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Shaping the metaverse into reality: a holistic multidisciplinary understanding of opportunities, challenges, and avenues for future investigation
Get PDFThe term metaverse is described as the next iteration of the Internet. Metaverse is a virtual platform that uses extended reality technologies, i.e., augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, 3D graphics, and other emerging technologies to allow real-time interactions and experiences in ways that are not possible in the physical world. Companies have begun to notice the impact of the metaverse and how it may help maximize profits. The purpose of this paper is to offer perspectives on several important areas, i.e., marketing, tourism, manufacturing, operations management, education, the retailing industry, banking services, healthcare, and human resource management that are likely to be impacted by the adoption and use of a metaverse. Each includes an overview, opportunities, challenges, and a potential research agenda
New Ecological Paradigm and third culture kids: Multicultural identity configurations, global mindset and values as predictors of environmental worldviews
Get PDFEcological degradation threatens human survival, increasing the need to understand factors related to pro‐environmental attitudes and worldviews. In a globalising world, new paradigms arise as central to social sciences, including the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) and the multicultural identities of individuals raised between the cultures, third culture kids (TCKs). NEP is an ecocentric perspective that stresses the interdependence between nature and humans, opposite to anthropocentrism. TCKs' exposure to cultural diversity during developmental years might support global issues engagement and ecocentric worldviews. The present study focused on non‐Western TCKs (N = 399; mean age 21 years), aiming to explore whether multicultural identity configurations (integration, categorisation, compartmentalisation), values dimensions (self‐transcendence, openness and conservation) and global mindset predicted ecocentric and anthropocentric worldviews. The results demonstrated that TCKs were ecocentrically inclined. The path model revealed that ecocentrism could be directly positively predicted by integrated multicultural identity, self‐transcendence and a global mindset. Anthropocentrism was predicted by multicultural identity categorisation and conservation values. Also, values of self‐transcendence and openness buffered the impact of compartmentalisation and categorisation on ecocentrism and anthropocentrism. This study set innovative directions in multiculturism and environmentalism discourse through understanding a multicultural identity's relationships with pro‐environmental attitudes
Institutional and geopolitical aspects of bond spreads impacts on corporate capital structure in emerging markets
Get PDFThis paper investigates the impacts of institutional, geographical, and political determinants of corporate capital structure of non-financial companies in a large panel of emerging economies, whilst controlling for macro-economic and firm-level factors, particularly corporate bond spreads. There is extensive literature showing that spreads are a measure of corporate riskiniess and that they affect a firm's ability to raise external funding via the issuance of equity or bonds. More recently, it has been established in development finance literature that a country's financial and legal systems have significant impacts on the capacity of its private sector to raise external investment funding. In particular, there is evidence that Common Law systems and market-based economies are more favourable to private investment and external financing owing to their stronger investor protection. Our results show that, when macroeconomic and firm-level factors are controlled for, most institutional variables have no significant impact on capital structure, with the exception of regulatory quality. The type of financial system, namely, "market-based" or "bank-based", and the legal framework (Common vs French law) have hardly any impact on capital structure. Our results also address the endogeneity issue between corporate bond spreads and capital structure, and show that both variables interact significantly with each other. Firm-specific variables such as profitability, tangibility and macroeconomic performance were found to be the common determinants of both leverage and bond spread
Safety and efficacy of an oral insulin (Capsulin) in patients with early‐stage type 2 diabetes: a dose‐ranging phase 2b study
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This randomised, twelve-week open-label study compared the pharmacodynamic properties of different dose of regular human insulin administered in capsule form twice daily.
Methods
100 persons (48 male, 52 female) with type 2 diabetes on metformin completed the study according to protocol. Mean (SD) age 48.5 (6.7) years, BMI 25.7 (2.8) kg/m2, HbA1c 8.10 (0.65) %. Subjects randomised on admission were assigned to one of three groups receiving 75iu BD of formulated regular insulin or 150iu insulin BD, or 300iu BD in enteric-coated capsules. Primary and secondary endpoints were change from baseline in HbA1c and FPG respectively. A total of 100 subjects from 15 different centres completed the study within protocol.
Results
The study met its primary clinical endpoint of a decrease in HbA1c ≥ 0.5% (least square mean decrease 0.52%; p = 0.004, median decrease 0.6) in the dose group receiving 150iu BD. In a subset of this population, with starting HbA1c values between 9 and 9.5%, an average decrease of 1.575% was seen. In the total population, least square mean decreases in HbA1c for groups 75iu BD and 300iu BD were -0.11% and -0.42% respectively. Mean change in FPG in the 150iu BD dose group was -18.8mg/dL (p = 0.017) and -14.8 and -2.7mg/dL for groups 75iu BD and 300iu BD respectively. A decrease of 20% for triglycerides (-40 mg/dL) was seen in the 150iu BD dose group . No significant increases in body weight were observed, and significant decreases in systolic blood pressure were seen in all groups. No serious treatment-related adverse events were recorded, and no incidence of hypoglycaemia was reported throughout the whole twelve-week study period.
Conclusions
Capsulin oral insulin administered twice per day at a dose of 150iu per capsule is safe, with no confirmed treatment-linked hypoglycaemic events, and results in significant decreases from baseline in HbA1c, Fasting Plasma Glucose and triglycerides
Borrowing from Keynes’ A Treatise on Probability: a non-probabilistic measure of uncertainty for scenario planning
Get PDFScenario planning is a tool used to formulate contingent but potentially impactful futures to aid strategic decision-making. A crucial element of many versions of scenario planning is an assessment of levels of uncertainty about the broad drivers of change within the system under consideration. Despite the importance of this element, the scenario planning literature is largely silent on the appropriate conception of uncertainty to use, exactly what it attaches to and how it might be measured. This paper seeks to fill this gap by advancing a non-probabilistic measure of uncertainty based on the concept of evidential weight drawn from the economist John Maynard Keynes' 1921 A Treatise on Probability
Interprofessional Perspectives of Mental Health Crisis for Nursing, Health, and the Helping Professions, Kris Deering and Joanne Williams, eds [Book Review]
No full textThis very helpful and timely book provides an excellent overview of the various services involved in the care and support of individuals, and their carers, who are experiencing a mental health crisis. With themes of ‘collaboration’, ‘partnership’, ‘participation’ and ‘inter-professionalism’ throughout the text, the authors have considered the importance and necessity of each in order for mental health crisis service provision to improve, and to keep the individual who is in crisis at the heart of decision making.
Perspectives of ‘crisis’ and the roles of Mental Health Social Workers, Police, Paramedics and Ambulance Service personnel, Crisis Resolution & Home Treatment Teams and the Emergency Department are carefully considered, noting the tensions and difficulties practitioners experience when supporting individuals in emotional distress, against the backdrop of the ‘Mental Health Crisis Care Concordant’ (HM Government & MIND, 2014).
The book contains constructive, theoretical discussions on the definitions and stages of ‘crisis’ and ‘recovery’, and the importance of a whole system approach to crisis care, which has many benefits to the reader. For example, the practitioner might be a newly-qualified mental health social worker who wishes to gain further understanding of how inter-professionalism works in practice by reading the chapter on ‘Policing the mental health crisis’. Likewise, an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) can consider the perspectives of the paramedic, police and the Emergency Department when issues regarding the application of the Mental Health Act (1983) are raised. Such is the opportunity for learning and consideration of interprofessional perspectives, it is suggested that a second edition also incorporates the prominent roles of the Community Psychiatric Nurse, Mental Health Occupational Therapist and Hospital Bed Manager
Learning on the road: Stonehenge, Skool Bus, and the development of alternative pedagogies in the new age traveller movement of the 1980s
No full textThis work examines the pedagogic origins, formation, and practice of Skool Bus, a charity formed in the late 1980s to provide educational and pastoral support toward a growing number of young children who were living alongside parents and guardians in the new age traveller movement. The chapter begins with a brief overview/history of the new age traveller movement. For simplicity, this summary will be set against the backdrop of the Stonehenge Free Festival, the “Battle of the Beanfield” in 1985, and the demise of the traveller scene in the 1990s. The second part of this chapter will draw upon ethnographic fieldwork, in particular interviews with Richie Cotterill and Celia Kibblewhite, the founders of the Skool Bus, and Elizabeth J. Walker, a volunteer key to curriculum delivery and design for the Bus. Here, the emphasis will be placed upon establishing the pedagogic influences of Skool Bus, not least unpacking Cotterill’s and Kibblewhite’s educational and cultural journeys before the formation of the Skool Bus in the late 1980s
Ambidexterity in MNC knowledge sourcing in emerging economies: a microfoundational perspective
Get PDFInnovation performance of multinational corporations (MNCs) derives from access to and utilization of a combination of explorative and exploitative knowledge across heterogeneous settings. These settings increasingly encompass flagship industries in emerging economies. There is limited research, however, that scrutinizes the processes of knowledge sourcing within such dynamic host environments, taking into account MNCs’ differing location capabilities.
We draw on the concept of ambidexterity – the combination of exploration and exploitation – and the microfoundations approach to study eleven MNCs in the Bulgarian software development industry by focusing on their local R&D projects. We extend the explanatory capacity of ambidexterity at the micro level and clarify the relationship between exploration and exploitation by identifying four types of ambidexterity: global knowledge differentiator, global-local knowledge integrator, emerging local-global integrator, and local knowledge integrator. Our typology is underpinned by three specific dimensions of R&D capabilities: technical know-how, scope of expertise, and market potential
Stock co-movement and governance bundles: does the quality of national governance moderate this relationship?
Get PDFIn this study we examine if corporate governance, as a bundle, can better explain stock co-movement. To test the implication of governance bundles on stock co-movement, we consider a monitoring and incentive alignment bundle. Using 2659 firm–year observations from 321 firms listed on the S&P 500 from 2009-2017, we find that the governance mechanism bundle can enhance the ability of stock prices to integrate better firm-specific information, which reflects on stock co-movement. In addition, we find the existence of a complementary relationship between National Governance Quality and a firm’s board monitoring. This also helps in explaining the puzzle of stock co-movement. The findings will extend the understanding about the co-movement related literature mentioned in the corporate governance and corporate finance research. The findings are also helpful for decision makers and policy makers involved in the efficient controlling of stock co-movement
Pay inequality and the limiting effect of the business case
No full textIn the United Kingdom, the business case for equality continues to be the primary method of encouraging employers to take positive steps to prevent pay discrimination on the basis of sex and race. Lawmakers have been reluctant to impose positive duties on employers which would require them to examine their pay practices and root out conscious and unconscious biases, due to the perceived administrative and financial burdens that this would impose on business. Instead, various campaigns by government, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and business and human resources networks have focused on the economic and reputational benefits that can be attained by diversifying workforces and providing fair wages. Employers are told that they will enhance their reputation by voluntarily conducting and publishing analyses of their pay systems, making it easier to attract and retain high calibre employees, consumers and investors who are drawn to fair and transparent organisations. Voluntary analysis is also presented as a method of offsetting the risk of negative publicity and litigation.
This paper challenges the efficacy of this reliance on the business case, on the basis that it has a limiting effect on employers’ commitment to rooting out discriminatory pay practices. It draws on the example of voluntary equal pay auditing – a practice which is intended to reveal whether there are instances of unlawful unequal pay between female and male employees who perform work of equal value. Using content analysis, the paper examines a sample of 30 equal pay audit reports released by UK employers across the public and private sectors. It finds that, where employers are motivated primarily or solely by the business case for equality, audit reports are likely to lack detail, accuracy and usability. With reference to comparative experiences in jurisdictions with mandatory auditing, the paper suggests that the intangible benefits that employers might derive from voluntary action are insufficient to prompt them to engage meaningfully in the auditing process, or to commit to effective follow-up action that might reduce wage inequality. The sole reliance on the business case, and the consequent lack of oversight of employers’ voluntary action, permits employers to limit or distort data to present their pay practices in the best light. The paper concludes that the business case for positive action on wage inequality serves only to maintain the status quo, and cannot serve as a catalyst for the elimination of pay discrimination