scholarly journals Academics’ Perceptions on the Factors Affecting Strategic Changes: The Case of an Australian University

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 169
Author(s):  
Mamun Billah ◽  
Mehadi Mamun

Over three decades, a number of external and internal factors that are linked to the political and economic environment have influenced Australian universities to adopt strategies and management styles similar to any other business organisation. The shifts in the strategic focus of the universities have been reflected through their policies and governance at different levels of the organisations. However, there is a need for understanding from different levels’ staff perceptions on whether they equally perceive the changes as legitimate. Based on a social constructionist approach, utilising the intellectual merits of Institutional Theory, this paper draws on the in-depth interview of three levels of staff of an Australian university to understand their perceptions on the impact of major influential factor(s) responsible for strategic changes in their operating environment. The study finds that academics at different levels carry a mix of attitudes towards identifying the major influential factors, not by its merit but rather the way the top managements have implemented the changes within the organisation. The study also finds that the strategy implementation that is based on the new business model and adopted by the University has not been positively accepted by the operational level academics as it conflicts with their traditional values. The perception gaps at different levels identified in the study would help management in future strategy development and the implementation process with a stronger focus on the behavioural aspects of change.

Author(s):  
Esmaeil Pouresmaeili ◽  
Arash Ebrahimabadi ◽  
Hadi Hamidian

Purpose. Surface mining is one of the main activities that affect the environment, economy and society in its surrounding region. Therefore, it is important to investigate the results of this activity in terms of sustainability assessment. Measuring sustainability of a mine requires a methodology which covers all aspects of mining sustainability.The purpose of the article is to assess the sustainability of career development and determine which components require modification and more consideration. Methodology.Many researchers have tried to develop certain frameworks to measure sustainable score of mining activities, while some of them are complicated and the rest of them do not cover all aspects of sustainability. In this research work, in order to evaluate the sustainability of an open-pit mine, Folchi method based on Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach was used. With this respect, primarily, influential factors and the impact of each influential factor on the sustainable component of an open-pit mine were investigated. Findings.In this regard, Anguran lead and zinc open-pit mine was chosen as a case study. A correlation matrix of the weighted impact of each influential factor on each environmental component was built up based on experts opinion. Afterwards, the magnitude of the influential factors and the impact of each influential factor on the sustainable component of Anguran mine were calculated. Originality. The results obtained using the Folchi method demonstrated that human health and safety, water quality, air quality, flora and fauna, as well as the surface have become decisive factors in the sustainability of Anguran open-pit mine. Practical value.Finally, it can be concluded that Anguran quarry is characterized by a significant degree of resilience due to the low level of influence of the influential factors, and there is no need to modify any influential factors.


Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1543
Author(s):  
Eddy Plasquy ◽  
José María García Martos ◽  
María C. Florido ◽  
Rafael Rubén Sola-Guirado ◽  
Juan Francisco García Martín

Cold storage of olive fruit has been the subject of study for over more than 50 years. From the 1990s on, an increasing amount of knowledge is build-up about the impact of the conservation on the physiological response of the fruit as well as on the quality of the extracted oil therefrom. This review offers a comprehensive synopsis of this research, discusses the most important influential factors and summarizes the results on the influence of the studied parameters on both the fruit and the oil. Currently, changing climatic conditions, new harvesting techniques and a more demanding consumer market are triggering the need to broaden this strict focus on conservation. A more dynamic view on the effects of temperature from the moment the fruit is harvested up to the oil extraction process, reveals the necessity to manage this crucial influential factor more diversely. An overview of how this management can take form is structured through a focus on the different phases of the postharvest processing and the widely different harvesting scales. Future prospects of research are presented based on the actual state of the art of cold storage research as well as on the necessities that come forward from a broader fruit temperature management perspective.


2011 ◽  
pp. 140-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alf Westelius ◽  
Pablo Valiente

This paper draws on the need to understand how mobile technology is implemented and used at the organisational level. IT is a general-purpose technology and its use involves a high degree of uncertainty. Therefore, managers have trouble in identifying the real scope, the functionality, and the impact of new mobile applications. However, these three types of uncertainties need to be handled in change management projects where new information technology is involved. Gradual uncertainty reduction at these three different levels—that is, what technology can do, will technology work, and will users adopt it—is studied in this chapter. This is achieved through an analysis of the implementation process of an information system at BT Europe, a leading supplier of forklift trucks. The analysis shows how the computerised parts of the information system are complemented by mindful intertwining with the noncomputerised communication and manual data processing in order for the information system to work.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 6904
Author(s):  
Xiaoxue Zheng ◽  
Lijie Qin ◽  
Hongshi He

Water consumption ensures crop production and grain security, and is influenced by many factors. Analyzing the impact factors of water consumption during crop production will be beneficial to the full use of water resources and crop growth. Jilin Province is one of the major crop production areas in China and is facing water shortages. Using the water footprint as an indicator, this study evaluated the water consumption of crop production in Jilin Province during 2000–2016, explored the impacts of climatic and agricultural input factors on the water consumption of crop production, and identified the most influential factors in years under different levels of rainfall. The results indicate that the crop water footprint exhibited a decreasing trend during 2000–2016, and the most influential factors of the crop water footprint changed over the years with different levels of rainfall. Precipitation and the effective irrigation area were the most influential factors in the drought year, and accumulated temperature, machinery power, and chemical fertilizer consumption were the most influential factors in normal and humid years. The most influential factors of the crop water footprint differed in different regions with the differences in natural and human interfered conditions. Identifying the impacts of the most influential factors on the water consumption of crop production would be conducive to optimizing farmland management and achieving sustainable agricultural production.


Author(s):  
Maria Giulia Ballatore ◽  
Ettore Felisatti ◽  
Laura Montanaro ◽  
Anita Tabacco

This paper is aimed to describe and critically analyze the so-called "TEACHPOT" experience (POT: Provide Opportunities in Teaching) performed during the last few years at Politecnico di Torino. Due to career criteria, the effort and the time lecturers spend in teaching have currently undergone a significant reduction in quantity. In order to support and meet each lecturers' expectations towards an improvement in their ability to teach, a mix of training opportunities has been provided. This consists of an extremely wide variety of experiences, tools, relationships, from which everyone can feel inspired to increase the effectiveness of their teaching and the participation of their students. The provided activities are designed around three main components: methodological training, teaching technologies, methodological experiences. A discussion on the findings is included and presented basing on the data collected through a survey. The impact of the overall experience can be evaluated on two different levels: the real effect on redesigning lessons, and the discussion on the matter within the entire academic community.


Author(s):  
Yosra Makni Fourati ◽  
Rania Chakroun Ghorbel

This study aims to examine the consequences of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) convergence in an emerging market. More specifically, we investigate whether the adoption of the new set of accounting standards in Malaysia is associated with lower earnings management. Using a sample of 3,340 firm-year observations across three reporting periods with different levels of IFRS adoption, we provide evidence that IFRS convergence improves earning quality. In particular, we find a significant decrease in the absolute value of discretionary acccruals in the partial IFRS-convergence period (2007-2011), whereas this effect is restrictive after the complete IFRS- implementation.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (14) ◽  
pp. 4663
Author(s):  
Janaina Cavalcanti ◽  
Victor Valls ◽  
Manuel Contero ◽  
David Fonseca

An effective warning attracts attention, elicits knowledge, and enables compliance behavior. Game mechanics, which are directly linked to human desires, stand out as training, evaluation, and improvement tools. Immersive virtual reality (VR) facilitates training without risk to participants, evaluates the impact of an incorrect action/decision, and creates a smart training environment. The present study analyzes the user experience in a gamified virtual environment of risks using the HTC Vive head-mounted display. The game was developed in the Unreal game engine and consisted of a walk-through maze composed of evident dangers and different signaling variables while user action data were recorded. To demonstrate which aspects provide better interaction, experience, perception and memory, three different warning configurations (dynamic, static and smart) and two different levels of danger (low and high) were presented. To properly assess the impact of the experience, we conducted a survey about personality and knowledge before and after using the game. We proceeded with the qualitative approach by using questions in a bipolar laddering assessment that was compared with the recorded data during the game. The findings indicate that when users are engaged in VR, they tend to test the consequences of their actions rather than maintaining safety. The results also reveal that textual signal variables are not accessed when users are faced with the stress factor of time. Progress is needed in implementing new technologies for warnings and advance notifications to improve the evaluation of human behavior in virtual environments of high-risk surroundings.


Author(s):  
Natalie Rose ◽  
Les Dolega

AbstractThe weather is considered as an influential factor on consumer purchasing behaviours and plays a significant role in many aspects of retail sector decision making. As a result, better understanding of the magnitude and nature of the influence of variable UK weather conditions can be beneficial to many retailers and other stakeholders. This study addresses the dearth of research in this area by quantifying the relationship between different weather conditions and trading outcomes. By employing comprehensive daily sales data for a major high street retailer with over 2000 stores across England and adopting a random forest methodology, the study quantifies the influence of various weather conditions on daily retail sales. Results indicate that weather impact is greatest in the summer and spring months and that wind is consistently found to be the most influential weather condition. The top five most weather-dependent categories cover a range of different product types, with health foods emerging as the most susceptible to the weather. Also, sales from out-of-town stores show a far more complex relationship with the weather than those from traditional high street stores with the regions London and the South East experiencing the greatest levels of influence. Various implications of these findings for retail stakeholders are discussed and the scope for further research outlined.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonatan Almagor ◽  
Stefano Picascia

AbstractA contact-tracing strategy has been deemed necessary to contain the spread of COVID-19 following the relaxation of lockdown measures. Using an agent-based model, we explore one of the technology-based strategies proposed, a contact-tracing smartphone app. The model simulates the spread of COVID-19 in a population of agents on an urban scale. Agents are heterogeneous in their characteristics and are linked in a multi-layered network representing the social structure—including households, friendships, employment and schools. We explore the interplay of various adoption rates of the contact-tracing app, different levels of testing capacity, and behavioural factors to assess the impact on the epidemic. Results suggest that a contact tracing app can contribute substantially to reducing infection rates in the population when accompanied by a sufficient testing capacity or when the testing policy prioritises symptomatic cases. As user rate increases, prevalence of infection decreases. With that, when symptomatic cases are not prioritised for testing, a high rate of app users can generate an extensive increase in the demand for testing, which, if not met with adequate supply, may render the app counterproductive. This points to the crucial role of an efficient testing policy and the necessity to upscale testing capacity.


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