bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Investigating the diversity of Canada’s refugee population and its health implications: does one size fit all?
Authors: Newbold Bruce , McKeary Marie
Published: April 2017

Purpose

Based on a case study in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the purpose of this paper is to explore the difficulties faced by local health care providers in the face of constantly evolving refugee policies, programs, and arrivals. In doing so, it illustrates the complications faced by service providers in providing care to refugee arrivals and how the diversity of arrivals challenges health care provision and ultimately the health and well-being of refugees.

Design/methodology/approach

A series of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with key service professionals in both the social service and health fields in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, examined both health and health care issues.

Findings

Beyond challenges for service providers that have been previously flagged in the literature, including language barriers and the limited time that they have with their clients, analysis revealed that health care providers faced other challenges in providing care, with one challenge reflecting the difficulty of providing care and services to a diverse refugee population. A second challenge reflected the lack of knowledge associated with constantly evolving policies and programs. Both challenges potentially limit the abilities of care providers.

Research limitations/implications

On-going changes to refugee and health care policy, along with the diversity of refugee arrivals, will continue to challenge providers. The challenge, therefore, for health care providers and policy makers alike is how to ensure adequate service provision for new arrivals.

Practical implications

The Federal government should do a better job in disseminating the impact of policy changes and should streamline programs. This is particularly relevant given limited budgets and resources, tri-partite government funding, short time-frames to prepare for new arrivals, inadequate background information, barriers/challenges or inequitable criteria for access to health and social services, while addressing an increasingly diverse and complex population.

Social implications

The research reinforces the complexity of the needs and challenges faced by refugees when health is considered, and the difficulty in providing care to this group.

Originality/value

While there is a large refugee health literature, there is relatively little attention to the challenges and difficulties faced by service providers in addressing the health needs of the diverse refugee population, a topic that is particularly important given limited funding envelopes, shifting policies and programs, and a focus on clients (refugees). It is this latter piece – the challenges faced by providers in providing care to refugees – which this paper explores.
Religiosity and mental health among the immigrants in Brasília
Authors: de Freitas Marta Helena , dos Santos Benedito Rodrigues
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address the relations between religiosity and mental health (MH) among the immigrants living in Brasília, as per the perceptions of MH service professionals.

Design/methodology/approach

It is grounded in empirical qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews with 12 professionals – six psychiatrists and six psychologists working in MH services throughout Brasília. The experiences and perceptions of these professionals were analysed in the light of phenomenological assumptions, and temporally situated in the historical context of the construction of Brazil’s capital city.

Findings

Results show that these professionals recognize the importance of immigrant support services paying attention to issues of religiosity connected to those of MH, in spite of never having received training on the theme in their qualification course work. They are critical of the oppressive aspects of some religions, but recognize the predominance of positive effects of religiosity.

Research limitations/implications

Albeit exploratory by nature, and with a limited number of study subjects, the study opens the way for more in-depth investigations of this rarely addressed MH issue and recommends its application to greater numbers of professionals and other contexts.

Practical implications

The results can contribute to the MH policy decision-making processes for the immigrant population in Brasília and also for training the professionals working in providing care for this population.

Social implications

To contribute to the development of a new MH model in which professionals can adopt a more open posture in regard to the traditional pathologizing models used to address the question of religious phenomena.

Originality/value

Albeit exploratory in nature, this study makes a contribution by opening the way for the issue of religiosity and its impacts on MH to become the object of more in-depth investigations conducted from a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective, targeting greater numbers of MH professionals and extended to other internal and external migratory contexts.
Social support needs of Sudanese and Zimbabwean refugee new parents in Canada
Authors: Stewart Miriam , Kushner Kaysi Eastlick , Dennis CindyLee , Kariwo Michael , Letourneau Nicole , Makumbe Knox , Makwarimba Edward , Shizha Edward
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine support needs of African refugee new parents in Canada, and identifies support preferences that may enhance the mental health of refugee parents and children.

Design/methodology/approach

In all, 72 refugee new parents from Zimbabwe (n=36) and Sudan (n=36) participated in individual interviews. All had a child aged four months to five years born in Canada. Refugee new parents completed standardized measures on social support resources and support seeking as a coping strategy. Four group interviews (n=30) with refugee new parents were subsequently conducted. In addition, two group interviews (n=30) were held with service providers and policy influencers.

Findings

Separated from their traditional family and cultural supports, refugee new parents reported isolation and loneliness. They lacked support during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum and had limited interactions with people from similar cultural backgrounds. Refugees required support to access services and overcome barriers such as language, complex systems, and limited financial resources. Support preferences included emotional and information support from peers from their cultural community and culturally sensitive service providers.

Research limitations/implications

Psychometric evaluation of the quantitative measures with the two specific populations included in this study had not been conducted, although these measures have been used with ethnically diverse populations by other researchers.

Practical implications

The study findings can inform culturally appropriate health professional practice, program and policy development.

Originality/value

The study bridges gaps in research examining support needs and support intervention preferences of African refugee new parents.
How migrants keep Italian families Italian: badanti and the private care of older people
Authors: Rugolotto Silvana , Larotonda Alice , van der Geest Sjaak
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe how migration affects the care of older people in Italy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on anthropological fieldwork by one of the authors. This consisted of in-depth interviews with 20 “badanti” (migrant caregivers), with relatives of older people and with social workers in the city of Verona, Italy. It further included extensive study of secondary materials on the topic of migrant care of older people.

Findings

Badanti, Italian families and older people find themselves locked in an uneasy contract: badanti because they are exploited and often unable to find better, formal employment; Italian families because they are aware that they fail to render their moral duty to their aged parents and grandparents; and older people because they feel neglected and maltreated by their children. Yet the three parties also rely on each other to make the best of a precarious situation. The relationship between badanti and Italian elderly highlights the contradictions within Italian politics on care and migration. This case study shows how migrants help Italian families to hold on to the tradition of family care for ageing parents.

Research limitations/implications

The small sample of badanti and families provides a detailed and profound insight of the complexity of elder care in Italy but does not allow generalisation for developments in the country as a whole.

Practical implications

Policy makers should take notice of the indispensability of informal migrant care in present day Italy.

Originality/value

The originality of the paper lies in the in-depth conversations with badanti and in the way in which elderly care is contextualised in the Italian tradition of care and present day politics.
“I am from nowhere”: identity and self-perceived health status of skilled immigrants employed in low-skilled service sector jobs
Authors: Subedi Rajendra Prasad , Rosenberg Mark Warren
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The foreign-born skilled immigrant population is growing rapidly in Canada but finding a job that utilizes immigrants’ skills, knowledge and experience is challenging for them. The purpose of this paper is to understand the self-perceived health and social status of skilled immigrants who were working in low-skilled jobs in the service sector in Ottawa, Canada.

Design/methodology/approach

In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews with 19 high-skilled immigrants working as taxi drivers and convenience store workers in the city of Ottawa, Canada were analysed using a grounded theory approach.

Findings

Five major themes emerged from the data: high expectations but low achievements; credential devaluation, deskilling and wasted skills; discrimination and loss of identity; lifestyle change and poor health behaviour; and poor mental and physical health status.

Social implications

The study demonstrates the knowledge between what skilled immigrants expect when they arrive in Canada and the reality of finding meaningful employment in a country where international credentials are less likely to be recognized. The study therefore contributes to immigration policy reform which would reduce barriers to meaningful employment among immigrants reducing the impacts on health resulting from employment in low-skilled jobs.

Originality/value

This study provides unique insights into the experience and perceptions of skilled immigrants working in low-skilled jobs. It also sheds light on the “healthy worker effect” hypothesis which is a highly discussed and debated issue in the occupational health literature.
What’s in a word? The importance of the concept of “values” in the prevention of abuse of older people in care homes
Authors: Moore Steve
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present some of the findings from an empirical, mixed methods research project that reveal the importance of the personal value frameworks held by individual staff in the prevention of abuse of older people in private sector care homes.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a sample of 36 care home personnel, including proprietors, care managers and care staff.

Findings

A significant number of respondents identified the importance of personal value frameworks among staff providing care as a potential contributory factor in the prevention of abuse of older people.

Research limitations/implications

Though the research draws upon the experiences of only 36 care home personnel through interviews, data suggest that the personal evaluations of staff towards those in their care is a significant contributory factor to the occurrence of abuse.

Originality/value

The research has identified individual staff value frameworks as a causal factor in the occurrence of abuse. The research also confirms that the perceptions of “values” among respondents directly involved in the provision of care are at odds with common understanding of “values” often cited elsewhere in connection with staff recruitment and training as a means of preventing the occurrence of abuse.
Development of Pict-O-Stat: violence – focus on experiences of violence and a survey that can be completed by the individuals themselves
Authors: Kristensen Kerstin , Möller Anders
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to find a method that makes it possible for people with intellectual disabilities to independently contribute to population-based research in areas that is sensitive. It is important to be able to answer questionnaires independently in research areas that are sensitive because the informant maybe does not want to ask for help to answer a questionnaire about sexual violence, domestic violence, etc. Maybe they not even have talked to anyone about their experiences and then have to tell a staff/relative that helps them to complete the survey is probably unthinkable.

Design/methodology/approach

To participate in a survey about sensitive issues independently the questions and the methods have to be adapted to the informant’s skills and needs. The questions written in “difficult Swedish” were transcribed into simple language and then tested whether the target group understood the words that describe violent acts. After adjustments another small group tested the method, an Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview (ACASI). After they had completed the survey informants were interviewed about what it was like to participate in the survey.

Findings

Preliminary results show that it is possible to independently answer population-based questionnaires, even about sensitive issues, if the researcher offers the possibility to use a web-based ACASI. An ACASI can be used on accessible computers and tablets and can have the same questions that only have to be translated into both easy language and alternative format, such as questions with both text and images and listen to the questions read.

Originality/value

Researchers can include people with intellectual disabilities, they just need to give them a chance. It is possible if they translate their questions into an easy language and include alternative format, i.e. using both text and images and be able to listen to the questions and answers, by, for example, using a web-based ACASI.
Modern slavery – the adult safeguarding interface
Authors: Kidd Joanna , Manthorpe Jill
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The inclusion of modern slavery in the Care Act 2014 as a form of abuse means that the subject of modern slavery is now included in the remit of adult safeguarding in England. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the background to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and its provisions.

Design/methodology/approach

A policy analysis was undertaken in 2016 drawing on research and commentary related to the interface between modern slavery and adult safeguarding.

Findings

There is little material as yet focussing on adult safeguarding and modern slavery but the inclusion of modern slavery in this area of practice and organisations will require practitioner responses, organisational collaboration and revisions of data collection and analysis. Newspaper accounts of criminal charges under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 may be important first evidence of the interface potentially between modern slavery and adults at risk of abuse and neglect that are the focus of adult safeguarding concern.

Practical implications

Information about modern slavery may provide relevant background and contextual detail for adult safeguarding communities, furnishing links and resources for this new area of their work.

Originality/value

This paper is likely to be of interest to policymakers, researchers and practitioners in examining their new duties under the Care Act 2014 and the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and to wider public and private bodies considering their responsibilities in responses to modern slavery more broadly.
Social responsibility disclosure in Islamic banks: a comparative study of Indonesia and Malaysia
Authors: Amran Azlan , Fauzi Hasan , Purwanto Yadi , Darus Faizah , Yusoff Haslinda , Zain Mustaffa Mohamed , Naim Dayang Milianna Abang , Nejati Mehran
Published: April 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to explore social responsibility reporting of full-fledged Islamic banks in two developing countries, namely, Indonesia and Malaysia. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an important aspect of business society. As such, companies have shown a growing interest in reporting their social and environmental initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach

Content analysis of the annual reports for three full-fledged local Islamic banks in Indonesia and three Islamic banks in Malaysia was carried out for the period of 2007-2011.

Findings

Results of the study revealed that CSR disclosure of Islamic banks has generally grown both in Malaysia and Indonesia. More specifically, it was found that workplace and community dimensions were the most highly disclosed areas by the Islamic banks in both countries.

Research limitations/implications

The current study provides a cross-cultural perspective on social responsibility disclosure in Islamic banks across two countries. The study is limited by investigating a five-year time frame.

Practical implications

By discussing the findings according to the stages of growth model for CSR, the authors suggest that Islamic banks can enhance their responsiveness, and transform their role from being CSR reporters of social responsibility to responders.

Originality/value

While the tenets of CSR have a lot in common with Islamic moral law (Shariah), little is known about CSR disclosure of Islamic banks.
What values more? Agency costs or accrual quality
Authors: Saini Jagjit S. , Arugaslan Onur , DeMello James
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine what is weighted more by the investors when valuing a dual-class firm’s stock – greater agency costs or better accrual quality of the dual-class firm in contrast to the single-class firm.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the financial data of firms issuing multiple classes of stock (hereafter dual-class firms) and firms issuing single class of stock (hereafter single-class firms), the authors measure the effect of firm’s ownership structure (dual class versus single class) on the earnings response coefficients (ERCs) of prior, current and future period earnings.

Findings

The authors find that investors care more about agency costs than the quality of accruals in evaluating the earnings of dual-class firms. Specifically, the authors find that current annual returns of the firm are negatively associated with dual-class ownership structure and that earnings informativeness and predictability are decreasing in dual-class ownership of the firm as reflected in decreasing ERCs.

Originality/value

This study adds to prior literature on dual-class ownership which reports greater agency costs and better accrual quality at dual-class firms in contrast to single-class firms. This study contributes to the literature on earnings informativeness and predictability by evaluating the effect of ownership structure on the ERCs of the firm. Investors should be careful when valuing a dual-class firm and should consider agency costs in addition to accrual quality of reported earnings at such firms.
Exploring the “social failures” of Islamic banks: a historical dialectics analysis
Authors: Abdul-Baki Zayyad , Uthman Ahmad Bukola
Published: April 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to argue that the current environment in which the Islamic banking system is situated is not ideal for the system’s pursuance of its socioeconomic ideals, thus necessitating the system’s shift from pursuingfalahto maximizing profits.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper theorizes and conceptualizes this shift fromfalahto profit maximization using two complementary theories – systems theory and institutional theory – to prove that such a shift is not unexpected. The paper further adopts a dialectical analysis that is somewhat historical to analyse the shift.

Findings

The measure of the Islamic banks’ performance in terms of their social ideals is misplaced, as the environment in which they currently operate does not support such goals. Thus, stemming from the theoretical base, the Islamic banks’ pursuance of profit maximization instead offalahshould not be unexpected. The paper concludes that despite the unfavorable environment, the social ideals of the Islamic banking system may still be met, to an extent, through investment in microfinance andawqaf.

Research limitations/implications

The paper adopts document analysis for sourcing data majorly from prior studies. Hence, the authors do not conclude that the analysis herein is applicable to all Islamic banks. Secondly, as the authors could not get a complete historical account of the Islamic banking system’s development, some aspects of the dialectical analysis – contradiction and change – have been discussed in a general fashion.

Practical implications

The need for Islamic banks in the current environment, especially for the Muslim population, cannot be over emphasized; however, the achievement offalahgiven this current environment may be daunting.

Originality/value

The current analyses of the shift of Islamic banks from pursuingfalahto pursuing profit maximization are not well-defined, as they lack a proper theorization of the challenges faced by Islamic banks. This paper fills this gap.
An analytical study of organizational role stress (ORS) in employees of nationalized banks
Authors: Chaudhary Priyanka , Lodhwal Radha Krishan
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the organizational role stress (ORS) in employees of Allahabad Bank posted at Guwahati city serving at scale 1 and above up to the deputy general manager (DGM).

Design/methodology/approach

This study was carried out at different branches of Allahabad Bank located in the city of Guwahati, Assam. The respondents included assistant managers and DGM. The sampling technique used for data collection was non-probability sampling; the method used was convenience sampling. This study is exploratory as well as descriptive in nature. A questionnaire was distributed and collected personally by the researcher.

Findings

After an extensive literature review, it was the belief of the researchers that the employees of Allahabad Bank could be experiencing the effects of stress. On using the tools (mean, ANOVA, Correlation) on the dimensions of stress and demographic factors, the results were almost identical.

Research limitations/implications

In the banking industry, every constituent of the occupational stress can be studied more thoroughly. More insight into the factors of stress can be brought into the spotlight through more research work. Academicians may shed light on new factors that are creating stress, but still remain unidentified.

Practical implications

This study can be extensively used in fields other than the banking industry such as hospitality, healthcare, insurance, etc. Stress gives rise to physical problems and health problems. It may also lead to psychological, behavioral and organizational problems. Stress adversely affects the productivity of the organization as employees experiencing stress may not perform up to their capability and according to the requirements of the organization. Awareness among people of stress and the reasons for its occurrence is a must to keep them healthy, happy and competitive.

Originality/value

This research is based on primary data collected from Udai Pareek’s ORS scale. The target sample was scale 1-5 employees of Allahabad Bank posted at Guwahati city. The literature review information and the work of other researchers are supported by due reference.
Understanding level 5 leaders: the ethical perspectives of leadership humility
Authors: Caldwell Cam , Ichiho Riki , Anderson Verl
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the ethical perspectives of leadership humility. Jim Collins, in his seminal work, Good to Great, noted that all great organizations are led by “Level 5 leaders (L5Ls).” These leaders exhibit fierce resolve, but incredible humility. This paper examines the nature of humility and its assumptions associated with 12 frequently cited ethical perspectives. Humility builds high follower trust and commitment so often lacking in the modern organization. The paper identifies four practical contributions for scholars and leaders who seek to understand the role of humility in leadership effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is a conceptual paper which relies heavily on research from the current literature about leadership, trust, and humility.

Findings

This paper compares humility with 12 well-regarded ethical perspectives and presents humility as an ethically-relevant leadership construct that helps leaders to build trust, commitment, and followership.

Research limitations/implications

Because this paper is not an empirical study, it does not present research information, propositions, or hypotheses.

Practical implications

This paper suggests that leaders can be more effective if they come to understand the implicit ethical nature of leadership and the importance of humility in building trust.

Originality/value

Although Collins’ research about great organizations identified the importance of Level 5 leadership 15 years ago, very little has been written about the nature of humility as a leadership virtue. More importantly, this paper is among the first to identify the relationship between ethics and humility for L5Ls.
Coauthorship network-based literature recommendation with topic model
Authors: Hwang San-Yih , Wei Chih-Ping , Lee Chien-Hsiang , Chen Yu-Siang
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The information needs of the users of literature database systems often come from the task at hand, which is short term and can be represented as a small number of articles. Previous works on recommending articles to satisfy users’ short-term interests have utilized article content, usage logs, and more recently, coauthorship networks. The usefulness of coauthorship has been demonstrated by some research works, which, however, tend to adopt a simple coauthorship network that records only the strength of coauthorships. The purpose of this paper is to enhance the effectiveness of coauthorship-based recommendation by incorporating scholars’ collaboration topics into the coauthorship network.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose a latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA)-coauthorship-network-based method that integrates topic information into the links of the coauthorship networks using LDA, and a task-focused technique is developed for recommending literature articles.

Findings

The experimental results using information systems journal articles show that the proposed method is more effective than the previous coauthorship network-based method over all scenarios examined. The authors further develop a hybrid method that combines the results of content-based and LDA-coauthorship-network-based recommendations. The resulting hybrid method achieves greater or comparable recommendation effectiveness under all scenarios when compared to the content-based method.

Originality/value

This paper makes two contributions. The authors first show that topic model is indeed useful and can be incorporated into the construction of coaurthoship-network to improve literature recommendation. The authors subsequently demonstrate that coauthorship-network-based and content-based recommendations are complementary in their hit article rank distributions, and then devise a hybrid recommendation method to further improve the effectiveness of literature recommendation.
Outsourcing decision factors of building operation and maintenance services in the commercial sector
Authors: Suweero Kittipong , Moungnoi Wutthipong , Charoenngam Chotchai
Published: April 2017

Purpose

Building operation and maintenance (BOM) services are important activities for highly competitive businesses. In addition, outsourcing decision factors are key to the effectiveness of BOM. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to identify and prioritize the decision factors that affect outsourcing decision factors for BOM services, to elicit the different perceptions of each managerial group (shopping centers, hotels, and hospitals), and to categorize the important outsourced BOM decision factors.

Design/methodology/approach

On the basis of the literature review, the authors observed that there are 56 outsourcing decision factors in six groups. The survey included 105 of the largest and most competitive companies in Bangkok, Thailand. The statistical methods applied were the relative importance index (RII), t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and factor analysis (FA).

Findings

The findings show that the three participant groups are different in some respects, as shown by their RII values. After ranking the RII values, the top 15 factors for each participant group were used to compare the participant groups using the t-test and one-way ANOVA, which confirmed their respective similarities and differences. Through an FA, the top reasons that each business outsourced BOM services were grouped into major categories.

Originality/value

The results of this research will not only facilitate an understanding of the related decision factors used by each particular business in the commercial sector but will also assist outsourcing companies in identifying and improving support services for businesses.
The implementation of green lease practices for office buildings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Authors: Mohd Adnan Yasmin , Aman Nur Uyun , Razali Muhammad Najib , Daud Md. Nasir
Published: April 2017

Purpose

With the impending development of green buildings in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, managing the criteria within the requirements of the rating tool’s certification shall be the responsibility of the respective parties when these buildings are in operations. In tenanted buildings, a lease agreement spells out the responsibilities of the owner/landlord and the tenants. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The main aim of this study is to gauge the implementation of green lease among office buildings in Kuala Lumpur. This is made through an initial review of the adoption of green building criteria as well as the determination of the drivers and barriers perceived by office building managers in implementing green lease.

Findings

A survey amongst the managers of top grade office buildings in Kuala Lumpur revealed that the majority practiced some of the green criteria outlined in the Green Building Index. It also revealed that the most significant green lease terms commonly acknowledged by the respondents were energy and water-saving consumption as well as recycled material usage.

Originality/value

Through the identification of the barriers to implement green lease, the most significant barriers identified were related to cost and financing. Having identified these obstacles, appropriate action can be taken to bring forward green lease awareness amongst the various stakeholders in the office building sector in ensuring the successful operation of green buildings.
Effect of imidization process on the performance of PI/nano-Al2O3 three layer composite film
Authors: Liu Lizhu , He Hongju , Weng Ling , Zhang Xiaorui
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to comprehensively understand the effects of imidization process on the structure and properties of polyimide (PI) films through the preparation and characterization of a variety of PI/aluminium oxide (Al2O3) nanocomposite films by using several imidization-based strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

Poly(amic acid) (PAA) containing different amounts of inorganic materials (namely, 0 Wt.%, 4 Wt.%, 8 Wt.%, 12 Wt.% and 16 Wt.%) was synthesized by using pyromellitic dianhydride and 4,4-diaminodiphenyl ether as raw material and N,N-dimethylacetamide as solvent. Subsequently, the solution obtained was casted on a glass substrate and dried by the means of various curing processes. The micro-structure, Fourier transform–infrared spectral features, breakdown field strength, dielectric properties and the corona-resistant time parameters of films were achieved.

Findings

The imidization process influences substantially the properties of composite films. Therefore, as the imidization rate is increased, the corona-resistant time and the electrical breakdown strength of composite films are also improved, while the dielectric constant faces a+ decreasing.

Research limitations/implications

In this paper, the impact of imidization process on the performance of PI/nano-Al2O3 three-layered composite film is reported. However, there are multiple factors governing these systems (such as, interlayer thickness ratio and humidity), which are not discussed herein.

Originality/value

The current study expounds the relationship between imidization ratios as well as the effect of imidization ratio on the performance of the film.
Synthesis and performances of extended conjugated stilbene fluorescent dye
Authors: Huang Rui , Shen Kangni , Xu Teng , Shen Yongjia
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the optic performance of extended stilbene derivative.

Design/methodology/approach

Five steps were adopted to synthesise novel 4, 4′-bis (2-cyanostyryl) stilbene, which contained three vinyl units in the skeleton (S3E). The structure of S3E was characterised by 1H NMR and EI-MS. Its absorption and emission spectra were also given.

Findings

Compared to C.I. Fluorescent Brightener 199, which contains two vinyl units in the skeleton, S3E showed obvious bathochromic shifts in both UV-VIS and FL spectra. The maximum absorption wavelength and fluorescent wavelength were at 390 nm and 464 nm, respectively, with Stoke’s shift of 74 nm. The absolute fluorescence quantum yield was 0.42. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed that the weight loss of S3E was less than 5 per cent at 300 °C. Moreover, the light resistance test showed that S3E in PVC plate can keep the good fluorescent intensity for more than seven days exposed to xenon light. Therefore, it is believed that S3E could satisfy the requirements of colouring PVC as a fluorescent dye.

Practical implications

S3E can be used as a candidate of fluorescent dye in the development of thermoplastics.

Originality/value

The present paper designed and synthesised a new derivative of stilbene, which showed its preference to be a colourant of thermoplastics.
Grey-fuzzy logic to optimise process parameters in drilling of glass fibre reinforced stainless steel mesh polymer composite
Authors: Sakthivel M. , Vijayakumar S. , Jenarthanan M.P.
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to optimise the process parameters, namely, point angle, spindle speed and feed rate in the drilling of glass-reinforced stainless steel mesh polymer (GRSSMP) composites using grey relational fuzzy logic.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the full factorial design, the experiments were conducted. The output responses considered are thrust force, torque, delamination and diameter deviation. Based on responses, the optimised process parameter was selected using grey-fuzzy reasoning analysis (GFRA).

Findings

The percentage contribution of the drilling parameters is analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the result shows that feed rate is the most influential factor in the drilling of GRSSMP composites.

Research limitations/implications

The optimised drilling parameters have been used for drilling of polymer composites in the production industry.

Originality/value

Optimisation of process parameters during the drilling of GRSSMP composites using GFRA has not been performed previously.
Detection of betacyanins pigment stability fromHylocereus polyrhizus(Weber) Britton & Rose fruit pulp and peel for possible use as natural coating
Authors: Abdul Razak Ummi Nur Ain , Taha R.M. , Che Musa Siti Aisha Na’illa , Mohamed Normadiha
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the potential of betacyanin pigment extracted fromHylocereus polyrhizusfruit pulp and peel as a natural colorant and to observe the effects of pH and light on betacyanin contents.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, pigment from the pulp and peel ofH. polyrhizusfruits was extracted using 80 per cent methanol and 80 per cent acetone. Effects of pH and light exposure during storage on betacyanin content were evaluated. The betacyanin extract, mixed with 20 per cent poly(methyl methacrylate) and coated onto glass slides, was tested with different concentrations of sodium hydroxide (NaCl) to determine its durability. An ultraviolet (UV)–visible spectrophotometer was used for analyzing the betacyanin content.

Findings

Betacyanin pigment extracted from pulp using 80 per cent acetone as the solvent at pH 1.0 had the highest betacyanin content. Betacyanin content decreased when stored under exposure of light compared to storage in dark. In this study, increasing concentration of NaCl decreased the absorbance values at faster rates for betacyanin-coated glass slides.

Research limitations/implications

Acetone is volatile and evaporates rapidly. Pigments extracted with acetone were stored in glass vials which were closed tightly to prevent evaporation.

Social implications

The social implication is the use of natural pigments from cactus species as a valuable and eco-friendly source in a coating system without adverse effects for human health.

Originality/value

The method for detection of stability and effectiveness of betacyanin pigment used as a natural colorant for coating application was beneficial and recent for environment-friendly and natural plant-based product development.
Women entrepreneurs’ path to building venture success: lessons from India
Authors: Kothari Tanvi
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that motivate women in India to become self-employed. Further, it demonstrates a systematic application of grounded theory to understand how women entrepreneurs build their ventures’ success in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper throws light on the key tenets of grounded theory research and explains its use as a rigorous method for entrepreneurship research. Data were collected through 25 in-depth case studies of women entrepreneurs from diverse geographical, social, economical and industrial sectors in one of the world’s fastest growing emerging markets, namely, India.

Findings

The results of this inductive approach suggest that women-owned ventures’ path to building success is on one hand, based on their ability to recognize opportunities despite their non-business social network enhanced by their innovation capabilities. On the other hand, it is also based on their ability to find some market niches, i.e., entering into markets untapped by traditional men-owned small businesses. The author concludes that the women entrepreneurs’ paths to building competitive advantage in emerging markets manifests a number of features that are distinct from those of the women-owned businesses from developed countries. This study provides a holistic understanding of women entrepreneurs in emerging markets, an under-researched phenomenon by providing a framework to understand how they build their ventures’ success in a competitive environment.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is intended as a critical review of the factors influencing women entrepreneurship in India, thus the inductively developed framework is not tested.

Practical implications

The main message of the paper is that women entrepreneur’s ability to (simultaneously) sell products or offer solutions to niche segments (demand side) and capabilities to optimize resources by being innovative (supply side) facilitates their path to build success for their ventures. The findings of this study provide guidelines for policy makers in emerging markets to incorporate policies such that will enhance women’s entrepreneurship despite the social constraints faced by these women. The author demonstrates that women’s involvement in developing their businesses provides job opportunities and ensures that women are taking an active part in the development of the national economy.

Originality/value

This study fulfills the need to explore entrepreneurship by women, in emerging economies like India. Moreover, it is probably one of the first few studies in the literature that uses empirical evidence from a variety of settings to identify factors that motivate women in India to become self-employed and provides a dynamic framework on how women-owned ventures succeed.
Financial instability, integration and volatility of emerging South Asian stock markets
Authors: Kumar Rakesh , Dhankar Raj S.
Published: April 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the short- and long-run spillover effect of international financial instability on emerging South Asian stock markets. The paper also investigates the financial integration regionally.

Design/methodology/approach

Granger causality test is used for short-run causal relations. Since results of preliminary test highlight the significant autocorrelations in stock returns, GARCH class models with extreme shocks in international financial market are utilized to test the long-run spillover impact on stock returns.

Findings

Results indicate significant short- and long-run spillover impacts of international financial instability on the stock returns. They highlight the significant co-integration of South Asian stock markets with the international market. Significant correlations in stock returns and volatility reveal the degree of regional integration to be high between India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Research limitations/implications

Business, political and market conditions of South Asian stock markets are fundamentally different from each other. These economies were liberalized at different time, which in turn may affect the degree of integration with international equity markets and regionally alike.

Practical implications

Financial liberalization has linked the South Asian stock markets to the rest of the world. Stock prices move in the same line with the emergence of global expected and unexpected economic shocks. The benefits that arise from the diversification of funds will be eradicated in the long run. Investors with long investment horizons will not actually benefit from portfolio diversification in South Asian equity markets. The Bangladesh stock market does not respond to volatility in international market in the short run and may be a good destination for short-term investment.

Originality/value

Pioneer efforts are made by utilizing a novel approach with the use of net volatility change in world financial instability for measuring the short- and long-run impacts. Given the emergence of South Asian stock markets, new insights into their vulnerability to world financial shocks provide interesting findings for portfolio diversification.
Top management team diversity and firm performance: exploring a function of age
Authors: Tanikawa Tomohiko , Kim Soyeon , Jung Yuhee
Published: April 2017

Purpose

Based on socioemotional selectivity theory, the authors aimed to develop and test hypotheses that identify the direct effect of top management team (TMT) age diversity on firms’ financial performance (return on equity [ROE], return on assets [ROA]) and the interactive effect of TMT age diversity and TMT average age on firms’ financial performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents results from a quantitative study of 867 TMTs in Korean manufacturing firms. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results show that TMT age diversity had a negative and significant main effect on ROE but not on ROA. They also indicate that the negative relationship between TMT age diversity and firm performance (ROE) was attenuated when the members of TMTs were relatively older.

Originality/value

First, this study extends existing TMT research, which mainly focuses on macro factors, such as industry and environment, by using micro factors, including TMT age diversity and TMT average age. Second, this paper combines and extends previous TMT studies, which have been dominated by either “property” or “tendency”, by examining the interactive effect of the distributional property (diversity) and central tendency (average) of TMT age on firms’ financial performance. Finally, this study indicates that socioemotional selectivity theory may be useful to explain the link between TMT age diversity and firms’ financial performance.
Psychological contracts in self-directed work teams
Authors: Schreuder Frits , Schalk Rene , de Jong Jeroen
Published: April 2017

Purpose

This study aims to examine reciprocal exchange in teams using a psychological contract (PC) framework. Adopting Rousseau’s conceptualization of the contract, the authors explore the extent to which the team members reciprocate perceived team obligations and fulfilment by adjusting their own obligations and fulfilment. A new scale for the measurement of obligations and fulfilment was developed. Team commitment was hypothesized as a mediating variable.

Design/methodology/approach

The new PC scale was tested in a longitudinal study design. A survey of a representative sample of 230 Dutch first-year college students nested in 73 teams was conducted.

Findings

The authors found that in student teams, perceived team obligations at Time 1 are positively associated with perceived member obligations at Time 2. Furthermore, they found higher commitment to the team as the team fulfilled the obligations as perceived by its members. Contrary to the exchange theory, in student teams, perceived fulfilment of obligations at Time 1 is not reciprocated by more obligations of its members at Time 2. No significant mediating effects are found of team commitment.

Originality/value

To date, this study provides the first measurement of contract fulfilment in non-hierarchical team relationships. The instrument can act as a tool to assess future team effectiveness and performance and adjust team composition accordingly.
Ecological diversity of edible insects and their potential contribution to household food security in Haut‐Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo
Authors: Bomolo Olivier , Niassy Saliou , Chocha Auguste , Longanza Baboy , Bugeme David M. , Ekesi Sunday , Tanga Chrysantus M.
Published: April 2017

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has a wide diversity of edible insects making it one of the most important biodiversity hot spots in Africa. The aim of this study was to give the first insight into the food plant range, seasonal availability of edible insects, community preference and willingness to consume them. The study revealed a list of eleven edible insect species belonging to four families. Twenty‐six plant species were recorded as food plants of nine edible caterpillar species. Seasonal availability of these insects coincided with the rainy season and was strongly linked to relatively high level of consumption. The caterpillars Elaphrodes lactea Gaede, Lobobunaea saturnus Fabricius and Cinabra hyperbius (Westwood) as well as the termites Macrotermes falciger Gerstäcker were the most dominant species of edible insects preferred and consumed among the different communities. Our study demonstrates that entomophagy is a common practice among the ethnic populations with married, tertiary and university‐level individuals recording significantly higher consumption of edible caterpillars. Populations between the ages of 18 and 45 years as well as the Bemba tribe were also more actively involved in entomophagy. Further research would be necessary to exploit edible insect biodiversity and ethno‐entomophagy and initiate actions for food plant conservation in DR Congo.