bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
HRM practices and organizational performance in the UAE banking sector
Authors: Farouk Sherine , Abu Elanain Hossam M. , Obeidat Shatha M. , Al-Nahyan Moza 
Published: June 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of human resource management (HRM) practices on organizational performance in the banking sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to test the mediating impact of organizational innovation on the HRM-organizational performance relationship, and to test HRM practices as mediator of the relationship between innovation strategy and organizational innovation.Design/methodology/approach– Data were collected from 168 managers working in UAE banks. A structured questionnaire containing standard scales of HRM practices, innovation strategy, organizational innovation, organizational performance, and some demographic variables was used. The analytical method used to empirically test the hypotheses proposed is the structural equation modeling technique using PLS. The two steps are: the assessment of the outer model and the assessment of the inner model. Moreover, a bootstrapping method is employed in order to test indirect effects.Findings– Results found that organizational innovation fully mediates HRM-organizational performance link. Moreover, with the existence of innovation strategy, HRM mediates the relationship between innovation strategy and organizational innovation.Research limitations/implications– The limitations of common method bias and cross-sectional data are discussed in light of implications for future research. Nevertheless, the results provide new insights on the influence of HRM on organization innovation and performance in a non-Western context of the UAE by testing the role of some mediators in influencing the relationship between HRM and performance.Practical implications– In general, enhancing the effectiveness of HRM can result in higher level of performance and innovation. In particular, the choice of an innovation strategy implies the use of an effective incentive-based compensation, training and development, recruitment and selection and performance appraisal.Originality/value– This study is considered the first study to examine the mediating role of organizational innovation on the relationship between HRM and organizational performance in the Middle East. Also, the study is the first study to test the role of HRM as a mediator for the innovation strategy-innovation performance relationship in a non-Western context.
Augmented reality, the future of contextual mobile learning
Authors: Sungkur Roopesh Kevin , Panchoo Akshay , Bhoyroo Nitisha Kirtee 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
This study aims to show the relevance of augmented reality (AR) in mobile learning for the 21st century. With AR, any real-world environment can be augmented by providing users with accurate digital overlays. AR is a promising technology that has the potential to encourage learners to explore learning materials from a totally new perspective. Besides, the advancements made in information technology further broaden the scope for educational AR applications. Furthermore, the proliferation of wireless mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets is also introducing AR into the mobile domain.

Design/methodology/approach
This discussion paper gives an insight of the different potential fields of application of AR and eventually proposes an AR application that will give a completely different learning experience for learners. This AR mobile application will not only provide learners with supplementary information but will also assist lecturers in their teaching process. There are certain concepts in computer science at the tertiary level that are at times difficult for learners to understand using the traditional classroom approach. Through this AR application developed, the learners are able to see what is happening and experience a different form of learning where the focus is more on “learning by doing” and on the ability of visualizing the complete set of steps involved for a particular operation. Finally what is proposed is a generic framework/process for the development of AR applications for learning purposes.

Findings
The AR application developed and tested has proved to be helpful in understanding complex concepts of computer science that average students have much difficulty in understanding. Through AR, learning has been brought to a new dimension where the students can easily visualize what is happening and easily understand complex concepts. This low-cost system that has been proposed can track and detect both markerless and marker-based images. A number of experiments have also been carried out to determine a set of best practices for the development and use of such AR applications.

Originality/value
Learners have been able to have a more interactive and enriching learning experience through two-dimensional and three-dimensional digital augmentations. The AR mobile application has been enhancing the cognitive skills of learners through enabling them to scan images from printed materials with their smartphones. Then, informative digital augmentation has been overlaid in real time on the mobile screen with the image preview still in the background.
Insight into healthcare design: lessons learned in two university hospitals
Authors: Reijula Jori , Reijula Emmi , Reijula Kari 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
Hospitals in the developed countries have been subjected to increasing economic pressure. Thus, several hospitals have been forced to improve their production efficiency while coping with limited resources. This paper aims to illustrate challenges and insight associated with health care (HC) facility design (FD) in two publicly funded hospitals.

Design/methodology/approach
In this study, 14 interviewees from two Finnish university hospitals were interviewed. Both hospitals had implemented Lean methods and recently undergone rigorous renovation projects and were seen as ideal study targets.

Findings
Both hospitals had managed to carry out successful indoor environment design. However, logistics, navigation, health information technology, scheduling, budgeting and outsourcing challenges had arisen. An outpatient care approach and customer-driven operational needs are beneficial and guide FD in the target hospitals. Lean thinking offers the necessary fundamental framework for integrating operational design as a part of FD.

Research limitations/implications
Due to the relatively small sample size of the interviewees in this study, post occupancy evaluations in a larger target group should be conducted in the present hospitals. Furthermore, the communication with the interviewees may be considered qualitative due to the research approach based on interviews and content analysis.

Practical implications
Hospital design should focus on developing aesthetic, durable and adaptable facilities that support work processes. The hospital management needs to ensure that architects and designers possess enough HC expertize and are able to interact with clinicians. FD projects should be led and organized more systematically, while project communication between all stakeholders should be more transparent and facilitated by – preferably – a hospital staff member. Furthermore, an organized forum for HC FD should be used for sharing knowledge. The clinicians must be thoroughly oriented to the new work environment and processes.

Originality/value
This paper brings forth numerous crucial challenges and insight related to management of FD in two university hospitals.
Critical determinants of residential property value: professionals’ perspective
Authors: Abidoye Rotimi Boluwatife , Chan Albert P.C. 
Published: June 2016

PurposeReal estate property has been established as a composite good, and its value is determined by many variables. The heterogeneous nature of real estate property has made different stakeholders value these variables differently. Therefore, this study aims to identify and evaluate these sets of variables which influence residential property value in the Lagos metropolis property market, Nigeria, based on professional valuers’ perception.Design/methodology/approachA list of variables that influences property value was generated through literature review, and the list was used to design an online questionnaire that was administered to valuers practicing in the metropolis. The valuers were asked to rank these variables in order of significance. Their response was analysed to establish the mean score of each variable that depicts their level of significance.FindingsIn order of importance, property location, neighbourhood characteristics, property state of repair, size of property, availability of neighbourhood security and age of property are the most highly significant variables that are influential on the property value in the Lagos metropolis.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study will inform all existing and prospective real estate stakeholders, including facility managers of the major determinants of the value of their investments and, at the same time, will be a tool for valuers and researchers in property value modelling.Originality/valueThis study is the first attempt to develop a framework of property value determinants in this research area in Nigeria.
A performance outcome framework for appraising construction consultants in the university sector
Authors: Lam Terence Y.M. 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
The UK Government construction strategy has a clear objective to maximise potential and value for construction and infrastructure projects. The purpose of this paper was to develop a performance outcome framework for the public-sector university client to identify the criteria for value against which construction consultants’ performance will be appraised for selection and monitoring purposes in outsourcing.

Design/methodology/approach
Multiple-case study method was used to examine the performance requirements of construction consultants, using three state universities having similar contexts in terms of organisation objectives and requirements on projects funded by the government.

Findings
Within the public-sector university environment, five performance outcomes are identified: time, cost, quality, innovations and working relationship with the client. These areas form a conceptual framework for measuring the performance of construction consultants.

Research limitations/implications
The performance outcome framework developed should be regarded as “conceptual”. University clients may have different organisation objectives and hence requirements for performance outcomes, which may further vary according to specific project situations. The framework should be adapted accordingly.

Practical implications
University clients and their professional advisors should specify the performance requirements under those five areas in tender documents for selection purposes and subsequently use them as key performance indicators to monitoring the consultant performance. Construction consultants should address these requirements in the tender proposals to add value to the project.

Originality value
There is a need to investigate what performance outcomes are required by the public-sector construction client. Based on the results of this research, frameworks and guidelines can be further developed for use by other public sectors, thus benefitting the wider public sector as a whole.
Development and testing of a Boolean obsolescence assessment tool for built environment asset systems
Authors: Mulholland Kieran , Pitt Michael , Mclennan Peter 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the need for further development of tools that could be used to mitigate obsolescence within the built environment. Literature reviewed within this paper indicates a distinct gap in research, allowing for rising obsolescence-driven investments within asset systems. In addition to further conceptual development, case study testing is required to validate the use of certain existing methods.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper has developed a Boolean obsolescence assessment tool, which was then tested within a case study environment. This year-long case study provided real world data across three asset systems within an operational building.

Findings
The findings from this preliminary case study indicate that a Boolean tool of this type has the potential to provide significant insight into obsolescence mitigation. Such a tool, implemented in accordance with onsite asset management processes, has the ability to mitigate and avoid obsolescence-driven investments.

Research limitations/implications
This case study is limited because of its length and size. To mitigate the effects that may have been captured, this research project has been developed and continued.

Originality/value
The model featured within this paper originated from an untested obsolescence indexing technique. This model was adapted and extended to improve its accuracy and functionality, which also involved adding weighting mechanisms, resulting in not only an original model but a novel set of results because of the current lack of explicit testing of similar models.
Autoethnography of digital fiction in Japan: a case study
Authors: Gabriele Rebagliati 
Published: June 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to show how autoethnography applied to digital fiction can give us deep insights into collaborative writing through a case study of a Japanese mobile novel platform.Design/methodology/approach– The paper is based on the author’s autoethnographic fieldwork as an ethnographer and a writer, arguing that the autoethnographic method is an effective tool for the understanding of digital fiction.Findings– Through this approach the researcher, could not only reflect on the possibility of autoethnography as a methodology, but he could also enter into the dynamics of how the community of people surrounding a digital novel and his/her author is organized.Originality/value– Despite the fact that Japan has been a pioneer in the development of mobile novels, almost nothing has been written on the topic in languages other than Japanese. This paper is an invitation for further investigation that could foster comparative studies between the Japanese case and those in other countries.
Intricacies of back-office
Authors: Yli-Kauhaluoma Sari , Pantzar Mika 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine how back-office service staff cope with the intricacies of administrative work.

Design/methodology/approach
– The paper applies the research approach of “at-home ethnography” in a university back-office. The primary method of data collection was participant listening in the field, either in formal interviews or casual conversations. Photography helped the authors to zoom the conversation in to specific artefacts in administrative offices.

Findings
– The study identifies both forward- and backward-looking recipes as essential administrative tools that back-office staff develop and use to handle intricacies that emerge in their daily work. Forward-looking recipes are based on anticipatory cognitive representations, whereas backward-looking recipes are based on experiential wisdom. The study elaborates on the different kinds of modelling practices that back-office service staff engage in while building and applying these two different kinds of recipes.

Practical implications
– The recipes support administrators in knowledge replication and thus help avoid interruptions, reduce uncertainty, and produce consistency in administrative processes.

Originality/value
– In contrast to existing studies of formal bureaucracies, the study provides a unique empirical account to show how back-office service staff cope with the multiple intricacies existing in current office environments. The study shows how recipes as models contribute to stabilizing or even routinizing work processes in complex administrative situations.
An investor’s perspective on risk-models and characteristic-models
Authors: Fieberg Christian , Poddig Thorsten , Varmaz Armin 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
In capital markets, research risk factor loadings and characteristics are considered as opposing explanations for the cross-sectional dispersion in average stock returns. However, there is little known about the performance an investor would obtain who believes either in the characteristics explanation (CB-investor) or in the risk factor loadings explanation (RB-investor). The purpose of this paper is to compare the performance of CB- and RB-investors.

Design/methodology/approach
To compare the competing strategies, the authors propose a simple new approach to equity portfolio optimization in the style of Brandt et al. (2009) by modeling the portfolio weight in each asset as a function of the asset's risk factor loadings or characteristics. The authors perform an empirical analysis on the German stock market, exploiting the risk factor loadings from the Carhart (1997) four-factor model and the respective characteristics size, book-to-market equity ratio and momentum.

Findings
The results show that investment strategies relying on characteristics (particularly on momentum) outperform risk-based investment strategies in horse races. These findings hold in- and out-of-sample. Furthermore, the characteristics-based investment strategies outperform a value-weighted market portfolio strategy in- and out-of-sample.

Originality/value
The authors introduce a portfolio optimization approach that enables investors to directly link portfolio decisions to the firm’s characteristics or risk factor loadings.
Toward an optimal hedging strategy considering earnings volatility through fair value accounted financial derivatives
Authors: Ebach Eva Marie , Hertel Michael , Lindermeir Andreas , Tränkler Timm 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine a financial institution's optimal hedging degree under consideration of costly earnings volatility induced by fair value accounted derivatives. The discussion on the adoption of fair value accounting in the financial industry has been rather controversial in recent years. Under this accounting regime, the change in market values of specific assets must be considered as profit or loss. Critics argue that fair value accounting induces higher earnings volatility compared to historical cost accounting and, therefore, may initiate a downward spiral during recessions. Thus, increased earnings volatility induces costs, which can be explained by disappointed capital market expectations. Consequently, in general, a lowering of earnings volatility will be rewarded. Consistent with this theoretical finding, empirical research provides strong evidence that companies pursue income smoothing to reduce earnings volatility. In contrast to industrial corporations, financial institutions may easily reduce their earnings volatility by engaging in additional hedging activities. However, more intense hedging usually reduces expected profits.

Design/methodology/approach
Based on a research project initiated by a large German bank, this study quantitatively models the trade-off between the (utility of) costs of earnings volatility and the reduction of profit potential through additional hedging.

Findings
By conducting sensitivity analyses and simulations of the crucial factors of the trade-off, we examine relevant causal relationships to obtain first indications about the economic benefits of income smoothing.

Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to develop an optimization model that supports decision-making by attempting to determine an optimal (additional) hedging degree considering the costs induced by earnings volatility.
Private firm pricing and propensity to go public: evidence from mutual funds holdings
Authors: Alverio Mariluz , Rodríguez Javier 
Published: June 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to focus on mutual funds’ valuations of their US private firm holdings. According to extant academic literature, mutual funds’ boards of directors should assign prices to their private firm stocks based on their own determination of fair value.

Design/methodology/approach
This study investigates fluctuations in valuations of mutual funds holdings of private firms, and whether or not mutual funds managers are able to pick privately held firms that eventually undergo an initial public offer.

Findings
The study shows that private firm common stocks’ prices fluctuate much more than preferred stocks’; however, as expected, preferred stock is the most selected security type. This study also investigates these firms’ propensity to undergo an initial public offering (IPO). Results show that mutual funds allocated most of their capital to US private sector firms that underwent an initial public offering. Logit model results reveal that fund managers are able to pick privately held firms that will go public.

Research limitations/implications
Due to data limitations, the authors’ analysis does not control for venture capital ownership; an issue the authors plan to address in the future.

Originality/value
Though, research in this area may exist, the authors have not found academic literature related to holdings of private firms by mutual funds, pricing by funds’ boards of directors or the motives for such investments.
Beyond resumes: LinkedIn for marketing educators
Authors: Hutchins Amber L. 
Published: June 2016

PurposeThis paper aims to explore expanded uses for LinkedIn.com as a teaching tool, beyond introductory assignments, for in-demand and emerging marketing techniques.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reviews the current use of LinkedIn as a teaching tool for marketing educators and presents sample assignments that can be used to introduce students to content marketing, SEO, and online reputation management.FindingsMarketing educators have found LinkedIn to be a valuable resource for teaching professional development in the business curriculum. But the site can also provide a platform for the exploration of emerging specializations including content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO).Research limitations/implicationsAs a general review, this paper provides an overview of techniques. Research is needed to test and further explore the use of these techniques.Practical implicationsThis paper provides rationale and recommendations for marketing educators who wish to better prepare students for a competitive job market, in which employers expect students to be well versed not only in social media but also in emerging techniques like content marketing and SEO.Originality/valueResearchers have explored the use of various social media platforms for marketing education, including LinkedIn. This paper addresses the future potential of LinkedIn to teach various marketable skills and shows the versatility of social media platforms as pedagogical tools.