Understanding the Experiences of Remote Workers: Opportunities for Ambient Workspaces at Home

As the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many to work remotely from home, collaborating solely through digital technologies, a growing population of remote home workers are faced with profound wellbeing challenges. Passive sensing devices and ambient feedback have great potential to support the wellbeing of the remote workers, but there is a lack of background and understanding of the domestic workplace in terms of physical and affective dimensions and challenges to wellbeing. There are profound research gaps on wellbeing in the domestic workplace, with the current push for remote home and hybrid working making this topic timely. To address these gaps and shape a starting point for an “ambient workspaces” agenda, we conducted an exploratory study to map physical and affective aspects of working from home. The study involved both qualitative and quantitative measures of occupant experience, including sensor wristbands, and a custom web application for self-reporting mood and aspects of the environment. It included 13 participants for a period of 4 weeks, during a period of exclusive home working. Based on quantitative and qualitative analysis, our study addresses wellbeing challenges of the domestic workplace, establishes correlations between mood and physical aspects, and discusses the impact of feedback mechanisms in the domestic workplace on the behavior of remote workers. Insights from these observations are then used to inform a future design agenda for ambient technologies that supports the wellbeing of remote workers; addressing the design opportunities for ambient interventions in domestic workspaces. This work offers three contributions: 1) qualitatively and quantitatively informed understandings of the experiences of home-workers; 2) a future design agenda for “ambient home workspaces”; and 3) we propose three design concepts for ambient feedback and human–AI interactions in the built environment, to illustrate the utility of the design agenda.

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Liszt at the Piano: The Impact of Iconography on mid-Nineteenth Century Musicology

Studia Musicologica ◽

10.1556/6.2014.55.1-2.9 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 55 (1-2) ◽

pp. 131-144

Author(s):

Suzanne Marie Francis

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Music History ◽

Collective Identities ◽

Cultural Contexts ◽

Maximum Benefit ◽

Starting Point ◽

The Social ◽

Iconic Status ◽

The Impact

By the time of his death in 1827, the image of Beethoven as we recognise him today was firmly fixed in the minds of his contemporaries, and the career of Liszt was beginning to flower into that of the virtuosic performer he would be recognised as by the end of the 1830s. By analysing the seminal artwork Liszt at the Piano of 1840 by Josef Danhauser, we can see how a seemingly unremarkable head-and-shoulders bust of Beethoven in fact holds the key to unlocking the layers of commentary on both Liszt and Beethoven beneath the surface of the image. Taking the analysis by Alessandra Comini as a starting point, this paper will look deeper into the subtle connections discernible between the protagonists of the picture. These reveal how the collective identities of the artist and his painted assembly contribute directly to Beethoven’s already iconic status within music history around 1840 and reflect the reception of Liszt at this time. Set against the background of Romanticism predominant in the social and cultural contexts of the mid 1800s, it becomes apparent that it is no longer enough to look at a picture of a composer or performer in isolation to understand its impact on the construction of an overall identity. Each image must be viewed in relation to those that preceded and came after it to gain the maximum benefit from what it can tell us.

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Nachhaltigkeit im Wald – vor und hinter der Welle der Globalisierung | Sustainable Forest Management – In Front and Behind the Wave of Globalization

Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen ◽

10.3188/szf.2000.0502 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 151 (12) ◽

pp. 502-507

Author(s):

Christian Küchli

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Cultural Landscape ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Essential Element ◽

Specific Situation ◽

The South ◽

The North ◽

Time Space ◽

Starting Point ◽

The Impact

Are there any common patterns in the transition processes from traditional and more or less sustainable forest management to exploitative use, which can regularly be observed both in central Europe and in the countries of the South (e.g. India or Indonesia)? Attempts were made with a time-space-model to typify those force fields, in which traditional sustainable forest management is undermined and is then transformed into a modern type of sustainable forest management. Although it is unlikely that the history of the North will become the future of the South, the glimpse into the northern past offers a useful starting point for the understanding of the current situation in the South, which in turn could stimulate the debate on development. For instance, the patterns which stand behind the conflicts on forest use in the Himalayas are very similar to the conflicts in the Alps. In the same way, the impact of socio-economic changes on the environment – key word ‹globalisation› – is often much the same. To recognize comparable patterns can be very valuable because it can act as a stimulant for the search of political, legal and technical solutions adapted to a specific situation. For the global community the realization of the way political-economic alliances work at the head of the ‹globalisationwave›can only signify to carry on trying to find a common language and understanding at the negotiation tables. On the lee side of the destructive breaker it is necessary to conserve and care for what survived. As it was the case in Switzerland these forest islands could once become the germination points for the genesis of a cultural landscape, where close-to-nature managed forests will constitute an essential element.

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Law and Economics

The Oxford Handbook of the New Private Law ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190919665.013.6 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 84-102

Author(s):

Daniel B. Kelly

Keyword(s):

Economic Analysis ◽

First Generation ◽

Law And Economics ◽

Private Law ◽

Foreseeable Future ◽

Business Associations ◽

The Third ◽

Starting Point ◽

The Law ◽

The Impact

This chapter analyzes how law and economics influences private law and how (new) private law is influencing law and economics. It focuses on three generation or “waves” within law and economics and how they approach private law. In the first generation, many scholars took the law as a starting point and attempted to use economic insights to explain, justify, or reform legal doctrines, institutions, and structures. In the second generation, the “law” at times became secondary, with more focus on theory and less focus on doctrines, institutions, and structures. But this generation also relied increasingly on empirical analysis. In the third generation, which includes scholars in the New Private Law (NPL), there has been a resurgence of interest in the law and legal institutions. To be sure, NPL scholars analyze the law using various approaches, with some more and some less predisposed to economic analysis. However, economic analysis will continue to be a major force on private law, including the New Private Law, for the foreseeable future. The chapter considers three foundational private law areas: property, contracts, and torts. For each area, it discusses the major ideas that economic analysis has contributed to private law, and surveys contributions of the NPL. The chapter also looks at the impact of law and economics on advanced private law areas, such as business associations, trusts and estates, and intellectual property.

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Mental health professional perspectives on health data sharing: Mixed methods study

Health Informatics Journal ◽

10.1177/1460458219893848 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 2067-2082 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Adela Grando ◽

Julia Ivanova ◽

Megan Hiestand ◽

Hiral Soni ◽

Anita Murcko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Information ◽

Data Sharing ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Mixed Methods Study ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative ◽

Patient Comprehension ◽

Professional Perspectives ◽

The Impact ◽

Perceived Reasons

This study explores behavioral health professionals’ perceptions of granular data. Semi-structured in-person interviews of 20 health professionals were conducted at two different sites. Qualitative and quantitative analysis was performed. While most health professionals agreed that patients should control who accesses their personal medical record (70%), there are certain types of health information that should never be restricted (65%). Emergent themes, including perceived reasons that patients might share or withhold certain types of health information (65%), care coordination (12%), patient comprehension (11%), stigma (5%), trust (3%), sociocultural understanding (3%), and dissatisfaction with consent processes (1%), are explored. The impact of care role (prescriber or non-prescriber) on data-sharing perception is explored as well. This study informs the discussion on developing technology that helps balance provider and patient data-sharing and access needs.

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Engels on women, the family, class and gender

Human Geography ◽

10.1177/19427786211000047 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 194277862110000

Author(s):

Sheila Margaret McGregor

Keyword(s):

Historical Materialism ◽

Human Society ◽

Human Beings ◽

True Nature ◽

Starting Point ◽

Women's Oppression ◽

1960S And 1970S ◽

Socialist Movement ◽

The Impact ◽

The Way

This article looks at Engels’s writings to show that his ideas about the role of labour in the evolution of human beings in a dialectical relationship between human beings and nature is a crucial starting point for understanding human society and is correct in its essentials. It is important for understanding that we developed as a species on the basis of social cooperation. The way human beings produce and reproduce themselves, the method of historical materialism, provides the basis for understanding how class and women’s oppression arose and how that can explain LGBTQ oppression. Although Engels’s analysis was once widely accepted by the socialist movement, it has mainly been ignored or opposed by academic researchers and others, including geographers, and more recently by Marxist feminists. However, anthropological research from the 1960s and 1970s as well as more recent anthropological and archaeological research provide overwhelming evidence for the validity of Engels’s argument that there were egalitarian, pre-class societies without women’s oppression. However, much remains to be explained about the transition to class societies. Engels’s analysis of the impact of industrial capitalism on gender roles shows how society shapes our behaviour. Engels’s method needs to be constantly reasserted against those who would argue that we are a competitive, aggressive species who require rules to suppress our true nature, and that social development is driven by ideas, not by changes in the way we produce and reproduce ourselves.

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On Present Value Evaluation under the Impact of Behavioural Factors Using Oriented Fuzzy Numbers

Symmetry ◽

10.3390/sym13030468 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 468

Author(s):

Krzysztof Piasecki ◽

Anna Łyczkowska-Hanćkowiak

Keyword(s):

Fuzzy Numbers ◽

Asset Price ◽

Financial Knowledge ◽

Present Value ◽

Market Knowledge ◽

Value Evaluation ◽

Starting Point ◽

Behavioural Factors ◽

Objective Financial Knowledge ◽

The Impact

In general, the present value (PV) concept is ambiguous. Therefore, behavioural factors may influence on the PV evaluation. The main aim of our paper is to propose some method of soft computing PV evaluated under the impact of behavioural factors. The starting point for our discussion is the notion of the Behavioural PV (BPV) defined as an imprecisely real-valued function of distinguished variables which can be evaluated using objective financial knowledge or subjective behavioural premises. In our paper, a BPV is supplemented with a forecast of the asset price closest to changes. Such BPV is called the oriented BPV (O-BPV). We propose to evaluate an O-BPV by oriented fuzzy numbers which are more useful for portfolio analysis than fuzzy numbers. This fact determines the significance of the research described in this article. O-BPV may be applied as input signal for systems supporting invest-making. We consider here six cases of O-BPV: overvalued asset with the prediction of a rise in its price, overvalued asset with the prediction of a fall in its price, undervalued asset with the prediction of a rise in its price, undervalued asset with the prediction of a fall in its price, fully valued asset with the prediction of a rise in its rice and fully valued asset with the prediction of a fall in its rice. All our considerations are illustrated by numerical examples. Presented examples show the way in which we transform superposition of objective market knowledge and subjective investment opinion into simple return rate.

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Risk of Increased Acceptance for Organizational Nepotism and Cronyism during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Risks ◽

10.3390/risks9040059 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 59

Author(s):

Grzegorz Ignatowski ◽

Łukasz Sułkowski ◽

Bartłomiej Stopczyński

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Study ◽

Quantitative Methods ◽

Research Work ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽

Work Related ◽

Social And Economic Development ◽

The Times ◽

The Impact

Nepotism and cronyism are forms of favoritism towards certain people in the workplace. For this reason, they constitute a problem for organization managers, ethicists and psychologists. Identifying the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the increase of nepotism and cronyism may provide a basis for organizations to assess their extent and to take possible measures to prevent their negative effects. At the same time, the research presented in the article may provide a basis for further research work related to nepotism and cronyism at the times of other threats, different from the pandemic. The aim of the article is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on growing acceptance for nepotism and cronyism in Polish enterprises. Qualitative and quantitative methods have been included in the conducted research. Qualitative study aimed at improving knowledge of nepotism and cronyism and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these phenomena, followed by a quantitative study conducted in order to verify the information obtained in the qualitative study. This research has demonstrated that Nepotism and cronyism in the workplace, are phenomenon that are basically evaluated negatively. They adversely influences social and economic development, but the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on nepotism and cronyism is not significant.

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Analysis of the journal impact factor and related bibliometric indicators in education and educational research category

Education for Information ◽

10.3233/efi-200442 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-22

Author(s):

Metin Orbay ◽

Orhan Karamustafaoğlu ◽

Ruben Miranda

Keyword(s):

Impact Factor ◽

Educational Research ◽

Journal Impact Factor ◽

Impact Factors ◽

Bibliometric Indicators ◽

Strongly Correlated ◽

Starting Point ◽

Consistent Assessment ◽

The Impact ◽

Journal Impact

This study analyzes the journal impact factor and related bibliometric indicators in Education and Educational Research (E&ER) category, highlighting the main differences among journal quartiles, using Web of Science (Social Sciences Citation Index, SSCI) as the data source. High impact journals (Q1) publish only slightly more papers than expected, which is different to other areas. The papers published in Q1 journal have greater average citations and lower uncitedness rates compared to other quartiles, although the differences among quartiles are lower than in other areas. The impact factor is only weakly negative correlated (r=-0.184) with the journal self-citation but strongly correlated with the citedness of the median journal paper (r= 0.864). Although this strong correlation exists, the impact factor is still far to be the perfect indicator for expected citations of a paper due to the high skewness of the citations distribution. This skewness was moderately correlated with the citations received by the most cited paper of the journal (r= 0.649) and the number of papers published by the journal (r= 0.484), but no important differences by journal quartiles were observed. In the period 2013–2018, the average journal impact factor in the E&ER has increased largely from 0.908 to 1.638, which is justified by the field growth but also by the increase in international collaboration and the share of papers published in open access. Despite their inherent limitations, the use of impact factors and related indicators is a starting point for introducing the use of bibliometric tools for objective and consistent assessment of researcher.

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Designing a Virtual Enterprise Architecture using Structured System Dynamics

Human Systems Management ◽

10.3233/hsm-2006-25102 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 13-29

Author(s):

Nikitas A. Assimakopoulos ◽

Anastasios N. Riggas

Keyword(s):

System Dynamics ◽

Enterprise Architecture ◽

Business Processes ◽

Core Competencies ◽

Virtual Enterprise ◽

Business Goals ◽

Starting Point ◽

Efficient Integration ◽

Structured System ◽

The Impact

The starting point for establishing a Virtual Enterprise is a set of existing enterprises which might contribute with some of their functionalities (core competencies) to the formation of the virtual entity. The most important issue, in this formation, is the rapid integration of the business processes of the participating companies. The architecture of the VE must assist companies desiring to enter into a virtual relationship by defining the functions and interfaces of critical business processes, thus allowing for a more rapid and efficient integration of the expertise which will be contributed by each partner in the virtual enterprise. While the integration of computer and communication technologies are no doubt critical issues, the successful attainment of the business goals of the virtual enterprise often depends on its ability to align the business processes and practices of partner enterprises. Focus of this paper, is the presentation of Structured System Dynamics (SSPS) multi-methodology for the design and the evaluation of a Virtual Enterprise Architecture. SSPS uses Systems Thinking and System Dynamics principles as launch pad for its approach. The Systemic Methodologies of Problem Structuring Methodology (PSM) and SAST are also integrated in this new Multi-Methodology. SSPS is a new practical and scientific tool in designing and evaluating a VE architecture providing the ability to determine the impact, reliability, success of the Architectures' models created, refine them and identify potential process improvements. A framework for the rapid and efficient integration of the business processes of the participating companies in the virtual enterprise is provided. For this multi-methodology, a real-life application is also presented for a Virtual Enterprise that constructs Wireless Payment Mechanisms.

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Globalization Impact on Multinational Enterprises

World ◽

10.3390/world2020014 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 216-230

Author(s):

Justine Kyove ◽

Katerina Streltsova ◽

Ufuoma Odibo ◽

Giuseppe T. Cirella

Keyword(s):

Developing Country ◽

Multinational Enterprises ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Global Market ◽

Data Availability ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Developed Country ◽

Excellent Starting Point ◽

Starting Point ◽

The Impact

The impact of globalization on multinational enterprises was examined from the years 1980 to 2020. A scoping literature review was conducted for a total of 141 articles. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed typologies were categorized and conclusions were drawn regarding the influence and performance (i.e., positive or negative effects) of globalization. Developed countries show more saturated markets than developing countries that favor developing country multinational enterprises to rely heavily on foreign sales for revenue growth. Developed country multinationals are likely to use more advanced factors of production to create revenue, whereas developing country multinationals are more likely to use less advanced forms. A number of common trends and issues showed corporate social responsibility, emerging markets, political issues, and economic matters as key to global market production. Recommendations signal a strong need for more research that addresses contributive effects in the different economies, starting with the emerging to the developed. Limitations of data availability and inconsistency posed a challenge for this review, yet the use of operationalization, techniques, and analyses from the business literature enabled this study to be an excellent starting point for additional work in the field.

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