10 Articles Published

1. ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND MARKET DEMAND: IS MARKET ORIENTATION A MISSING LINK?

Authors: MUHAMMAD FAKHRUL YUSUF , HASBULLAH ASHARI , MOHD RIZAL RAZALLI , RASHIDAH RAMLE

Abstract: Environmental technological innovation has becoming an important step towards sustainable development for emerging country like Malaysia, and market demand is an important determinant of environmental technological innovation. However, stakeholders have neglected demandbased perspective, while designing policies centered on technological (supply) side view. Extant research also constructs a direct mechanism for the market demand–ecoinnovation link. The research reported here, however, provides and investigates an indirect market demand-environmental technological innovation argument where market orientation is a mediator. The current study is motivated to produce this conceptual model for the benefit of policy makers and industry alike.

Keywords: environmental technological innovation, market demand, market orientation, eco-innovation, sustainable development

Pages: 1 - 5 | DOI: 10.15224/978-1-63248-089-7-31

2. DEFENSIVE MEDICINE IN ITALY: A NATIONWIDE SURVEY

Authors: MASSIMILIANO PANELLA , FABRIZIO LEIGHEB , CHIARA DONNARUMMA , CARMELA RINALDI

Abstract: ntroduction: Defensive Medicine (DM) affects healthcare systems worldwide. The concerns and perception about medical liability could lead practitioners to practise defensive medicine. The role of other possible determinants remains mostly unclear. Objective: to assess the prevalence of the practice of DM among Italian hospital physicians, its costs, and its determinants. Methods: Cross-sectional web survey was conducted. Main Outcome Measures: number of physicians reporting to have engaged in any DM behaviour in the last year. Results: 1,313 physicians completed the survey. 685 physicians stated that they practise DM. Almost all the respondents believed that DM would increase in the near future. 46.5% of the interviewed expected to adopt more DM within the next year. Most of the interviewed physicians believed that practising DM would reduce their risk of being sued for malpractice; they also believed DM is not harmful to their patients. DM absorbed 10.71% of the total national health

Keywords: Defensive Medicine, Medical Malpractice, Health Care Costs.

Pages: 6 - 10 | DOI: 10.15224/978-1-63248-089-7-32

3. THE TYPE OF SPORT CELEBRITY TRANSGRESSION: DOES IT IMPACT ON THE ASSOCIATED SPONSORS AND SPORT?

Authors: ANNE-MARIE SASSENBERG

Abstract: The brand image transfer and associative learning theories indicate the transference of the positive sport celebrity brand image to the sponsor brand image during sponsorship (McCracken 1989). Furthermore, studies show that the characteristic of sport celebrity transgressions (off-field and on-field) impact on consumers’ perceptions of transgressions (Summers et al. 2008). However, the potential transfer of a negative sport celebrity brand image on the associated sponsors and sport, in relation to the characteristics of the sport celebrity transgression (SCT), has largely been ignored. This paper investigated how the off-field and on-field SCT impact on the brand image of the celebrity’s associated sponsors and sport. The study investigated nine different transgression scenarios and analyzed 2 987 online comments. The findings indicated that the characteristics of SCTs can further be categorized into more specific groups.

Keywords: communication, celebrity sponsorship, brand image, transgressions

Pages: 11 - 15 | DOI: 10.15224/978-1-63248-089-7-33

4. SCALE DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURE FOR CLOUD COMPUTING ADOPTION

Authors: M.K. JHA , PRAGATI PRIYADARSHINEE , RAKESH D. RAUT

Abstract: This paper presents a study to develop and validate the model for Cloud computing adoption in Indian Industries. The data collected from 110 respondents and the analysis yielded important findings that state the research hypotheses. It is interesting to note in the study that one item; ‘Usability’ is dropped from the proposed model. Discussion on reasons for insignificant effect of this item on the construct, and there by resulting being dropped would add value to this research output. During the data analysis two variables; ‘Top management support’ and ‘Marketplace establishment’ in the construct Cloud computing adoption (CCA) showed very poor result. So, to get significant output, these two items were dropped temporarily. Hence, we need to verify these two items with the final sample size as they contain strong literature support. All these major findings of the reliability and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) shared with the experts before taking any decision.

Keywords: Cloud computing, Adoption, CFA, Validation, Hypotheses, Variable

Pages: 16 - 18 | DOI: 10.15224/978-1-63248-089-7-34

5. ASSESSING SERVICE QUALITY IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Authors: BRIGID APPIAH OTOO , EDWARD FEKPE

Abstract: The quality of service operations can be measured by waiting time because of its impact on customer’s perception of service efficiency and operational capabilities. Hotels and restaurants are broadly rated based on their facilities and quality of cuisine respectively. This study assesses the quality of service of the hospitality industry (hotels and restaurants) using waiting time as a proxy. It explores how service quality relates to star ratings. The study is based on data from 149 restaurants and 116 hotels in Ghana. It is concluded that there is no correlation between the star rating of hotels and restaurants and the service quality measured in terms of waiting times.

Keywords: waiting time, service quality, business rating, customer satisfaction

Pages: 19 - 23 | DOI: 10.15224/978-1-63248-089-7-35

6. THE PERIPHERAL AND CORE TOURISM EXPERIENCES: A CONCEPTUAL STUDY IN AUSTRALIA.

Authors: FRANCES CASSIDY

Abstract: This conceptual study examines peripheral and core tourism experiences in Australia using online data collection of reviews by tourists. To date most of the obvious and major tourism factors have been researched and recognized as a single driver to a tourist community including major events, major attractions and popular well known world locations (Crompton & McKay 1997)[1], while little is known of how these factors contribute to initial and subsequent visits to a destination. Limited research has been conducted in tourism to ascertain how the choice of destination contributes to the over success and visitation in a region (Schmallegger & Carson 2010)[2]. Other fields of product and service marketing recognize the premise of core and peripheral attributes as consumption motivators (Qu, Kim & Im 2011)[3]. Applied in tourism core and peripheral factors suggest the notion of a core or main experience to a destination such as a major attraction or major event with a peripheral experience

Keywords: core, peripheral tourism experiences, destination choice, attractions, events.

Pages: 24 - 28 | DOI: 10.15224/978-1-63248-089-7-36

7. THE MEDIATING ROLE OF GENERAL SELF-EFFICACY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION BEHAVIOR OF SYRIANS

Authors: REBECCA S. MERKIN , REEM M. RAMADAN

Abstract: This study analyses the role general self-efficacy plays within the relationship between culture and communication behavior in an unstudied Arab culture; Syria. Participants were 402 undergraduate students at Damascus University. General self-efficacy mediated the relationship between culture and touch, eye contact, gestures, paralinguistics, facial expressions, interpersonal distance and tolerance for disagreement. Thus, indicating that perceptions of ‘the self’ reduces the impact of culture on individual behavior. Results from this study could help for the better understanding of Arab communication behavior and for the increase of the generalizability of theories developed in Western societies.

Keywords: Communication; GSE; Collectivism; Individualism; Syrian Arabs.

Pages: 29 - 39 | DOI: 10.15224/978-1-63248-089-7-37

8. STRUGGLES FOR ELECTRICAL POWER SUPPLY IN SUDAN AND SOUTH SUDAN

Authors: DINA AHMED MOHAMED GHANDOUR

Abstract: Adequate power supply is an unavoidable requirement to any nation's development. Industrialization and modernization cannot be achieved without proper access to electricity. Sudan and South Sudan electrical power sector is facing a lot of struggles and challenges, with Sudan's electrical power sector is subject to poor infrastructure, frequent power cut off and faces other sort of challenges. On the other hand, South Sudan has a very hard situation as only 1% of South Sudan population has access to electricity. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and focus on the different electrical power struggles faced by Sudan and South Sudan nations , and the main reasons of them, as well as, it has presented the different proposed developmental plans set for improving electrical power supply in the future . Moreover, it has provided a comparison between the two countries and country-world comparison in terms of the electrical power sector. This paper followed the analytical/qualitative me

Keywords: Electrical power Supply, electrical power sector, Sudan, South Sudan, Developments and Struggles.

Pages: 40 - 46 | DOI: 10.15224/978-1-63248-089-7-38

9. LEVERAGING BIG DATA TO PREDICT FIRMS’ PERFORMANCE

Authors: OTTO K.M. CHENG , RAYMOND LAU

Abstract: Though some research studies about big data have been reported in literature recently, few studies about applying big data analytics to analyze firms’ performance are performed and reported in existing business literature. Empowered by a novel framework of big data analytics, this paper illustrates our preliminary work of apply the proposed big data analytics framework to predict firms’ performance in stock market. In particular, the proposed framework leverages big data and probabilistic language modeling to analyze the stock performance of firms in near real-time. Our empirical test demonstrates the merits of the proposed framework. The practical implication of our research work is that firms can apply our big data analytics framework to analyze their internal and external performance, and hence develop more effective business strategies in advance.

Keywords: Big Data, Big Data Analytics, Knowledge Management, Firm Performance

Pages: 47 - 50 | DOI: 10.15224/978-1-63248-089-7-39

10. EXAMINING EFFICIENCY WAGE THEORY IN US FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS

Authors: JAESUN LEE

Abstract: This paper investigates the correlations between wage and productivity in United States fast food restaurants. The research examines whether or not the industry’s expansion is based on the labor productivity improvement. The author selects four major fast food firms, and compares the representative firm’s performances with its group mean. Using data from Bureau of Labor Statics, the wages are lower generally than the economic sector average; but the productivity is not lower than the National average. The representative firm, McDonald, does not show significant change in productivity, rather productivity has followed the stable trend over time. The research found that the wage in the fast food industry was lower than economic sector average, but productivity was not lower.

Keywords: efficiency wage, fast food, productivity

Pages: 51 - 54 | DOI: 10.15224/978-1-63248-089-7-71