Knowledge Management Influence on Safety Management Practices

Many studies have been conducted in relation with knowledge management (KM), indicating the benefit associated with KM; among which safety management (SM) improvement is one of them. So, the aim of this article is to assess the influence of KM on SM practices in construction industry. In this regard, various factors that affect KM and SM are identified through literature review. Then, a questionnaire survey was facilitated to collect data based on the identified factors. These factors are ranked using a relative importance index (RII) to ascertain the level of importance among its group. Further, correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis are carried out to test and measure the strength of the relationship between KM and SM factors. Results indicate that there exists a definite and significant relationship between the factors of KM and SM in construction industry. Overall, the results obtained from the study will assist practitioners and professionals to develop and upgrade KM and SM practices in construction industry.

The influence of the Personal Learning Environment concept in the educational research field.

Almost 15 years after the start of the debate over Personal Learning Environments (PLE), the concept would still appear to be influential and even intrinsic to discussion over the future of educational technology and education in general. This paper aims to establish a clear thematic link between the concept of PLEs and educational academic literature over the last decade, exploring the influence of the PLE concept in the education research papers. To do this, it uses a systematized review of academic literature that relates the PLE concept to three themes identified as most relevant in that field during the last decade: emerging pedagogical practices, professional teacher development, and self-regulated learning. The analysis is focused on whether (and how) the PLE concept has intersected each of the themes, the level of importance of that intersection in each one of them and the way in which the concept is ‘materialized’. The purpose is to understand how (and if) a concept that has its origin in Educational Technology has been adapted to other areas of educational research.

Multimodalność w relacjach z działań komunikacyjnych

W artykule zostały przedstawione wybrane wyniki części pilotażowej badania eksperymentalnego nad relacjonowaniem multimodalnych działań komunikacyjnych przez dorosłych użytkowników języka polskiego. Punktem wyjścia w przeprowadzonym eksperymencie były teoretyczne i empiryczne studia nad zaangażowaniem w działania komunikacyjne różnych modalności, tj. oprócz słów, także intonacji, prozodii, mimiki, gestów, ruchów całego ciała i poszczególnych jego członków, por. Austin (1962), Kendon (1994, 2000, 2004), Poggi (2007), Hellbernd i Sammler (2016). W ramach badania 101 osobom różniącym się wiekiem, płcią i wykształceniem zaprezentowano 23 fragmenty filmów dokumentalnych, pochodzących ze zbiorów Archiwum Szkoły Filmowej w Łodzi. Zadaniem uczestników badania było zrelacjonowanie, co robią bohaterowie filmów. W rezultacie powstał korpus, w którym do poszczególnych działań komunikacyjnych zarejestrowanych na filmach przypisano wypowiedzi uczestników badania. Na potrzeby pilotażu została przeprowadzona analiza jakościowa i ilościowa wypowiedzi dotyczących 10 fragmentów. Analizie tej zostało poddane znaczenie i odniesienie słów, którym uczestnicy badania posługiwali się w celu zrelacjonowania multimodalnych działań komunikacyjnych, zaobserwowanych na zaprezentowanych im filmach, a także frekwencja używanych w relacjach wyrażeń oraz rozbieżności między poszczególnymi relacjami. Analiza wykazała, że jeśli daną kolejkę tworzą kompozycje lub sekwencje działań o różnej modalności, to sprawozdawcy zdają sprawę albo z każdego z tych działań osobno, albo używają pojedynczego kwalifikatora na określenie całej grupy działań. Takim kwalifikatorem mogą być zarówno nazwy aktów performatywnych, jak i nazwy działań o dowolnej, określonej modalności. Jeśli rozmowa przebiega w sposób zmienny pod względem modalności, to przez poszczególnych obserwatorów może być postrzegana przez pryzmat różnych epizodów, które się na nią składają. Pewne działania bywają przy tym częściej niż inne uwzględniane lub pomijane w relacjach, co świadczy o różnicach wagi, jaką sprawozdawcy przywiązują do działań różnych rodzajów. Multimodality in reports on communication activities Summary: The article presents selected results of the pilot part of an experimental study on reporting multimodal communication activities by adult speakers of Polish. The starting point of the experiment was theoretical and empirical research on the involvement of various modalities in communication activities, in addition to words, intonation, prosody, facial expressions, gestures, movements of the whole body and its parts (Austin 1962; Kendon 1994, 2000, 2004; Poggi 2007; Hellbernd & Sammler 2016). In order to obtain data for the analysis, 23 fragments of documentary films from the collection of the Archives of the Film School in Łódź were presented to 101 adults, who differed in terms of age, sex and education. The participants of the experiment were asked to report on what the characters were doing. The result of the study was a database that included recordings of both the communication activities and the reports on them. The pilot part of the study covered the qualitative and quantitative analysis of 10 fragments of films. We analysed the meaning and reference of the vocabulary used by the participants to report on the multimodal communication activities observed in the films, the frequency of expressions used in the reports, as well as the discrepancies in the reports. The analysis showed that if a given turn was a composition or a sequence of activities of different modalities, the speaker could report on each of these activities separately or use a single qualifier to describe a whole group of activities. Such qualifiers can be both the names of performative acts and the names of actions of any specific modality. If the conversation changes in terms of modality, then it can be perceived by individual observers through the lens of the various episodes that make up the conversation. Certain actions are sometimes more often taken into account or omitted, which shows differences in the level of importance that speakers attach to different types of activities.

Social capital as a determinant for raising ecosystem services awareness - an application to an Albanian pastoral ecosystem

This paper aims to map the ecosystem services (ES) provided by a reputed agropastoral ecosystem in the south of Albania and ascertain whether social capital affects the level of importance attributed to them. A perception analysis of both buyers and sellers of ES within the pastoral ecosystem is undertaken. The pastoral ecosystem is mainly evaluated for cultural services such as tradition, enhancing the area’s image, and environment ES. The strong inclination towards cultural ES and socioeconomic services indicates a lack of awareness of both buyers and sellers of ES in the local community regarding the environmental aspects of their ecosystem. However, participants showing a higher radius of trust with high linking social capital are more likely to confer very high importance to environmental services. Similarly, the cultural ES (traditional aspect) of the pastoral ecosystem is affected by cognitive and structural social capital. These are interesting findings for public policymaking concerning the opportunity to develop market transaction ES. Its development is more ground-based and effective if participation and civic engagement, especially the Linking dimension, is enhanced in the pastoral community.

Which Factors Drive Consumer Decisions during Milk Purchase? New Individuals’ Profiles Considering Fresh Pasteurized and UHT Treated Milk

The cow’s milk market is going through a critical period characterised by a continuous contraction in consumption as a consequence of the lack of competitiveness on the market of the conventional product (commodity) versus numerous specialties. This paper aimed to define the profiles of milk consumers in terms of individual preferences (assessed using the best-worst scaling methodology) and socio-demographic features. A survey was conducted in several stores of large-scale retail, convenience stores, and open-air markets distributed in north-west Italy to collect data from 1216 respondents. For milk shopper purchasing habits, two consumer groups were defined and compared in terms of preferences: the fresh pasteurized milk consumer (FPc) (56% of the total sample) and the ultra-high temperature treated milk consumer (UHTc) (35%). A series of two-ways multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were conducted to assess the effect of individuals’ socio-demographic characteristics and the type of milk chosen on the consumer preferences, simultaneously. Significant differences in milk purchasing habits and preferences emerged when comparing the two consumer groups (UHTc and FPc). Empirical evidence of the study supported the starting hypothesis, suggesting the significance or relevance of the consumer socio-demographic characteristic, as well as their interaction effect with the type of milk on the level of importance given to the considered milk quality attributes. On the contrary, the gender results were not significant for the milk preferences definition. The assessment of consumer preferences, associated with the individuals’ socio-demographic characteristics could have important implications for outlining more effective marketing strategies based on a more targeted communication (i.e., related to the sustainability dimension of the local product, nutritional value and brand), leading the consumer back to the commodity rediscovery concerning individuals’ features and habits.

Farmer Preference to High Elevation Rice Technological Packages for Accelerating Technological Dissemination (A case Study in Humbang Hasundutan Regency)

Accelerating the introduction of a new technological package is needed to increase the productivity of high elevation puddled rice in Humbang Hasundutan. The objectives of the study are to find out the perception of the existence of technological packages and farmers' preference for a new technological package. The study used a survey method with primary data gathered using questionnaires. The criteria of locations and respondents were used to obtain relevant respondents and data concerning their knowledge of high elevation puddled rice cultivation. The collected data were processed by using Importance Performance Analysis in order to find out the level of Importance and Satisfaction of the indicators and the valued aspects in the technological package components. The results of the study showed that the socio-economic aspects had to be heeded in organizing the technological package. Indicators having a high level of importance and a low level of satisfaction consisted of production cost, quality of seeds, farmer groups empowerment, technology information institution, capital cost, agricultural tools and machines, pest control, sales price, irrigation canals, and farm roads. On the other hand, introducing new superior seeds, productivity attribute and planting age were important indicators for local farmers as to improve the quality of existing seeds. Farmers group expected that the technological package had a high level of productivity, better access to input, low cost, and good user-friendliness in its application.

The importance of incorporating relevant-added value into esports sponsorships

PurposeThis research aims to identify how important it is that brands incorporate relevant-added value into their esports sponsorships.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory research applied a convergent-parallel mixed method with equal status. Data were collected by interviewing 22 experts in esports sponsorships and having 5,638 esports fans fill out an online survey. SPSS 25 was used to analyze quantitative data and NVIVO 10 to process qualitative data. Each dataset was analyzed separately and then compared with both having the same level of importance.FindingsThe results revealed that all experts considered the creation of relevant-added value as an essential strategy for successful esports sponsorships and the large majority of fans want sponsors to apply this tactic. Interestingly, while the experts mostly emphasized ways to directly benefit the fan-base, the fans prefer that sponsors focus on directly supporting the esports industry.Practical implicationsBrands should incorporate relevant-added value into their esports sponsorships as it greatly decreases fan resistance to the promotional message, catches the fans' attention and engagement much more easily, has a much higher probability of leading to high positive return on investments (ROIs) and makes for a much more cost-effective investment.Originality/valueThe field of esports sponsorships has received little academic attention and the results are highly significant and relevant for all current and potential esports sponsors looking to increase the effectiveness of their esports sponsorships.

FORMATION OF A PORTFOLIO OF KEY COMPETENCIES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

The article shows the methodological aspects of the formation of a portfolio of key competencies in the implementation of the management process. Applied calculations are carried out on the example of procurement management. The system of key competencies of the procurement management process, from our point of view, is a complex of elements interconnected and interacting to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and synergy effect, as well as highlighting the criteria for the development of key competencies of the process under study. The aim of the study is to form a portfolio of key competencies in procurement management. It was revealed that it is the key competencies, in contrast to the potential ones, that will contribute to the effective implementation of the process or the development of the organization. In this regard, it seems appropriate to highlight the factors that influence the formation of key competencies. The features of the selection of the system of key competencies from the set of potential competencies on the basis of economic and mathematical modeling are shown. The authors have developed a matrix "status risk", which is a visualization of the correlation between the status of competence and the level of its problematicity. As a result of the study, a profile of competencies was formed, which allows us to identify, in the future, two main directions of their development: 1) increasing the status of competence by increasing the level of importance; 2) reducing the level of risk due to more effective management. The proposed methodology is universal and allows the formation of key competencies of a company or process.

PROBLEMS OF COMBINING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND PLANNING IN A POST-INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY

From the standpoint of a comparative analysis, the author considers the problems of combining entrepreneurship and planning inherent in the industrial and post-industrial economies. It is shown that the level of importance of planning in entrepreneurial activity is significantly influenced not only by the dominant position of the buyer or manufacturer (and seller) in the market, but also by the phase of the cycle of economic activity. It has been demonstrated that without the proper attitude of entrepreneurs to planning and a stake on instant success, it is impossible to achieve sustainable development and stable profitability in the medium and long term. Recommendations are formulated to ensure a rational combination of entrepreneurship and planning in a post-industrial economy.

Implementation of Winnowing Algorithm and Simple Additive Weighting SAW for Publication Reference Journal Search System

Reference journals have several different writing arrangements. In the reference journal, there is some information or words needed in making scientific journals. With this information or word retrieval system, it can help to find journals that match the similarities between input and information or words in the journal that will be used as a reference. In this study, the input process of equations and information or words will be processed using the Winnowing algorithm as an algorithm that can find the similarity of words or texts with N-gram functions, rolling hash, and Jaccard Coefficient. In general, the search only uses the same words or text without any weighting on the composition of the reference journal. To be able to find journals and their level of importance in the order of journals, a weighting method is needed. This study also uses the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method as a process to determine the value of the order of urgency in journals so that it can provide results in the form of rankings based on searches and urgency weights in reference journals. The results of the similarity query with documents obtained 60% precision, 77% recall, and 81% accuracy, documents, and documents had 41% precision, 83% recall, and 66% accuracy. using Winnowing Algorithm, the search system can detect the similarity of text.