1,354,332 research outputs found

    Factors affecting blockchain adoption in Italian companies: the moderating role of firm size

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    Although Blockchain technology has shown its usefulness, there exist limited studies and industrial applications. Presented research investigates factors influencing blockchain adoption. It reflects on how the perceived benefit of blockchain may influence the adoption and how organisational size may affect this process. This study integrates the framework of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and extends it with the perceived benefits of blockchain adoption while including firm size as moderator. Data collected were analysed with a PLS-SEM. Our results showed that a significant predictor of intention to use blockchain is perceived behavioural control. Moreover, it was found that perceived benefit significantly influenced perceived usefulness. Finally, the study demonstrated that SMEs are more efficient in adopting blockchain compared to Large firms

    Drivers of student engagement in higher education: a behavioral reasoning theory perspective

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    Student engagement is a crucial factor in the success of students enrolled in higher education. Despite the existence of numerous studies on the factors that influence student engagement, investigating the factors that affect the level of student engagement in higher education is important. In applying the behavioral reasoning theory (BRT), this research investigates factors that influence freshman students’ decisions to engage in academic activities. Data have been collected from a sample of students enrolled in management studies at the University of Federico II in Naples, Italy. The results highlight that reasons serve as important links between students’ values, global motives, and engagement behavior, confirming one of the main premises of BRT. In particular, the findings suggest that BRT is a good model to predict student engagement as global motives, intentions, and reasons for engagement have a significant direct effect on engagement. These findings support the importance of examining and reinforcing the reasons for engagement (facilitators) while minimizing the reasons against engagement (obstacles) in order to enhance students’ engagement in academic activities

    The relationship between quality management practices, organizational innovation, and technical innovation in higher education

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    Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effects of quality management practices (QMPs) on innovation in higher education (HE), and how organizational innovation (OI) may influence technical innovation. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses were tested with partial least squares structural equation modeling on a sample of 449 valid responses by faculty members in Naples (Italy) public universities. Findings The findings support the interdependent relationships between QMPs and their positive impact on innovation. It was found that some QMPs impact on innovation through people and process management, and that OI predicts the technical one. Practical implications Directors should recognize the differences between QMPs to implement effective quality management (QM) strategy. Furthermore, they should combine technical and OIs. Originality/value Despite the existence of several studies on QM and innovation in manufacturing and services, there are only a few in HE. Based on a multi-dimensional QM approach, this paper investigates the different effects each QMP has on both the other QMPs and innovation in HE

    The relationship between soft and hard quality management practices, innovation and organizational performance in higher education

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    Purpose – This study aims to empirically investigate the effects of both soft and hard quality management (QM) on innovation and organizational performance. It also examines the mediating role of hard QM, administrative innovation and technical innovation on the relationship between soft QM and organizational performance in higher education (HE). Design/methodology/approach – The approach of this study is quantitative. The data used to test the hypotheses were obtained through online questionnaire sent to the academic staff of public universities in Naples (Italy). The hypothesized relationships are tested with data collected from 356 respondents by using the partial least squares structural equation modeling technique (PLS-SEM). Findings – The results show that quality practices improve innovation and organizational performance, while innovation positively impacts organizational performance. The findings also indicate that soft QM affects organizational performance directly and indirectly through hard QM. Hard QM and innovation show a partial sequential mediating effect on soft QM-performance relationship Practical implications – In order to implement quality management properly in HE, directors need to recognize the different roles that soft and hard QM can have on innovation and organizational performance. It is important that higher education institutions (HEIs) allocate resources to establish both types of QM practices to achieve the effectiveness of the whole QM system. Originality/value – Despite the existence of numerous studies on the relationship between QM, innovation and organizational performance in manufacturing and services, studies conducted in higher education are still few. This is one of the earliest studies that adopt the multidimensional approach of QM in HE which could help directors understand the interdependencies and different roles of soft and hard quality practice

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    sj-docx-1-nah-10.1177_02601060221142330 - Supplemental material for A randomized, crossover study to evaluate α-tocopherol bioavailability via a microemulsion gel or dry tablet delivery in healthy adults

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    Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-nah-10.1177_02601060221142330 for A randomized, crossover study to evaluate α-tocopherol bioavailability via a microemulsion gel or dry tablet delivery in healthy adults by Matthew W Stefan, Matthew H Sharp, Raad H Gheith, Ryan P Lowery and Jacob M Wilson in Nutrition and Health</p

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Factors affecting the adoption of blockchain technology in innovative Italian companies: an extended TAM approach

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    Purpose – The present research aims to identify the determinants for users’ behavioral adoption of Blockchain, exploring the relationships among these variables and investigating whether the proposed model can provide a more comprehensive manner to understand the adoption of Blockchain technology. Design/methodology/approach – This study adopts the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) approach and extends it with external constructs: “reduced cost” and “efficiency and security”. This paper used a quantitative and exploratory approach through the collection and analysis of data from a total of 108 Italian innovative SME. We have used the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach using SmartPLS for model evaluation. Findings – The results show that “efficiency and security” is an important driver of firms’ decision-making process to adopt Blockchain. Moreover, the results show that perceived usefulness is a strong predictor of the intention to use Blockchain in business processes. Originality/value – This research advances the literature on technology adoption in business processes, focusing on a particular technology: Blockchain. The field has been strengthened by investigating the determinants of technology adoption, adding new perspectives; both reduced cost and efficiency, and security

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods
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