Incorporating green building into architectural education: what can we learn from the value-belief-norm theory?

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-476
Author(s):  
Xiaohuan Xie ◽  
Shiyu Qin ◽  
Zhonghua Gou ◽  
Ming Yi

Purpose Aiming to find out how to incorporate green building into the architectural curriculum, this study aims to explore the psychological path for cultivating architectural students’ awareness and motivation to learn the green design concepts and related technologies. Design/methodology/approach Based on a global review of relevant architectural courses in universities, a set of green building learning behaviors was proposed and a survey was conducted in architectural schools in South China to verify the “value-belief-norm” theory through the lens of green building learning behaviors. The psychological path that affects students’ green building learning behaviors was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings The results showed that biospheric and altruistic values could directly affect students’ motivation to learn green building, while personal norms served as the mediating condition for personal values and beliefs, and ultimately improved motivation. Practical implications The study suggests that the cultivation of environmental awareness and a sense of the ecological crisis should be developed through foundation courses, by establishing an ecological architecture curriculum, to more effectively guide students to learn and practice green building. Originality/value This study, for the first time, applied the “value-belief-norm” theory, which was developed to explain the psychological path for pro-environmental behaviors, to green building learning behaviors of architectural students.

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 121-139
Author(s):  
Doo Hun Lim ◽  
Seung Won Yoon ◽  
Jeeyon Paek ◽  
Yuri Choi

Purpose This study aims to examine a structural relationship among agreeableness, similarity in agreeableness, positive affect and transfer of informal learning. Also, it investigates the mediating role of motivation. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected by a survey via snowball sampling. In total, 742 respondents at 72 companies from multiple industries in South Korea participated. The authors performed exploratory confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling to test the research model and hypotheses. Findings The results showed that agreeableness made a dual impact as a personal and a relational trait enhancing the employee’s positive affect, and motivation to learn fully mediated the relationship between agreeableness and transfer of informal learning. This supports that prosocial personality traits enhance the employee’s motivation, learning and learning application. The full mediation of motivation to learn between positive affect and informal learning transfer emphasizes the importance of intentionality on the part of employees in informal learning contexts. Originality/value Organizational research pays little attention to social perspectives of informal learning (Varela et al., 2011). The results highlight that workplace informal learning is a socio-psychological process; thus, examining social and psychological factors together would be beneficial.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitho Khan Bhatti ◽  
Bahadur Ali Soomro ◽  
Naimatullah Shah

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the training characteristics and employees' performance among the nurses in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed cross-sectional data through random sampling of trained health nurses from the Government sector hospitals of Pakistan. The survey questionnaire is applied as the primary tool to acquire data. In total, the authors utilized 306 valid cases to infer the final results.FindingsThe structural equation modeling (SEM) underlines a positive and significant impact of cognitive ability and performance goal on employees' performance. On the other hand, there is an insignificant impact of motivation to learn on performance among the nurses of Pakistan.Practical implicationsBroadly, the findings of the study would provide some new insights to understand the performance of nurses in the health care sector through the outcomes of the training characteristics. Further, the results would be a way out to make a better quality of health care enhanced with the support of training. It may contribute to the growth in quality of work and improve work productivity by boosting up and uplifting training characteristics. The research arena would enrich the inclusive theoretical framework of performance and contribute to the domain literature and methodological validation.Originality/valueThe study confirms the role of training characteristics towards performance among the nurses of the public health sector of Pakistan. The investigation would further validate the impact of cognitive ability and the motivation to learn and performance goals on performance globally.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 740-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miglena Sternadori ◽  
Alan Abitbol

Purpose Existing research demonstrates that consumers prefer advertising that aligns with their values and beliefs but can also be distrustful of claims of corporate social responsibility. The purpose of this paper is to explore consumers’ perceptions of femvertising in relation to their worldview. Femvertising is defined as “advertising that employs pro-female talent, messages, and imagery to empower women and girls” (Skey, 2015). Design/methodology/approach A survey of US adults (n = 419) was used to investigate attitudes toward femvertising as they relate to gender, age, support for women’s rights, feminist self-identification, political affiliation and trust in advertising. Findings Structural equation modeling revealed several antecedents and consequences of attitude toward femvertising. The findings suggest that women’s rights supporters and self-identifying feminists seem highly receptive of femvertising. Originality/value Taken together, the findings clarify how femvertising can be an effective strategy for marketers and how it fits within the current advertising literature.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 306-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun-Jee Kim ◽  
Sunyoung Park ◽  
Hye-Seung (Theresa) Kang

Purpose The purpose of this study is to augment knowledge of how work environment and personal characteristics affect intention to transfer in a work context. This study aims to investigate the factors that can influence intention to transfer training in a professional development training context. The study examined the predictive capacity of organizational support, supervisor support, training readiness and learning motivation on transfer intention among the study respondents. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from teachers in secondary schools in the USA. The structural equation modeling method was adopted to analyze 216 responses using a self-report survey. Findings We found that (a) organizational support was directly associated with supervisor support for training, (b) supervisor support for training significantly influenced training readiness and motivation to learn, (c) training readiness positively affected motivation to learn, and (d) motivation to learn positively influenced intention to transfer. In addition, supervisor support mediated the relationships between organizational support and training readiness and between organizational support and motivation to learn. Training readiness linked intention to transfer and motivation to learn. Motivation to learn also played a mediating role in the relationship between supervisor support and intention to transfer. Originality/value Our findings add to the academic work on training transfer by empirically analyzing how both the environment (e.g. organizational support) and individual factors (e.g. learning motivation) influence employees’ intention to transfer. In particular, we investigated the potential impact of both organizational support and supervisory support on intentions to transfer, compared to previous studies emphasizing only supervisory support to improve training outcomes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepak Bangwal ◽  
Prakash Tiwari

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how environmental design features of a green building contribute to the formation of employees’ organization image (OIM) through better environmental awareness (EAW) within employees. Design/methodology/approach Based on a comprehensive literature review on environmental design features of a building, a theoretical model was proposed for investigation. Three putative paths linking workspace (WSP) to EAW, departmental space (DSP) to EAW and EAW to OIM were then tested relying on a survey data of 362 employees collected from three Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified buildings by using structural equation modeling methodology as prescribed by Hair et al. Findings Significant evidence was found in support of all three purposed paths. Further, the study found that workspace and the DSP together explained around 46 percent of the variance in employee’s EAW, which then explained around 54 percent of the variance in the formation of the employees’ OIM. Research limitations/implications The study drew data only from green certified organizations. Future research should involve other green organizations or a larger sample of green buildings. The size and character of the sample were restricted by organizational constraints. Practical implications The organizations need to be extremely cautious of green concerns during the design phase in order to capitalize on the yields of better employees’ OIM. It also motivates the other organizational group toward the green building concept to increase the employees’ EAW and to enhance organizational values and image. Originality/value While the green concept has been a significant research topic for more than decades, barely any research has been conducted that focuses specifically on environmental design features of a green building on employees’ EAW and OIM. This study tries to make a link between green building design features with employees’ EAW and OIM. These links are rare in Indian perspective.


2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 446-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilmar B. Schaufeli

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to integrate leadership into the job demands-resources (JD-R) model. Based on self-determination theory, it was argued that engaging leaders who inspire, strengthen, and connect their followers would reduce employee’s levels of burnout and increase their levels of work engagement. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was conducted among a representative sample of the Dutch workforce (n=1,213) and the research model was tested using structural equation modeling. Findings – It appeared that leadership only had an indirect effect on burnout and engagement – via job demands and job resources – but not a direct effect. Moreover, leadership also had a direct relationship with organizational outcomes such as employability, performance, and commitment. Research limitations/implications – The study used a cross-sectional design and all variables were based on self-reports. Hence, results should be replicated in a longitudinal study and using more objective measures (e.g. for work performance). Practical implications – Since engaged leaders, who inspire, strengthen, and connect their followers, provide a work context in which employees thrive, organizations are well advised to promote engaging leadership. Social implications – Leadership seems to be a crucial factor which has an indirect impact – via job demands and job resources – on employee well-being. Originality/value – The study demonstrates that engaging leadership can be integrated into the JD-R framework.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 1154-1184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Chen ◽  
Judy Drennan ◽  
Lynda Andrews ◽  
Linda D. Hollebeek

PurposeThis paper aims to propose user experience sharing (UES) as a customer-based initiation of value co-creation pertaining to service provision, which represents customers’ level of effort made for the direct benefit of others in their service network. The authors propose and empirically examine a user experience sharing model (UESM) that explicates customer-to-customer (C2C) UES and its impacts on firm-desired customer-based outcomes in online communities.Design/methodology/ApproachBased on an extensive review, the authors conceptualize UES and UESM. By using online survey data collected from mobile app users in organic online communities, the authors performed structural equation modeling analyses by using AMOS 24.FindingsThe results support the proposed UESM, showing that C2C UES acts as a key driver of both firm-desired customer efforts and customer insights. The results also confirmed that service-dominant (S-D) logic-informed motivational drivers exert a significant impact on C2C UES. Importantly, C2C UES mediates the relationship between S-D logic-informed motivational drivers and firm-desired customer-based outcomes.Originality/valueThis study offers a pioneering attempt to develop an overarching concept, UES, which reflects customers’ initiation of value co-creation, and to empirically examine C2C UES. The empirical evidence supports the key contention that firms should proactively facilitate C2C UES.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Okyere-Kwakye ◽  
Khalil Md Nor

Purpose Electronic library (E-library) is a form of computer mediated system that uses electronic media, such as Web/internet devices and distributes resources to improve on the quality of teaching and learning. Students’ use of e-library for learning is essential and as such the government has invested hugely into its subscription for several university libraries in Ghana. However, most university students feel reluctant to use the e-library resources for their studies. The purpose of this paper is therefore to examine the factors that influence students’ intention to use e-library resources for their studies. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaire was used to collect data from 200 students from one Technical University in Ghana. Structural equation modeling (SmartPLS) was used to analyze the data. Findings The study found that accessibility, attitude, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and relevance to studies have positive significant effect on students’ attitude to use e-library. In addition, self-efficacy, subjective norm and attitude have positive significant influence on students’ intention to use e-library. Research limitations/implications Although the sample frame used for this study may be unique, but the total amount of data collected was limited to providing the general representative of the Ghanaian students in one particular university. Other researchers may consider collecting data from other universities to extend the sample frame for a larger sample size of students. Practical implications Academic administrators need to organize training and workshops on how to use the e-library portal for their search and other didactic assignments. Most importantly, students should be given IT or internet tutorials as foundation for the use of the e-library portal. Social implications Universities have to provide internet access such as hotspot and network routers at the labs, classrooms and other vantage points. It is believed that with these in place, adequate access to the internet would promote students’ engagement on the e-library facility. Originality/value The study examines the factors that influence students’ intention to use e-library resources for their studies in Ghana.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Anning-Dorson

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how service firms across two different cultural contexts use their customer involvement capabilities to create competitive advantage. The study further assesses the possible complementarity effect of innovation and involvement capabilities in enhancing firm competitiveness. Lastly, the study draws on the complementarity of capabilities and social institutions to examine whether different cultural contexts explain the use of involvement capability among service firms. Design/methodology/approach The study sampled service firms from an emerging economy (India) and high-income economy (The UK), which have different cultural contexts (collectivism/individualist) to assess the hypothesized relationship. Data collection processes were adapted to the contexts to optimize reliability and relevance. Multi-group structural equation modeling was used in analyzing the data. Findings The study finds that cultural contexts explain the positive relationship between customer involvement capability and firm competitiveness such that in collectivist cultures, involvement capability is more positively related to competitiveness but negative in individualistic contexts. However, in both contexts, service firms can through capability bundling increase firm competitiveness. The study found that the complementarity effects of innovation and involvement capabilities were found to be positive in both contexts. Originality/value This study departs from previous studies by arguing that customer involvement is a complementary capability that helps exploit the potential of innovation capability of service firms. This study further demonstrates that cultural context defines the effectiveness of involvement capability in achieving firm competitiveness.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 670-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Kashif Javed ◽  
Ma Degong ◽  
Talat Qadeer

Purpose Most business-related studies on ethics focus on consumers in developed western economies but ignore developing economies. Therefore, to fill this void in the literature and address the concerns of prior studies, the purpose of this paper is to examine the ethical perceptions of Chinese consumers as an example of effective and efficient management of company/brand strategies in an economy experiencing rapid socioeconomic growth. Design/methodology/approach This study examines 328 Chinese consumers’ purchase intentions based on their ethical perceptions toward Apple and P&G through mediating (i.e. consumer–corporate identification (CCI) and brand trust) and moderating (i.e. consumer gender, age, education and residence) effects. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the constructs and overall model. Findings The ethical perceptions of consumers translate into purchase intentions, both at the corporate and product brand levels. Similarly, a significant direct relationship between CCI and brand trust reveals that corporate-level ethical identification is a trivial matter to customers, although these perceptions do apply to product brands under a corporate umbrella. Furthermore, to identify target groups of Chinese consumers who are receptive to ethical appeals, moderating variables were found to be useful. Originality/value The results confirm that the mediating role of CCI is more influential in the context of Chinese consumers’ ethical perceptions, followed by brand trust. In relation to demographics, ethical perceptions affect CCI and brand trust more positively in females and highly educated consumers in China. Similarly, the relationship between consumers’ ethical perception and their trust in brand is revealed more influential in urban residents than they do in rural. This broadens the applications and contexts of this research model. The results provide managerial guidance on enhancing potential ethical perceptions.


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