scholarly journals Factors affecting smart working: evidence from Australia

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1042-1066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashish Malik ◽  
Philip J. Rosenberger ◽  
Martin Fitzgerald ◽  
Louise Houlcroft

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse data from the New South Wales Government’s Pilot Programme of establishing Smart Work Hubs (SWHs) for enabling teleworking in two busy commuter corridors. The paper analyses the relationships between various firm, job and personal factors and the perceived value, attitudes and expected usage by users of the SWHs. Design/methodology/approach Employing a cross-sectional survey design, the characteristics, values and attitudes of 117 SWH users were analysed using partial least squares (PLS) method of structural equation modelling (SEM). SEM-PLS approach is considered appropriate especially in prediction-based studies and to estimate an endogenous target construct. Findings Results revealed that perceived SWH value significantly influenced attitude towards the SWH, which then had a significant influence on SWH usage intentions, with personal, job and firm factors also playing a role. Further analysis revealed four variables that significantly influenced the perception of family-value benefits (age, income, hub commute distance, work commute distance), however, there were none that significantly influenced the perception of work benefits. Research limitations/implications The small sample size limits statistical inferences and generalisations to be drawn. Further, this paper also discusses how the low and uneven uptake of teleworking at a SWH raises several managerial and policy implications needing attention. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study analysing the expected values, attitudes and usage intentions of teleworkers in a SWH context. This study adds to the emerging body of human resource management studies on an outward-looking approach. The novel context will provide a useful base for subsequent studies.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mordecai Chrysostom Matto

Purpose This paper aims to examine the influence of records management on the performance of procurement management units (PMUs) in Tanzania. Design/methodology/approach To meet the objective of the study, cross-sectional survey design and quantitative approaches were used for data collection and analysis. Preliminary analysis of the data was carried out using descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling was then used to analyse the influence of records management standards on procurement performance. The data were collected from 164 government PMUs in Tanzania. Findings The findings revealed that records management attributes significantly affect procurement performance in Tanzania. Furthermore, government policy and integrity factors confound the association between records management and procurement performance. Practical implications The policymakers and practitioners of public procurement are required to be aware of records management principles and how each related factor influences the performance of PMUs. They should emphasise proper storage and housing, equipment, arrangement and access and implement electronic records management. Originality/value This study shows how the ISO 15489 model can be applied to public procurement processes. This study also provides the lesson that procurement records need to be protected to ensure their authenticity, reliability, integrity and useability.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Rehman ◽  
Fathyah Hashim

Purpose The purpose of this paper is the measurement of forensic accounting’s (FA) impact on sustainable corporate governance (SCG) within Omani public listed companies. Beyond merely cataloging the latest criminal innovations and SCG problems, this paper offers a path forward to overcome the myriad threats that can harm the organization and society. FA and SCG can achieve, anticipate and prevent tomorrow’s fraud today before organizations reach the point of no return. Design/methodology/approach For this study, FA is an independent variable and SCG is the dependent variable. This study used a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. Data are collected by internet-based tool and analyzed via partial least squares structural equation modeling and Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Findings Result suggests that FA has a significant direct impact over SCG; moreover, FA can become the part of governance management toward the elimination of fraud and achievement of SCG. Practical implications This study can assist regulators, professional bodies and organizations in amending their codes of corporate governance and organizational policies by introducing the SCG clauses and making FA as a compulsory part of governance system. Originality/value Up to the best of the knowledge of researchers, there is no study conducted before which verifies the FA impact on SCG; moreover, previous relevant studies verify only one constituent for SCG, whereas this study is identifying three constituents necessary for SCG.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekpenyong Ekpenyong Udofia ◽  
Bimbo Onaolapo Adejare ◽  
Gbemi Oladipo Olaore ◽  
Etete Ekpenyong Udofia

Purpose This study aims to test the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on large firms, with regard to a supply disruption, productivity, customer satisfaction and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey design and stratified sampling technique were implemented for employee selection and data gathering. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the data and model fitness, while the structural equation model was used for hypotheses testing. Findings The pandemic triggered supply disruptions, but did not significantly impact the productivity of manufacturing firms directly. However, supply disruption positively and significantly impacted productivity. Organisational productivity had no significant impact on customer satisfaction, however, when mediating the relationship between Covid-19 and customer satisfaction, it produces a positive indirect effect. Finally, Covid-19 and supply disruption when mediated by organisational productivity both had negative significant relationships on performance. Research limitations/implications Having a unique model, it creates a trail for future researchers to explore further. Though customer satisfaction was expected to be affected by the pandemic, it is interesting to find out that customer satisfaction when mediated by organisational productivity was positively influenced. Practical implications Disruptions are inevitable, managers must balance the pursuit of customer satisfaction and productivity so that one does not erode the other. Emphasis must be channelled towards managing the productivity of the firm to maintain customer satisfaction during these uncertain times. Deliberate steps like manufacturing flexibility investments should be initiated. Originality/value The first study to examine Covid-19, supply disruption, customer satisfaction, organisational productivity and performance in the Nigerian manufacturing sector.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-222
Author(s):  
Hansani Chathurika Dassanayake ◽  
Asanka Senevirathne

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of design of e-servicescapes on student engagement in distance education (DE), and examine whether this impact is mediated by student experience quality. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative research approach based on cross-sectional survey design was adapted where data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Sample consisted of 252 undergraduates registered in the DE platform in Sri Lanka and was drawn using a simple random sampling technique. Collected data were analysed using the structural equation modelling. Findings Data analysis revealed that there is a direct significant impact of e-servicescapes on student engagement while this impact is partially mediated by student experience quality in the Sri Lankan context. Meantime, the social presence feature of e-servicescapes has the highest impact on student engagement. Practical implications Findings of the study provide an empirically validated model to boost up the student engagement and significantly contribute to the designing of the e-servicescapes of the DE institutes in order to offer a superior service to a wide array of stakeholders. Originality/value Even though e-servicescapes have been recognised as a driver of customer behaviour, the concept is fairly unexplored in the educational context. Due to its practical applicability in the DE context, this study contributes to the existing knowledge by presenting a novel conceptual model developed based on multiple theories to identify its impact on student behaviour.


2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 931-957 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Korutaro Nkundabanyanga ◽  
Philemon Mvura ◽  
David Nyamuyonjo ◽  
Julius Opiso ◽  
Zulaika Nakabuye

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish the relationship between perceived grounds for tax non-compliance or compliance behaviors and perceived tax compliance factors. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a correlational and cross-sectional survey design seeking to understand tax compliance by taxpayers’ perceptions in Uganda. Data from 205 respondents to the questionnaire were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists and structural equation modeling with analysis of moment structures. Findings Governmental effectiveness, transparent tax system (TTS) and voice and accountability (VA) are perceived grounds for tax compliance or non-tax compliance and, as indicators of tax administration significantly influence variances in tax compliance. Tax compliance in Uganda is indicated by perceived worth and distribution of public expenditure (WDPE), level of taxation, inequalities in the tax system and tax evasion. Research limitations/implications No distinction is made between actual and potential taxpayers. Still, the results can contribute to our understanding of tax compliance puzzle from the behavioral angle. Factors such as perceived WDPE indicate a taxpayer’s compliance decision and factors such as governmental effectiveness explain that decision. Additional government policy requirements beyond greater enforcement actions by the tax authorities should be cultivated. Originality/value Results contribute to extending the basic tax effort model by establishing the extent to which VA, TTS and governmental effectiveness (GEF) matter in a developing country context. The study presents tax compliance as a taxpayer’s decision that is informed by perceptions and shows that factors increasing the taxpayers’ perceptions about VA and GEF relate to the importance that their perceptions have in their tax compliance decisions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 638-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Urban ◽  
Leanne Kujinga

Purpose To fully understand the concept of social entrepreneurship (SE), contextual factors need to be accounted as the influence of the institutional environment on individual behaviour has received little attention in the literature. By heeding the research call for quantitative work in this emerging field, hypotheses are formulated which predict the influence of different institutional profiles on SE intentions. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey design was administered in an under-researched emerging market context – South Africa. Hypotheses were then statistically tested using correlational analysis and structural equation modelling. Findings The results indicate that the regulatory environment has a positive and significant impact on feasibility and desirability, and furthermore both feasibility and desirability positively affect intentions. Originality/value The study contributes towards a new understanding of the influence of the institutional environment on social entrepreneurial intentions and its antecedents in an African emerging market context, and may serve as a catalyst for this emerging and important global activity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwasi Dartey-Baah ◽  
Seth Ayisi Addo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate idealised influence under transformational leadership and active management-by-exception (MBE-A) under transactional leadership as the predictors of employee safety behaviours among engineers and technicians in the Ghanaian power transmission subsector. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a cross-sectional survey design and a quantitative approach to gather data from 278 respondents through the use of a structured questionnaire. Covariance-based structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data and test the hypotheses with 264 usable responses. Findings The analysis revealed that idealised influence had positive significant effects on both safety compliance and safety participation of employees. Surprisingly, MBE-A had a positive influence on safety participation but not on safety compliance. Practical implications The findings of this study present useful practical implications for leaders and policy makers in organisations in engendering good safety behaviours of employees and improving overall organisational safety performance. Originality/value The variables used in the study together with the study’s Ghanaian bureaucratic context present interesting and fresh insights into the interplay between leadership and employee safety, thereby contributing to the discourse on the safety leadership construct.


Crisis ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Ruthmarie Hernández-Torres ◽  
Paola Carminelli-Corretjer ◽  
Nelmit Tollinchi-Natali ◽  
Ernesto Rosario-Hernández ◽  
Yovanska Duarté-Vélez ◽  
...  

Abstract. Background: Suicide is a leading cause of death among Spanish-speaking individuals. Suicide stigma can be a risk factor for suicide. A widely used measure is the Stigma of Suicide Scale-Short Form (SOSS-SF; Batterham, Calear, & Christensen, 2013 ). Although the SOSS-SF has established psychometric properties and factor structure in other languages and cultural contexts, no evidence is available from Spanish-speaking populations. Aim: This study aims to validate a Spanish translation of the SOSS-SF among a sample of Spanish-speaking healthcare students ( N = 277). Method: We implemented a cross-sectional design with quantitative techniques. Results: Following a structural equation modeling approach, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the three-factor model proposed by Batterham and colleagues (2013) . Limitations: The study was limited by the small sample size and recruitment by availability. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the Spanish version of the SOSS-SF is a valid and reliable tool with which to examine suicide stigma among Spanish-speaking populations.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalowar Hossan

The purpose of this article is to examine the influence of corporate social responsibility practices of Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL), Bangladesh and to know the client’s knowledge, feedback, awareness and eagerness towards the CSR activities while choosing a bank. This study also investigates the level of present and expected CSR contribution of this bank. A cross- sectional survey design was used for the study featuring a self administered questionnaire and data were collected from 100 clients at South Surma branch. Data were analyzed using SPSS and the findings revealed that CSR activities played an important role for clients to choose a bank. Most of the clients were aware of CSR program and they had positive reaction to CSR practices of DBBL. Clients also suggested to expand CSR practices and they were willing to contribute for social activities financially. The results show the policy implications for business community, citizen, customers, investors, managers and other stakeholders.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-44
Author(s):  
Koawo Edjah ◽  
Francis Ankomah ◽  
Ebenezer Domey ◽  
John Ekow Laryea

AbstractStress is concomitant with students’ life and can have a significant impact on their lives, and even how they go about their academic work. Globally, in every five visits by patients to the doctor, three are stress-related problems. This study examined stress and its impact on the academic and social life among students of a university in Ghana. The descriptive cross-sectional survey design was employed. Using the stratified and simple random (random numbers) sampling methods, 500 regular undergraduate students were engaged in the study. A questionnaire made up of Perceived Stress Scale and Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale was used to gather data for the study. Frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), with AMOS were used for the analyses. It was found that majority of the students were moderately stressed. Paramount among the stressors were academic stressors, followed by institutional stressors, and external stressors. Stress had a significant positive impact on the academic and social life of students. It was concluded that undergraduate students, in one way or the other, go through some kind of stress during the course of their study. It was recommended that the university, through its Students’ Affairs, and Counselling Sections, continue to empower students on how to manage and deal with stress in order to enhance their academic life.


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