Search results for: qualitative research

Authors: N. Mustamil, M. Quaddus

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This research investigates the factors that influence moral judgments when dealing with ethical dilemmas in the organizational context. It also investigates the antecedents of individual ethical ideology (idealism and relativism). A mixed method study, which combines qualitative (field study) and quantitative (survey) approaches, was used in this study. An initial model was developed first, which was then fine-tuned based on field studies. Data were collected from managers in Malaysian large organizations. The results of this study reveal that in-group collectivism culture, power distance culture, parental values, and religiosity were significant as antecedents of ethical ideology. However, direct effects of these variables on moral judgment were not significant. Furthermore, the results of this study confirm the significant effects of ethical ideology on moral judgment. This study provides valuable insight into evaluating the validity of existing theory as proposed in the literature and offers significant practical implications.

Keywords: Antecedents Factors, Ethical Ideology, Mixed Method, Moral Judgment

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Authors: M. Javanmard

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This study was aimed at analyzing the effects of packaging (MAP) and preservation conditions on the packaged fresh walnut kernel quality. The central composite plan was used for evaluating the effect of oxygen (0–10%), carbon dioxide (0-10%), and temperature (4-26 °C) on qualitative characteristics of walnut kernels. Also, the response level technique was used to find the optimal conditions for interactive effects of factors, as well as estimating the best conditions of process using least amount of testing. Measured qualitative parameters were: peroxide index, color, decreased weight, mould and yeast counting test, and sensory evaluation. The results showed that the defined model for peroxide index, color, weight loss, and sensory evaluation is significant (p < 0.001), so that increase of temperature causes the peroxide value, color variation, and weight loss to increase and it reduces the overall acceptability of walnut kernels. An increase in oxygen percentage caused the color variation level and peroxide value to increase and resulted in lower overall acceptability of the walnuts. An increase in CO₂ percentage caused the peroxide value to decrease, but did not significantly affect other indices (p ≥ 0.05). Mould and yeast were not found in any samples. Optimal packaging conditions to achieve maximum quality of walnuts include: 1.46% oxygen, 10% carbon dioxide, and temperature of 4 °C.

Keywords: Shelled walnut, MAP, quality, storage temperature.

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Authors: Asim Majeed, Anwar Ul Haq, Mike, Lloyd-Williams, Arshad Jamal, Usman Butt

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This study aims to investigate the impact of data leak of M&S customers on digital communities. Modern businesses are using digital communities as an important public relations tool for marketing purposes. This form of communication helps companies to build better relationship with their customers which also act as another source of information. The communication between the customers and the organizations is not regulated so users may post positive and negative comments. There are new platforms being developed on a daily basis and it is very crucial for the businesses to not only get themselves familiar with those but also know how to reach their existing and perspective consumers. The driving force of marketing and communication in modern businesses is the digital communities and these are continuously increasing and developing. This phenomenon is changing the way marketing is conducted. The current research has discussed the implications on M&S business performance since the data was exploited on digital communities; users contacted M&S and raised the security concerns. M&S closed down its website for few hours to try to resolve the issue. The next day M&S made a public apology about this incidence. This information was proliferated on various digital communities and it has impacted negatively on M&S brand name, sales and customers. The content analysis approach is being used to collect qualitative data from 100 digital bloggers including social media communities such as Facebook and Twitter. The results and finding provide useful new insights into the nature and form of security concerns of digital users. Findings have theoretical and practical implications. This research will showcase a large corporation utilizing various digital community platforms and can serve as a model for future organizations.

Keywords: Digital, communities, performance, dissemination, implications, data, exploitation.

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Authors: A. Otjen, S. Keller

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A Montana university has used applied consumer research in experiential learning with non-profit clients for over a decade. Through trial and error, a successful protocol has been established from problem statement through formative research to integrated marketing campaign execution. In this paper, we describe the protocol and its applications. Analysis was completed to determine the effectiveness of the campaigns and the results of how pre- and post-consumer research mark societal change because of media.

Keywords: Marketing, experiential learning, consumer behavior, community partner.

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Authors: Aimen Mohamed Almaloul

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The main focus of this study is investigating the interference of Arabic in the use of English prepositions by Libyan university students. Prepositions in the tests used in the study were categorized, according to their relation to Arabic, into similar Arabic and English prepositions (SAEP), dissimilar Arabic and English prepositions (DAEP), Arabic prepositions with no English counterparts (APEC), and English prepositions with no Arabic counterparts (EPAC).

The subjects of the study were the first year university students of the English department, Sabrata Faculty of Arts, Azzawia University; both males and females, and they were 100 students. The basic tool for data collection was a test of English prepositions; students are instructed to fill in the blanks with the correct prepositions and to put a zero (0) if no preposition was needed. The test was then handed to the subjects of the study.

The test was then scored and quantitative as well as qualitative results were obtained. Quantitative results indicated the number, percentages and rank order of errors in each of the categories and qualitative results indicated the nature and significance of those errors and their possible sources. Based on the obtained results the researcher could detect that students made more errors in the EPAC category than the other three categories and these errors could be attributed to the lack of knowledge of the different meanings of English prepositions. This lack of knowledge forced the students to adopt what is called the strategy of transfer.

Keywords: Foreign language acquisition, foreign language learning, interference system, interlanguage system, mother tongue interference.

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Authors: Igor Pejic

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The main focus of this research will be on analyzing correlative links between terrorism as an asymmetrical threat and the consequences it leaves on conventional security forces. The methodology behind the research will include qualitative research methods focusing on comparative analysis of books, scientific papers, documents and other sources, in order to deduce, explore and formulate the results of the research. With the coming of the 21^st century and the rising multi-polar, new world threats quickly emerged. The realistic approach in international relations deems that relations among nations are in a constant state of anarchy since there are no definitive rules and the distribution of power varies widely. International relations are further characterized by egoistic and self-orientated human nature, anarchy or absence of a higher government, security and lack of morality. The asymmetry of power is also reflected on countries' security capabilities and its abilities to project power. With the coming of the new millennia and the rising multi-polar world order, the asymmetry of power can be also added as an important trait of the global society which consequently brought new threats. Among various others, terrorism is probably the most well-known, well-based and well-spread asymmetric threat. In today's global political arena, terrorism is used by state and non-state actors to fulfill their political agendas. Terrorism is used as an all-inclusive tool for regime change, subversion or a revolution. Although the nature of terrorist groups is somewhat inconsistent, terrorism as a security and social phenomenon has a one constant which is reflected in its political dimension. The state's security apparatus, which was embodied in the form of conventional armed forces, is now becoming fragile, unable to tackle new threats and to a certain extent outdated. Conventional security forces were designed to defend or engage an exterior threat which is more or less symmetric and visible. On the other hand, terrorism as an asymmetrical threat is a part of hybrid, special or asymmetric warfare in which specialized units, institutions or facilities represent the primary pillars of security. In today's global society, terrorism is probably the most acute problem which can paralyze entire countries and their political systems. This problem, however, cannot be engaged on an open field of battle, but rather it requires a different approach in which conventional armed forces cannot be used traditionally and their role must be adjusted. The research will try to shed light on the phenomena of modern day terrorism and to prove its correlation with the state conventional armed forces. States are obliged to adjust their security apparatus to the new realism of global society and terrorism as an asymmetrical threat which is a side-product of the unbalanced world.

Keywords: Asymmetrical warfare, conventional forces, security, terrorism.

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Authors: Proud Arunrangsiwed

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The part of “future direction” in the findings of meta-analysis could provide the great direction to conduct the future studies. This study, “The Documentary Analysis of Meta-Analysis Research in Violence of Media” would conclude “future directions” out of 10 meta-analysis papers. The purposes of this research are to find an appropriate research design or an appropriate methodology for the future research related to the topic, “violence of media”. Further research needs to explore by longitudinal and experimental design, and also needs to have a careful consideration about age effects, time spent effects, enjoyment effects and ordinary lifestyle of each media consumer.

Keywords: Aggressive, future direction, meta-analysis, media, violence.

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Authors: Verónica Díaz

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A Cartesian graph, as a mathematical object, becomes a tool for configuration of change. Its best comprehension is done through everyday life problem-solving associated with its representation. Despite this, the current educational framework favors general graphs, without consideration of their argumentation. Students are required to find the mathematical function without associating it to the development of graphical language. This research describes the use made by students of configurations made prior to Cartesian graphs with regards to an everyday life problem related to a time and distance variation phenomenon. The theoretical framework describes the function conditions of study and their modeling. This is a qualitative, descriptive study involving six undergraduate case studies that were carried out during the first term in 2016 at University of Los Lagos. The research problem concerned the graphic modeling of a real person’s movement phenomenon, and two levels of analysis were identified. The first level aims to identify local and global graph interpretations; a second level describes the iconicity and referentiality degree of an image. According to the results, students were able to draw no figures before the Cartesian graph, highlighting the need for students to represent the context and the movement of which causes the phenomenon change. From this, they managed Cartesian graphs representing changes in position, therefore, achieved an overall view of the graph. However, the local view only indicates specific events in the problem situation, using graphic and verbal expressions to represent movement. This view does not enable us to identify what happens on the graph when the movement characteristics change based on possible paths in the person’s walking speed.

Keywords: Cartesian graphs, higher education, movement modeling, problem solving.

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Authors: Nadeem Ehsan, Ebtisam Mirza, Muhammad Ahmad

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In a complex project environment, project teams face multi-dimensional communication problems that can ultimately lead to project breakdown. Team Performance varies in Face-to-Face (FTF) environment versus groups working remotely in a computermediated communication (CMC) environment. A brief review of the Input_Process_Output model suggested by James E. Driskell, Paul H. Radtke and Eduardo Salas in “Virtual Teams: Effects of Technological Mediation on Team Performance (2003)", has been done to develop the basis of this research. This model theoretically analyzes the effects of technological mediation on team processes, such as, cohesiveness, status and authority relations, counternormative behavior and communication. An empirical study described in this paper has been undertaken to test the “cohesiveness" of diverse project teams in a multi-national organization. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative techniques for data gathering and analysis. These techniques include interviews, questionnaires for data collection and graphical data representation for analyzing the collected data. Computer-mediated technology may impact team performance because of difference in cohesiveness among teams and this difference may be moderated by factors, such as, the type of communication environment, the type of task and the temporal context of the team. Based on the reviewed model, sets of hypotheses are devised and tested. This research, reports on a study that compared team cohesiveness among virtual teams using CMC and non-CMC communication mediums. The findings suggest that CMC can help virtual teams increase team cohesiveness among their members, making CMC an effective medium for increasing productivity and team performance.

Keywords: Computer-mediated Communication, Virtual Teams, Team Performance, Team Cohesiveness.

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Authors: Krisnanda, Naili Qiyadatul Ulya

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Utilization of zakat for productive economic and social activities can be considered an appropriate way to optimize the efficiency and major benefits within these community funds. As we know, not least among the Muslims who desperately need help from zakat funds to improve the livelihoods of their standard of living. In this case, optimizing the utilization of zakat funds can help the community, especially Muslims, to improve and prosper in their lives. Optimizing zakat funds for this purpose can not only motivate people to help others for the welfare and empowerment of the people but can also foster social solidarity between religious communities. The establishment of the nature of social solidarity will reduce the impact of poverty and even eradicate poverty. This study was conducted to determine how the strategy of zakat utilization is through the program of Zakat Galang Berdikari by the Zakat, Infaq, and Shodaqoh Institute of Waqf Board Foundation of Universitas Islam Indonesia (LAZIS YBW UII), what are successful indicators of LAZIS YBW UII in empowering zakat, how to manage zakat at LAZIS YBW UII through the program of Zakat Galang Berdikari to determine the extent of zakat utilization in productive economic activities and to help people less able to start an independent business in Yogyakarta. This study used a qualitative approach and the type of empirical research. This study used primary and secondary data by interviewing stakeholders according to the criteria, carrying out field observations and documentation which were then analyzed carefully and presented in a descriptive form. The result of this research is that the utilization of zakat funds in the Zakat Galang Berdikari program by LAZIS YBW UII is the right strategy to optimize zakat for productive economic and social activities in Yogyakarta.

Keywords: Zakat utilization, zakat funds, productive economic, LAZIS.

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Authors: Hamed Rafiei, Masoud Rabbani

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This paper deals with the project selection problem. Project selection problem is one of the problems arose firstly in the field of operations research following some production concepts from primary product mix problem. Afterward, introduction of managerial considerations into the project selection problem have emerged qualitative factors and criteria to be regarded as well as quantitative ones. To overcome both kinds of criteria, an analytic network process is developed in this paper enhanced with fuzzy sets theory to tackle the vagueness of experts- comments to evaluate the alternatives. Additionally, a modified version of Least-Square method through a non-linear programming model is augmented to the developed group decision making structure in order to elicit the final weights from comparison matrices. Finally, a case study is considered by which developed structure in this paper is validated. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is performed to validate the response of the model with respect to the condition alteration.

Keywords: Analytic network process, Fuzzy sets theory, Nonlinear programming, Project selection.

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Authors: D. Ščeulovs, E. Gaile-Sarkane

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Latvia is the fourth in the world by means of broadband internet speed. The total number of internet users in Latvia exceeds 70% of its population. The number of active mailboxes of the local internet e-mail service Inbox.lv accounts for 68% of the population and 97.6% of the total number of internet users. The Latvian portal Draugiem.lv is a phenomenon of social media, because 58.4 % of the population and 83.5% of internet users use it. A majority of Latvian company profiles are available on social networks, the most popular being Twitter.com. These and other parameters prove the fact consumers and companies are actively using the Internet. 

However, after the authors in a number of studies analyzed how enterprises are employing the e-environment, namely, e-environment tools, they arrived to the conclusions that are not as flattering as the aforementioned statistics. There is an obvious contradiction between the statistical data and the actual studies. As a result, the authors have posed a question: Why are entrepreneurs resistant to e-tools? In order to answer this question, the authors have addressed the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The authors analyzed each phase and determined several factors affecting the use of e-environment, reaching the main conclusion that entrepreneurs do not have a sufficient level of e-literacy (digital literacy). 

The authors employ well-established quantitative and qualitative methods of research: grouping, analysis, statistic method, factor analysis in SPSS 20  environment etc. 

The theoretical and methodological background of the research is formed by, scientific researches and publications, that from the mass media and professional literature, statistical information from legal institutions as well as information collected by the author during the survey.

Keywords: E-environment, e-environment tools, technology acceptance model, factors.

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Authors: Saima Hirani, Emmanuela Ojukwu, Nilanga Aki Bandara

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Mental health challenges that begin during the youth age period may continue across the entire life course. One way to support youth mental health is to encourage youth engagement in prosocial activities. This study aimed to explore youth’s perceptions about helping others and mental wellbeing, barriers, and enablers for youth to initiate and continue prosocial activities, and strategies for developing the attribute of helping others in youth. We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured, virtual interviews with 18 young individuals (aged 16-24 years) living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Youth perceived helping others as a source of feeling peace and calm, finding meaning in life, experiencing social connection and promoting self-care, and relieving stress. Participants reported opportunities to learn new skills, the role of religion, social connections, previous positive experiences, and role modeling as enablers for their prosocial behavior. Heavy time commitment, negative behavior from others, self-doubt, and late exposure to such activities were considered barriers by youth when participating in prosocial activities. Youth also brought forward key recommendations for engaging youth in helping others. The findings of this study support the notion that youth have positive experiences when engaging in helping others and that involving young people in prosocial activities could be used as a protective intervention for promoting youth mental health and overall wellbeing.

Keywords: Helping others, prosocial behavior, youth, mental wellbeing.

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Authors: Ho-Dae Chong, Jong-Kil Kim

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Collaborative research has become more prevalent and important across disciplines because it stimulates innovation and interaction between scholars. Seeing as existing studies relatively disregarded the institutional conditions triggering collaborative research, this work aims to analyze the changing trend in collaborative work patterns among Korean social scientists. The focus of this research is the performance of social scientists who received research grants through the government’s Social Science Korea (SSK) program. Using quantitative statistical methods, collaborative research patterns in a total of 2,354 papers published under the umbrella of the SSK program in peer-reviewed scholarly journals from 2013 to 2016 were examined to identify changing trends and triggering factors in collaborative research. A notable finding is that the share of collaborative research is overwhelmingly higher than that of individual research. In particular, levels of collaborative research surpassed 70%, increasing much quicker compared to other research done in the social sciences. Additionally, the most common composition of collaborative research was for two or three researchers to conduct joint research as coauthors, and this proportion has also increased steadily. Finally, a strong association between international journals and co-authorship patterns was found for the papers published by SSK program researchers from 2013 to 2016. The SSK program can be seen as the driving force behind collaboration between social scientists. Its emphasis on competition through a merit-based financial support system along with a rigorous evaluation process seems to have influenced researchers to cooperate with those who have similar research interests.

Keywords: Co-authorship, collaboration, competition, cooperation, Social Science Korea, policy.

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Authors: Anne Theresa Eidhoff, Sarah E. Stief, Markus Voeth, Sarah Gundlach

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With digitalization increasingly changing the rules of competition, firms face the need to adapt and assimilate digital technologies in order to remain competitive. Firms can choose from various possibilities to integrate digital technologies including the option to embed digital technologies aiming to innovate products or to develop digital products. However, the question of which specific factors influence a firm’s decision to pursue digital product innovation remains unanswered in research. By adopting the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE)-framework we have designed a qualitative exploratory study including eleven German practitioners to investigate relevant contingency factors. Our results indicate that the most critical factors for a company’s decision to pursue digital product innovation can be found in the technological and environmental dimensions, namely customers, competitive pressure, technological change, as well as digitalization fit. 

Keywords: Digital innovation, digitalization, product innovation, TOE-framework.

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Authors: A. Rezazadeh, B Damari, S. Riazi-Esfahani, M. Hajian

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The consumption of junk food in Iran is alarmingly increasing. This study aimed to investigate the influencing factors of junk food consumption and amendable interventions that are criticized and approved by stakeholders, in order to presented to health policy makers. The articles and documents related to the content of study were collected by using the appropriate key words such as junk food, carbonated beverage, chocolate, candy, sweets, industrial fruit juices, potato chips, French fries, puffed corn, cakes, biscuits, sandwiches, prepared foods and popsicles, ice cream, bar, chewing gum, pastilles and snack, in scholar.google.com, pubmed.com, eric.ed.gov, cochrane.org, magiran.com, medlib.ir, irandoc.ac.ir, who.int, iranmedex.com, sid.ir, pubmed.org and sciencedirect.com databases. The main key points were extracted and included in a checklist and qualitatively analyzed. Then a summarized abstract was prepared in a format of a questionnaire to be presented to stakeholders. The design of this was qualitative (Delphi). According to this method, a questionnaire was prepared based on reviewing the articles and documents and it was emailed to stakeholders, who were asked to prioritize and choose the main problems and effective interventions. After three rounds, consensus was obtained.            Studies revealed high consumption of junk foods in the Iranian population, especially in children and adolescents. The most important affecting factors include availability, low price, media advertisements, preference of fast foods taste, the variety of the packages and their attractiveness, low awareness and changing in lifestyle. Main interventions recommended by stakeholders include developing a protective environment, educational interventions, increasing healthy food access and controlling media advertisements and putting pressure from the Industry and Mining Ministry on producers to produce healthy snacks. According to the findings, the results of this study may be proposed to public health policymakers as an advocacy paper and to be integrated in the interventional programs of Health and Education ministries and the media. Also, implementation of supportive meetings with the producers of alternative healthy products is suggested.

Keywords: Junk foods, situation, qualitative study, Iran.

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Authors: Raniya Alsharif

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The color theory of good and evil is the association of colors to the omnipresent concept of good and evil, where human behavior and perception can be highly influenced by seeing black and white, making these connotations almost dangerously distinctive where they can be very hard to distinguish. This theory is a human construct that dates back to ancient Egypt and has been used since then in almost all forms of communication and expression, such as art, fashion, literature, and religious manuscripts, helping the implantation of preconceived ideas that influence behavior and society. This is a mixed-methods research that uses both surveys to collect quantitative data related to the theory and a vignette to collect qualitative data by using a scenario where participants aged between 18-25 will style two characters of good and bad characteristics with color contrasting clothes, both yielding results about the nature of the preconceived perceptions associated with ‘black and white’ and ‘good and evil’, illustrating the important role of media and communications in human behavior and subconscious, and also uncover how far this theory goes in the age of social media enlightenment.

Keywords: Color perception, interpretivism, thematic analysis, vignettes.

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Authors: C. Ardil

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Multidimensional compromise programming evaluation of digital commerce websites is essential not only to have recommendations for improvement, but also to make comparisons with global business competitors. This research provides a multidimensional decision making model that prioritizes the objective criteria weights of various commerce websites using multidimensional compromise solution. Evaluation of digital commerce website quality can be considered as a complex information system structure including qualitative and quantitative factors for a multicriteria decision making problem. The proposed multicriteria decision making approach mainly consists of three sequential steps for the selection problem. In the first step, three major different evaluation criteria are characterized for website ranking problem. In the second step, identified critical criteria are weighted using the standard deviation procedure. In the third step, the multidimensional compromise programming is applied to rank the digital commerce websites.

Keywords: Standard deviation, commerce website, website evaluation, multicriteria decision making, multicriteria compromise programming, website quality, multidimensional decision analysis.

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Authors: Rayeheh Khatami, Toktam Hanaei, Mohammad Reza Mansouri Daneshvar

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The growth of the agricultural sector is known as an essential way to achieve development goals in developing countries. Urban agriculture is a way to reduce the vulnerability of urban populations of the world toward global environmental change. It is a sustainable and efficient system to respond to the environmental, social and economic needs of the city, which leads to urban sustainability. Today, many local and national governments are developing urban agriculture as an effective tool in responding to challenges such as poverty, food security, and environmental problems. In this study, we follow a perspective based on urban agriculture literature in order to indicate the urban agriculture’s benefits in environmental planning strategies in non-western countries like Iran. The methodological approach adopted is based on qualitative approach and documentary studies. A total of 35 articles (mixed quantitative and qualitative methods studies) were studied in final analysis, which are published in relevant journals that focus on this subject. Studies show the wide range of positive benefits of urban agriculture on food security, nutrition outcomes, health outcomes, environmental outcomes, and social capital. However, there was no definitive conclusion about the negative effects of urban agriculture. This paper provides a conceptual and theoretical basis to know about urban agriculture and its roles in environmental planning, and also conclude the benefits of urban agriculture for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who seek to create spaces in cities for implementation urban agriculture in future.

Keywords: Urban agriculture, environmental planning, urban planning, literature.

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Authors: Helena Costa Oliveira, Carmem Oliveira, Rita Moutinho

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The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a continuous strategic monitoring model focused not only on financial issues but also on internal processes, patients/users, and learning and growth. Initially dedicated to business management, it currently serves organizations of other natures - such as hospitals. This paper presents a BSC designed for a Portuguese Acute Pain Unit (APU). This study is qualitative and based on the experience of collaborators at the APU. The management of APU is based on four perspectives – users, internal processes, learning and growth, and financial and legal. For each perspective, there were identified strategic objectives, critical factors, lead indicators and initiatives. The strategic map of the APU outlining sustained strategic relations among strategic objectives. This study contributes to the development of research in the health management area as it explores how organizational insufficiencies and inconsistencies in this particular case can be addressed, through the identification of critical factors, to clearly establish core outcomes and initiatives to set up.

Keywords: Acute pain unit, balanced scorecard, hospital management, organizational performance, Portugal.

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Authors: Jay Patel

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This research is about investigating the ‘image’ of the city, and asks whether this ‘image’ holds any significance that can be changed. Kevin Lynch in the book ‘The Image of the City’ develops a framework that breaks down the city’s image into five physical elements. These elements (Paths, Edge, Nodes, Districts, and Landmarks), according to Lynch assess the legibility of the urbanscapes, that emerged from his perception-based study in three different cities (New Jersey, Los Angeles, and Boston) in the USA. The aim of this research is to investigate whether Lynch’s framework can be applied within an Indian context or not. If so, what are the possibilities and whether the imageability of Indian cities can be depicted through the Lynch’s physical elements or it demands an extension to the framework by either adding or subtracting a physical attribute. For this research project, the walled city of Jaipur was selected, as it is considered one of the futuristic designed cities of all time in India. The other significant reason for choosing Jaipur was that it is a historically planned city with solid historical, touristic and local importance; allowing an opportunity to understand the application of Lynch's elements to the city's image. In other words, it provides an opportunity to examine how the disadvantages of a city's implicit program (its relics of bygone eras) can be converted into assets by improving the imageability of the city. To obtain data, a structured semi-open ended interview method was chosen. The reason for selecting this method explicitly was to gain qualitative data from the users rather than collecting quantitative data from closed-ended questions. This allowed in-depth understanding and applicability of Kevin Lynch’s framework while assessing what needs to be added. The interviews were conducted in Jaipur that yielded varied inferences that were different from the expected learning outcomes, highlighting the need for extension on Lynch’s physical elements to achieve city’s image. Whilst analyzing the data, there were few attributes found that defined the image of Jaipur. These were categorized into two: a Physical aspect (streets and arcade entities, natural features, temples and temporary/informal activities) and Associational aspects (History, culture and tradition, medium of help in wayfinding, and intangible aspects).

Keywords: Imageability, Kevin Lynch, People’s Perception, associational aspects, physical aspects.

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Authors: Mpho A. Mbeo, Patient Rambe

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The 13th year of the Central University of Technology, Free State’s (CUT) transition from a vocational and professional training orientation institution (i.e. a technikon) into a university with a strong research focus has neither been a smooth nor an easy one. At the heart of this transition was the need to transform the psychological faculties of academic and research staffs compliment who were accustomed to training graduates for industrial placement. The lack of a research culture that fully embraces the strong solid ethos of conducting cutting-edge research needs to be addressed. The induction and socialisation of academic staff into the development and execution of cutting-edge research also required the provision of research support and the creation of a conducive academic environment for research, both for emerging and non-research active academics. Drawing on ten cases, consisting of four heads of departments, three seasoned researchers, and three novice researchers, this study explores the challenges faced in establishing a strong research culture at the university. Furthermore, it gives an account of the extent to which the current research interventions have addressed the perceivably “missing research culture”, and the implications of these interventions for knowledge management. Evidence suggests that the capability of an ideal institutional research environment, consisting of mentorship of novice researchers by seasoned researchers, balanced effort into teaching and research responsibilities, should be supported by strong research-oriented leadership. Furthermore, recruitment of research passionate staff, adoption of a salary structure that encourages the retention of excellent scholars should be matched by a coherent research incentive culture to growth research publication outputs. This is critical for building new knowledge and entrenching knowledge management founded on communities of practice and scholarly networking through the documentation and communication of research findings. The study concludes that the multiple policy documents set for the different domains of research may be creating pressure on researchers to engage research activities and increase output at the expense of research quality.

Keywords: Central University of Technology, performance, publication, research culture, university.

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Authors: Fouzia Alsabah Shaikh, Anjali Ghosh

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The present study was done primarily to address two major research gaps: firstly, development of an empirical measure of life meaningfulness for substance users and secondly, to determine the psychosocial determinants of life meaningfulness among the substance users. The study is classified into two phases: the first phase which dealt with development of Life Meaningfulness Scale and the second phase which examined the relationship between life meaningfulness and social support, abstinence self efficacy and depression. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used for framing items. A Principal Component Analysis yielded three components: Overall Goal Directedness, Striving for healthy lifestyle and Concern for loved ones which collectively accounted for 42.06% of the total variance. The scale and its subscales were also found to be highly reliable. Multiple regression analyses in the second phase of the study revealed that social support and abstinence self efficacy significantly predicted life meaningfulness among 48 recovering inmates of a de-addiction center while level of depression failed to predict life meaningfulness.

Keywords: Perceived Life meaningfulness, Social Support, Abstinence Self Efficacy, Depression, Substance Use.

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Authors: Kamel Hashem, David Mioduser

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This paper describes part of a project about Learningby- Modeling (LbM). Studying complex systems is increasingly important in teaching and learning many science domains. Many features of complex systems make it difficult for students to develop deep understanding. Previous research indicates that involvement with modeling scientific phenomena and complex systems can play a powerful role in science learning. Some researchers argue with this view indicating that models and modeling do not contribute to understanding complexity concepts, since these increases the cognitive load on students. This study will investigate the effect of different modes of involvement in exploring scientific phenomena using computer simulation tools, on students- mental model from the perspective of structure, behavior and function. Quantitative and qualitative methods are used to report about 121 freshmen students that engaged in participatory simulations about complex phenomena, showing emergent, self-organized and decentralized patterns. Results show that LbM plays a major role in students' concept formation about complexity concepts.

Keywords: Complexity, Educational technology, Learning by modeling, Mental models

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Authors: Hani N. Hermiz, Sukar H. Ali

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This study include the effect of strain and storage period and their interaction on some quantitative and qualitative traits and percentages of the egg components in the eggs collected at the start of production (at age 24 weeks). Eggs were divided into three storage periods (1, 7 and 14) days under refrigerator temperature (5- 7)0C. Fifty seven eggs obtained randomly from each strain including Isa Brown and Lohman White. General Linear Model within SAS programme was used to analyze the collected data and correlations between the studied traits were calculated for each strain.Average egg weight (EW), Haugh Unit (HU), yolk index (YI), yolk % (HP), albumin % (AP) and yolk to albumin ratio (YAR) was 56.629 gm, 87.968 %, 0.493, 22.13%, 67.74% and 32.76 respectively. Egg produced from ISA Brown surpassed those produced by Lohman White significantly (P<0.01) in EW (59.337 vs. 53.921 g) and AP (68.46 vs. 67.02 %), while Lohman White surpassed ISA Brown significantly (P<0.01) in HU (91.998 against 83.939 %), YI (0.498 against 0.487), YP (22.83 against 21.44%) and YAR (34.12 against 31.40). Storage period did not have any significant effect on EW and YI. Increasing the storage period caused a significant (P<0.01) decrease in HU. A non-significant increasing in YP and significant decreasing in AP % due to increasing storage period caused a significant increasing in YAR. The interaction between strain and storage period affect EW, HU and YI significantly (P <0.01), while its effect on YP, AP and YAR was not significant. Highest and significant (P<0.01) correlation was recorded between YP with YAR (0.99) in both strains, while the lowest values were between AP with YAR and being -0.97 and -0.95 in ISA Brown and Lohman White, respectively. The conclusion: increasing storage period caused a few decreasing in egg weight and this enabling the consumer to store eggs without any damage. Because of using the albumin in many food industries, so it is very important to focus on its weight. The correlations between some of the studied traits were significant, which means that selection for any trait will improve other traits.

Keywords: Quality, Quantity, Storage period, Strain, Table egg

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Authors: Hanmin Jung, Mikyoung Lee, Won-kyung Sung

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Academic research information service is a must for surveying previous studies in research and development process. OntoFrame is an academic research information service under Semantic Web framework different from simple keyword-based services such as CiteSeer and Google Scholar. The first purpose of this study is for revealing user behavior in their surveys, the objects of using academic research information services, and their needs. The second is for applying lessons learned from the results to OntoFrame.

Keywords: User Behavior, Usability Evaluation, OntoFrame, CiteSeer, Google Scholar, Academic Research Information Service.

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Authors: Loreta Losane

Abstract:

Changes in global economy require changes in firms. They need to adapt to speed producing faster and creating new products, structures and processes. The purpose of the paper is to explore literature about organizational culture and its impact on innovation.

In the paper the method of literature review is used to examine influence of organizational culture on innovation and performance of enterprise.

Organizational culture is crucial for innovation. Literature reveals that research of organizational culture mostly confirm already existing conceptions and models, but those help to make profile of innovation culture.

Research summarize previous research of organizational culture as culture which foster innovation and provide profile of innovation culture, which may be used by managers to improve cultural environment to increase performance of their companies. Research also leads to hypothesis for further research.

Keywords: Innovation, Innovation Culture, Organizational Culture.

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Authors: Mohamed Haffar, Ramdane Djebarni, Russell Evans

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Despite a growth in literature on distributed leadership, the majority of studies are centred on large public organisations particularly within the health and education sectors. The purpose of this study is to fill the gap in the literature by exploring employee experiences of distributed leadership within two commercial consultancy SME businesses in the UK and USA. The aim of the study informed an exploratory method of research to gather qualitative data drawn from semi-structured interviews involving a sample of employees in each organisation. A series of broad, open questions were used to explore the employees’ experiences; evidence of distributed leadership; and extant barriers and practices in each organisation. Whilst some of our findings aligned with patterns and practices in the existing literature, it importantly discovered some emergent themes that have not previously been recognised in the previous studies. Our investigation identified that whilst distributed leadership was in evidence in both organisations, the interviewees’ experience reported that it was sporadic and inconsistent. Moreover, non-client focused projects were reported to be less important and distributed leadership was found to be inconsistent or non-existent.

Keywords: Consultancy, distributed leadership, owner-manager, SME, entrepreneur.

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Authors: Roelien Goede

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Information systems practitioners are frequently required to master new technology, often without the aid of formal training. They require the skill to manage their own learning and, when this skill is developed in their formal training, their adaptability to new technology may be improved. Self- directed learning is the ability of the learner to manage his or her own learning experience with some guidance from a facilitator. Self-directed learning skills are best improved when practiced. This paper reflects on a critical social research project to improve the self-directed learning skills of fourth year Information Systems students. Critical social research differs from other research paradigms in that the researcher is viewed as the agent of change to achieve the desired outcome in the problem situation.

Keywords: Action Research, Critical Social Research, Information Systems Education, Self-directed Learning.

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Authors: Mohd Zaimmudin Mohd Zain, Patsy Perry, Lee Quinn

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This study explores how fashion consumers are influenced by fashion bloggers towards pre-purchase decision for online fashion products in a non-Western context. Malaysians rank among the world’s most avid online shoppers, with apparel the third most popular purchase category. However, extant research on fashion blogging focuses on the developed Western market context. Numerous international fashion retailers have entered the Malaysian market from luxury to fast fashion segments of the market; however Malaysian fashion consumers must balance religious and social norms for modesty with their dress style and adoption of fashion trends. Consumers increasingly mix and match Islamic and Western elements of dress to create new styles enabling them to follow Western fashion trends whilst paying respect to social and religious norms. Social media have revolutionised the way that consumers can search for and find information about fashion products. For online fashion brands with no physical presence, social media provide a means of discovery for consumers. By allowing the creation and exchange of user-generated content (UGC) online, they provide a public forum that gives individual consumers their own voices, as well as access to product information that facilitates their purchase decisions. Social media empower consumers and brands have important roles in facilitating conversations among consumers and themselves, to help consumers connect with them and one another. Fashion blogs have become an important fashion information sources. By sharing their personal style and inspiring their followers with what they wear on popular social media platforms such as Instagram, fashion bloggers have become fashion opinion leaders. By creating UGC to spread useful information to their followers, they influence the pre-purchase decision. Hence, successful Western fashion bloggers such as Chiara Ferragni may earn millions of US dollars every year, and some have created their own fashion ranges and beauty products, become judges in fashion reality shows, won awards, and collaborated with high street and luxury brands. As fashion blogging has become more established worldwide, increasing numbers of fashion bloggers have emerged from non-Western backgrounds to promote Islamic fashion styles, such as Hassanah El-Yacoubi and Dian Pelangi. This study adopts a qualitative approach using netnographic content analysis of consumer comments on two famous Malaysian fashion bloggers’ Instagram accounts during January-March 2016 and qualitative interviews with 16 Malaysian Generation Y fashion consumers during September-October 2016. Netnography adapts ethnographic techniques to the study of online communities or computer-mediated communications. Template analysis of the data involved coding comments according to the theoretical framework, which was developed from the literature review. Initial data analysis shows the strong influence of Malaysian fashion bloggers on their followers in terms of lifestyle and morals as well as fashion style. Followers were guided towards the mix and match trend of dress with Western and Islamic elements, for example, showing how vivid colours or accessories could be worked into an outfit whilst still respecting social and religious norms. The blogger’s Instagram account is a form of online community where followers can communicate and gain guidance and support from other followers, as well as from the blogger.

Keywords: Fashion bloggers, Malaysia, qualitative, social media.

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