Do online communities support research collaboration?

2014 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 603-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid R. Jamali ◽  
Bill Russell ◽  
David Nicholas ◽  
Anthony Watkinson
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Research Collaboration ◽  
Online Research ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which academics are engaged with online communities for research purposes, and the research activities, platforms and tools associated with these communities. In addition, the paper aims to discover the benefits, disadvantages and barriers involved in the use of online communities, and especially in regard to the trust and authority issues, so important in scholarly communications. Design/methodology/approach – A layered, mixed-methods approach was used for this complex research topic. Interviews were undertaken with social science and humanities researchers, followed up with focus groups in both the USA and UK. This qualitative work was then followed up with an online questionnaire that generated over 1,000 responses. Findings – Over half the sample had experience of an online research community and a majority of researchers are making at least occasional use of one or more Web 2.0 services for communicating their research activity; for developing and sustaining networks and collaboration; or for finding out what others are doing. Big differences exist in membership rates according to subject, but not really by age or other demographic factors. The biggest benefit to joining an online community is the ability to seek information in one’s own specialism. Younger researchers are more engaged with online communities. Research limitations/implications – The qualitative research was limited to the UK and USA. While use of online communities is now accepted by both established and younger researchers, the main ways of communicating research remain scholarly journals and books. Practical implications – The implications for learned societies and publishers are not clear. Journals are confirmed as the primary way of disseminating research. However, it would be easy for these stakeholders to miss how younger researchers expect to connect in digital communities. Social implications – With researchers of all ages accepting the existing and importance of online communities and connections, there are few technical or social barriers to using mainstream digital tools to connect professionally. Originality/value – There is little published research considering the role of online research communities, so the study is highly original. It is valuable to discover that researchers still prefer to share research findings primarily through journals, rather than through social technologies.

Are online communities on par with experts in the evaluation of new movies? Evidence from the Fandango community

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradeep Kumar Ponnamma Divakaran ◽  
Sladjana Nørskov
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Box Office ◽  
Geographic Context ◽  
Film Studios ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Performance Research ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate two questions. First, are movie-based online community evaluations (CE) on par with film expert evaluations of new movies? Second, which group makes more reliable and accurate predictions of movie box office revenues: film reviewers or an online community? Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from a movie-based online community Fandango for a 16-month period and included all movies released during this time (373 movies). The authors compared film reviewers’ evaluations with the online CE during the first eight weeks of the movie’s release. Findings – The study finds that community members evaluate movies differently than film reviewers. The results also reveal that CE have more predictive power than film reviewers’ evaluations, especially during the opening week of a movie. Research limitations/implications – The investigated online community is based in the USA, hence the findings are limited to this geographic context. Practical implications – The main implication is that film studios and movie-goers can rely more on CE than film reviewers’ evaluation for decision making. Online CE can help film studios in negotiating with distributors, theatre owners for the number of screens. Also, community reviews rather than film reviewers’ reviews are looked upon by future movie-goers for movie choice decisions. Originality/value – The study makes an original contribution to the motion picture performance research as well as to the growing research on online consumer communities by demonstrating the predictive potential of online communities with regards to evaluations of new movies.

Is Hong Kong ready for accounting education reform: an analysis of tri-partite views

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore T.Y. Chen
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Accounting Practitioners ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Big Four

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to determine whether Hong Kong is ready for accounting education reform. Design/methodology/approach – The approach for this study is using a Likert-scale questionnaire for the academic institutions, the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the big four accounting firms, followed by detailed follow-up interviews with each. Findings – There is general agreement among accounting academics and the profession that the Accounting Education Change Commission initiatives should be adopted in Hong Kong. Hong Kong accounting academics in public institutions do not oppose to a balance between teaching and research, but would oppose to an emphasis of teaching over research. This is important as an overemphasis on research could mean less time for teaching and curriculum development. The big four accounting firms are either happy with the way Hong Kong universities have been educating the accounting graduates or have no complaints against them. This is also important as an urge for accounting education reform usually comes from the practitioners as in the USA. Originality/value – The USA was the first country that saw the need for accounting education reform as accounting practitioners felt that curriculum and pedagogical considerations placed heavy emphasis on the technical aspects of accounting at the expense of a general, broad-based education. Similar needs for change were also found in the UK and Australia. As Hong Kong is one of the world’s major financial centres with a large securities exchange, there is a great deal of emphasis on accounting standards, financial reporting, corporate governance, etc., and hence the importance of accounting education. Is Hong Kong ready for the change?

scholarly journals Student engagement with sustainability: understanding the value–action gap

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 404-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth Chaplin ◽  
Paul Wyton
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Sustainable Living ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Significant Barrier ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of research that aimed to determine what university students living in Unite accommodation in the UK understand about the concept of sustainable living. It considers what barriers they perceive to be standing in the way of following sustainable living practices. In particular, the research aimed to explore any value–action gap for the student population with a view to informing future actions to help close any gap. Design/methodology/approach – The study was completed through an online questionnaire survey of students living in halls of residence operated by provider The Unite Group Plc. The survey informed semi-structured interviews and focus groups that explored the issues raised in greater detail. Findings – It was found that students living in Unite properties believed sustainable living to be important, yet levels of understanding were very low and there appeared to be a wide value–action gap. Reasons for this are varied; however, an unexpected theme emerged around the association of effort and importance. There was a very strong association between sustainable living and recycling, which, therefore, saw the lack of adequate recycling facilities as a significant barrier to sustainable living. There were also issues around a lack of information, cost and respondents’ flatmates as further barriers. However, the most significant barrier was the displacement of responsibility for sustainable living to other people or organisations. Originality/value – Gaining an insight into the complexity of attitude and behaviour of students with the sustainability agenda will enable understanding that can be applied to activities that promote sustainability.

scholarly journals Implications of divergences in adult protection legislation

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 149-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorna Montgomery ◽  
Janet Anand ◽  
Kathryn Mackay ◽  
Brian Taylor ◽  
Katherine C. Pearson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Elder Abuse ◽  
Consensus Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legal Responses ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Protection Legislation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Adult Protection

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the similarities and differences of legal responses to older adults who may be at risk of harm or abuse in the UK, Ireland, Australia and the USA. Design/methodology/approach – The authors draw upon a review of elder abuse and adult protection undertaken on behalf of the commissioner for older people in Northern Ireland. This paper focusses on the desk top mapping of the different legal approaches and draws upon wider literature to frame the discussion of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the different legal responses. Findings – Arguments exist both for and against each legal approach. Differences in defining the scope and powers of adult protection legislation in the UK and internationally are highlighted. Research limitations/implications – This review was undertaken in late 2013; while the authors have updated the mapping to take account of subsequent changes, some statutory guidance is not yet available. While the expertise of a group of experienced professionals in the field of adult safeguarding was utilized, it was not feasible to employ a formal survey or consensus model. Practical implications – Some countries have already introduced APL and others are considering doing so. The potential advantages and challenges of introducing APL are highlighted. Social implications – The introduction of legislation may give professionals increased powers to prevent and reduce abuse of adults, but this would also change the dynamic of relationships within families and between families and professionals. Originality/value – This paper provides an accessible discussion of APL across the UK and internationally which to date has been lacking from the literature.

scholarly journals Knowledge sharing in open source software communities: motivations and management

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 791-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zilia Iskoujina ◽  
Joanne Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – This paper aims to add to the understanding of knowledge sharing in online communities through an investigation of the relationship between individual participant’s motivations and management in open source software (OSS) communities. Drawing on a review of literature concerning knowledge sharing in organisations, the factors that motivate participants to share their knowledge in OSS communities, and the management of such communities, it is hypothesised that the quality of management influences the extent to which the motivations of members actually result in knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach – To test the hypothesis, quantitative data were collected through an online questionnaire survey of OSS web developers with the aim of gathering respondents’ opinions concerning knowledge sharing, motivations to share knowledge and satisfaction with the management of OSS projects. Factor analysis, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to explore the survey data. Findings – The analysis of the data reveals that the individual participant’s satisfaction with the management of an OSS project is an important factor influencing the extent of their personal contribution to a community. Originality/value – Little attention has been devoted to understanding the impact of management in OSS communities. Focused on OSS developers specialising in web development, the findings of this paper offer an important original contribution to understanding the connections between individual members’ satisfaction with management and their motivations to contribute to an OSS project. The findings reveal that motivations to share knowledge in online communities are influenced by the quality of management. Consequently, the findings suggest that appropriate management can enhance knowledge sharing in OSS projects and online communities, and organisations more generally.

Automatic enrolment to pension plans in small organisations: a research agenda

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen Maloney ◽  
Alma McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Firm Size ◽  
Pension Plans ◽  
Occupational Pension ◽  
Pension Policy ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Small Employers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse how firm size impacts pension workforce coverage with a particular focus on automatic enrolment (AE) to pension plans in small organisations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines the alignment of government AE interests with those of small employers, their employees and pension providers to better understand how firm size impacts pension workforce coverage.FindingsThe alignment of interests between stakeholders (government, pension providers, employers and employees) differs between large and small organisations, and empirical findings from large organisations cannot be assumed to apply in small organisations.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper calls attention to the need for future empirical research and identifies a number of research questions for further analysis to examine how AE impacts pension participation in small organisations and advance the field.Originality/valueThe policy of automatically enroling employees into occupational pension plans, recently legislated for all eligible workers in the UK and under consideration in the USA and Ireland, was developed from research conducted in a small number of large organisations. Pension coverage is particularly inadequate for the large number of employees working in small organisations (1–49 employees). However, little research attention has been focussed on pensions in small organisations with pension policy makers assuming that legislated AE will work as effectively in small organisations as it did in large organisations. This paper addresses this gap in the field.

The long-term development of Russian biotech sector

foresight ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 491-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Grebenyuk ◽  
Nikolai Ravin
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Plant Biotechnology ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
The Usa

Purpose To define strategic directions for the Russia’s social, economic, scientific and technological development in 2011-2013, a large-scale foresight study including the deep analysis of prospects of biotechnology development there was undertaken (Russia 2030: Science and Technology Foresight). This paper aims to present results of this research. Design/methodology/approach The study was based on a combination of technology-push and market-pull approaches that aimed not only to identify most promising science and technology (S&T) areas but also to understand how they can be realized in practice. Representatives from federal authorities, science and business were involved in the project to create future visions of technological directions; analyze grand challenges, weak signals and wild cards; and set research and development (R&D) priorities. Findings According to results of the study, Russia has a potential for biotech sector development, although the level of R&D in the majority of areas is lagging behind that in the USA and leading EU countries. However, there are several advanced applied research areas where efforts can be focused. Among them are high-performance genomics and post-genomics research platforms, systems and structural biology, microbial metabolic engineering, plant biotechnology and microbial strains and consortia for development of symbiotic plant–microbial communities. Originality/value Concentration of available resources of government and business on biotechnological sector development can help to find answers for challenges that Russia faces today or will face tomorrow. It will help to pick up on the current level of research activities, improve the quality of personnel training, make this area the engine of the economy and carry out the so-called new industrialization of the country, building a new, high-tech device industry.

scholarly journals Digital curation: the development of a discipline within information science

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. 1318-1338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Higgins
Keyword(s):  
Information Science ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Curation ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Financial Ecology

Purpose Digital curation addresses the technical, administrative and financial ecology required to ensure that digital information remains accessible and usable over the long term. The purpose of this paper is to trace digital curation’s disciplinary emergence and examine its position within the information sciences domain in terms of theoretical principles, using a case study of developments in the UK and the USA. Design/methodology/approach Theoretical principles regarding disciplinary development and the identity of information science as a discipline are applied to a case study of the development of digital curation in the UK and the USA to identify the maturity of digital curation and its position in the information science gamut. Findings Digital curation is identified as a mature discipline which is a sub-meta-discipline of information science. As such digital curation has reach across all disciplines and sub-disciplines of information science and has the potential to become the overarching paradigm. Practical implications These findings could influence digital curation’s development from applied discipline to profession within both its educational and professional domains. Originality/value The disciplinary development of digital curation within dominant theoretical models has not hitherto been articulated.

They teach, but do they apply?

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 743-766
Author(s):  
Anete Petrusch ◽  
Guilherme Luís Roehe Vaccaro ◽  
Juliane Luchese
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Additional Data ◽  
Effective Sample Size ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Lean Thinking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Administrative Services ◽  
The Usa ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk

Purpose Although discussed for more than 20 years, information about Lean adoption in higher education institutions (HEIs) is scarce, especially in developing countries. This research aims to investigate the degree of Lean thinking adoption on administrative services of Brazilian private HEIs. The results are compared to studies from USA and UK, highlighting the maturity on enablers, principles, tools and performance measures related to Lean. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative survey research was carried out. The instrument is adapted for HEIs from the proposal of Malmbrandt and Åhlström (2013) for Lean services. Cronbach’s alpha and factor analysis were used to validate the adapted instrument. Additional data analysis was based on non-parametric tests. Findings No evidence of broad implementation of Lean thinking in administrative processes of Brazilian private HEIs was found, with the adoption being incipient. The results are convergent to those presented by other studies in the USA and the UK. There is a gap between the existing knowledge about Lean in the academic sphere of the HEIs and its application on their academic processes. Research limitations/implications The effective sample size was of 47, despite contacts being sent to 2,090 institutions. This sample allows exploratory research, although further research is required. Results are adherent to those found in research from other countries. Originality/value The research presents descriptive and exploratory results regarding the adoption of Lean in Brazilian HEIs. No previous similar research was found in the literature.

scholarly journals Earnings quality and the cost of equity capital: evidence on the impact of legal background

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Hassan Ahmed ◽  
Yasean Tahat ◽  
Yasser Eliwa ◽  
Bruce Burton
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Institutional Ownership ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Earnings quality is of great concern to corporate stakeholders, including capital providers in international markets with widely varying regulatory pedigrees and ownership patterns. This paper aims to examine the association between the cost of equity capital and earnings quality, contextualised via tests that incorporate the potential for moderating effects around institutional settings. The analysis focuses on and compares evidence relating to (common law) UK/US firms and (civil law) German firms over the period 2005–2018 and seeks to identify whether, given institutional dissimilarities, significant differences exist between the two settings. Design/methodology/approach First, the authors undertake a review of the extant literature on the link between earnings quality and the cost of capital. Second, using a sample of 948 listed companies from the USA, the UK and Germany over the period 2005 to 2018, the authors estimate four implied cost of equity capital proxies. The relationship between companies’ cost of equity capital and their earnings quality is then investigated. Findings Consistent with theoretical reasoning and prior empirical analyses, the authors find a statistically negative association between earnings quality, evidenced by information relating to accruals and the cost of equity capital. However, when they extend the analysis by investigating the combined effect of institutional ownership and earnings quality on financing cost, the impact – while negative overall – is found to vary across legal backdrops. Research limitations/implications This paper uses institutional ownership as a mediating variable in the association between earnings quality and the cost of equity capital, but this is not intended to suggest that other measures may be of relevance here and additional research might usefully expand the analysis to incorporate other forms of ownership including state and foreign bases. Second, and suggestive of another avenue for developing the work presented in the study, the authors have used accrual measures of earnings quality. Practical implications The results are shown to provide potentially important insights for policymakers, creditors and investors about the consequences of earnings quality variability. The results should be of interest to firms seeking to reduce their financing costs and retain financial viability in the wake of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Originality/value The reported findings extends the single-country results of Eliwa et al. (2016) for the UK firms and Francis et al. (2005) for the USA, whereby both reported that the cost of equity capital is negatively associated with earnings quality attributes. Second, in a further increment to the extant literature (particularly Francis et al., 2005 and Eliwa et al., 2016), the authors find the effect of institutional ownership to be influential, with a significantly positive impact on the association between earnings quality and the cost of equity capital, suggesting in turn that institutional ownership can improve firms’ ability to secure cheaper funding by virtue of robust monitoring. While this result holds for the whole sample (the USA, the UK and Germany), country-level analysis shows that the result holds only for the common law countries (the UK and the USA) and not for Germany, consistent with the notion that extant legal systems are a determining factor in this context. This novel finding points to a role for institutional investors in watching and improving the quality of financial reports that are valued by the market in its price formation activity.

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