documenting empirical support on the link between earnings management and CEO compensation against a backdrop of high demand for strong corporate governance practices.
Demonstration of the relationship between MSD and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Karingada Kochu Therisa , Sony Michael
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown has caught many educational institutions by surprise and warranted an abrupt migration from offline to online learning. This has resulted in an education change, without any time for due consideration, as regards its impact on musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) on students. The purpose of this study is to investigate MSD related to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional study was conducted on undergraduate students in India. In total, 261 students participated in this online survey.

Findings

The study finds that around 80% of students have reported some symptom in the head, neck and eyes since they started online learning. In total, 58% have reported MSD symptom in the right shoulder and 56% in the right hand fingers. Besides, more than 40 % of students experienced some MSD symptoms, in almost all the body parts studied, due to online learning. Correlation analysis is conducted between time spent on online learning per day and MSD symptoms.

Originality/value

This is the first study conducted on MSD and online learning during COVID-19 pandemic.
The oil and gas industry: finding the right stance in the energy transition sweepstakes
Authors: Hartmann Julia , Inkpen Andrew , Ramaswamy Kannan
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The long-term energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy challenges the future of oil and gas firms. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the world’s largest oil and gas firms’ strategies are responding to the transition.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used content analysis of annual reports to examine the renewable strategies of the world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas companies. Data were analyzed using two complementary statistical methodologies to build a taxonomy of the patterns in strategic behaviors involving renewable energy.

Findings

Five transition archetypes are identified – three reflect an active pursuit of renewable energy, whereas the other two are more defensive in posture. The authors also find that the firm’s country context has an important bearing on renewable strategy. Both normative social pressures and regulatory pressures play key roles in influencing a firm’s commitment to a renewables’ strategy.

Research limitations/implications

Using an innovative research method, we develop a new taxonomy to classify how the world’s largest oil and gas firms are shaping the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy..

Originality/value

Using an innovative research method, the authors developed a new taxonomy to classify how the world’s largest oil and gas firms are shaping the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
An analysis of papers published in theJournal of European Real Estate Research, 2008-2019
Authors: Hoesli Martin
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze papers that have been published in the Journal of European Real Estate Research since its inception in 2008.

Design/methodology/approach

The author analyzes papers published from 2008 to 2019 in theJournal of European Real Estate Researchby authors’ country of affiliation, by country of study and by theme.

Findings

TheJournal of European Real Estate Researchpublishes papers from scholars from an increasing number of countries, in particular in Central and Eastern Europe. Papers that provide a comparative analysis of countries constitute the largest category of contributions. The three most popular themes remain housing, valuation and investment/portfolio management. However, the dynamics of the three categories differ notably.

Originality/value

This paper provides for a clearer understanding of key dimensions of real estate research in Europe.
Chinese banking failure: the case of Baoshang Bank and its implications
Authors: Liu Kerry
Published: February 2021

Purpose

On May 24, 2019, the People’s Bank of China (China’s central bank) announced that the Baoshang Bank had been taken over because of credit risk. The Baoshang Bank failure has caused concerns over the stability of the Chinese financial system and the Chinese economy. This study aims to examine the case of Baoshang Bank’s failure and its theoretical implications including the relation between ownership structure and bank performance, the monetary transmission during a banking crisis and the market response to Baoshang Bank failure. Then this study discusses policy implications.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a two-stage least squared model to examine the relation between ownership structure and bank performance, a series of rolling regressions to examine the monetary transmission and event studies to examine the market response to Baoshang Bank failure.

Findings

This study finds that there is a nonlinear relation between ownership structure and bank performance, the interest pass-through has broken down after the Baoshang Bank failure and the Baoshang Bank failure and the gradual exit of implicit guarantee from the Chinese government are considered to be positive to the Chinese banking sector.

Originality/value

First, although previous studies on ownership structure and bank performance classified different types of larger shareholders and found that this nonlinear relation is insignificant, this study finds a significant relation by innovatively using a combined ownership. Second, further contributing to the studies on monetary transmission in banking crisis based on international data, this study based on Chinese data sets finds that the interest rate pass-through has broken down after the Baoshang Bank failure.
Have EU derivative policy reforms since the 2008 financial crisis been designed effectively?
Authors: Graham Charles Fergus
Published: February 2021

Purpose

In response to the 2008 financial crisis, the European Union (EU) comprehensively restructured its derivative regulation. A key component of this new framework is a reporting obligation for every derivative trade. As the reporting requirement does not involve public disclosure of the information, existing academic analysis on reporting regulations to-date, which focusses on public disclosure, is limited in predicting the effectiveness of the reform. This paper aims to assess whether the reform has been designed effectively based on the regulatory setup in the UK.

Design/methodology/approach

Framing the reporting regulation as a moral hazard problem with asymmetric information, this paper uses a game-theoretical approach to evaluate whether the new derivative reporting obligation effectively induces firm compliance. I also discuss potential extensions of the derivative reporting model, with particular emphasis on how the framework could account for heterogeneous firms and different regulatory tools.

Findings

Based on the theoretical analysis, this paper finds that while firms are unlikely to comply fully with derivative reporting requirements, it is possible to induce relatively high firm compliance. Although this does not mean we are immune from another financial crisis, the derivative reporting requirements should equip EU regulators to monitor a more transparent and secure derivatives market.

Originality/value

This paper provides a theoretical foundation for further study of post-crisis derivatives reforms. In particular, the implications of the model point to an empirical strategy to test the accuracy of the model.
On the connection between disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness: the case of Aceh province, Indonesia
Authors: Rayawan James , Tipnis Vinit S. , Pedraza-Martinez Alfonso J.
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The authors investigate the role of community engagement in the connection between disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness. Using a vulnerability-to-hazard framework built by the European Union, the authors study the case of Aceh province, Indonesia, which was hit hard by Asian tsunami in 2004.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design uses a single case study research. The authors study the case of Aceh province, Indonesia, by comparing improvements in disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness in a period longer than ten years beginning in 2004, right before the Asian tsunami that devastated the province. Aware that the connection between mitigation and preparedness is a broad research topic, the authors focus on the domain of pre-disaster evacuation.

Findings

The authors find that Aceh province has made substantial improvements in healthcare facilities and road quality (mitigation) as well as early alert systems and evacuation plans (preparedness). Socio-economic indicators of the community have improved substantially as well. However, there is a lack of safe sheltering areas as well as poor road signaling maintenance, which threatens the effectiveness of infrastructural improvements. The authors propose that community engagement would connect disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness. The connecting element is community-based maintenance of critical infrastructure such as road signals, which the government could facilitate by leveraging on operational transparency.

Research limitations/implications

The findings open avenues for future research on the actionable engagement of communities in disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to three areas of humanitarian logistics research: disaster management cycle (DMC), pre-disaster evacuations and community engagement in disaster management.
Keeping the wheels of the automotive industry turning: the use of tacit knowledge by product development workers in a multinational automotive manufacturer
Authors: Schmidt René , Bell Robin , Warren Vessela
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This research identifies the forms of tacit knowledge frequently requested in the job descriptions of knowledge workers in a multinational automotive manufacturer's product development department. It then explores how and why the most requested forms of tacit knowledge are used in practice to achieve organizational goals.

Design/methodology/approach

This study follows a sequential mixed-methods approach to quantify the most frequently requested forms of tacit knowledge within internal job descriptions and then explores how and why this tacit knowledge is used. The first stage applies manifest content analysis to internal job descriptions to highlight the epitomes of tacit knowledge to identify the most frequently requested forms of tacit knowledge. The second stage employs semi-structured interviews to explore the use of the most frequently requested forms of tacit knowledge in practice.

Findings

The research indicated that the organization most frequently requested tacit knowledge in the form of skills and experience in the job descriptions of knowledge workers in the product development department. When the use and application of tacit knowledge in the form of skills were further explored in practice, it was found that tacit knowledge-based socially-focused skills were used, which was underpinned by the need to bring people together and align them towards a common goal to make things work; by enabling people to work together as a team; by developing and using networks; and acting as a required resource to support the development and integration in product development. Tacit knowledge in the form of experience was applied through the application of personally obtained experience to enhance development work by acting as a pacemaker for increasing efficiency and a sense of upcoming issues.

Originality/value

This work addresses the paucity of studies identifying tacit knowledge in large organizations and meets calls to investigate the processes and activities related to tacit knowledge in specific contexts.
Linking transformational leadership and frugal innovation: the mediating role of tacit and explicit knowledge sharing
Authors: Lei Hui , Gui Linnan , Le Phong Ba
Published: February 2021

Purpose

Given the important role of frugal innovation for firms in the developing and emerging countries, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of transformational leadership (TL) on frugal innovation through the mediating roles of tacit and explicit knowledge sharing.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper used a quantitative research method and structural equation modeling to test the relationship among the latent factors based on a sample of 339 participants from 120 Vietnamese firms.

Findings

Findings reveal the significant impacts of TL on aspects of frugal innovation, namely, frugal functionality, frugal cost and frugal ecosystem. Moreover, the paper highlights the mediating roles of tacit and explicit knowledge sharing (KS) in the relationship between TL and frugal innovation in terms of frugal functionality and frugal cost.

Research limitations/implications

To bring a deeper understanding of the benefits and important role of knowledge resources, future research should investigate the potential mediating mechanisms of knowledge management processes in the relationship between specific leadership styles and frugal innovation.

Practical implications

The paper provides a valuable understanding and novel approach for managers and directors of firms in developing and emerging countries to improve their firms’ frugal innovation capability through leadership practice and knowledge resources.

Originality/value

This study contributes to bridging research gaps in the literature and advances the insights of how TL directly and indirectly fosters frugal innovation via mediating roles of tacit and explicit KS.
Knowledge assets, capabilities and performance measurement systems: a resource orchestration theory approach
Authors: Asiaei Kaveh , Rezaee Zabihollah , Bontis Nick , Barani Omid , Sapiei Noor Sharoja
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The pivotal role of knowledge management (KM) and its extensive implications have been debated in the academic literature with insufficient focus on its link to particular organizational control mechanisms such as performance measurement systems (PMS). To bridge this gap and building on resource orchestration theory, this paper aims to investigate the relationships between KM factors, PMS and corporate performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a survey data set of 92 listed companies in Iran, the framework and hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) based on partial least squares (PLS).

Findings

The SEM-PLS results indicate that knowledge assets are significantly associated with both PMS and corporate performance while knowledge process capabilities (KPC) are not significantly associated with PMS and corporate performance. This study also shows that PMS mediates the relationship between knowledge assets and corporate performance.

Practical implications

The results suggest that the use of appropriate management control systems plays an effective role in synchronizing, aligning and orchestrating a company’s various knowledge resources, which, in turn, can lead to superior overall performance.

Originality/value

Building on a unique synthesis of resource orchestration theory and the knowledge-based view of the firm, the results of this study provide the first empirical evidence on how PMS intervenes in the relationship between knowledge resources (knowledge assets and KPC) and corporate performance.
Understanding self-service technology adoption by “older” consumers
Authors: Park Jungkun , Kim Dongyoup , Hyun Hyowon
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the evaluation of desirability/feasibility and adoption intention for the self-service technology of “older” consumers. This study also aims to show that the evaluation of desirability/feasibility and adoption intention varies depending on the type of customer value provided by self-service technology. Moreover, the authors improve the understanding of “older” consumers by comparing the adoption behavior through three proxies that express consumer aging: chronological age, subjective age and future time perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was performed as an experimental design by manipulating advertisement messages of self-service technology for online grocery shopping according to customer values. There are two analytic methods applied in this study. First, the current study compares the effects of chronological age, subjective age and the future time perspective on the evaluation and adoption intention of self-service technology by using structural equation modeling. Second, this study examines the moderation effect of customer values by conducting a multi-group analysis.

Findings

The results of current research indicate that the future time perspective explains participants’ evaluation and adoption intention of self-service technology compared to chronological age and subjective age. Specifically, participants who perceive their future time to be limited, rather than expansive, negatively assess the expected desirability and feasibility of self-service technology. In addition, the results of the moderation test show that the future time perspective affects more significantly the evaluation and adoption intention of self-service technology when the functional value is emphasized rather than emotional or social value.

Research limitations/implications

The results of this study showed that the effect of future time perspective on expected desirability and feasibility was almost significant in each sub-dimension, but there were relatively few factors influencing trial intention. In this respect, it is necessary to look into the impact of the details of desirability and feasibility along with other variables known to influence the adoption of self-service technology related to aging. It would be meaningful to find and operationalize items that are valid for older consumers, rather than the desirability and feasibility elements typically applied to self-service technology.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the extension of the socioemotional selectivity theory that has been suggested to interpret older consumers’ behaviors. This research applies the concept of future time perspective to the assessment of desirability and feasibility and adoption intention. At the same time, for the marketing managers, the comparison between proxies that represent aging proposes the ways to attract “older” consumers with appropriate emphasis on customer values.
Impact of professionalism of workplace learning support team on learning outcome
Authors: Kumar Nripendra , Ganguly Kunal K.
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This study aims to understand the impact of professionalism (PR) of the workplace learning support team on learning outcomes. The context of this study is an e-procurement system implementation. Management provides initial formal training (TR) to potential users of the system and also arranges informal learning support by deploying the support team for technical guidance/resolving issues on day-to-day basis for successful implementation. Learning outcome has been measured in terms of perceived ease of use (PEU) by employees and also in terms of the actual use (AU) of the system. This study also explores the role of timely and appropriate initial TR on learning outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical study has been conducted by collecting survey data from 167 employees using an e-procurement system from India. SPSS 22.0 with add-in Process Macro v3.4 developed by Hayes has been used for statistical analysis.

Findings

The results indicate that the PR of the workplace learning support team positively influences employee’s PEU of the system and also the final required outcome in terms of the AU of the system. This study also found that the employee’s PEU of the system mediates the relationship between the PR of the workplace learning support team and the AU of the system. The result also indicates that higher is the user perception of the appropriateness of initial TR, higher is the effect of PR of the workplace learning team on user learning outcome.

Originality/value

This study is an attempt to investigate the unexplored aspect of workplace learning. This paper contributes by studying for the first time, the impact of PR of the workplace learning support team and appropriate initial TR in enhancing the learning outcome in the context of e-procurement implementation.
Information sources, practices and barriers: a situated and context-bound model of Pakistani electronic media reporters
Authors: Hussain Tauseef , Batool Syeda Hina , Malik Amara , Hussain Syed Waqas , Mahmood Khalid
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This study presents a situated and context-bound model of electronic media reports by exploring their detailed information practices within the workplace actions. It further investigates the information sources they usually consult for news or story-making process and barriers that hinder them to acquire required information.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected through semistructured, face-to-face interviews of electronic media reporters from the top news channels of Pakistan. These reporters had international exposure while having 7–20 years of work experience with different news channels.

Findings

In relation to information practices, the model also highlights the seven steps involved in news-making process of electronic media. Initially inspired from Mckenzie's (2003) model of information practice, which was developed within the everyday life context, this model attempts to see the information practices of electronic media reporters situated at their workplaces and might be seen as an extension of previous works.

Originality/value

This study is a unique attempt to find patterns of information practices situated in their workplace actions. The results of this study would be helpful for librarians and information specialists, who are working in media house libraries for the planning and designing of library services.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-07-2020-0308
Does HRM's reality fit with those of others? Exploring and understanding HR attributions
Authors: Özçelik Gaye , Uyargil Cavide
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the existing literature by providing insights about how employees make attributions about the reasons why management adopts HRM practices based on a case study of a company in Turkey.

Design/methodology/approach

The case study was carried out through semi-structured interviews with multiple employee groups aimed at capturing a broad range of perspectives. The data were processed by way of categorical and frequency analyses, which are forms of content analysis.

Findings

Non-managerial employees make similar attributions regarding recruitment and selection, training, performance as well as career development and benefits.

Research limitations/implications

Acknowledging different views regarding the changing nature of employees' attributions, qualitative longitudinal research would provide more rigorous analysis in terms of ascertaining whether there are any alterations in employees' attitudes towards HRM practices over time.

Practical implications

Management and practitioners can draw valuable insights from the fact that when the meanings attached to HR practices by different employee groups are agreed upon, this may lead to their more enthusiastic involvement with these practices.

Originality/value

This study examines employees' attributions regarding HR practices through a case study. It provides evidence that when employees ascribe positive meanings to such practices, they are more committed to them and this may promote more favourable outcomes regarding HR efforts.
Entrepreneurial alertness and self-perceived employability: a virtuous marriage for career development
Authors: Cavaliere Vincenzo , Sassetti Sara , Lombardi Sara
Published: February 2021

Purpose

Building on the importance of students becoming entrepreneurs of their own career, this research aimed to achieve two main objectives: to empirically test the sequential relationship between the three dimensions of entrepreneurial alertness as proposed by Tanget al.(2012) and to link such dimensions to self-perceived employability.

Design/methodology/approach

A web survey data were obtained among a sample of 404 universities students. The test of the theoretical framework was performed by running a structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

The results show that the three entrepreneurial alertness components are sequentially related. Moreover, the results demonstrated that among the examined dimensions, only evaluation and judgment had a direct effect on self-perceived employability, with the remaining dimensions having an indirect influence.

Originality/value

There has been rarely any previous empirical attempt at investigating a framework that consider the relationship between entrepreneurial attitudes, such as alertness, on employability. The investigation of the entrepreneurial attitudes as antecedents of employability is particularly vital to graduates who will soon enter the labor market as “entrepreneurs of their own career”.
Shaping emotional contagion in healthcare: the role of human resource practices and work harassment
Authors: Xerri Matthew J. , Brunetto Yvonne , Farr-Wharton Benjamin , Cully Ashley
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This research examines the extent to which emotional contagions are shaped by human resource practices (HRPs) and work harassment and the influence of this on employee well-being and innovative behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examined a structural equation model, including two waves of survey data from 240 healthcare professionals to explore the statistical associations between the tested variables.

Findings

The results do not show support for a significant relationship linking HRPs with work harassment. However, a significant positive effect linking HRPs, positive contagion, well-being and innovative behaviour was noted, in addition to a significant negative link from harassment on positive contagion, well-being and innovation behaviour.

Originality/value

The research highlights the limited role that HRPs (alone) play in mitigating harassment and their deleterious effects. Notwithstanding, HRPs can have a positive role in shaping the positive contagions and subsequent positive effects on employee and work outcomes.
Inkjet printing of silk: factors influencing ink penetration and ink spreading
Authors: Faisal Saira , Ali Muhammad , Siddique Sheraz Hussain , Lin Long
Published: February 2021

Purpose

Pretreatment of fabric with a number of chemicals and auxiliaries is a prerequisite for inkjet printing. Owing to the rapidly increasing use of inkjet printing for textile fabrics, the study of the effects of process variables on various characteristics of the resulting print has drawn considerable interest recently. The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of different variables associated with the inkjet printing process on the quality of the resulting print. Specifically, the effects of chemicals and auxiliaries used in the pretreatment of the fabric prior to printing and factors such as steaming time were studies.

Design/methodology/approach

In the present study, which forms a part of a larger study by the authors, the influence of the nature of thickener, the amounts of thickener, urea and alkali, pH of the pretreatment liquor and the duration of steaming on ink penetration into the printed fabrics and the ink spreading across the fabrics was studied. The nature of ink penetration and ink spreading are known to have pronounced effects on the quality and, in turn, the overall appearance of the resulting print. A set of experiments based on a blocked 25–1fractional factorial design with four centre points were conducted to evaluate the role of the aforementioned five variables. Ink penetration was quantified on the basis of the principles of Kebulka-Munk theory while ink spreading was analysed by image analysis.

Findings

Detailed statistical analyses of the experimental data obtained show that different thickeners perform differently and can have a marked influence on ink penetration and ink spreading. In the case of polyacrylic acid-based thickener, changing the levels of the factors has a marked effect on ink penetration and in-turn on ink spreading. In the case of polyacrylamide (PAM)-based thickener, on the other hand, the effect of changing the levels of various factors on the ink penetration and ink spreading is considerably less pronounced. In addition, PAM treated samples exhibited better performance in terms of ink penetration and spreading.

Originality/value

This study provides useful information for textile printers and highlights the importance of selecting the right type of thickener to make the printing process and the quality of the resulting print more predictable and controllable.
How impact measurement devices act: the performativity of theory of change, SROI and dashboards
Authors: Ruff Katherine
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This study aims to examine the role of devices in assessing the social impact of an organization. The study examines the effects of device and analyst expertise on the contents and conclusions of the report.

Design/methodology/approach

Six impact reports based on the same data from the same organization were compared to each other, to the charity data and to the devices used. Specific attention is paid to the role of the device’s sociomaterial form and discursive entanglements.

Findings

The six reports assessed the impact differently from each other and in ways that were consistent with the devices used. The devices performatively reconfigured the charity in impact reports through a series of omissions and misrepresentations which could be traced to the discourses hardwired into the devices themselves. The devices did not simply present the same impact assessment to different audiences or for different purposes, but (mis)represented the charity in specific ways aligned with the discursive entanglements.

Research limitations/implications

The performativity of sociomaterial impact devices has implications for how researchers approach the study of impact measurement.

Practical implications

In this study, faithful adherence to an impact device led to greater omissions and misrepresentations than less expert impact assessments. Analysts should be supported to identify biases in their devices and be aware of sorts of omissions and misrepresentations that may result. Faithful adherence may not be the mark of rigorous analysis.

Originality/value

Performativity of impact measurement devices is explored with a unique data set.
The effects of the relational dimension of social capital on tacit and explicit knowledge sharing: a mixed-methods approach
Authors: Santos Rosangela F. , Oliveira Mírian , Curado Carla
Published: February 2021

Purpose

Knowledge sharing among individuals from different teams is rare. Agile methods encourage only the exchange of tacit knowledge within teams. This study aims to analyse the influence of trust, norms of cooperation and reciprocity on tacit and explicit knowledge sharing among individuals from different software development teams.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using a cross-sectional survey involving 205 individuals working in software development teams. The authors adopted a mixed-methods approach involving partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).

Findings

PLS-SEM shows: the antecedents have different influence in tacit knowledge sharing (TKS) and in explicit knowledge sharing (EKS); trust influences directly TKS, and it only influences EKS indirectly, while reciprocity influences TKS directly and EKS both directly and indirectly; norms of cooperation directly influence TKS, and they only influence EKS indirectly. Overall, the fsQCA findings support PLS-SEM results: TKS contributes to EKS; reciprocity or trust is a sufficient condition for TKS and EKS; norms of cooperation are a sufficient condition for TKS; larger firms without high levels of reciprocity and trust cannot expect TKS and EKS. The quantitative and qualitative results are aligned.

Research limitations/implications

The results cannot be generalisable because snowball sampling was used, and most of the respondents were Brazilians.

Practical implications

This study should help managers and scholars: to appreciate the relevancy of TKS among individuals using agile methods to nurture EKS and to understand the different effects of reciprocity, trust and norms of cooperation on both TKS and EKS.

Originality/value

Considering three constructs, this study uses a mixed-methods approach to investigate the potential of the relational dimension of social capital theory to leverage TKS and EKS, to overcome the limitations of agile methods. The originality of this study regards that it shows the constructs of relational social capital influencing TKS and EKS differently.
Intellectual capital stocks and flows: examining the mediating roles of social capital and knowledge transfer
Authors: Dahiyat Samer Eid , Khasawneh Suhad Mohammad , Bontis Nick , Al-Dahiyat Mohammad
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This study aims to develop and empirically test a “stocks and flows”-based model of intellectual capital (IC) that examines how human-embodied knowledge (i.e., human capital) can be transformed into organisational non-embodied knowledge (i.e., organisational capital) through the mediating roles of social capital and the knowledge management (KM) process of knowledge transfer.

Design/methodology/approach

A structural model was developed and empirically tested using a survey data set of 295 questionnaires collected from the “knowledge-intensive” pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Jordan.

Findings

Empirical results revealed that each of human capital, social capital and knowledge transfer has a positive and significant effect on organizational capital. In particular, knowledge transfer emerged as having the strongest effect. Social capital, on the other hand, emerged as having a positive and significant effect on knowledge transfer. Mediation analysis revealed that while human capital significantly affects organizational capital, such an effect is partially and significantly mediated by each of social capital as well as knowledge transfer.

Practical implications

This study provides senior managers in pharmaceutical manufacturing firms with valuable insights pertaining to the development of their IC, in terms of how to exploit their knowledge stocks (i.e. human-embodied knowledge and organizational non-embodied knowledge) through managing knowledge flows between them. This was shown to be significantly leveraged by the mediating roles of social capital as well as knowledge transfer.

Originality/value

This study provides important theoretical and empirical contributions to the extant literature in a number of ways. It provides better understanding of the intricate linkages among IC dimensions, and how these play complementary roles in organizational capital development. It has also provided important empirical evidence highlighting the vital mediating roles of social capital and knowledge transfer in facilitating knowledge flows, which aid in transforming human-embodied knowledge stocks into organizational-embodied ones.
A mechanism for population self‐regulation: Social density suppresses GnRH expression and reduces reproductivity in voles
Authors: Edwards Phoebe D. , Frenette‐Ling Coral , Palme Rupert , Boonstra Rudy
Published: February 2021

Nearly 100 years ago, Charles Elton described lemming and vole population cycles as ecological models for understanding population regulation in nature. Yet, the mechanisms driving these cycles are still not fully understood. These rodent populations can continue to cycle in the absence of predation and with food supplementation, and represent a major unsolved problem in population ecology.

It has been hypothesized that the social environment at high population density can drive selection for a low‐reproduction phenotype, resulting in population self‐regulation as an intrinsic mechanism driving the cycles. However, a physiological mechanism for this self‐regulation has not been demonstrated. We manipulated population density in wild meadow voles Microtus pennsylvanicus using large‐scale field enclosures over 3 years and examined reproductive performance and physiology.

Within the field enclosures, we assessed the proportion of breeding animals, mass at sexual maturation, and faecal androgen and oestrogen metabolites. We then collected brain tissue from juvenile voles born at high or low density, quantified mRNA expression of gonadotropin‐releasing hormone (GnRH) and oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and measured DNA methylation at six CpG sites in a region that was highly conserved with the mouse GnRH promoter.

At high density, there was a lower proportion of reproductive animals. Juvenile voles born at high densities had reduced expression of GnRH in the hypothalamus, accompanied by marginally lower faecal sex hormone metabolites. Female juvenile voles born at high density also had higher methylation levels at two CpG sites while males did not, aligning with prior observations that females (but not males) from high‐density environments retain reduced reproduction long term.

Our results support a physiological basis for population self‐regulation in vole cycles, as altering population density alone induced reproductive downregulation at the hypothalamic level. Our results demonstrate that altering the early‐life social environment can fundamentally impact reproductive function in the brain. This, in turn, can drive population demography changes in wild animals.
Sexual segregation in the foraging behaviour of a slightly dimorphic seabird: Influence of the environment and fishery activity
Authors: Reyes‐González José Manuel , De Felipe Fernanda , Morera‐Pujol Virginia , Soriano‐Redondo Andrea , Navarro‐Herrero Leia , Zango Laura , García‐Barcelona Salvador , Ramos Raül , González‐Solís Jacob
Published: February 2021

Sexual segregation in foraging strategies has been little studied in marine species with slight sexual size dimorphism (SSD), particularly regarding the role of environmental conditions and fishery activities. Sexual differences in fishery attendance are of particular concern because uneven mortality associated with bycatch may exacerbate impacts in wildlife populations.

Using a seabird species with slight SSD, the Scopoli's shearwater Calonectris diomedea, we assessed sexual differences in foraging strategies and evaluated whether annual environmental conditions and fishery activity shaped such differences.

We used a 4‐year dataset combining bird GPS tracking, stable isotope analysis, the North Atlantic Oscillation index (NAO, as main proxy of the annual environmental conditions), and fishing vessel positioning data (Vessel Monitoring System, VMS) from the North Western Mediterranean, a region under intense fishery pressure.

From 2012 to 2015, we tracked 635 foraging trips from 78 individuals. Females showed a greater foraging effort, a lower fishery attendance, a lower trophic level, and a narrower isotopic niche width than males. Moreover, in years with unfavourable environmental conditions, both sexes showed a lower fishery attendance and increased foraging effort compared to the year with most favourable conditions.

Our results revealed that environmental conditions influence space use, feeding resources and fishery attendance differently in males and females, overall suggesting competitive exclusion of females by males from main foraging areas and feeding resources, particularly in unfavourable environmental conditions. We highlight the importance of evaluating sexual segregation under disparate environmental conditions, particularly in species with slight SSD, since segregation may pass otherwise unnoticed if only years with similar environmental conditions are considered. The higher fishery attendance of males likely explains the male‐biased bycatch ratio for this species. Thus, inter‐sexual differences in foraging strategies can lead to an unbalanced exposure to relevant threats and have implications for the conservation of long‐lived species.
Mobility and infectiousness in the spatial spread of an emerging fungal pathogen
Authors: Langwig Kate E. , White J. Paul , Parise Katy L. , Kaarakka Heather M. , Redell Jennifer A. , DePue John E. , Scullon William H. , Foster Jeffrey T. , Kilpatrick A. Marm , Hoyt Joseph R.
Published: February 2021

Emerging infectious diseases can have devastating effects on host communities, causing population collapse and species extinctions. The timing of novel pathogen arrival into naïve species communities can have consequential effects that shape the trajectory of epidemics through populations. Pathogen introductions are often presumed to occur when hosts are highly mobile. However, spread patterns can be influenced by a multitude of other factors including host body condition and infectiousness.

White‐nose syndrome (WNS) is a seasonal emerging infectious disease of bats, which is caused by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans. Within‐site transmission of P. destructans primarily occurs over winter; however, the influence of bat mobility and infectiousness on the seasonal timing of pathogen spread to new populations is unknown. We combined data on host population dynamics and pathogen transmission from 22 bat communities to investigate the timing of pathogen arrival and the consequences of varying pathogen arrival times on disease impacts.

We found that midwinter arrival of the fungus predominated spread patterns, suggesting that bats were most likely to spread P. destructans when they are highly infectious, but have reduced mobility. In communities where P. destructans was detected in early winter, one species suffered higher fungal burdens and experienced more severe declines than at sites where the pathogen was detected later in the winter, suggesting that the timing of pathogen introduction had consequential effects for some bat communities. We also found evidence of source–sink population dynamics over winter, suggesting some movement among sites occurs during hibernation, even though bats at northern latitudes were thought to be fairly immobile during this period. Winter emergence behaviour symptomatic of white‐nose syndrome may further exacerbate these winter bat movements to uninfected areas.

Our results suggest that low infectiousness during host migration may have reduced the rate of expansion of this deadly pathogen, and that elevated infectiousness during winter plays a key role in seasonal transmission. Furthermore, our results highlight the importance of both accurate estimation of the timing of pathogen spread and the consequences of varying arrival times to prevent and mitigate the effects of infectious diseases.