University of the West of Scotland
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The impact of supply chain management (SCM) on total quality management (TQM) practices in the United Kingdom (UK)
Get PDFThe research reveals how SCM and TQM integration concepts improve operational performance while supporting sustainable organizational growth. The primary goal is to determine how SCM practices enhance the deployment and effectiveness of TQM within organizational structures. This research aims to pinpoint essential SCM factors that strengthen TQM initiatives and evaluate the combined effects of these frameworks on business performance and customer satisfaction. This analysis utilizes a combination of quantitative research methods along with qualitative research approaches. Data was collected through structured questionnaires and researchers tested their hypotheses using quantitative methods such as regression analysis and correlation. Through the interview results, we gained an understanding of individual and organizational perspectives while thematic data analysis helped identify recurring themes and patterns. The results presented demonstrate a strong positive relationship between SCM practices and TQM initiatives with organizational performance outcomes. SCM supported TQM implementation through a mediating role that facilitated better execution of TQM practices. The qualitative variables identified enhance the examination of employee engagement and process improvement effects on the relationship between SCM and TQM. These elements significantly contributed to the improvement of customer satisfaction levels and operational effectiveness in businesses. The study stresses that organizations must combine SCM practices with TQM methods to achieve competitive advantages in the modern business environment. By systematically integrating these frameworks organizations achieve enhanced productivity through improved operations and customer satisfaction which serves as a foundation for sustainable development. This research provides valuable insights for managers and decision-makers who plan to implement SCM and TQM to enhance organizational performance
Data analytics practices and reporting strategies in senior football:insights into athlete health and performance from over 200 practitioners worldwide
Get PDFDespite the rise of data generation in football, the expertise of data analytics within the sport is relatively underdeveloped. To further understand the landscape, a cross-sectional, observational study design was used to survey practitioners in senior, professional or semi-professional football. Areas of interest included the personnel involved (the ‘who’), the data collected (the ‘what’) and the analytical techniques employed (the ‘how’). A total of 206 practitioners completed an online survey, with representation from all six FIFA confederations. Of the 206 respondents, 86% were male, 13% female, and 1% preferred not to disclose their gender. Respondents were categorised as working in either the performance (73%), data (18%), or medical (9%) department. Heterogeneity was observed in responses across all departments regarding training load metrics, outcome metrics, methodological attributes, and measurement properties. Evidence sources used prior to implementing a new metric varied between departments, with performance (63%) and medical (67%) staff relying on professional industry and/or community, while data staff (57%) utilised more in-house projects. The analytical approach used most frequently was exploratory data analysis (90%), with modelling, forecasting, and predicting the least frequent (54%). Respondents reported using a mix of solutions for data storage, aggregating and analysing, and reporting and visualising data. Spreadsheets were cited as a popular solution for data wrangling and reporting tasks. The findings provide an overview of current data ecosystems and information systems in modern football organisations. These results can be used to improve data analytics service provision in football by helping identify areas for development and progression
Empowering women entrepreneurs in West Africa:a comparative study of opportunities and challenges in Nigeria and Ghana
Get PDFWomen entrepreneurs play a vital role in driving economic growth and social development in West Africa. Despite facing numerous challenges, they have demonstrated remarkable resilience and enterprising spirit. This comparative study aims to provide insights into the opportunities and challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in Nigeria and Ghana. The study focuses on understanding the factors that influence the longevity of female-owned businesses, survival rates, causes of failure and evolutionary trends. The research will also address the limited access to finance, knowledge gaps and inadequate skill-building opportunities that hinder the potential growth and impact of women entrepreneurs in the region. By comparing the experiences of women entrepreneurs in Nigeria and Ghana, this study seeks to contribute to the development of targeted interventions and policies aimed at empowering and supporting women in business across West Africa
The ISARIC Anti-Stigma Guidelines:A toolkit for stigma mitigation in infectious disease outbreaks
Get PDFThe ISARIC Anti-Stigma Guidelines are a practical resource collaboratively developed by outbreak responders, stigma researchers, and people with relevant lived experience to guide outbreak response organisations in identifying and mitigating stigma during infectious disease outbreaks. Stigma is a recurring, harmful feature of outbreaks that undermines public health responses and exacerbates social inequality. Despite growing awareness of these harms, operational guidance for outbreak-related stigma reduction remains limited
Gender dynamics in STEM education:investigating educational experiences in Bangladesh
Get PDFThe relevance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in preparing students for the twenty-first century is increasingly emphasized within educational perspectives. Understanding the specific challenges and opportunities faced by different genders in STEM education is essential for fostering a more inclusive and equitable learning environment. This study aims to explore students’ interests, experiences, opportunities, and perspectives on the integration of STEM in secondary school settings in Bangladesh, with a particular focus on gender differences. A mixed-methods approach was used for data collection, incorporating both survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The study sample consisted of 100 students from various secondary schools and 15 science teachers. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistical methods and thematic analysis to identify patterns and trends in the integration of STEM education from gendered perspectives. The findings revealed significant gender-based differences in key aspects of STEM integration, including project-based learning, inquiry-based learning, and access to resources. These differences play a crucial role in shaping the effectiveness of STEM education and students’ engagement with these subjects. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the need for educators and policymakers to address gender-based disparities in STEM education. By recognizing the unique experiences of male and female students, stakeholders can develop strategies to enhance inclusivity and effectiveness in STEM integration, fostering a more equitable learning environment for all students
The ‘laboratory school’ as a traded service:travelling practices of professional learning
Get PDFTransnational markets in professional learning are expanding rapidly. The commodification of standardised pedagogical models within these markets raises concerns about teachers’ capacity to exercise contextually responsive professional judgement. Drawing on policy mobilities scholarship, this comparative case study examines a university-led ‘laboratory school’ network spanning thirty-four public and private schools in England, the United States, China and India (2020-2022). The signature practice of collaborative peer review using instructional rounds was promoted as a transferable model across diverse settings. Network mapping documented reach and engagement, while eighteen semi-structured leader interviews explored the rationale for network entry, the conditions mediating enactment, and the locally-generated theories of action that emerged. The findings demonstrate how the same practice was differentially understood across settings, complicating assumptions about pedagogical practices travelling intact across borders
Network slicing and edge-driven UAV surveillance in 5G private networks for industrial digital transformation in the aerospace sector
Get PDFThis paper presents a 5G-enabled private network solution designed to support industrial digital transformation within the aerospace sector. Building upon prior research that identified 5G adoption challenges in the Ayrshire region of Scotland, this work introduces a practical use case demonstrating an integrated 5G and edge computing system for autonomous aerial surveillance. The proposed system employs a 5G private network with network slicing to guarantee ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) even under network congestion. A fleet of 5G-enabled Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) form a resilient mesh network using the Better Approach To Mobile Adhoc Networking (BATMAN) protocol to maintain continuous connectivity. At the network edge, a Human Detector AI module performs real-time intruder detection using a custom deep learning model, UWS-YOLO. Experimental evaluations demonstrate that network slicing ensures service continuity for mission-critical applications, highlighting the potential of 5G MPNs as a key enabler of digital transformation for the aerospace sector and the wider industrial landscape
Coproducing an evaluation of a dementia education programme for family carers
Get PDFProviding education and support to family carers of people with dementia is advocated in dementia policies across the globe. Family carers of people with dementia receive variable support and often little education to enable them to sustain family caring. An international review of dementia education standards found family carer education to be absent. Although several types of educational interventions have been piloted, few are co-produced with family carers or encompass skills-based education to support them with the complex and progressive changes that dementia brings.This study took a multi-method approach following a three-phase co-production framework, with family carers co-designing the evaluation. The aims were to assess whether the Carers’ Academy, a skills-based education programme delivered by a university, NHS and third sector partnership, improved carer wellbeing. It also measured the extent to which carers felt they had increased their dementia knowledge and developed practical care skills. Family carers participating in the Carers’ Academy were invited to complete Part B of the psychometric validated Carer Wellbeing and Support Scale (CWS) pre, and six weeks post programme participation, and a co-designed questionnaire immediately after participation. The Carers’ Academy is a unique intervention, and findings demonstrated it made a statistically significant impact on family carers perceptions of wellbeing and an improvement their dementia knowledge and care skills. This paper describes the methodological process of involving family carers of people with dementia in a process of cooperative enquiry to co-design an evaluation. By doing so it contributes to the scare literature documenting the involvement of family carers of people with dementia in research and evaluation. Family carers need tailored, effective dementia education and, as experts by experience, should be supported to have their voices heard not only as participants in research but also as co-researchers
An emission-capacitated vehicle routing model for sustainable urban waste collection using hybrid guided local search
Get PDFUrban logistics services, such as municipal solid waste collection, play a crucial role in shaping cities' sustainability. These services are significant contributors to fuel consumption, operational costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. Traditional vehicle routing models, such as the capacitated vehicle routing problem with time windows, typically focus on minimizing distance or cost, which indirectly impacts emissions. However, these models fail to address the growing need for sustainable and environmentally conscious logistics strategies. This study introduces the emission-capacitated vehicle routing problem with time windows (E-CVRPTW), a novel optimization formulation that explicitly integrates a load-dependent fuel consumption model and an emission objective. The formulation also incorporates fleet-level policy constraints, including a carbon budget and an emission-intensity ceiling, providing a more comprehensive approach to minimizing both operational costs and environmental impacts. To solve the E-CVRPTW, a hybrid guided local search (HGLS) approach is employed with additional embedded features: (i) a novel cheapest insertion first initialization to generate high-quality starting solutions; (ii) adaptive feature penalties to diversify the search, while controlled neighborhood switching between 2-opt and 3-opt moves ensures an optimal balance between intensification and diversification. These features help the proposed algorithm to achieve better optimization solutions. Moreover, a rigorous experimental protocol using the Solomon and Gehring-Homberger benchmark instances demonstrates that HGLS, with additional features, significantly improves fuel consumption and emission reductions compared to baseline heuristics. Furthermore, a real-world case study on municipal waste collection reveals that optimized routing plans reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by 9-11% while lowering total costs by 8-9%. The optimized solutions also meet strict policy targets under constrained conditions, showcasing the potential of E-CVRPTW in real-world applications. A sensitivity analysis explores the trade-offs among fuel prices, carbon prices, and emission weights, providing valuable insights for decision-makers in urban service planning and sustainability-focused policy formulation
Native trees are related to advanced bird breeding phenology and increased reproductive success along an urban gradient
Get PDFUrban areas are altered from natural landscapes in several ways that can impact wildlife. Birds are widespread in urban areas, and it is well documented that there are phenotypic differences between urban and non-urban conspecifics. However, little is known about which characteristics of the urban environment are driving differences. We used 9 years of data from nest boxes spread across 20 sites along a 40-km urban–non-urban gradient in Scotland to test whether characteristics of the urban environment (native, non-native, native oak (Quercus spp.), birch (Betula spp.) foliage availability, temperature and human population density, and the interaction between foliage and temperature) influenced phenology and reproductive success in blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). We found that higher foliage availability of native foliage, and specifically of the most common native genus, oak, was associated at the territory level with earlier first egg laying date. Higher non-native foliage availability at both a site and territory level was negatively related to clutch size. The number of fledglings produced was reduced at sites with higher levels of non-native foliage and increased at sites with greater amounts of native oak foliage present. We also found territories with a higher human population density had reduced fledging success. Temperature was negatively related to first egg laying date, clutch size and the number of fledglings produced. Moreover, the number of Lepidopteran larvae, blue tits' preferred prey, that were collected over the breeding season was positively related to native oak foliage availability. Our results strongly indicate that the presence of native trees, such as oak, are beneficial to breeding insectivores by increasing the number of fledglings they can successfully raise, likely due to the increased availability of invertebrate prey. We suggest that urban planting regimes should be carefully considered, selecting tree species that are native or non-native congeneric species, and most importantly that will host Lepidoptera larvae. This will not only help to support complete food chains, but also to maximize biodiversity and ecosystem services of urban green spaces