Business Commons^™

An Ethical Discussion About The Responsibility For Protection Of Minors In The Digital Environment: A State-Of-The-Art Review, Charles Alves De Castro, Aiden Carthy, Isobel Oreilly Dr

Articles

Many ethical questions have been raised regarding the use of social media and the internet, mainly related to the protection of young people in the digital environment. In order to critically address the research question "who is responsible for ethically protecting minors in the digital environment?", this paper will review the main literature available to understand the role of parents, the government, and companies in protecting young people within the digital environment. We employed a holistic process that covers a state-of-the-art review and desk research. The article is divided into four sessions; (1) Government Policies from the European Union (EU) …

Creating And Managing Eu Funded Research Networks: An Exploratory Case, Zeta Dooly, Aidan Duane, Aidan O'Driscoll

Articles

The collaborative European funded research and development landscape drives competitiveness among innovative organisations. Recently it has seen the rise of public private partnerships significantly impacting the dynamics of these networks. Thus, the complexity of managing research networks has intensified with the increased diversity of research network members. Additionally, the emergence of the academic entrepreneur has augmented the focus of educational institutions to include innovation and building start-up organisations. The impact of research is scalable if an optimum research network is created and managed effectively. This paper investigates network embeddedness; the nature of relationships, links and nodes within a research network, …

Islamic Hotel Indicators: A Bibliometric Study, Aam Slamet Rusydiana Mr, Fatin Fadhilah Hasib, Solihah Sari Rahayu

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This study reviews research on the theme of Islamic-based hotels in reputable journals. It uses bibliometric analysis of a selected 67 articles related to Islamic hotels published by national and international journals. The entire sample of journal publications have been published in the ten years from 2011 to 2020. The results show that in researching Islamic hotels, case studies are dominated by Malaysia, following by Indonesia. Network visualisation shows that the development of Islamic hotel research is divided into 4 clusters. Furthermore, based on the concept of Imam Shatibi’s higher objective (Raysuni, 2005), the indicators for Islamic-based hotels can be …

Do You Want Some Sauce On That? Factors Influencing Dietary Habits Among The Irish Construction Workforce, Aileen Kennedy, Colm O'Gorman, Kenneth Lee

Articles

This paper presents an explanatory logic and an empirical illustration of how Stones’s strong structuration theory, specifically the methodological brackets of agent’s conduct and agent’s context analysis can be applied within case study research. The value of strong structuration theory, and the methodological bracketing tool, is its proximity to empirical research and the provision of robust guidelines which enable researchers to resolve the methodological challenges of combining structure and agency within research designs. We demonstrate the application of methodological bracketing as a tool for analysing structure and agency interactions within management research. The contribution of the paper is its explication …

A Proposal Digital Marketing Strategy For Marcheluzzo Srl: Training And Evaluating A Prediction Model For The Number Of Adv. Impressions, Charles Alves De Castro

Articles

This research aims to describe a digital marketing strategy elaborated to be deployed in the MarcheluzzoSrl Company located in Italy. In addition, it intends to give a wide range of information to the company about its customers, target, competitors, market, digital marketing strategy, and potential recommendations. It is also important to highlight that this strategy is focused on the Brazilian market. Most of the information collected for the situational analysis and many other components for this research were gathered through the author`s perception during his internship in the company. The methodology includes secondary data collected through field observation in the …

Segmentation Of Quantity Surveying Professional Services For Focus Strategy And Diversification, Michael Adesi, De-Graft Owusu-Manu, Frank Boateng

Articles

Purpose – Notwithstanding that numerous studies have focused on strategy in quantity surveying (QS) professional service firms, there is a paucity of investigation on the segmentation of QS professional services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the segmentation of QS services for diversification and a focus strategy formation.

Design/methodology/approach – This study adopts the positivist stance and quantitative approach in which a simple random sampling technique was used to select participants. In total, 110 survey questionnaires were administered to registered professional QS, out of which 79 completed questionnaires were returned for analysis.

Findings – The paper identifies three …

Pushing The Boundaries Of Traditional Methodological Approaches In Conducting Research In Tourism And Social Sciences: A Religious And Pilgrimage Tourism Case Study, Vreny Enongene

Conference papers

The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance and usefulness of non-standardised research methodological approaches to knowing / knowledge development in tourism research, and in the social sciences in general. Crucial in that, extant research efforts have been characterised by stringent laid-down methodological and philosophical assumptions. Concurrently, an extensive review of extant methodological approaches to knowledge development within the religious and pilgrimage tourism scholarship (RPTS) revealed that studies have been guided by generic ontological and epistemological philosophical assumptions. Franklin and Crang (2001, p.6) concurred the above as they observed ‘a tendency for studies of tourism researchers to follow …

Research Methodology In Business: A Starter’S Guide, Mohamed Af Ragab, Amr Arisha

Articles

A cardinal requisite of successful research lies in the proper selection of the research methodology applied to achieve research objectives using the available resources. In addition to acquiring sufficient knowledge of their specific research topic, researchers are urged to develop good understanding of alternative research methodologies at their disposal to be able to identify the best-suited methods to address the research question. This, however, often poses a challenge for novice researchers who face difficulty in grasping the vast methodology landscape and its encompassing array of debates. The purpose of this paper is to provide new researchers with a comprehensive overview …

Health Care For All In Ireland? The Consequences Of Politics For Health Policy, Vivienne Byers

Articles

The Irish health-care system is a complicated mix of public and private providers, with inequitable and unclear routes for health-service users to access and navigate the system. In 2011, the Irish Government committed to significant health reform to develop a universal single-tier health system. In line with other European nations this was to be underpinned by the principle of social solidarity, with equitable access based on need rather than ability to pay. The road to this reform and its recent collapse highlights the practical implications of political and policy choices in health care, and has implications for financing and delivery, …

Resolving The Policy Paradox: The Case Of Biofuel Production In Ireland, Alan Gilmer, Mark J. Mcgarrity, Vivienne Byers

Articles

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the status of policy design and policy implementation in the biofuel sector in Ireland. The focus of the work addresses the overarching operational context of the biofuel sector in Ireland and the role of different actors in shaping and resolving inconsistencies in policy outlook and practice. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a qualitative research approach involving a series of semi-structured interviews with members of the relevant sub-groups concerned. This study sought to address two questions – whether current or proposed policy is likely to affect consumption of indigenous biofuel feedstocks …

Knowledge And Value Development In Management Consulting, Fionnuala Darby, Geraldine Lavin

The ITB Journal

The relationship between management consultants and their clients plays a key part in the success of consulting firms. To develop an understanding of the dynamics of the clientconsultant relationship, the authors reviewed literature in the areas of intangible professional services, impression management, perception and the interaction process. A model is proposed and the authors use a case study to emphasise areas highlighted by the literature. The authors contend that impression management, aided by positive perception and the development of the client-consultant relationship, is an important motivational force in securing consulting projects. It upholds the model for understanding the client-consultant relationship.

Using Sequential Mixed Methods In Enterprise Policy Evaluation: A Pragmatic Design Choice?, Anthony Paul Buckley

Articles

How might policy instruments contribute to indigenous firm growth and how can the effects of these instruments be evaluated at both firm and policy level? This paper illustrates how a mixed methods research design and data analysis strategy can pragmatically address the research questions outlined above. The advantages and challenges of employing quantitative research methods (what happened?) followed by confirmatory qualitative research methods (how and why did it happen?) in a multiphase sequential explanatory design is explored. The data analysis strategy is firstly to analyse the data generated from a ‘before and after’ quasi-experiment (with statistical controls), then data from …

An Analytical Representation Of Flexible Resource Allocation In Hospitals, Michael Thorwarth, Wael Rashwan, Amr Arisha

Articles

Non-linear processes within complex systems are difficult to predict. Using discrete event simulation (DES) models can be helpful for presenting the uncertainty level embedded within these processes. However, the interpretations of the resulting outcomes can be challenging to analyze. This is evident when experimenting with simulation models, and therefore requires the adaptation of existing models. Introducing cyclic entities such as interconnected resources to the simulation model adds a new level of complexity to the model. In practical cases, decision makers often demand a model that enables them to make quick decisions with less complexity involved. However, these individuals still want …

An Empirical Estimation Of Statistical Inferences For System Dynamics Model Parameters, Mohammed Mesabbah, Wael Rashwan, Amr Arisha

Conference papers

For system dynamics simulation (SD) models, an estimation of statistical distributions for uncertain parameters is crucial. These distributions could be used for testing models sensitivity, quality of policies, and/or estimating confidence intervals for these parameters. Assumptions related to normality, independence and constant variation are often misapplied in dynamic simulation. Bootstrapping holds a considerable theoretical advantage when used with non-Gaussian data for estimating empirical distributions for unknown parameters. Although it is a widely acceptable approach, it has had only limited use in system dynamics applications. This paper introduces an application of Direct Residual Bootstrapping (DRBS) for statistical inference in system dynamic …

Integrating Simulation Modelling And Value Stream Mapping For Leaner Capacity Planning Of An Emergency Department, Esmat Swallmeh, Ayman Tobail, Waleed Abo-Hamad, James Gray, Amr Arisha

Conference papers

Recently, the application of lean thinking in healthcare has grown significantly in response to rising demand, caused by population growth, ageing and high expectations of service quality. However, insufficient justifications and lack of quantifiable evidence are the main obstacles to convince healthcare executives to adopt lean philosophies. This paper presents a real application of the successful implementation of a methodology that integrates Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and simulation modelling to improve an emergency department (ED) of a University hospital in Dublin. Appling lean approach in operations will minimize the patient waiting time and improve service time. VSM points out to …

Towards Operations Excellence: Optimising Staff Scheduling For New Emergency Department, Amr Arisha, Waleed Abo Hamad

Conference papers

This paper presents a case study of an Emergency Department of a public hospital in Dublin, and uses an integrated approach to determine optimal staffing levels to meet the challenges of its dynamic patient demand levels. A comprehensive stochastic model is developed to incorporate patients care pathways and the resources required along their treatment journeys. Analytical Hierarchical Process is utilised to enable decision makers to set their preferences for the facility’s strategic objectives. Evolutionary algorithms are applied to optimise staff schedules. The resulted optimized schedules maintains continuity of care delivery for patients while ensuring a balanced equilibrium among available staff.

The Servicescape As An Antecedent To Service Quality And Behavioral Intentions, Daire Hooper, Joseph Coughlan, Michael Mullen

Articles

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the servicescape should be subsumed as a dimension within service quality conceptualizations or whether it is a unique construct in itself which precedes service quality evaluations and behavioral intentions. We both propose and operationalize this model and in doing so make a theoretical contribution by demonstrating how a delineation between these two constructs is necessary in order for theory to progress in this area.

Design/methodology/approach: A total of 355 customers were intercepted as they exited a retail store and surveyed using a structured questionnaire. The data was then analyzed using …

Capacity Planning For Elderly Care In Ireland Using Simluation Modeling, Mohamed Ragab, Waleed Abo Hamad, Amr Arisha

Conference papers

Global population aging is creating an immense pressure on healthcare facilities making them unable to cope with the growing demand for elderly healthcare services. Current demand-supply gaps result in prolonged waiting times for patients and substantial cost burdens for healthcare systems due to delayed discharges. This paper describes a project aimed at presenting modeling and simulation to address elderly care pathways within the Irish healthcare sector. The management of frail patients admitted to acute hospitals and the introduction of the new intermediate care beds are alternative interventions that healthcare executives are interested in simulating to examine their impact on the …

Correlation And Regression, Donal O'Brien, Pamela Sharkey Scott

Books/Book Chapters

A correlation is a measure of the linear relationship between two variables. It is used when a
researcher wishes to describe the strength and direction of the relationship between two
normally continuous variables. The statistic obtained is Pearson’s product-moment
correlation (r), and SPSS also provides the statistical significance of r. In addition, if the
researcher needs to explore the relationship between two variables while statistically
controlling for a third variable, partial correlation can be used. This is useful when it is
suspected that the relationship between two variables may be influenced, or confounded, byA correlation is a measure of the …

A Survey Based Analysis Of It Adoption And 3pls’ Performance, Pietro Evangelista, Riccardo Mogre, Alessandro Perego, Antonino Raspagliesi, Edward Sweeney

Articles

Purpose – In today’s competitive scenario, effective supply chain management is increasingly dependant on third party logistics (3PL) companies’ capabilities and performance. The dissemination of information technology (IT) has contributed to change the supply chain role of 3PL companies and IT is considered an important element influencing performance of modern logistics companies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between IT and 3PLs’ performance, assuming that logistics capabilities play a mediating role in this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach – Empirical evidence based on a questionnaire survey conducted on a sample of logistics service companies operating in the Italian …

Exploratory Factor Analysis, Daire Hooper

Books/Book Chapters

Factor analysis examines the inter-correlations that exist between a large number of items (questionnaire responses) and in doing so reduces the items into smaller groups, known as factors. These factors contain correlated variables and are typically quite similar in terms of content or meaning. Unlike other methods discussed in this book, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) does not discriminate between variables on whether they are independent or dependent, but rather it is an interdependence technique that does not specify formal hypotheses. It is in this sense it is ‘exploratory’ in nature as it allows the researcher to determine the underlying dimensions …

Application Of The Fractional Diffusion Equation For Predicting Market Behaviour, Jonathan Blackledge

Articles

Most Financial modelling system rely on an underlying hypothesis known as the Eficient Market Hypothesi (EMH) including the famous BlackScholes formula for placing an option. However, the EMH has a fundamental flaw: it is based on the assumption that economic processes are normally distributed and it has long been known that this is not the case. This fundamental assumption leads to a number of shortcomings associated with using the EMH to analyse financial data which includes failure to predict the future volatility of a market share value. This paper introduces a new financial risk assessment model based on Levy statistics …

Including The Customer In Efficiency Analysis:Evidence Of A Hybrid Relational-Transactional Approach, Joseph Coughlan, Estelle Shale, Robert Dyson

Articles

Purpose This paper illustrates the effect of including the customer as a resource in efficiency measurement. Variations in counting the customer illustrate the different impacts on efficiency between a transactional and a relational approach to bank branch marketing. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to analyse the efficiency of the branch network under consideration. This technique, while well established in the bank branch efficiency literature, is used here to gain insight into how relationship and transactional paradigms are affecting performance. Findings Although the average profile of the efficiency scores was similar, the scores of the individual branches differed …

Economic Risk Assessment Using The Fractal Market Hypothesis, Jonathan Blackledge, Marek Rebow

Conference papers

This paper considers the Fractal Market Hypothesi (FMH) for assessing the risk(s) in developing a financial portfolio based on data that is available through the Internet from an increasing number of sources. Most financial risk management systems are still based on the Efficient Market Hypothesis which often fails due to the inaccuracies of the statistical models that underpin the hypothesis, in particular, that financial data are based on stationary Gaussian processes. The FMH considered in this paper assumes that financial data are non-stationary and statistically self-affine so that a risk analysis can, in principal, be applied at any time scale …

Learning Without Default: A Study Of One-Class Classification And The Low-Default Portfolio Problem, Kenneth Kennedy, Brian Mac Namee, Sarah Jane Delany

Conference papers

This paper asks at what level of class imbalance one-class classifiers outperform two-class classifiers in credit scoring problems in which class imbalance, referred to as the low-default portfolio problem, is a serious issue. The question is answered by comparing the performance of a variety of one-class and two-class classifiers on a selection of credit scoring datasets as the class imbalance is manipulated. We also include random oversampling as this is one of the most common approaches to addressing class imbalance. This study analyses the suitability and performance of recognised two-class classifiers and one-class classifiers. Based on our study we conclude …

Internal Branding And Brand Commitment: A Quantitative Investigation Into Corporate Brand Building In A Retail Store Network, Edmund O'Callaghan

Conference proceedings

The aim of this quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between the perceived effectiveness of internal branding activities on brand commitment among owner managers within a retail store network of previously independent retailers. Brand commitment was hypothesized as essential for coherent and consistent corporate brand building within this context. Two new scales were developed and tested to measure internal branding and brand commitment. Perceived clarity of vision, core values and brand communications were highly correlated with strong brand commitment, while lack of perceived business supports and adequate reward systems were potential inhibitors. Interalia, findings validate the significance of internal …

Hedging: Scaling And The Investor Horizon, Jim Hanly, John Cotter

Articles

This paper examines the volatility and covariance dynamics of cash and futures contracts that underlie the Optimal Hedge Ratio (OHR) across different hedging time horizons. We examine whether hedge ratios calculated over a short term hedging horizon can be scaled and successfully applied to longer term horizons. We also test the equivalence of scaled hedge ratios with those calculated directly from lower frequency data and compare them in terms of hedging effectiveness. Our findings show that the volatility and covariance dynamics may differ considerably depending on the hedging horizon and this gives rise to significant differences between short term and …

Technology-Aided Participative Methods In Environmental Assessment: An International Perspective, Ainhoa Gonzalez, Alan Gilmer, Ronan Foley, John Sweeney, John Fry

Articles

Provisions for citizen involvement in the assessment of potential environmental effects of certain plans, programmes and projects are present in current legislation. An international survey revealed that public participation is common practice in European and some other countries worldwide. However, a number of issues are observed to affect public involvement in EIA/SEA processes and expert opinion differs when evaluating the effectiveness of existing participative methods. Results suggest that technology-aided methods can improve traditional participation processes. In particular, GIS has the potential to increase community knowledge and enhance involvement by communicating information more effectively. Variable accessibility to technology and data quality …

Dublin Visitor Survey 2008 Report, Sheila Flanagan, John Carty, Gerard Dunne

Reports

This report represents a joint research initiative by the Tourism Research Centre and the School of Hospitality Management and Tourism at the Technological University Dublin with the support of Dublin Tourism. The study has been conducted annually since 1999 and has amassed a wealth of rich data over the years. This report highlights the principal 2008 findings from the annual visitor survey including the characteristics and attitudes of out of state tourists visiting Dublin city. The key objectives of the survey are to improve the quality of urban tourism information within a Dublin city context and to provide those engaged …

The Influence Of The Servicescape On Post-Consumption Processes, Daire Hooper

Doctoral

The physical and atmospheric cues in service environments have long been accepted as potent contributors to consumers’ overall evaluations of their service experiences. Theoretical frameworks conceptualising how these environmental cues impact on both emotional and cognitive processes have been put forward, yet the empirical work supporting these theories has become highly disjointed with a great deal of confusion regarding what should be classified as an environmental stimulus. By integrating the extant literature, this dissertation attempts to overcome theoretical ambiguities and proposes a second order factor model of service environments, also known as the servicescape, which is subsequently tested using a …