title: The influences of quality attributes and socio-demographics on Chinese consumers' general and online consumptions of Canadian, US and Australian lobsters

authors: Wang, Ouimon

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Purpose
This study explores the influence of quality attributes and socio-demographics on Chinese consumers' general and online consumption of three origin-specific lobsters: Canadian, United States and Australian.

Design/methodology/approach
A web-based survey was administrated to 981 consumers from two cities in China: Shanghai and Qingdao. Descriptive analysis and binary logistic regression were used in the data analysis.

Findings
Chinese consumers were more willing to pay for the lobster quality attributes vitality, meat content, texture, size and safety. Their general and online consumption of three origin-specific lobsters is significantly linked to the following quality attributes and socio-demographics: meat content, size, shell hardness, texture, safety, nutrition, age, income, education, occupation, residential place and marital status.

Originality/value
This is the first study to explore the influence of quality attributes and socio-demographics on consumers' online consumption of luxury seafood.

text: The influences of quality attributes and socio-demographics on Chinese consumers' general and online consumptions of Canadian, US and Australian lobsters Purpose
This study explores the influence of quality attributes and socio-demographics on Chinese consumers' general and online consumption of three origin-specific lobsters: Canadian, United States and Australian.

Design/methodology/approach
A web-based survey was administrated to 981 consumers from two cities in China: Shanghai and Qingdao. Descriptive analysis and binary logistic regression were used in the data analysis.

Findings
Chinese consumers were more willing to pay for the lobster quality attributes vitality, meat content, texture, size and safety. Their general and online consumption of three origin-specific lobsters is significantly linked to the following quality attributes and socio-demographics: meat content, size, shell hardness, texture, safety, nutrition, age, income, education, occupation, residential place and marital status.

Originality/value
This is the first study to explore the influence of quality attributes and socio-demographics on consumers' online consumption of luxury seafood.

year: 2021

title: How Spirituality Shapes the Formation of Entrepreneurial Venture: The Case of Malay Muslim Entrepreneurs

authors: Sidek, Farhana

subjects: Entrepreneurship

abstract: Studies have shown that spirituality in the workplace can positively impact the performance of individuals, work units, and organisations. What once was thought to be just a short-lived trend has now grown into an established field of study. The establishment of the special interest group for Management, Spirituality, and Religion by the Academy of Management for instance shows that spirituality is more than just a passing fad. While research on spirituality and management continue to flourish, one particular area of study that has been given less attention to spirituality is entrepreneurship. Spirituality is less likely to be considered by the traditional entrepreneurship literature in driving the behaviours of entrepreneurs. Rather, the current literature has focused on wealth creation as the entrepreneur’s driving force. Hence, researchers have turned to various approaches such as economics, personality psychology, and strategy in attempt to understand the relationship between entrepreneurs and new venture creation, which have been less successful in dealing with the more micro question of ‘how’ and ‘why’. This warrants for new approaches that can explain the relationship between the entrepreneur and new venture formation, which spirituality can offer. The purpose of this study is to examine and understand the phenomenon of entrepreneurial venture creation from the perspective of Muslim entrepreneurs. As the second largest religion in the world, Islam is often subject to stereotyping and misunderstanding due to its approximately 1.6 billion followers globally with wide ranging levels of religious commitment and practice. The complexity of the relationship between religious values and cultural values further complicates the explanation of the behaviours of Muslim entrepreneurs. In addition to the sparsity of research on the diversity and forms of values and spirituality in organisations, most spirituality studies are currently based on the Western value systems; hence the need for non-western value systems based studies. 

The overarching research question for this study is: “How does spirituality shape the formation of entrepreneurial venture?”. Three sub-questions were developed to support this important research question, that are: 1) what are the key sources of entrepreneurial opportunity for Muslim entrepreneurs? 2) how do Muslim entrepreneurs understand entrepreneurial opportunity? 3) how are the Islamic spiritual values manifested in the Muslim entrepreneurs’ process of venture formation? Using an interpretive paradigm, qualitative research was conducted, whereby 15 entrepreneurs were interviewed using narrative interview questions. Stories on how these entrepreneurs started their ventures were analysed. Findings revealed that the Muslim entrepreneurs sourced their entrepreneurial opportunities from two types of gaps. While missing products or services in the market prompted the first type of gap, the second type of gap was due to the difference between the entrepreneurs’ expectations (that are guided by their knowledge on the Shariah) and the reality. These two gaps led the entrepreneurs to embark on three different paths of process of venture creation, that are 1) accidentally found opportunity, 2) actively seeking for opportunity, and 3) spiritually-driven opportunity. In realising the opportunities that they discovered or created, the Muslim entrepreneurs manifested five important Islamic spiritual values: fardhu kifayah (communal obligation), wasatiyyah (balanced), barakah (blessings), amanah (trust), and dakwah (the call of joining the good and forbidding the bad). 

This study extends understanding of entrepreneurial behaviour involved in the process of venture formation by presenting an empirical evidence-based framework. This framework incorporates sources that trigger entrepreneurial opportunities, the micro and macro processes that entrepreneurs experienced in creating their ventures, and the dimensions of spirituality that are manifested in realising the opportunities. Secondly, this study informs the role of spirituality in the process of entrepreneurial venture creation in sourcing, evaluating, and enacting the opportunities. This study can benefits the educators and entrepreneurs as it highlights the potential of non-economic rationality in driving entrepreneurial behaviours that lead to venture creation.

text: How Spirituality Shapes the Formation of Entrepreneurial Venture: The Case of Malay Muslim Entrepreneurs Studies have shown that spirituality in the workplace can positively impact the performance of individuals, work units, and organisations. What once was thought to be just a short-lived trend has now grown into an established field of study. The establishment of the special interest group for Management, Spirituality, and Religion by the Academy of Management for instance shows that spirituality is more than just a passing fad. While research on spirituality and management continue to flourish, one particular area of study that has been given less attention to spirituality is entrepreneurship. Spirituality is less likely to be considered by the traditional entrepreneurship literature in driving the behaviours of entrepreneurs. Rather, the current literature has focused on wealth creation as the entrepreneur’s driving force. Hence, researchers have turned to various approaches such as economics, personality psychology, and strategy in attempt to understand the relationship between entrepreneurs and new venture creation, which have been less successful in dealing with the more micro question of ‘how’ and ‘why’. This warrants for new approaches that can explain the relationship between the entrepreneur and new venture formation, which spirituality can offer. The purpose of this study is to examine and understand the phenomenon of entrepreneurial venture creation from the perspective of Muslim entrepreneurs. As the second largest religion in the world, Islam is often subject to stereotyping and misunderstanding due to its approximately 1.6 billion followers globally with wide ranging levels of religious commitment and practice. The complexity of the relationship between religious values and cultural values further complicates the explanation of the behaviours of Muslim entrepreneurs. In addition to the sparsity of research on the diversity and forms of values and spirituality in organisations, most spirituality studies are currently based on the Western value systems; hence the need for non-western value systems based studies. 

The overarching research question for this study is: “How does spirituality shape the formation of entrepreneurial venture?”. Three sub-questions were developed to support this important research question, that are: 1) what are the key sources of entrepreneurial opportunity for Muslim entrepreneurs? 2) how do Muslim entrepreneurs understand entrepreneurial opportunity? 3) how are the Islamic spiritual values manifested in the Muslim entrepreneurs’ process of venture formation? Using an interpretive paradigm, qualitative research was conducted, whereby 15 entrepreneurs were interviewed using narrative interview questions. Stories on how these entrepreneurs started their ventures were analysed. Findings revealed that the Muslim entrepreneurs sourced their entrepreneurial opportunities from two types of gaps. While missing products or services in the market prompted the first type of gap, the second type of gap was due to the difference between the entrepreneurs’ expectations (that are guided by their knowledge on the Shariah) and the reality. These two gaps led the entrepreneurs to embark on three different paths of process of venture creation, that are 1) accidentally found opportunity, 2) actively seeking for opportunity, and 3) spiritually-driven opportunity. In realising the opportunities that they discovered or created, the Muslim entrepreneurs manifested five important Islamic spiritual values: fardhu kifayah (communal obligation), wasatiyyah (balanced), barakah (blessings), amanah (trust), and dakwah (the call of joining the good and forbidding the bad). 

This study extends understanding of entrepreneurial behaviour involved in the process of venture formation by presenting an empirical evidence-based framework. This framework incorporates sources that trigger entrepreneurial opportunities, the micro and macro processes that entrepreneurs experienced in creating their ventures, and the dimensions of spirituality that are manifested in realising the opportunities. Secondly, this study informs the role of spirituality in the process of entrepreneurial venture creation in sourcing, evaluating, and enacting the opportunities. This study can benefits the educators and entrepreneurs as it highlights the potential of non-economic rationality in driving entrepreneurial behaviours that lead to venture creation.

year: 2016

title: Software development: Involving Tangata Whenua and incorporating Tikanga Māori

authors: Taia, Ivy

subjects: software engineering

abstract: Over the past fifty years, software development (SD) has been dominated by Western approaches, which is widely accepted as the standard way of doing things (Diaz Andrade et al., 2021). Consequently, many software applications for specific Indigenous cultures, especially health interventions and educational software (Dobson, Whittaker, Bartley, Connor, Chen, Ross & McCool, 2017; Fleer, 1989), were developed using traditional software engineering (SE) methodologies. Although these methodologies provide the workflows and methods for developing software, they do not provide guidelines for developing Indigenous software. While there have been numerous studies on diversity, such as gender and ethnicity in the field of Information Systems, there is very little research on the practices of involving Indigenous people and incorporating their traditional customs in the software development process. This thesis examines the participation of Indigenous people in software development. The research specifically focuses on Tangata Whenua (Māori people, the Indigenous population of Aotearoa New Zealand) and Tikanga Māori (Māori cultural methods). Our findings are useful to those attempting to enhance Indigenous representation in software development, especially those wanting to involve Māori people and their cultural methods in the development process and design of software.

text: Software development: Involving Tangata Whenua and incorporating Tikanga Māori Over the past fifty years, software development (SD) has been dominated by Western approaches, which is widely accepted as the standard way of doing things (Diaz Andrade et al., 2021). Consequently, many software applications for specific Indigenous cultures, especially health interventions and educational software (Dobson, Whittaker, Bartley, Connor, Chen, Ross & McCool, 2017; Fleer, 1989), were developed using traditional software engineering (SE) methodologies. Although these methodologies provide the workflows and methods for developing software, they do not provide guidelines for developing Indigenous software. While there have been numerous studies on diversity, such as gender and ethnicity in the field of Information Systems, there is very little research on the practices of involving Indigenous people and incorporating their traditional customs in the software development process. This thesis examines the participation of Indigenous people in software development. The research specifically focuses on Tangata Whenua (Māori people, the Indigenous population of Aotearoa New Zealand) and Tikanga Māori (Māori cultural methods). Our findings are useful to those attempting to enhance Indigenous representation in software development, especially those wanting to involve Māori people and their cultural methods in the development process and design of software.

year: 2025