Smart cities for wellbeing: youth employment and their skills on computers

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Picatoste ◽  
Laura Pérez-Ortiz ◽  
Santos Miguel Ruesga-Benito ◽  
Isabel Novo-Corti

Purpose Smart cities can be understood as an inclusive space for each and everyone to achieve their best options, within the framework of sustainable development, where institutions boost information and technology environments that help achieve the highest individual and social well-being with the aim of improving the lives of citizens. The youth group (between 15 and 24 years) was severely affected by the crisis. In this paper, youth employability, in relation to the new challenges of smart cities, is analyzed in the EU with the aim of assessing the influence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) skills on youth employability. Design/methodology/approach By means of a mean analysis and structural equation modeling, the differences between the Eurozone and the other countries in the EU is analyzed, as well as the importance of information technologies and the computer skills for increasing youth employability. Findings The results indicate that awareness of the importance of IT skills is greater in the Eurozone and that computer skills are highly significant to explain the employability of young people. Practical implications The achieved conclusions point out to the training on computers skills as a key factor for boosting youth employment. Social implications This work could provide some tools to help policymakers design instruments for increasing youth employment, as well as to provide training mechanisms to obtain the skilled workforce needed for the enterprises that emerged in the environment of smart cities. Originality/value The main original value of this work is to relate computers skills and the employment rates for youth in the framework of the European Union.

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Auditya Purwandini Sutarto ◽  
Shanti Wardaningsih ◽  
Wika Harisa Putri

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore to what extent employees' mental well-being affects their productivity while working from home (WFH) during the COVID-19 crisis and whether mental well-being and productivity differ across some socio-demographic factors.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional study with online questionnaires was designed with 472 valid responses in Indonesia. Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ) were administered. Non-parametric tests and structural equation modeling were employed to analyze the data.FindingsThe prevalence of depression was 18.4%, anxiety 46.4% and stress 13.1%, with relatively good productivity. Gender, age, education level, job experiences, marital status, number of children and nature of the organization were associated with the employees' psychological health but not with their productivity, while the workspace availability influenced both outcomes. The study path model showed the negative correlation between WFH employees' psychological well-being and productivity.Research limitations/implicationsThis study may contribute to the implication of current mandatory WFH on mental well-being and productivity. Further studies need to address the representativeness and generalizability issues as well as incorporating potential stressors.Practical implicationsOrganizations may adopt WFH as a future working arrangement and identify the individual and occupational characteristics that provide the most impacts on productivity. It is also necessary for them to develop proper strategies to mitigate the psychological risks and overcome the WFH challenges.Originality/valueThere is still a lack of studies investigating the relationship between simultaneous effects of WFH on psychological well-being and productivity, and how they affect some socio-demographic variables in the context of COVID-19.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 3006-3025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney Suess ◽  
Makarand Amrish Mody

Purpose The study aims to examine how features that foster a sense of control, create positive distractions and provide access to social support influence patients’ well-being and, subsequently, their likelihood to choose hotel-like hospital rooms and their willingness to pay higher out-of-pocket expenses for such rooms. While there is increasing evidence to suggest the importance of the provision of hospitality in healthcare settings, research on these developments remains under-represented, particularly in the hospitality literature. In response, the present study builds on Ulrich’s (1991) theory of supportive design to examine patient responses to hotel-like features in a hospital room. Design/methodology/approach Using data from a survey of 406 patients, the authors used structural equation modeling to test the model. Findings Consistent with supportive design principles, the infusion of hotel-like features that foster a sense of control for patients, create positive distractions and provide access to social support was found to positively impact patients’ physical and mental well-being, which, in turn, increased their likelihood to choose a hospital room with hotel-like features and their willingness to pay for such rooms. Practical Implications Findings attest to the need for healthcare providers to make the necessary investment in hotel-like features and to leverage the communicative power of these environmental cues. Social support in the form of hospitality-trained and certified healthcare staff was found to be the most important hotel-like feature, which also presents significant commercial opportunities for hospitality companies and professionals. Originality Value The study represents one of the first attempts to empirically develop a structured model to examine the infusion of hospitality into healthcare. It provides researchers with a theoretically supported framework for future inquiry into the domain. It also makes a significant contribution to advancing the research on patient well-being in healthcare settings and demonstrates the importance of hospitality to such endeavors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 1153-1183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheshadri Chatterjee ◽  
Arpan Kumar Kar ◽  
Yogesh K. Dwivedi ◽  
Hatice Kizgin

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the factors influencing the citizens of India to prevent cybercrimes in the proposed Smart Cities of India.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model has been developed for identifying factors preventing cybercrimes. The conceptual model was validated empirically with a sample size of 315 participants from India. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with SPSS and AMOS softwares.FindingsThe study reveals that the “awareness of cybercrimes” significantly influences the actual usage of technology to prevent cybercrimes in Smart Cities of India. The study reveals that government initiative (GI) and legal awareness are less influential in spreading of the awareness of cybercrimes (AOC) to the citizens of the proposed smart cities.Research limitations/implicationsThe conceptual model utilizes two constructs from the technology adoption model, namely, perceived usefulness and ease of use. The study employs other factors such as social media, word of mouth, GIs, legal awareness and organizations constituting entities spreading awareness from different related literature works. Thereby, a comprehensive theoretical conceptual model has been proposed which helps to identify the factors that may help in preventing cybercrimes.Practical implicationsThis study provides an insight to the policy maker to understand several factors influencing the AOC of the citizens of the proposed Smart Cities of India for the prevention of cybercrimes.Originality/valueThere are few existing studies analyzing the effect of AOC to mitigate cybercrimes. Thus, this study offers a novel contribution.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Okki Trinanda ◽  
Astri Yuza Sari ◽  
Efni Cerya ◽  
Tri Rachmat Riski

Purpose Selfie tourism is a fast-growing phenomenon. Given the convenience of photo-snapping and photo-sharing on social media, selfie tourism is seen as an emerging trend among travelers. This phenomenon gave consequence toward travelers’ behavior, especially on how it can affect their memorable tourism experience and place attachment. This paper aims to examine the relationship between selfie tourism, memorable tourism experience, hedonic well-being and travelers’ place attachment. Design/methodology/approach A self-administered survey method is used. This research was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, consequently, the data were collected via Google Form (online). The respondents are tourists who have visited various tourism destinations in West Sumatera, Indonesia. To test the hypotheses of this study, questionnaires are distributed to 450 respondents. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling. Findings The results of this study shows that selfie tourism has a positive and significant relationship toward both memorable tourism experience and hedonic well-being. In addition, memorable tourism experience and hedonic well-being also have a significant relationship with place attachment. Research limitations/implications The limitation of this study lies in the limited reference to the relationship between selfie tourism and memorable tourism experience and hedonic well-being, because this is the first study to examine the relationship of these variables. This study also has not tested the direct relationship between selfie tourism and place attachment and has not considered eudaemonic well-being as an antecedent of place attachment. Further research will discuss the direct effect of selfie tourism and eudaemonic experience on place attachment, as well as the moderating effect of memorable tourism and hedonic well-being. Practical implications This study shows the benefits obtained by tourism managers in preparing selfie facilities, as well as the ability to create meaningful experiences. It provides tourism practitioners with an understanding that tourist place attachment can be improved by both memorable tourism experience and hedonic well-being. Furthermore, both memorable tourism experience and hedonic well-being can be affected by selfie tourism. This understanding can enhance the tourism providers’ strategy to improve services that fit the characteristics of today’s tourists. Therefore, selfie tourism, memorable tourism experience and hedonic well-being can support tourism sustainability, especially in creating place attachments. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies that investigated the relationship between selfie tourism, memorable tourism experience and place attachment. From a market-specific context, this is also the first study that investigated the antecedents of place attachment on West Sumatera’s tourism.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neha Garg ◽  
Wendy Marcinkus Murphy ◽  
Pankaj Singh

PurposeThis paper examines whether employee-driven practices of reverse mentoring and job crafting lead to work engagement and, in turn, to higher levels of prospective mental and physical health.Design/methodology/approachIntegrating social exchange theory and the job demands and resources model as theoretical frameworks, survey data were collected from 369 Indian software developers to test the research model. Latent variable structural equation modeling was used to empirically test the hypothesized associations.FindingsThe findings reveal that both reverse mentoring and job crafting are significantly associated with work engagement. Work engagement fully mediated the negative relationship between 1) reverse mentoring and mental ill-health and 2) job crafting and physical ill-health, while it partially mediated the negative relationship between 1) reverse mentoring and physical ill-health and 2) job crafting and mental ill-health.Practical implicationsThe results demonstrate that by implementing the practices of reverse mentoring and job crafting, managers can achieve desired levels of engagement among employees and sustain organizational productivity by promoting employee health and well-being.Originality/valueThis study is one of the early attempts to empirically demonstrate the associated health outcomes of reverse mentoring and job crafting.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (10) ◽  
pp. 3919-3942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shi Xu ◽  
Zheng Chris Cao

Purpose This paper aims to provide and meta-analytically investigate a theoretical framework of work–nonwork conflict and its antecedents and outcomes in hospitality management. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts the psychometric meta-analytical methods and meta-structural equation modeling methods to synthesize the relationships between work-to-nonwork conflict (WNC) and nonwork-to-work conflict (NWC) and its antecedents and outcomes. Findings WNC and NWC are found to be correlated with antecedents including social support; positive affectivity and negative affectivity; work characteristics; and outcomes including job-related well-being, life-related well-being, burnout, performance and turnover intentions. Originality/value This paper is the very first meta-analysis in International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. It is also the first meta-analysis on the relationship between overall work–nonwork conflict and its antecedents and outcomes in hospitality and tourism.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1905-1920
Author(s):  
Sushant Ranjan ◽  
Rama Shankar Yadav

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically validate items on social isolation. The comprehensive literature review of existing studies on the measures of social isolation, loneliness and the related construct was conducted. The paper seeks to conceptualize, validate and present items to measure social isolation. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on theoretical and empirical investigation of the measures of social isolation, loneliness and related constructs such as social others, social loneliness and feeling of sociability. The items were generated through theoretical exploration of previous literature and later modified. The author examined the items through exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and further checked for external criterion validity. Data collected from 128 individuals, in India, were examined to design and validate the scale. Findings The finding of the paper is a ten-item social isolation scale. Using structural equation modeling, we have found extraversion and well-being significantly associated with final items in the present study, confirming the external quality of the scale. Practical implications Organizations may benefit by close examination of the presence of social isolation in employees along with providing support and assistance to employees so as to reduce negative consequences of social isolation and can address the well-being of the employee. Originality/value There is a dearth of developed and validated measures of social isolation in the literature. The study reveals the conceptualization and empirical validation of measures of social isolation in the Indian context so that researchers can move forward to develop theories on social isolation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 1451-1473
Author(s):  
Siew Imm Ng ◽  
Fang Zhao ◽  
Xin-Jean Lim ◽  
Norazlyn Kamal Basha ◽  
Murali Sambasivan

Purpose The well-being of the elderly is a growing issue of concern for countries around the world. One way to enhance the elderly well-being is to provide housing options suitable to their needs and lifestyle. Retirement village is an accommodation concept foreign to the Malaysian population. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to bridge this literature gap by analyzing factors that may inhibit or motivate the buying intention of a retirement village unit among the elderly in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 261 Malaysian elderly and analyzed using structural equation modeling PLS. Findings The results indicated that attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and social sustainability were significant predictors that explained elderly buying intention of retirement village. Originality/value The study also found a significant moderating role of religion in attitude–intention relationship. The paper concludes with the study’s implications, limitations and recommendations for future research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 469-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mashal Ahmed Wattoo ◽  
Shuming Zhao ◽  
Meng Xi

Purpose Considering work and family responsibility has become an important issue due to changes in the lives of people, understanding work and family responsibilities is essential for organizations in assisting employees to increase their well-being. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to find the impact of perceived organizational support (POS) on work–family facilitation (WFF) and work–family conflict (WFC) and eventually on employee well-being. Design/methodology/approach A survey questionnaire is administered to 1,340 employees of Chinese enterprises. Structural equation modeling is used to test the model fit. Findings Results of this study indicate a significant positive relationship between POS and WFF and significant negative relation between POS and WFC. Results of this paper also indicate that WFF and WFC partially mediate the relationship between POS and employee well-being. Originality/value Over the past two decades, the extent of research on work–family literature has been increased. Most of the work–family research works have been conducted in the Western countries. Very little is known about whether these results are applicable to Eastern societies. This study is extended to focus on work–family literature by drawing a sample from different regions of China. The findings of this study may provide a good understanding of WFC and WFF for Chinese employees. This study stresses the importance of providing organizational support to increase the well-being of employees.


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