Search results for: social work research

Authors: Siavash Soltani Hemmat

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Although 21st-century humanity is at the height of technology and has stepped toward the endless boundaries of knowledge, there are still people in many parts of the world who are deprived of even the most fundamental freedoms. Whereas without freedom, no possible meaning can be imagined for human life, none of the human talents will have the chance to flourish, and that man will be reduced to the level of an animal, removing the obstacles to human freedom, especially from the viewpoint of thoughts, is of utmost importance, in which the liberal ideas of the modern centuries have played an incomparable role. The aim of the present study is to introduce and explain the liberal ideas in the modern centuries and their role in the expansion of human freedoms in order to weaken and discredit the ideological and intellectual barriers to restricting the freedom of individuals and to pave the way for the liberation of humanity. A descriptive method has been employed in order to achieve the objectives of the research. Besides, for data collection, a library method has been conducted. In this study, three ideological teachings of the social contract , resistance against unjust governance and natural law were recognized as the foundations of the realization of fundamental freedoms of the people in the modern centuries and their content was explained and examined.

Keywords: freedom, natural law, social contract, resistance

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Authors: Jureerat Buakaew

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The purpose of this research was to investigate Thai Muslims’ way of life through the way their clothes. The data of this qualitative research were collected from related documents and research reports, ancient cloths and clothing, and in-depth interviews with clothes owners and weavers. The research found that in the 18th century Thai Muslims in the three southern border provinces used many types of clothing in their life. At home women wore plain clothes. They used checked cloths to cover the upper part of their body from the breasts down to the waist. When going out, they used Lima cloth and So Kae with a piece of Pla-nging cloth as a head scarf. For men, they wore a checked sarong as a lower garment, and wore no upper garment. However, when going out, they wore Puyo Potong. In addition, Thai Muslims used cloths in various religious rites, namely, the rite of placing a baby in a cradle, the Masoyawi rite, the Nikah rite, and the burial rite. These types of cloths were related to the way of life of Thai Muslims from birth to death. They reflected the race, gender, age, social status, values, and beliefs in traditions that have been inherited. Practical Implication: Woven in these cloths are the lost local wisdom, and therefore, aesthetics on the cloths are like mirrors reflecting the background of people in this region that is fading away. These cloths are pages of a local history book that is of importance and value worth for preservation and publicity so that they are treasured. Government organizations can expand and materialize the knowledge received from the study in accordance with government policy in supporting the One Tambon, One Product project.

Keywords: way of life, rite of placing a baby in a cradle, Masoyawi rite, Thai Muslims

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Authors: Yuyun Wabula, B. J. Dewancker

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In the past decade, the social networking app has been growing very rapidly. Geolocation data is one of the important features of social media that can attach the user's location coordinate in the real world. This paper proposes the use of geolocation data from the Twitter social media application to gain knowledge about urban dynamics, especially on human mobility behavior. This paper aims to explore the relation between geolocation Twitter with the existence of people in the urban area. Firstly, the study will analyze the spread of people in the particular area, within the city using Twitter social media data. Secondly, we then match and categorize the existing place based on the same individuals visiting. Then, we combine the Twitter data from the tracking result and the questionnaire data to catch the Twitter user profile. To do that, we used the distribution frequency analysis to learn the visitors’ percentage. To validate the hypothesis, we compare it with the local population statistic data and land use mapping released by the city planning department of Makassar local government. The results show that there is the correlation between Twitter geolocation and questionnaire data. Thus, integration the Twitter data and survey data can reveal the profile of the social media users.

Keywords: geolocation, Twitter, distribution analysis, human mobility

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Authors: Salman Ali Nisar, Suzuki Koji

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In this paper we developed a new algorithm to convert the project scheduling time into calendar date in order to handle non-interruptible activities not to be split by non-working days (such as weekend and holidays). In a construction project some activities might require not to be interrupted even on non-working days, or to be finished on the end day of business days. For example, concrete placing work might be required to be completed by the end day of weekdays i.e. Friday, and curing in the weekend. This research provides an algorithm that imposes time constraint for start and finish times of non-interruptible activities. The algorithm converts working days, which is obtained by Critical Path Method (CPM), to calendar date with consideration of the start date of a project. After determining the interruption by non-working days, the start time of a certain activity should be postponed, if there is enough total float value. Otherwise, the duration is shortened by hiring additional resources capacity or/and using overtime work execution. Then, time constraints are imposed to start time and finish time of the activity. The algorithm is developed in Excel Spreadsheet for microcomputer and therefore we can easily get a feasible, calendared construction schedule for such a construction project with some non-interruptible activities.

Keywords: project management, scheduling, critical path method, time constraint, non-interruptible tasks

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Authors: Nico Rosamilia

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The study evaluates the importance of non-financial disclosure practices for regulators, investors, businesses, and markets. It aims to create a sector-specific set of indicators for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performances alternative to the ratings of the agencies. The existing literature extensively studies the implementation of ESG rating systems. Conversely, this study has a twofold outcome. Firstly, it should generalize incentive systems and governance policies for ESG and sustainable principles. Therefore, it should contribute to the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. Secondly, it concerns the market and the investors by highlighting successful sustainable investing. Indeed, the study contemplates the effect of ESG adoption practices on corporate value. The research explores the asset pricing angle in order to shed light on the fragmented argument on the finance of ESG. Investors may be misguided about the positive or negative effects of ESG on performances. The paper proposes a different method to evaluate ESG performances. By comparing the results of a traditional econometric approach (Lasso) with a machine learning algorithm (Random Forest), the study establishes a set of indicators for ESG performance. Therefore, the research also empirically contributes to the theoretical strands of literature regarding model selection and variable importance in a finance framework. The algorithms will spit out sector-specific indicators. This set of indicators defines an alternative to the compounded scores of ESG rating agencies and avoids the possible offsetting effect of scores. With this approach, the paper defines a sector-specific set of indicators to standardize ESG disclosure. Additionally, it tries to shed light on the absence of a clear understanding of the direction of the ESG effect on corporate value (the problem of endogeneity).

Keywords: ESG ratings, non-financial information, value of firms, sustainable finance

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Authors: Kirstie Smith

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This paper elucidates the value of neighborhood perception as it contributes to the advancement of well-being for individuals and families within a neighborhood. Through in-depth interviews with city residents, this paper examines the degree to which key stakeholders’ (residents) evaluate their neighborhood and perception of resources and identify, access, and utilize local assets existing in the community. Additionally, the research objective included conducting a community inventory that qualified the community assets and resources of lower-income neighborhoods of a medium-sized industrial city. Analysis of the community’s assets was compared with the interview results to allow for a better understanding of the community’s condition. Community mapping revealed the key informants’ reflections of assets were somewhat validated. In each neighborhood, there were more assets mapped than reported in the interviews. Another chief supposition drawn from this study was the identification of key development partners and social networks that offer the potential to facilitate locally-driven community development. Overall, the participants provided invaluable local knowledge of the perception of neighborhood assets, the well-being of residents, the condition of the community, and suggestions for responding to the challenges of the entire community in order to mobilize the present assets and networks.

Keywords: community mapping, family, resource allocation, social networks

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Authors: Tereza Hruskova

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200 million people globally experience serious mental health problems, and only one third seek professional help, and help-seeking is described as a last resort. Adolescents and young adults have a high prevalence of mental illness. Mental stigma is a key element in the decision to seek help and is divided into (i) self-stigma (self-stigmatization), including internal beliefs, low self-esteem, and lower quality of life, and (ii) public stigma (social stigma) containing stereotypes, beliefs and society's disapproval of help-seeking having a negative effect on help-seeking and our attitudes. Previous research has mainly focused on examining the construct of help seeking, avoidance, and delaying separately and trying to find out why people do not seek help in time and what obstacles stand in the way. Barriers are not static and may change over time and the stage of help-seeking. Attitudes are closely related to self-stigma and social stigma and predict whether a person will seek help. Barriers (stigmatization, a sense of humiliation, insufficient recognition of the problem, preferences, solving it alone, and distrust of a professional) and facilitators (previous experience with mental problems, social support, and help from others) are factors influencing help-seeking. The current research on the Czech population of young adults responds to the gap between a person with mental health problems and actually seeking professional help. The aim of the study is to describe in detail the individual constructs and factors, to understand the person seeking help, and to define possible obstacles on this path of seeking help. A sample of approximately 250 participants (age 18-35) would take part in the online questionnaire, conducted in May-June 2023, and would be administered a demographic questionnaire and four scales measuring attitudes (Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help – Short form), barriers (Barrier to Help Seeking Scale), self-stigma (Self Stigma of Seeking Help) and stigmatization (Perceptions of Stigmatization by Others for seeking help). Firstly, all four scales would be translated into the Czech language. The aim is (I) to determine the validity and reliability of the Czech translation of the scales, (II) to examine the factors of the scales on the Czech population and compare them retrospectively with the results of reliability and validity from the original language of the scales and (III) to examine the connections between attitudes towards seeking, avoidance or delaying the search for professional psychological help due to the demographic and individual differences of the participants, barriers, self-stigmatization and social stigmatization. We expect to carry out the first study on the given topic in the Czech Republic, to identify and better understand the factors leading to the avoidance of seeking professional help and to reveal the relationships between stigmatization, attitudes and barriers leading to the avoidance or postponement of seeking professional help. The belief is to find out whether the Czech population of young adults differs from the data found on the foreign population in individual constructs, as cultural differences in individual countries were found.

Keywords: mental health, stigma, problems, seeking psychological help

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Authors: Diamant Irene, Dar Tamar

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Burnout, conceptualized within the framework of stress research, is to a large extent a result of a threat on resources of time or a feeling of time shortage. In reaction to numerous tasks, deadlines, high output, management of different duties encompassing work-home conflicts, many individuals experience ‘time pressure’. Time pressure is characterized as the perception of a lack of available time in relation to the amount of workload. It can be a result of local objective constraints, but it can also be a chronic attribute in coping with life. As such, time pressure is associated in the literature with general stress experience and can therefore be a direct, contributory burnout factor. The present study examines the relation of chronic time pressure – feeling of time shortage and of being rushed, with another central aspect in subjective temporal experience - time perspective. Time perspective is a stable personal disposition, capturing the extent to which people subjectively remember the past, live the present and\or anticipate the future. Based on Hobfoll’s Conservation of Resources Theory, it was hypothesized that individuals with chronic time pressure would experience a permanent threat on their time resources resulting in relatively increased burnout. In addition, it was hypothesized that different time perspective profiles, based on Zimbardo’s typology of five dimensions – Past Positive, Past Negative, Present Hedonistic, Present Fatalistic, and Future, would be related to different magnitudes of chronic time pressure and of burnout. We expected that individuals with ‘Past Negative’ or ‘Present Fatalist’ time perspectives would experience more burnout, with chronic time pressure being a moderator variable. Conversely, individuals with a ‘Present Hedonistic’ - with little concern with the future consequences of actions, would experience less chronic time pressure and less burnout. Another temporal experience angle examined in this study is the difference between the actual distribution of time (as in a typical day) versus desired distribution of time (such as would have been distributed optimally during a day). It was hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation between the gap between these time distributions and chronic time pressure and burnout. Data was collected through an online self-reporting survey distributed on social networks, with 240 participants (aged 21-65) recruited through convenience and snowball sampling methods from various organizational sectors. The results of the present study support the hypotheses and constitute a basis for future debate regarding the elements of burnout in the modern work environment, with an emphasis on subjective temporal experience. Our findings point to the importance of chronic and stable temporal experiences, as time pressure and time perspective, in occupational experience. The findings are also discussed with a view to the development of practical methods of burnout prevention.

Keywords: conservation of resources, burnout, time pressure, time perspective

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Authors: Michal Bialy, Marcin Szlachetka, Mateusz Paszko

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This paper discusses the CFD results of heat transfer in water channels in the engine body. The research engine was a newly designed Diesel combustion engine. The engine has three cylinders with three pairs of opposed pistons inside. The engine will be able to generate 100 kW mechanical power at a crankshaft speed of 3,800-4,000 rpm. The water channels are in the engine body along the axis of the three cylinders. These channels are around the three combustion chambers. The water channels transfer combustion heat that occurs the cylinders to the external radiator. This CFD research was based on the ANSYS Fluent software and aimed to optimize the geometry of the water channels. These channels should have a maximum flow of heat from the combustion chamber or the external radiator. Based on the parallel simulation research, the boundary and initial conditions enabled us to specify average values of key parameters for our numerical analysis. Our simulation used the average momentum equations and turbulence model k-epsilon double equation. There was also used a real k-epsilon model with a function of a standard wall. The turbulence intensity factor was 10%. The working fluid mass flow rate was calculated for a single typical value, specified in line with the research into the flow rate of automotive engine cooling pumps used in engines of similar power. The research uses a series of geometric models which differ, for instance, in the shape of the cross-section of the channel along the axis of the cylinder. The results are presented as colourful distribution maps of temperature, speed fields and heat flow through the cylinder walls. Due to limitations of space, our paper presents the results on the most representative geometric model only. Acknowledgement: This work has been realized in the cooperation with The Construction Office of WSK ‘PZL-KALISZ’ S.A. and is part of Grant Agreement No. POIR.01.02.00-00-0002/15 financed by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development.

Keywords: Ansys fluent, combustion engine, computational fluid dynamics CFD, cooling system

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Authors: Catalina Sau Man Ng

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Workplace bullying is generally defined as a form of direct and indirect maltreatment at work including harassing, offending, socially isolating someone or negatively affecting someone’s work tasks. Workplace bullying is unfortunately commonplace around the world, which makes it a social phenomenon worth researching. However, the measurements and estimation methods of workplace bullying seem to be diverse in different studies, leading to dubious results. Hence, this paper attempts to examine the prevalence of workplace bullying in Hong Kong using the latent class analysis approach. It is often argued that the traditional classification of workplace bullying into the dichotomous 'victims' and 'non-victims' may not be able to fully represent the complex phenomenon of bullying. By treating workplace bullying as one latent variable and examining the potential categorical distribution within the latent variable, a more thorough understanding of workplace bullying in real-life situations may hence be provided. As a result, this study adopts a latent class analysis method, which was tested to demonstrate higher construct and higher predictive validity previously. In the present study, a representative sample of 2814 employees (Male: 54.7%, Female: 45.3%) in Hong Kong was recruited. The participants were asked to fill in a self-reported questionnaire which included measurements such as Chinese Workplace Bullying Scale (CWBS) and Chinese Version of Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS). It is estimated that four latent classes will emerge: 'non-victims', 'seldom bullied', 'sometimes bullied', and 'victims'. The results of each latent class and implications of the study will also be discussed in this working paper.

Keywords: latent class analysis, prevalence, survey, workplace bullying

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Authors: Gilang Maulana, Dhika Rahma Qomariah, Yasin Fadil

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Purpose: This research meant to measure the magnitude of the influence of the quality of the presentation to the targeted audience perception in catching information presentation. Design/Methodology/Approach: This research uses a quantitative research method. The kind of data that uses in this research is the primary data. The population in this research are students the economics faculty of Semarang State University. The sampling techniques uses in this research is purposive sampling. The retrieving data uses questionnaire on 30 respondents. The data analysis uses descriptive analysis. Result: The quality of presentation influential positive against perception of the audience. This proved that the more qualified presentation will increase the perception of the audience. Limitation: Respondents were limited to only 30 people.

Keywords: quality of presentation, presentation, audience, perception, semarang state university

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Authors: Sunandapriya Bhikkhu, Shimo Sraman

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The main objective of this research is to analytically study the concept of Lyotard’s different that rejects the monopoly criteria and single rule with the incommensurable, which can explain about conceptual problems of beauty in the philosophy of contemporary art. In Lyotard’s idea that basic value judgment of human should be a value like a phrase that is a small unit and an individual such as the aesthetic value that to explain the art world. From the concept of the anti-war artist that rejects the concept of the traditional aesthetic which cannot be able to explain the changing in contemporary society but emphasizes the meaning of individual beauty that is at the beginning of contemporary art today. In the analysis of the problem, the researcher supports the concept of Lyotard’s different that emphasizes the artistic expression which opens the space of perception and beyond the limitations of language process. Art is like phrase or small units that can convey a sense of humanity through the aesthetic value of the individual, not social criteria or universal. The concept of Lyotard’s different awakens and challenge us to the rejection of the single rule that is not open the social space to minorities by not accepting the monopoly criteria.

Keywords: difference, Jean-Francois Lyotard, postmodern, beauty, contemporary art

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Authors: Martin Plener

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Developmental and democratization research has a long tradition of focusing on the relationship between democratization and economic development. However, recent studies have shown that economic development is not adequate to measure the actual living conditions of civilian people. In consequence, it is unclear if a democratization process helps to improve people’s quality of life. This work addresses this issue by investigating the influence of democratization on the Human Development Index (HDI) created by the United Nations. The main objective is to study the relationship between democracy and human development and whether democratization positively impacts the living conditions of the population over time. The main mechanism which supports a positive impact is that democratic structures promote participation and political involvement of people from all social classes resulting in a better articulation of interests and thus accountability to the government. To study this issue, a panel regression with Fixed-Effects is conducted. By that, it is examined if democracy has a positive impact on the HDI (Hypothesis 1) and secondly if the same effect weakens in more developed democracies compared to less developed democracies (Hypothesis 2). The results do not reveal a direct positive relationship between the democratization of a country and its development of the HDI, not supporting H1 which denies the first hypothesis. In contrast to the assumption of H2, the effect of democratization on human development seems to be negatively correlated in countries in which democracy is barely developed. Therefore, both hypotheses must be discarded. The results indicate rather a positive correlation between economic development on human development. Therefore, the impact of democracy on the well-being of countries’ citizens needs to be reinvestigated in order to create a better understanding of how improved human development can be achieved.

Keywords: democracy, human development, modernization theory, HDI, TSCS

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Authors: Christa Fricke, Sibylle Meyer, Gert G. Wagner

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Our research focuses on the question of whether assistive and social robotics could pose a promising strategy to support the independent living of elderly people and potentially relieve relatives of any anxieties. To answer the question of how elderly people perceive the potential of robotics, we analysed the data from the Berlin Aging Study BASE-II (https://www.base2.mpg.de/de) (N=1463) and data from the German SYMPARTNER study (http://www.sympartner.de) (N=120) and compared those to a control group made up of people younger than 30 years (BASE II: N=241; SYMPARTNER: N=30). BASE-II is a cohort study of people living in Berlin, Germany. The sample covers more than 2200 cases; a questionnaire on the use and acceptance of assistive and social robots was carried out with a sub-sample of 1463 respondents in 2015. The SYMPARTNER study was done by SIBIS institute of Social Research, Berlin and included a total of 120 persons between the ages of 60 and 87 in Berlin and the rural German federal state of Thuringia. Both studies included a control group of persons between the ages of 20 and 35 (BASE II: N=241; SYMPARTNER: N=30). Additional data, representative for the whole population in Germany, will be surveyed in fall 2017 (Survey “Technikradar” [technology radar] by the National Academy of Science and Engineering). Since this survey is including some identical questions as BASE-II/SYMPARTNER, comparative results can be presented at 20th International Conference on Social Robotics in New York 2018. The complexity of the data gathered in BASE-II and SYMPARTNER, encompassing detailed socio-economic background characteristics as well as personality traits such as the personal attitude to risk taking, locus of control and Big Five, proves highly valuable and beneficial. Results show that participants’ expressions of resentment against robots are comparatively low. Participants’ personality traits play a role, however the effect sizes are small. Only 15 percent of participants received domestic robots with great scepticism. Participants aged older than 70 years expressed greatest rejection of the robotic assistant. The effect sizes however account for only a few percentage points. Overall, participants were surprisingly open to the robot and its usefulness. The analysis also shows that men’s acceptance of the robot is generally greater than that of women (with odds ratios of about 0.6 to 0.7). This applies to both assistive robots in the private household and in care environments. Men expect greater benefits of the robot than women. Women tend to be more sceptical of their technical feasibility than men. Interview results prove our hypothesis that men, in particular of the age group 60+, are more accustomed to delegate household chores to women. A delegation to machines instead of humans, therefore, seems palpable. The answer to the title question of this planned presentation is: social and assistive robots at home robots are not only accepted by men – but by fewer women than men.

Keywords: acceptance, care, gender, household

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Authors: Zhaohui Tian

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China’s growing and deepening engagement in Africa has attracted numerous controversial debates on Chinese-African social-racial relations both in the media and academia. Most research tends to discuss this issue and the tensions involved at the state level, but limited attention has been given to the individual relating processes of those two racial groups from an intercultural politeness evaluation angle. Thus, taking Kenya as a country focus and putting it under recent perspectives on pragmatics and politeness, this study explores the Chinese-Kenyan workplace relating experience in Chinese-owned companies with the aim to offer new insights on Chinese-African social-racial tensions. The original data were collected through 25 interviews from 29 Chinese and Kenyan participants working in different Chinese companies and industries, some of which had been later on converted into 182 short story data in order to better capture the process and content dimensions of their experiences using Spencer &Kádár’s politeness evaluation model. Both interview and story data were analysed in MAXQDA to understand the personal relating process and the criteria they were drawing from when making evaluative judgements of their relations. The result particular draws attention to tensions around goals, rights, and obligations, and social-moral dimensions that had been underrepresented in intercultural and pragmatics literature. The study offers alternative empirical insights into Chinese-Kenyan relations from an intercultural politeness management perspective and the possible mismatches of the evaluative criteria that potentially cause tension in this context.

Keywords: chinese-kenyan, evaluation, relating, workplace

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Authors: Elena V. Lysenko

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Motivating as the leading function of a modern Human Resources Management involves issues of increasing the effectiveness of the organization in a broader context. During the formation of motivational systems, the top-management of organization should pay equal attention to both external motivation (incentive system) and internal (self-motivation). The balance of internal and external motivation harmonizes the relations between employers and employees, increases the level of job satisfaction by the organization staff, which in turn leads the organization to success and ensures the organization`s profitability and competitiveness in the market environment. The article is devoted to the study of personnel motivation system in the small metal trade company, which is located in Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation. The study took place during November-December, 2016 ordered by the Company Director to analyze the motivational potential of work (managerial aspect of motivation) and motivation of personnel (personnel aspect of motivation) with the purpose to construct a system of employees’ motivation. The research tools included 6 specially selected tests of motivation, which are: “Motivation profile of your job”, “Constructive motivational attitudes”, Tests about Motivation of achievements (1st variant: Test by А.Mehrabian by the theory of D.С.McClelland and 2nd variant: Test about leading needs according with the theory of D.С.MacClelland), Tests by T.Elers (1st variant: “Determination of the motivation towards success or to avoid failure” and 2nd variant: “Trends to achieve results or to avoid failure”). The results of the study showed only one, but fundamental problem of the whole organization: high level of both motivational potential in work and self-motivation, especially in terms of achievement motivation, but serious lack of productivity. According the results which study showed this problem is derived from insufficient staff competence. The research suggests basic guidelines in order to build the new personnel motivation system for this Company, which is planned to be developed in the nearest future.

Keywords: incentive system, motivation of achievements, motivation system, self-motivation

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Authors: Motaz Alsolaim

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Nowadays, the challenges of running a start-up can be very complex and are perhaps more difficult than at any other time in the past. Changes in technology, manufacturing innovation, and product development, combined with intense competition and market regulations are factors that have put pressure on classic ways of managing firms, thereby forcing change. As a result, the rate of closure, exit or discontinuation of start-ups and young businesses is very high. Despite the essential role of small firms in an economy, they still tend to face obstacles that exert a negative influence on their performance and rate of survival. In fact, it is not easy to determine with any certainty the reasons why small firms fail. For this reason, failure itself is not clearly defined, and its exact causes are hard to diagnose. In this current study, therefore, the barriers to survival will be covered more broadly, especially personal/entrepreneurial, enterprise and environmental factors with regard to various possible reasons for this failure, in order to determine the best solutions and make appropriate recommendations. Methodology: It could be argued that mixed methods might help to improve entrepreneurship research addressing challenges emphasis in previous studies and to achieve the triangulation. Calls for the combined use of quantitative and qualitative research were also made in the entrepreneurship field since entrepreneurship is a multi-faceted area of research. Therefore, explanatory sequential mixed method was used, using questionnaire online survey for entrepreneurs, followed by semi-structure interview. Collecting over 750 surveys and accepting 296 valid surveys, after that 13 interviews from government official seniors, businessmen successful entrepreneurs, and non-successful entrepreneurs. Findings: The first phase findings ( quantitative) shows the obstacles to survive; starting from the personal/ entrepreneurial factors such as; past work experience, lack of skills and interest, are positive factors, while; gender, age and education level of the owner are negative factors. Internal factors such as lack of marketing research and weak business planning are positive. The environmental factors; in economic perspectives; difficulty to find labors, in socio-cultural perspectives; Social restriction and traditions found to be a negative factors. In other hand, from the political perspective; cost of compliance and insufficient government plans found to be a positive factors for small business failure. From infrastructure perspective; lack of skills labor, high level of bureaucracy and lack of information are positive factors. Conclusion: This paper serves to enrich the understanding of failure factors in MENA region more precisely in SA, by minimizing the probability of failure in small-micro entrepreneurial start-up in SA, in the light of the Saudi government’s Vision 2030 plan.

Keywords: small business barriers, start-up business, entrepreneurship, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Juan Carlos Rubio Romero, Francico Salguero Caparros, Virginia Herrera-Pérez

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No one is in the slightest doubt about the high levels of risk involved in work in the construction industry. They are even higher in structural construction work. The Critical Decision Method (CDM) is a semi-structured interview technique that uses cognitive tests to identify the different disturbances that workers have to deal with in their work activity. At present, the vision of safety focused on daily performance and things that go well for safety and health management is facing the new paradigm known as Resilience Engineering. The aim of this study has been to describe the variability in formwork labour on concrete structures in the construction industry and, from there, to find out the resilient attitude of workers to unexpected events that they have experienced during their working lives. For this purpose, a series of semi-structured interviews were carried out with construction employees with extensive experience in formwork labour in Spain by applying the Critical Decision Method. This work has been the first application of the Critical Decision Method in the field of construction and, more specifically, in the execution of structures. The results obtained show that situations categorised as unthought-of are identified to a greater extent than potentially unexpected situations. The identification during these interviews of both expected and unexpected events provides insight into the critical decisions made and actions taken to improve resilience in daily practice in this construction work. From this study, it is clear that it is essential to gain more knowledge about the nature of the human cognitive process in work situations within complex socio-technical systems such as construction sites. This could lead to a more effective design of workplaces in the search for improved human performance.

Keywords: resilience engineering, construction industry, unthought-of situations, critical decision method

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Authors: Abdullah Eqal Al Mazrooei

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In this work, a new nonlinear model will be introduced. The model is in the state-space form. The nonlinearity of this model is in the state equation where the state vector is multiplied by its self. This technique makes our model generalizes many famous models as Lotka-Volterra model and Lorenz model which have many applications in the real life. We will apply our new model to estimate the wind speed by using a new nonlinear estimator which suitable to work with our model.

Keywords: nonlinear systems, state-space model, Kronecker product, nonlinear estimator

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Authors: Anunya Thanasrisuebwong

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This research paper aimed to find out how was the ethical climate in an organization and job performance satisfaction of employees affected employees’ engagement and commitment by using the case study of PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited, Thailand. The population of this research was 4,383 Thai employees of PTTEP, Thailand. From a total of 420 questionnaires sent out, 345 respondents replied. The statistics utilized was mean score and Multiple Regression Analysis. The findings revealed that the respondents had opinion towards ethical climate of their organization, job performance satisfaction and organization engagement and commitment at a high level. The test of hypothesis disclosed the determinant attributes of job performance satisfaction that affected the respondents’ overall level of organization engagement and commitment. The set of these determinant attributes consisted of employees’ responsibilities for duties, organization’s policies and practice, relationship with organization’s commanders, work security and stability, job description, career path and relationship with colleagues. These variables were able to predict the employees’ organization engagement and commitment at 50.6 percent.

Keywords: ethical climate in organization, job performance satisfaction, organization engagement, commitment

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Authors: Johannes Dregger, Michael Schmidt, Christian Prasse, Michael ten Hompel

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Most of the today’s companies face increasing need to operate efficiently. Driven by global trends like shorter product cycles, mass customization and the rising speed of delivery, manufacturing value chains are becoming more and more distributed. Manufacturing processes are becoming highly integrated, e.g. 3D printing. All these changes are affecting companies´ organization. They are leading towards individual, small scale, and ad-hoc logistics processes and structures, and finally, towards a significant increase in the importance of logistics itself since traditional value chains transform into agile value networks. In the past logistics has been following manufacturing but in the future industry, this role allocation might change. With this increase in the logistics practice of companies and businesses, the relevance of logistics research as the methodological foundation of logistics networks and processes is gaining importance. Logistics research is evolving into a central and highly interdisciplinary science for the future industry. Using the example of Germany, this paper discusses ways to establish logistics as a central scientific discipline of the future industry. About three million people work in the logistics sector in Germany. Only automotive and retail industry have more employees. Even though there is a bunch of logistics degree programs at more than 100 institutions of higher education, a common understanding of logistics as a research discipline is missing. In this paper an innovative approach will be presented, including; identified perspectives on logistics, such as process orientation, IT orientation or employees orientation, relevant scientific disciplines for logistics science, a concept for interdisciplinary research approaches to unify the perspectives of the different scientific disciplines on logistics and the methodological base of logistics science.

Keywords: logistics, logistics science, logistics management, future challenges

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Authors: Elyria Kemp, Kelly Cowart, My Bui

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According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 31.9% of adolescents have had an anxiety disorder. Several environmental factors may help to contribute to high levels of anxiety and depression in young people (i.e., Generation Z, Millennials). However, as young people negotiate life on social media, they may begin to evaluate themselves using excessively high standards and adopt self-perfectionism tendencies. Broadly defined, self-perfectionism involves very critical evaluations of the self. Perfectionism may also come from others and may manifest as socially prescribed perfectionism, and young adults are reporting higher levels of socially prescribed perfectionism than previous generations. This rising perfectionism is also associated with anxiety, greater physiological reactivity, and a sense of social disconnection. However, theories from psychology suggest that improvement in emotion regulation can contribute to enhanced psychological and emotional well-being. Emotion regulation refers to the ways people manage how and when they experience and express their emotions. Cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression are common emotion regulation strategies. Cognitive reappraisal involves changing the meaning of a stimulus that involves construing a potentially emotion-eliciting situation in a way that changes its emotional impact. By contrast, expressive suppression involves inhibiting the behavioral expression of emotion. The purpose of this research is to examine the efficacy of social marketing initiatives which promote emotion regulation strategies to help young adults regulate their emotions. In Study 1 a single factor (emotional regulation strategy: a cognitive reappraisal, expressive, control) between-subjects design was conducted using an online, non-student consumer panel (n=96). Sixty-eight percent of participants were male, and 32% were female. Study participants belonged to the Millennial and Gen Z cohort, ranging in age from 22 to 35 (M=27). Participants were first told to spend at least three minutes writing about a public speaking appearance which made them anxious. The purpose of this exercise was to induce anxiety. Next, participants viewed one of three advertisements (randomly assigned) which promoted an emotion regulation strategy—cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, or an advertisement non-emotional in nature. After being exposed to one of the ads, participants responded to a measure composed of two items to access their emotional state and the efficacy of the messages in fostering emotion management. Findings indicated that individuals in the cognitive reappraisal condition (M=3.91) exhibited the most positive feelings and more effective emotion regulation than the expressive suppression (M=3.39) and control conditions (M=3.72, F(1,92) = 3.3, p<.05). Results from this research can be used by institutions (e.g., schools) in taking a leadership role in attacking anxiety and other mental health issues. Social stigmas regarding mental health can be removed and a more proactive stance can be taken in promoting healthy coping behaviors and strategies to manage negative emotions.

Keywords: emotion regulation, anxiety, social marketing, generation z

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Authors: Khalid Almarri

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The UAE is currently developing a peaceful nuclear energy program as part of its low Carbon energy strategy to meet future energy demands. Research of nuclear energy technologies is required to support nuclear energy generation projects and maximize their performance. Research of this type will require building an operating a research reactor (RR), a costly undertaking in most circumstances. Collaboration between government and private parties through public, private partnerships (PPP) can maximize the benefits expected from the adoption of an RR project. The aim of this research is to establish the critical success factors (CSF) for developing an RR project for newcomer countries, with the UAE taken as a case study, through the utilization of public, private partnerships (PPP). The results of this study were arrived at through the use of semi-structured interviews conducted with ten experts in the field of research reactors, using grounded theory method. Underutilization was identified as the main stumbling block that impairs the success of research reactors.

Keywords: public private partnerships, research reactors, grounded theory, critical success factors

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Authors: Anoop Kumar Suraj

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Dr Rammanohar Lohia (1910-67), a radical Indian socialist thinker, left an unfinished and critical oeuvre of works on ‘Social Revolution’, argued for the necessity of fundamentally reordering our social structures and offered the ideological framework for such a radical change. An alternative kind of democratic political action called Saat Krantiya, or ‘seven revolutions’, sought to establish socialism with a strong cultural and historical foundation in Indian society. Lohia cautiously adopted civil disobedience [a Gandhian tool] as a means of seven revolutions as a mode of revolution. He saw Indian youth as the vanguard of the social revolution and claimed that the ideas of ‘constructive militancy’ and ‘militant construction’ were at the core of such a revolution. This paper demonstrates that Lohia presented a unique short theoretical paradigm to interpret history and revolution, and Sapta Kranti was a normative framework to arrive at an egalitarian society.

Keywords: Rammanohar Lohia, Sapt Kranti, matter and spirit, caste-class, human approximation

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Authors: B. Waked Najar

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Since the spread of Covid- 19, Israel and other countries suffer from lockdowns and social distance, which impose different kinds of restrictions. On the one side, many organization closed and unemployment increased, bringing about economic problems and distress. On the other side, family ties were damaged due to inability to sustain close relations with some family members and too frequent interactions with others. Unfortunately, conflicts within families, controlling behavior and domestic violence appear more often. Purpose: to examine the phenomenon of domestic violence and its expansion during the Covid-19 crisis, to propose and classify strategies of dealing with it, including encouragement of public systems providing more information and support to domestic violence victims. Methodology: the author strives to reveal methods of supporting domestic violence victims through public and private treatment organizations. The author interviewed battered women and families who experienced violence during the Covid-19 crisis. Findings: victims of domestic violence often feel isolated and helpless. It is a real challenge to track and support them, especially in the traditional minorities’ communities. Research limitations: Many families refused to be interviewed because they did not want to be exposed to the community, especially religious families. Originality: research is aimed to examine a phenomenon of domestic violence during the Covid-19 crisis and methods of help and support the victims, which is not a common theme of research during the pandemic.

Keywords: violence, coronavirus, domestic violence, influence

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Authors: Bu Kyung Park

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Background: The survival rate of pediatric cancer patients has been increased. Thus, the needs of long-term management and follow-up education after discharge continue to grow. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of pediatric cancer patients and their families from first diagnosis to returning their social life. The ultimate goal of this study was to assess which information and intervention did pediatric cancer patients and their families required and needed, so that this could provide fundamental information for developing educational content of web-based intervention program for pediatric cancer patients. Research Approach: This study was based on a descriptive qualitative research design using semi-structured focus group interview. Participants: Twelve pediatric cancer patients and 12 family members participated in a total six focus group interview sessions. Methods: All interviews were audiotaped after obtaining participants’ approval. The recordings were transcribed. Qualitative Content analysis using the inductive coding approach was performed on the transcriptions by three coders. Findings: Eighteen categories emerged from the six main themes: 1) Information needs, 2) Support system, 3) Barriers to treatment, 4) Facilitators to treatment, 5) Return to social life, 6) Healthcare system issues. Each theme had both pediatric cancer patients’ codes and their family members’ codes. Patients and family members had high information needs through the whole process of treatment, not only the first diagnosis but also after completion of treatment. Hospitals provided basic information on chemo therapy, medication, and various examinations. However, they were more likely to rely on information from other patients and families by word of mouth. Participants’ information needs were different according to their treatment stage (e.g., first admitted patients versus cancer survivors returning to their social life). Even newly diagnosed patients worried about social adjustment after completion of all treatment, such as return to school and diet and physical activity at home. Most family members had unpleasant experiences while they were admitted in hospitals and concerned about healthcare system issues, such as medical error and patient safety. Conclusions: In conclusion, pediatric cancer patients and their family members wanted information source which can provide tailored information based on their needs. Different information needs with patients and their family members based on their diagnosis, progress, stage of treatment were identified. Findings from this study will be used to develop a patient-centered online health intervention program for pediatric cancer patients. Pediatric cancer patients and their family members had variety fields of education needs and soak the information from various sources. Web-based health intervention program for them is required to satisfy their inquiries to provide reliable information.

Keywords: focus group interview, family caregivers, pediatric cancer patients, qualitative content analysis

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Authors: Fatima Zehra Allahverdi, Nukhet Bayer

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Objective: Three questions were formulated to examine stressful working units (intensive care units, emergency unit nurses) utilizing the self-perception theory and social support theory. This study provides a distinctive input by inspecting the combination of variables regarding stressful working environments. Method: The descriptive research was conducted with the participation of 400 nurses working at Ankara City Hospital. The study used Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), regression analysis, and a mediation model. Hypothesis one used MANOVA followed by a Scheffe post hoc test. Hypothesis two utilized regression analysis using a hierarchical linear regression model. Hypothesis three used a mediation model. Result: The study utilized mediation analyses. Findings supported the hypotheses that intensive care units have significantly high scores in virtual communication and virtual tolerance. The number of years on the job, virtual communication, virtual tolerance, and phubbing significantly predicted 51% of the variance of perception of addiction. Interestingly, the number of years on the job, while significant, was negatively related to perception of addiction. Conclusion: The reasoning behind these findings and the lack of significance in the emergency unit is discussed. Around 7% of the variance of phubbing was accounted for through working in intensive care units. The model accounted for 26.80 % of the differences in the perception of addiction.

Keywords: phubbing, social media, working units, years on the job, stress

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Authors: Anne Lehner, Mostafa Salari Rad, Jeremy Ginges

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Many of life’s privileges (and burdens) are thrust on us at birth. Someone born white or male in the United States is also born with a set of advantages over someone born non-white or female. One aspect of privileges conferred by birth is that they are so entrenched in social institutions and social norms that until they are robustly challenged, they can be seen as a moral good. While American society increasingly confronts privileges based on gender and race, other types of privileges, like one's nationality, see less attention. The nationality one is born into can have enormous effects on one’s personal life, work opportunities, and health outcomes. Yet, we predicted that although most Americans would regard it as absurd to think that white people have a right to protect their privileges and 'way of life', they would regard it as obvious that Americans have a right to protect the American way of life and associated privileges. In a preregistered study we presented 300 Americans randomly with one out of three 'privilege scales' in order to assess their agreement with certain statements. The domains for the privilege scales were nationality, race, and gender. Next, all participants completed the switched-at-birth task assessing ones tendency to essentialize nationality. We found that Americans are more approving of privilege based on nationality than of privilege based on gender and race. In addition, we found an interaction of condition with ideology, showing that conservatives are in general more approving of the privilege of any kind than liberals are, and they especially approve of privilege based on nationality. For the switched-at-birth task, we found that both, liberals as well as conservatives are equally willing to grant the child 100% American nationality. Whether or not one chose 100% is unrelated to the expressed approval of privilege based on nationality. One might hesitate to fully grant the child 100% American nationality in the task, yet disapprove of privilege based on nationality. This shows that as much as we see beholders of privilege being oblivious to their statuses within other social categories, like gender or race, we seem to detect the same blindness for the privilege based on nationality. Liberals showing relatively fewer support for privilege based on nationality compared to conservatives still refused to acknowledge the child as having become 100% American and thereby denying the privileges it potentially bestows upon them.

Keywords: thought experiment, anti-immigrant attitudes, privilege of nationality, immigration, moral circles, psychology

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Authors: Jacques Wels

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Japan has one of the highest average retirement ages within the OCDE and is paving the way to raise the retirement age to 70. However, the Japanese labour market is facing two main issues that can have detrimental effects on health: non-standard employment forms are widespread among the ageing workforce, and poor working conditions can contribute to explain poor health in late career. To assess such a relationship, the study uses data from JSTAR. Using mediation analysis, it particularly looks at the association between job dissatisfaction, employment status, self-perceived health (SPH), and use of health care services. Results show that work quality and employment status are associated with SPH. Contract work has a particularly negative impact and therefore contributes to explain the use of health care services but is not significantly associated with lower job satisfaction levels. SPH is a good predictor of the use of health care services.

Keywords: self-reported health, occupational health, employment, older workers, mediation

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Authors: Jean Christian Ralaivao, Fabrice Razafindraibe, Hasina Rakotonirainy

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This document constitutes a resumption of work carried out in the field of complex data warehouses (DW) relating to the management and formalization of knowledge and metadata. It offers a methodological approach for integrating two concepts, knowledge and metadata, within the framework of a complex DW architecture. The objective of the work considers the use of the technique of knowledge representation by description logics and the extension of Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM) specifications. This will lead to a fallout in terms of the performance of a complex DW. Three essential aspects of this work are expected, including the representation of knowledge in description logics and the declination of this knowledge into consistent UML diagrams while respecting or extending the CWM specifications and using XML as pivot. The field of application is large but will be adapted to systems with heteroge-neous, complex and unstructured content and moreover requiring a great (re)use of knowledge such as medical data warehouses.

Keywords: data warehouse, description logics, integration, knowledge, metadata

Procedia PDF Downloads 142