Change Management via Data Analytics for a successful Lean Transformation of Public Companies

Data analytics is one of the biggest "revolutions" that have taken place in recent years at the business level, enabling many companies to go through a digital transformation, reducing risks and costs and making them more Agile and Lean. Data analytics is a process with heavy business relevance, companies are analyzing data - numbers mainly - and trying to determine decisions for the future based on it. Hence, severe pressure is being posed on public companies to dwindle their operational costs. A method contributing to this direction is the Lean philosophy, as through proper strategies, with its practices and tools leads to substantial resources saving. Each company possesses a unique way of integrating the principles and practices of Lean Management. In other words, there is no specific methodology, which is applicable by every business worldwide. Explicit condition for the success of Lean Management is the presence of the Effective Change Management. Data analysis is achieved by using the quantitative research method, which highlights the existence of influence as a "moderator effect" of the strategy followed by an effective change management compared to the aforementioned critical success factors (CSFs) was examined by performing interaction analysis in "IBM SPSS Amos 21, so that the parsimonious transformation is feasible. The quantitative approach is based on sample research with standardized questionnaire actualized at the two biggest Greek companies of public interest and utility purpose. The data from the participants’ responses ere inserted on a data basis «SPSS Version 23 for Windows». The findings of the research showed that human and organizational factors determine the greatest part of the effective integration of the Lean Management in public companies. The study examined, the influence of an Effective Change Management on important CSFs for a successful integration Lean Management (Lean Transformation) in Greek public companies. Also contributes to fill a research gap on the impact of Lean Management in public companies, since the vast majority of research work is focused on the private sector.

Does Usage of Islamic Microfinance Products Influence the Income, Education, and Health in Mauritania?

This paper attempts to determine the effect of the use of Islamic microfinance (IsMF) products on Mauritanians' income, education, and healthcare, as well as the gender invariance in the model. The article uses cross-sectional design data gathered through a questionnaire from a sample of 381 beneficiaries of the largest IsMF institution in Mauritania, PROCAPEC-Nouakchott. Using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method, the results found that the use of IsMF products has a significant impact on the income level; however, it did not significantly impact children's education and healthcare. Gender has no moderator effect on the relationships in the model.

Work Locus of Control as a Moderator of Relationship between Work Stressor and Counter Productive Work Behavior

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine whether the work locus of control is a moderator of the relationship between counterproductive behavior at work and work stressors. Methods: To investigate this relationship, 346 full-time working adults employed at Nishter hospital Multan and Allied hospital Faisalabad were surveyed during the period from January 2019 to January 2020via three checklist questionnaires. Using hierarchical regression analysis, both main and moderator effect were tested in order to determine whether work locus of control influence employee’s tendencies engage in counterproductive behavior in response to work stressors. Results: Shows that the work locus of control interacts significantly with work stressors in predicting counterproductive behavior at work, suggesting that the work locus of control is an important variable to consider when studying productive behavior at work. The implications of these findings and ideas for future research are discussed. Conclusion: CWB has a detrimental effect on organizations and individuals related with the organization; therefore, organizations should be attentive of the probable influences influencing employee participation in CWB. Keywords: Counterproductive behavior at work, Deviations in the workplace, Location of control in the workplace, Stress at work, Personality

The dilemma of winners: market power, industry competition and subsidy efficiency

Purpose The purpose of this paper is, from a resource accumulation and resource allocation perspective, to examine the variant effects of government subsidies among firms with varying levels of market power and to test how industry competition moderates the relationship between market power and allocative efficiency of government subsidies. Design/methodology/approach This study explores the relationship between government subsidies and firm performance from a resource-based view. The authors study the moderating role of market power and three-way interaction between subsidy, market power and industry competition on firm performance. The authors test their hypotheses using a sample of Chinese A-share manufacturing firms from 2006–2019. The authors apply firm-level panel data regressions and conduct a series of robustness tests. The marginal effect of market power and industry competition is explored via three-way moderator effect models. Findings This study finds that government subsidies are negatively related to firm performance. Market power, on average, strengthens the negative effect of government subsidies on performance, but such a reinforcement effect is neutralized when industry competition is intense. Government subsidies are least efficiently used when firms have market power and industry competition is low. In addition, the authors use different forms of firm performance and a various of robustness tests to verify their assumptions. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature as follows. First, the authors look into subsidy–performance problem from the perspective of the resource-based view and contribute to explaining and mitigating the divergence of current findings on the subsidy–performance relationship. Second, the authors introduce market power and industry competition as moderators to study how resource allocative efficiency affects the subsidy–performance relationship. Third, the authors propose that managerial incentives have played an important role in the allocation of government subsidies, which enriches management practices.

The effect of workload on nurses’ quality of life with moderating perceived social support during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran, the number of patients admitted to hospitals and the workload of nurses has increased. High workload can reduce efficiency and quality of life. In the meantime the percived social support may had a moderating role. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of workload and perceived social support on quality of life in nurses who work in COVID-19 inpatient wards. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study. 336 nurses who worked in inpatient wards with COVID-19 patients were randomly selected and studied. NASA-TLX Workload Questionnaire, WHO Quality of Life Questionnaire and Multidimensional Social Support Perception Scale were used to data collection. Structural equation modelling in PLS software was used to modelling. RESULTS: The results showed that the average score of workload, perceived social support and quality of life were 80.87±20.17, 56.23±11.46 and 55.87±13.74, respectively. A significant inverse relationship was observed between workload and quality of life (P < 0.05). Also, perceived social support had a moderator effect on relationship between workload and quality of life (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: High workload can upset the balance between work and life that leads to decrease the quality of life. Perceived social support as a moderator can reduce the negative impact of workload on quality of life. In the COVID-19 pandemic where nurses’ workload have increased, by increasing the perceived social support can manage the negative effect of workload.

Experience moderator effect on the variables that influence intention to use mobile learning

The study has two objectives, first is exploring the variables that affect the intention to use mobile learning and second is investigating the experience moderator effect on the variables that influence intention to use mobile learning in higher education institutions (HEI) in Iraq. Then formulate a model for intention to use mobile learning. A questionnaire has been conducted in this research for collecting the feedback from the participants. The findings confirmed that social influence (SI), performance expectancy (PE), “facilitating conditions” (FCs), effort expectancy (EE) and “satisfaction” (SA) have an important influence on the intention to use mobile learning. But, this study has rejected the “personal innovativeness” (PINN) factor as it was found not important. Furthermore, the study has confirmed that the experience moderator variable has an influence of EE, SI, and PE on the intention to use mobile learning. This study is significant to the field of discipline as it will provide a roadmap for HEI to recognize the factors that affect the intention to use mobile learning.

Predictiveness of Covid-19 Anxiety and Emotion Regulation on Sleep Quality: The Moderator Effect of Gender

Prior research indicates that anxiety and emotion regulation are related to sleep quality. This study extends the body of research by investigating how people in different gender groups are affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) anxiety and emotion regulation in terms of sleep quality. The present study examined gender as a potential moderating variable on the associations of Covid-19 anxiety and emotion regulation with sleep quality. University students were recruited via e-mail to participate in a brief online survey. Data were collected using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Fear of COVID-19, and Emotion Management Skills Scale. The current study used SPSS PROCESS, an SPSS macro developed by Hayes. Results indicated that Covid-19 anxiety was related to poor sleep quality and emotion regulation was related to good sleep quality. Gender was a significant moderator for the relationship between Covid-19 anxiety and sleep quality, but not emotion regulation and sleep quality. The female gender presented a positive association between Covid-19 anxiety and poor sleep quality in comparison to the male gender. The relationship between emotion regulation and good sleep quality was found to be significant and positive for both genders. In the pandemic, Covid-19 anxiety should be reduced and people should have skills to manage their emotions. Otherwise, they will experience serious sleep problems.

Moderator Effect of Innovation on the Relationship between Internationalization and Performance in Brazilian and European Companies

Objective: To analyzes the moderating effect of innovation on the relationship between internationalization and financial performance. Method: The sample gathers 1,840 companies listed on Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão (B3) and NYSE Euronext during the period of 2014-2018. Tests for difference of means were performed and linear regression models with panel data via systemic generalized moments method (GMM-Sys) were estimated. Results: Estimates indicate that the degree of internationalization alone does not assure high financial performance in Brazilian companies, while in European companies it influences return on assets (ROA) negatively. Moreover, in both contexts, the individual moderating effect of the two variables of innovation, exploration (R&D) and exploitation (Capex), could not be identified. However, a positive and significant effect of ambidextrous innovation activities in the relationship between internationalization and financial performance was verified. Evidence of the effect of internationalization on financial performance in both Brazilian and European companies is confirmed when enhanced by the simultaneous engagement of innovation activities. Contributions: This study contributes to a recent investigative line, which verifies the effect of intervening variables in the internationalization-performance relationship. It contributes to the analysis of this relationship in companies from emerging markets, a much and still needed research focus as a way of gaining a better understanding of business opportunities in adverse institutional conditions and how to seize them.

Differential Effects of Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders on Treatment Outcome in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder from Childhood Trauma

Patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequently have comorbid diagnoses such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders (AD). Studies into the impact of these comorbidities on the outcome of PTSD treatment have yielded mixed results. The different treatments investigated in these studies might explain the varied outcome. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of these comorbidities on the outcome of two specific PTSD treatments. MDD and AD were analyzed as predictors and moderators in a trial comparing 12 sessions of either eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) or imagery rescripting (IR) in 155 adult patients with PTSD from childhood trauma. The primary outcome was reduction of PTSD symptoms (clinician-administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5, CAPS-5) assessed at eight-week follow-up and a secondary outcome was self-report PTSD symptoms (Impact of Event Scale, IES-R). MDD was not a predictor of treatment outcome but did have a significant moderator effect. Patients with MDD showed a better outcome if they were treated with IR, whereas patients without MDD improved more in the EMDR condition. No impact of AD emerged. It seems essential to consider comorbid MDD when planning PTSD treatment to improve treatment outcomes. More research is needed to replicate our findings and focus on different kinds of PTSD treatments and other comorbidities.