Motivational Factors Underlying the Intention Of Herbal Soap Entrepreneurs To Obtain Halal Certificate In Malaysia

The goal of this study is to determine the motivation factors underlying Herbal soap entrepreneurs‘ intention to obtain Halal certificate in Malaysia. This is a quantitative study that employs questionnaires as a research tool and uses Dimaggio and Powell's (1983) model on institutional theory to study the intention of Herbal soap entrepreneur in getting Halal certificate. The study predicted that there are positive links between Malaysian Herbal soap entrepreneurs’ motivation factors (coercive isomorphism, normative isomorphism and mimetic isomorphism) and the intention to obtain a Halal certificate. This study will have significant implications for various Halal stakeholders. Furthermore, despite the fact that many studies have focused primarily on the Halal food sector, there is a need for more research into the Halal Herbal soap market. More empirical and non-empirical research is needed to reveal more concerns with Halal certification in the Herbal soap industry.

Cost behavior in e-commerce firms

We conduct empirical research on the flexibility of operating costs of e-commerce firms. With an international sample of firms from different European countries, we find that e-commerce firms have a different cost structure than traditional retail firms, with a lower share of labor costs and cost of goods sold, but a higher share of other operating costs. While we find no significant different behavior in cost of goods sold and labor costs between the two types of firms, e-commerce firms are more flexible in adjusting other operating costs than traditional retail firms when activity decreases. Results are robust to different models, estimations methods and samples. The higher flexibility of e-commerce firms relies on other operating costs, but e-commerce creates qualified jobs with higher wages than traditional retail, with no additional exposure to labor uncertainty for employees.

Christian Accommodative Mindfulness: Definition, Current Research, and Group Protocol

More clinicians are using mindfulness-based therapeutic strategies; however, Evangelical Christian clients sometimes worry about the Buddhist origins of these treatments. Christian accommodative mindfulness (CAM) attempts to address these concerns with culturally sensitive adaptations to mindfulness methods. We present a definition of CAM and propose some worldview adjustments to typical mindfulness constructs when working with these clients. The empirical research on Christian-derived meditation strategies and Christian-adapted mindfulness strategies will then be reviewed. We introduce a four-session group CAM protocol currently being researched that focuses on scripture meditation, breath meditation, body awareness, and loving-kindness meditation. Sample scripts are included.

Gamers never play alone: An interface-centred analysis of online video gaming

Online gaming involves a complex and multidimensional set of practices. This article proposes understanding online video gaming based on an interface-centred approach that goes beyond the classic study of the “graphic user interface”. In this theoretical and analytical framework, the interface is considered the place where human, institutional and technological actors relate to each other and different processes are carried out. The article draws the data from empirical research with teens carried out in eight countries. It analyses the teenagers’ online playing experience as an interface, understood as a ‘network of actors’ that goes beyond the single video gaming device (console, PC, etc.). This work also presents a map of actors, relationships and processes of the online video gaming interface, paying particular attention to the tensions and critical issues that arise, from a perspective that, in further studies, could be expanded to other practices.

From crisis to reform? Exploring three post-COVID pathways

Crises are often viewed as catalysts for change. The coronavirus disease crisis is no exception. In many policy sectors, proponents of reform see this global crisis both as a justification and an enabler of necessary change. Policy scholars have paid ample attention to this crisis-reform thesis. Empirical research suggests that these proponents of crisis-induced change should not be too optimistic. The question remains why some crises give rise to reform whereas so many others do not. This paper focuses on one particular factor that crisis researchers have identified as important. Crisis research suggests that the outcome of the meaning-making process—the efforts to impose a dominant frame on a population—shapes the prospects of postcrisis change. The paper offers three ideal-typical framing scripts, which researchers can use to study postcrisis trajectories.

Simple questionnaires outperform behavioral tasks to measure socio-emotional skills in students

Recent empirical research has shown that improving socio-emotional skills such as grit, conscientiousness and self-control leads to higher academic achievement and better life outcomes. However, both theoretical and empirical works have raised concerns about the reliability of the different methods used to measure socio-emotional skills. We compared the reliability and validity of the three leading measurements methods—a student-reported questionnaire, a teacher-reported questionnaire, and a behavioral task—in a sample of 3997 French students. Before analyzing the data, we polled 114 international researchers in cognitive development and education economics; most researchers in both fields predicted that the behavioral task would be the best method. We found instead that the teacher questionnaire was more predictive of students’ behavioral outcomes and of their grade progression, while the behavioral task was the least predictive. This work suggests that researchers may not be using optimal tools to measure socio-emotional skills in children.