16119 research outputs found
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Online tennis forum member dynamics and collective leisure experience
No full textMuch of our understanding of collective leisure experience emerges from “traditional settings,” reliant on physical proximity and face-to-face contact. In the presence of online spaces, this seems inherently incomplete, and by nature exclusionary. While challenges exist, online platforms can embrace diversity, foster emotional connection, and enhance group activity. The worldwide pandemic questioned leisure priorities, and in turn, online communities’ capacity to weather the pressures. What happens to an online group when the leisure pursuit that brings them together is at its most vulnerable? This paper explores member dynamics amid pandemic-related disruption from the resilience thinking framework. An immersive netnography approach is used to explore online member dynamics of a popular international tennis forum. Observations over three years reveal that to preserve the old, members introduce new activities, creating elements that extend the forum’s functionality. The moderator, a perceived villain, proves equally important to the success of the collective in a predicament
Board composition and sustainable supply chain management: Environmental committee's role
No full textDue to increasing climate change concerns, companies are under pressure from stakeholders, including regulators, consumers, and investors, to integrate environmental initiatives into their sustainable supply chain (SSC). Although an increasing body of research investigates the predictors of the environmental practices of firms, focusing on predictors of SSC practices is of critical importance to reduce environmental externalities such as carbon emissions and waste production. Thus, we focus on several board attributes' roles in firm SSC practices and explore whether the environmental committee enriches the directors' role in firm SSC practices. This study uses 62,958 firm-year observations from 2002 to 2021 covering nine different industries from 69 countries. Executing sector-country-year fixed-effects regression, we indicate that while board independence and board gender diversity reinforce the adoption of SSC practices, board expertise and board tenure weaken their adoption. Furthermore, the environmental management team positively moderates between board gender diversity and board tenure and SSC practices, whereas it does not have a significant moderating role between board independence and expertise and SSC practices. We contribute to the literature by identifying which directors are for and against transforming supply chain function towards more sustainable practices such that firms’ nomination committees can shape their upper-echelons accordingly. In addition, our comprehensive SSC proxy based on five metrics-index may guide firms in formulating their own SSC policies. Lastly, we advance the existing literature by highlighting the role of the environmental committee in mobilizing board capital for better SSC management
A multi-country and region comparison of the news coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games
Get PDFThe study analysed news coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games in newspapers in 17 countries or regions (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Oman, Portugal, Chinese Taipei, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Vietnam). In addition, Facebook posts of the respective newspaper organisations were also analysed. This is a quantitative study and offers an extensive comparative overview of trends and patterns in media representation of the Games in different parts of the world. The results showed that the total number of articles and photographs varied greatly between countries and regions. Analysis of the Facebook posts showed a similar trend to newspapers. The subject of interest is predominantly still the male athletes, and particularly those competing in wheelchairs. In nearly all the publications sampled, media coverage featured more content of their local athletes than foreigners. Overall, there appears to be a great disparity in terms of coverage and content of the Paralympic Games between the 17 countries or regions
Metaphors of symbiosis: What science fiction movies reveal about human-AI imaginaries
Get PDFHow we think about the use of AI to achieve business goals has become normalized as a ‘working together’ symbiosis metaphor. Yet public discourse and popular fiction oppose such a view with alternative critical and dystopian positions. We advocate that in order to negotiate their own positions around AI, management learners can engage with such contradictory views through the sociotechnical imaginaries captured by science fiction. We interpret 15 movies featuring AI to reveal multiple human-AI imaginaries and the metaphors that structure them. We find metaphors of: competitive symbiosis, where humans and AI compete for work, symbiotic mutualism, where humans and AI benefit each other, symbiotic parasitism, where either humans or AI feed off the other, and we also uncover the degree to which these relations are facultative (optional) or obligate (inescapable). We show how movies can be used to support learning by inviting sensitivity to the unreflective reproduction of dominant sociotechnical imaginaries and their structuring metaphors
Attracting & Retaining GenZ Talent in Luxury Hospitality An Industry Report
Get PDFGeneration Z (born between 1997 and 2012) is entering the workforce in large numbers and is projected to become the dominant employment cohort by 2030. For the luxury hospitality industry, this generation presents both immense opportunities and significant challenges. Gen Z hospitality workers are digitally fluent, socially conscious, entrepreneurial, and ambitious. At the same time, they demand rapid career progression, flexibility, authentic inclusivity, and alignment with their personal values.
This report draws on findings from a recent BU study of international luxury hotels, exploring how recruitment, selection, and retention strategies are evolving to attract and engage Gen Z employees. Key findings highlight that Gen Z expects digital-first recruitment, streamlined selection processes, strong employer branding, and visible commitments to inclusivity and well-being. However, unrealistic expectations around pay and promotion, combined with a competitive job market, pose serious retention challenges.
The report provides evidence-based recommendations for luxury hotels: investing in employer branding, accelerating selection processes, designing structured onboarding, enhancing learning and career pathways, prioritising well-being, and embedding inclusivity. Doing so will not only secure Gen Z talent but also reinforce the long-term resilience and reputation of the hospitality sector
Emotional Exhaustion in Fine Dining Restaurants
Get PDFThe article explores emotional exhaustion within the context of fine dining restaurants, focusing on its causes, implications, and impact on staff wellbeing. Aimed at HR professionals in Greece, it offers practical recommendations to help hospitality organisations prevent and manage emotional exhaustion and burnout in the workplace
Supply Chain Integration and Sustainable Supply Chain Performance in the Food Manufacturing Sector: The Moderating Role of Flexible Culture
Get PDFPurpose
This research employs the relational view theory to investigate the impact of supply chain integration (SCI) on sustainable supply chain performance (SSCP) in food supply chains, while also assessing the extent to which a flexible culture moderates this relationship.
Methodology
We conducted interviews with 11 top managers and collected and analysed 315 survey responses from the food manufacturing industry in the UK and Greece.
Findings
The findings confirm that, in global food supply chains: (i) internal integration is a prerequisite for stronger external integration; (ii) internal integration positively relates to SSCP, but this relationship is mediated by external integration; (iii) customer and supplier integration positively influence SSCP; and (iv) flexible culture moderates the link between SCI and SSCP.
Practical Implications
Managers should strengthen SCI to improve SSCP and foster flexible cultural values both within their food manufacturing firms and across their supply chains to achieve higher SSCP.
Originality/Value
The study extends relational view theory by demonstrating that SCI enhances SSCP in global food supply chains, while also highlighting the critical moderating role of flexible culture in this relationship
Electromagnetic Warfare Intentional Interference: Victim Risk Assessment
Get PDFPreventing an adversary’s Electromagnetic (EM) equipment from fully functioning via “Intentional Electromagnetic Interference” (IEMI) is
strategically beneficial but technically complicated because optimal decisions on emitted signal frequency/power require unknown/unknowable knowledge of target systems’ EM architecture.
Further complications are complex EM environment topologies and target location uncertainty. Additionally, IEMI aimed at targets is somewhat indiscriminate because emitted signals potentially interfere with non-target EM systems (e.g. civilian or allied), called victims. Determining the appropriate IEMI target-focussed signal emission strategy, involves complicated decision-making processes involving comprehending victim risks. This requires a Quantitative Risk Assessment Method (QRAM). This article describes the development of a novel QRAM utilising a Monte Carlo technique for calculating probabilities of degradation to victim systems to calculate victim risk within complex, dynamic, uncertain environments, potentially enabling riskinformed decisions on attack options. Its novelty is the combination of methodologies, with an approach extending beyond merely physical aspects (i.e. propagation of EM waves, or their physical interaction with individual systems), to include other critical aspects, allowing generation of simple metrics representing the likely consequence, in a context that
can be directly exploited by decision maker
Aerobic capacity and cardiopulmonary variables are not different between premenopausal, late premenopausal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal women
Get PDFMenopause may contribute to declining aerobic capacity alongside aging; whether this is related to declines in physical activity or alterations in physiology is unclear. This study examined the effect of menopause on maximal and submaximal cardiopulmonary variables in an incremental aerobic capacity assessment in active women. Sixty-nine women, aged between 18 and 60 years, categorized as premenopausal (PRE), late premenopausal (LPRE), perimenopausal (PERI), and postmenopausal (POST) completed a cycle ergometer ramp aerobic capacity test, body composition analysis, and blood hormone testing. Naturally menstruating women were tested in the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. One-way ANOVAs were utilized to analyze the effect of menopause phase on outcome variables. Participant groups had similar V̇O2peak, physical activity levels, and endogenous sex hormone profiles (p > 0.05), but POST had lower muscle mass than PRE, LPRE, and PERI (p 0.05). Age and V̇O2peak were not correlated (r = −0.23, p = 0.06). Contrary to prior reports, maintenance of aerobic capacity is possible throughout midlife and menopause in women with high activity levels. Compared to premenopausal and late premenopausal women, perimenopausal and postmenopausal women demonstrated minimal changes in maximal and submaximal cardiopulmonary variables
Early Laser for Burn Scars (ELABS) - Randomised controlled trial of pulsed dye laser treatment and standard care versus standard care alone for the treatment of hypertrophic burn scars.
Get PDFBACKGROUND: Hypertrophic burn scarring (HBS) is described as "the greatest unmet challenge after burn injury". This ELABS trial hypothesised that early pulsed dye laser (PDL) treatment of HBS improves both scar quality and quality of life (QoL). METHODS: A parallel arm randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of PDL was undertaken at seven centres in the UK. Patients were eligible if their burn injury was within three months of wound healing, and ineligible either with history of keloid scarring or aged < 16 years. A total of 153 (77 male, 76 female) participants were recruited between Nov 17, 2021, and Jun 30, 2023, and were randomised using software in a 1:1 ratio stratified by study centre; 138 (69 each arm) were included in the final complete-case analysis. Both study arms received standard care, and the intervention arm received three PDL treatments. The primary outcome was patient-rated scar quality (POSAS) at six months. The trial was registered with International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number registry (ISRCTN14392301). FINDINGS: Early PDL showed a statistically significant improvement in patient-rated scar quality (p = 0·041) and the secondary outcome, participant's perception of change in scar quality (p = 0·01), at six months. There were no statistically significant differences for Quality-of-Life, observer-rated POSAS scar quality, or colour measurement. Early PDL was not cost-effective at 6 months follow-up for the willingness-to-pay threshold of £20,000 per Quality-Adjusted-Life-Year (QALY). There were no unexpected adverse events related to the intervention. INTERPRETATION: Early PDL treatment of HBS is safe and shows improvement for patient-rated scar quality but not QoL at six months. As scar maturation is prolonged and dynamic, longer-term follow-up of upwards of two years is required both to understand the eventual clinical effect on scar outcome and to make any definitive conclusion concerning cost-effectiveness