Communication Sector Research Articles

Generative AI and Investigative Journalism—An Application of Baumol's Cost Disease Across Mass Communication Sectors

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed various industries, automating tasks and enhancing productivity. Yet, its impact varies across sectors. In mass communication, AI has notably benefited entertainment, public relations, and advertising. However, it poses a lesser advantage for investigative journalism, where labor-intensive research and other highly specialized activities depend on highly educated journalists. This situation parallels Baumol's concept of a cost disease, which applies to labor-intensive “stagnant” service sectors such as healthcare, education, and the performing arts. These sectors rely heavily on human labor and struggle to achieve significant productivity gains from technological advances. This means they may require decreasing wages or increasing subsidies to compete with more productive industries. In mass communication, this phenomenon could be especially pertinent to (investigative) journalism, which directly competes for attention with other communication forms. This could exacerbate pressures on wages and working conditions, hindering the attraction of talent to the field and necessitating higher public spending on this vital journalism form. This commentary presents a cross-industry analysis of the impact of generative AI on communication sectors and derives directions for further research that would enhance our understanding of journalism's economic viability in a digital communication landscape and inform policy makers to address the affiliated societal challenges. It closes with a discussion of Guzman and Lewis’s call for more cross-industry research on AI in communication industries.

A multilevel investigation of workplace bullying and employee creative behavior: uncovering the crucial role of psychological capital

PurposeThis study investigates workplace bullying through a novel conceptualization by focusing on the simultaneous effects of abusive supervision and coworkers’ bullying. It aims to thoroughly understand how these harmful behaviors affect employee creative behavior.Design/methodology/approachBased on the tenets of social cognitive theory, this study used multilevel structural equation modeling with Mplus to analyze multi-source and multi-wave data collected from the information, communication and technology sector. The sample included 510 participants from 170 teams, comprising 340 subordinates and their 170 supervisors. Responses were collected at three time points, with a gap of approximately two weeks.FindingsThe findings indicate significant direct effects of abusive supervision and coworkers’ bullying on employee creative behavior, highlighting the detrimental effects of workplace bullying. Additionally, this study introduced and tested the mediating role of psychological capital, providing valuable insights into the mechanisms through which workplace bullying affects employee creative behavior.Originality/valueBy adopting a social cognitive framework, this multilevel research advances the field and enriches the literature on workplace bullying and employee creative behavior. This study adds depth to existing research by examining how abusive supervision and coworkers’ bullying simultaneously affect employees. It also highlights the vital role of psychological capital in mediating these effects. The findings emphasize the need to tackle workplace bullying to boost employee creative behavior and overall well-being.

Measuring the Effectiveness of Internship Programs in Aligning Education with Industry during Covid-19: A Case Study

This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of internship programs in aligning education with industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research focuses on the internship outcomes of College of Communication and Media Sciences (CCMS) students in various UAE organizations. This study employs Kirkpatrick's framework and analyzes 64 student reports over ten weeks to understand the strengths and areas of improvement in aligning academic instruction with real-world applications. The research focuses on the "reaction" and "learning" constructs in the alignment of theoretical teachings with practical experiences based on Kirkpatrick’s framework. The study revealed that internships offer students a chance to gain practical experience in their field of study, and the CCMS internship program helps students gain professional skills that are difficult to teach in a classroom context. The findings of this study could help academic policymakers understand the relative strengths and weaknesses of different learning areas and refine and enhance internship offerings. The study underscores the significance of assessing the practical application of university education in the workplace and the benefits of internship experiences as a mandatory component of CCMS specialization academic programmes. The research demonstrates that the internship program provides students with hands-on experience in the media and communication sectors, enabling them to interact directly with industry professionals. Additionally, this study highlights the common challenges faced by internship students, including communication with supervisors, workload management, handling tasks beyond their current skill set, navigating limited workplace resources, adjusting to unfamiliar work environments, and refining time management skills.

Contribution of the Telecommunications Industry to Sustainable Development Goals within the Framework of SASB General Issue Categories: The Case of a Telecommunications Company

Sustainable development is an important issue that shapes the future of our planet by addressing economic, social and environmental factors. The United Nations (UN) has set 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure sustainable development, the success of which depends on global cooperation and joint efforts. The SDGs set out the environmental, social and economic sustainability issues to be achieved by 2030. Private sector efforts have an important role in achieving these goals. As a result of social responsibility and stakeholder demands, companies share their sustainability activities and the SDGs to which these activities contribute through reports. Telecommunications companies also have the potential to play a key role in achieving many SDGs through the innovative, accessible and inclusive digital infrastructure systems they provide. This study’s goal is to reveal the impact of the telecommunications industry on the SDGs through the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board's (SASB) General Issue Categories (GIC). In this context, a methodological framework developed by SASB to identify important sustainability issues across sectors and industries matched SDGs with 26 general sustainability issues. In this framework, SDG impact indices were calculated for the technology and communication sector, which includes the telecommunications industry, and for a telecommunications company operating in Turkey, and SDG impact at the sector, industry and company level was tried to be revealed. According to the calculations, it was concluded that the goal known as SDG 9, which was established to establish strong infrastructures, support sustainable industrialization and strengthen and expand innovation, has an impact score of 37.50% for the telecommunication services industry, 31.25% for the technology&communication sector and 31.25% for the sample telecommunication company. SDG 9 has the highest impact score in telecommunications compared to other SDGs.

From authentic leadership to knowledge sharing and knowledge worker retention: mediating role of psychological empowerment

ABSTRACT This study explores how leaders can reduce employees’ intention to quit and stimulate knowledge sharing in knowledge-based companies. Grounded in intrinsic motivation theory, it investigates the impact of authentic leadership on these outcomes, analyzing the mediating role of psychological empowerment. We tested the hypotheses in a sample of 123 professionals from a large private company operating in Brazil’s digital communication sector, employing structural equation modelling with Bayesian estimation. Results show that authentic leadership decreases the intention to quit and increases knowledge sharing. Additionallly, psychological empowerment fully mediates the relationship between authentic leadership and follower knowledge sharing but does not affect the intention to quit. This study highlights the role of positive forms of leadership in leveraging knowledge management and the importance of psychological empowerment as a critical mechanism through which authentic leaders promote knowledge sharing. Lastly, it underscores the association between authentic leadership and decreased turnover intention among knowledge workers.

Effect of Sectoral Foreign Direct Investment on Economic Development in Nigeria: An Econometric Analysis

This study uses econometric techniques to analyze the effect of sectoral foreign direct investments on economic development in Nigeria from 1985-2022. Secondary data on real gross domestic product (RGDP), human development index (HDI), foreign direct investments (FDI) in service, transport and communications sectors were sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Report, and Word Development Indicators (WDI) of Word Bank. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) test processes was utilised as the analytical methods. The ARDL result revealed that in the long run, FDI in the long run, FDI in service sectors had had negative and insignificant effects on human development index. FDI in manufacturing, likewise transport and communications sectors had positive and insubstantial effects on human development index. In the short run, FDI in transport and communications sectors had negative and significant effects on HDI. FDI in manufacturing sector had positive and insignificant effect on HDI. However, FDI in service sector had positive and substantial effect on HDI. Hence, it was concluded that FDI had substantial impact on human capital development. Therefore, the study recommended that government should provide needed enabling environment to increase FDIs in various sectors. To achieve this, government should remove all the road blocks to foreign productive investments in Nigeria. The process ranges from fixing infrastructural deficits through addressing issues of good governance, corruption and insecurity.

Developing innovation culture in traditional Asian corporations – the case of four large business organisations in Thailand

ABSTRACT This study investigates factors affecting innovation culture in ASEAN economies and proposes a model for building innovation culture in traditional organisations. Using multiple-case analysis, the research examines four large Thai businesses across conglomerate, retail, communication, and support service sectors. We employ qualitative methods, including interviews with innovation centre directors, mid-level management, and staff, to gather insights. The study identifies key strategies for fostering innovation culture in traditional Asian organisations by analysing commonalities. The resulting model emphasises leadership, strategy, and resource allocation as crucial elements for building and maintaining an innovative culture. This research contributes to both theoretical understanding of innovation culture in traditional Asian business organisations and practical application in organisation development. The findings provide valuable insights how to overcome cultural obstacles and foster innovation in traditional ASEAN economies to improve their global competitiveness by creating a corporate culture favourable for innovation.

Perancangan Tata Letak Fasilitas Perakitan Box Radio Panel dengan Menggunakan Metode Blocplan pada PT Mobilkom Telekomindo

In the manufacturing industry, designing efficient facility layouts is critical to increasing productivity, reducing costs, and improving quality. PT Mobilkom Telekomindo, which operates in the trunking and SCADA radio communications sector, is working on a radio panel box procurement project from PT Pelindo. This research aims to evaluate the existing layout which still has workstations that are far apart and design a new layout to reduce assembly time using the BLOCPLAN algorithm. The results show that the new layout reduces the material transfer distance from 293.5 meters to 169 meters (42.4% reduction), as well as reducing the material transfer time from 10 minutes 27 seconds to 6 minutes 3 seconds (58.02% reduction).

Biden Administration Trade Cooperation Platforms

The article examines trade policy initiatives of the Biden administration. In a complex climate of domestic political polarization, the United States compete with China and defends its position in international markets. These challenges affect the areas of high technologies, digital economy, information and communications sector, renewable energy sources, and infrastructure. At the same time, an equally important problem in the context of increased geopolitical risks remains increasing the reliability of logistics and production chains, primarily for microelectronics. Addressing these challenges requires the creation of appropriate platforms that allow the United States to interact with partner countries. Within these frameworks, the United States intends to promote the priorities of the Biden administration: standards in the field of high technologies, ensuring the energy transition, protecting working conditions and inclusion. Another crucial area is promoting the fight against corruption, ensuring transparency of business processes in partner countries and training personnel. Completing these goals should attract American business and investment to the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions and Latin America. These should also increase American leverage in its strategic competition with China. At the same time, the formats of cooperation created by the United States must be insured against their internal political situation and the risks of interruption of work when there is a change of presidential administrations. In less than four years of its work (2021–2024), the Biden administration has proposed three platforms: the Global Infrastructure and Investment Partnership, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, and the Partnership of the Americas for Economic Prosperity. The results of their implementation are different. This article examines the two last mentioned regional platforms and describes conditions for their creation, work prospects, probable risks, and some results.

Examining the Viability of AI-Generated Content in Revolutionizing China's News and Communication Industry: A Case Study of Xinhua News Agency

In recent years, artificial intelligence(AI for short)technology has continuously emerged and empowered various fields such as medical finance and e-commerce live broadcasting, but the development of enabling news and communication industry is currently lacking in discussion and attempts. This paper uses Xinhua News Agency as a case study and employs comparative and feasibility analysis methods to explore the challenges encountered during the digital transformation of the traditional news communication industry. It assesses the potential of AI-generated content (AIGC) to tackle these challenges, demonstrating AI's ability to enhance audience reach, improve content accuracy, and personalize news delivery. By examining the intrinsic connection between AI-generated content technology and the news communication process, this study underscores AI's pivotal role in driving unique digital transformation within the traditional news communication sector. Nevertheless, the paper acknowledges the current insufficiency of data supporting Xinhua News Agency's AI news production. Future research should prioritize the collection and analysis of case data to facilitate a more comprehensive discussion.

Alumina-supported multi-metal catalyst for e-waste management for reclamation of valuable products

ABSTRACT Electronic and electrical waste (e-waste) has increased exponentially due to the humungous growth in the information technology and communication sector. Many multi-metal catalysts are developed by researchers for electronic waste plastic conversion into fuel products and recovery of valuable metals. In the present study, an Alumina-supported catalyst powder with selected transition metals metal oxides was prepared to improve the yield of hydrocarbon liquids. FESEM with energy-dispersive spectroscopy, XRD and laser diffraction particle size analysis were used to characterise catalysts. The shredded e-waste chips to catalyst weight ratio was maintained from 2:1 to 10:1 and studied. The experiments were conducted with a reaction temperature range from 300°C to 500°C. The produced fuel density was 0.88 kg/L, with 0.75 liquid fuel conversion and 71.7% overall liquid fuel yield. The light gas percentage was 4–6%. NMR analysis, bomb calorimetric study and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy of liquid fuel analysis suggest carbon chain compounds of C3–C20 hydrocarbon, indicating a mixture of petrol and diesel-like liquid products. The catalyst can be tuned to improve liquid fuel conversion. The liquid fuel product is promising for fuel use, however, upgrading treatments are needed to meet standard product specifications.

An assessment of employee discern for internal marketing strategies in software export companies

The enormous progression of the communication and technology sector in post economic transformation, specifically in software and service exports, has had an impact on India's economic growth. Companies in the software business are constantly driven to deliver better service as customer expectations continue to rise. For success in the marketplace, businesses must integrate their offerings and differentiate themselves. The research intends to assess employees' insights into internal marketing strategies deployed by software export companies that serve customers and evaluate the effect of employees’ demographics on the company's internal marketing initiatives. The results reveal that the respondents have a significant impression of the eight identified dimensions related to internal marketing strategies, and the demographics also show a significant association with the internal marketing initiatives of software export companies. The outcomes of the research could assist management in strengthening their internal marketing processes and developing key initiatives to better serve customers.

Modeling 3E-S sustainable development problem by an ambiguous chance constrained optimization method

The environmental-energy-economic-social (3E-S) sustainable development problem aims to balance the environment, energy, and economy upon which human society critically relies. However, it is further complicated by various ambiguous input parameters about greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, electricity consumption, gross domestic product (GDP), and unemployment rate. To address this complexity, this paper develops an ambiguous chance constrained optimization model with multiple chance soft constraints for optimizing the 3E-S sustainable development problem by strategically allocating labor across key sectors. Tractable formulations of the proposed model are derived by constructing three types of ambiguity sets for input parameters with ambiguous probability distributions. The first is to construct support-mean ambiguous distribution sets with little known information, the second is to extend support-mean ambiguity sets to mean-covariance ambiguity sets by incorporating interactive relationships among sectors, and the third is to extend support-mean ambiguity sets to inner-outer ambiguity sets with Wasserstein metric from globalized distributionally robust perspective. The availability and computability of the proposed model have been illustrated by planning India’s 3E-S sustainability for the year 2030. The results suggest that (i) the proposed method exhibits the capability to offer flexible policy measures; (ii) India should prioritize the development of the Mining and quarrying sector, the Transport, storage, communication, and services sector, and the Constructions sector; (iii) India needs to make greater efforts for promoting GDP while controlling GHG emissions and energy consumption; (iv) The policy measures and objectives are influenced by tolerance levels, support intervals, interactive relationships among sectors, globalized sensitivity, and Wasserstein ball size.

Factors affecting citizen intention toward AI acceptance and adoption: the moderating role of government regulations

Purpose This paper aims to explore factors impacting citizen intention toward artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, considering government regulation as a moderating variable. It focuses on the Palestinian Cellular Communications Sector in Gaza Strip, providing insights into the citizen-AI relationship dynamics. The research contributes to enhancing comprehension of AI technology from clients’ perspective. Design/methodology/approach To test the hypotheses, a questionnaire was used in an empirical study to collect primary data. In total, 347 Palestinian citizens responded to the survey. Findings The findings of this paper reveal that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risks, social influence, user experience and privacy and security concerns significantly influence citizen intention toward AI adoption. Furthermore, government regulations as a moderating variable strengthen the impact of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risks, social influence, user experience and privacy and security concerns on citizen intention toward AI acceptance and adoption. Thus, further research should explore specific domains and cultural contexts to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the factors shaping acceptance and adoption. Research limitations/implications The findings of the study should be understood in the context of their limitations. First, the study ignored cultural or domain-specific subtleties in favor of generic characteristics, which calls for more research in these particular circumstances. Second, relying on self-reported data might result in biases and limitations due to subjectivity in reporting, indicating the necessity for alternate data gathering methods and approaches in future research. Practical implications Policymakers, developers and organizations working to promote the acceptability and implementation of AI applications should consider the practical implications of this study’s results. To secure the long-term use of AI technologies in a responsible and user-centric way, policymakers should give priority to public education and awareness, user-centered design and ethical AI development techniques. They should also stimulate partnerships and create monitoring systems. Originality/value This paper investigates the originality of factors that influence citizen intention toward AI acceptance and adoption. It uniquely examines the moderating role of government regulations in shaping this intention. By addressing this novel aspect, the paper contributes to advancing our understanding of the complex dynamics surrounding citizen intentions toward AI applications.

Communication security analysis of fully electronic interlocking systems

Communication security in fully electronic interlocking systems is one of the key factors ensuring the safe and reliable operation of the entire system. EN50159 is an important standard in the European railway communication sector, aimed at ensuring the safety, reliability, and efficiency of railway transportation. According to the communication security standards of EN50159, there are six types of security risks in closed communication: data duplication, deletion, insertion, misordering, delay, and corruption. This paper analyzes and explains the aspects of communication security that need to be considered based on the safety communication standards of China's railway signaling system and the signal safety standards in EN50159, focusing primarily on communication security and reliability.

The role of women in maintaining the heritage value of gastronomy in Castilla-La Mancha

The main objective of this article is to provide a feminine vision in the world of gastronomy in Castilla-La Mancha, where women have a high level of participation, and to make visible the work carried out by many professionals in all areas of this sector from work in the agri-food and wine sector, to room and kitchen work in the hospitality sector, as well as the different roles in the marketing and communication sector. It is intended to analyse the situation of women in the gastronomy sector in the broadest sense, to identify their profiles (professional and training) and their relationship with food products associated with Protected Designations of Origin and Protected Geographical Indications (PDO and PGI) and, thus, to explore the work of these women in the maintenance of the gastronomic heritage of the region and the potential of gastronomic tourism. To study this phenomenon, an investigation has been carried out in the five provinces that make up the region. A qualitative study was carried out through in-depth interviews with women running a PDO or PGI in Castilla La Mancha (10). These responses have been analysed using a textual analysis methodology with word clouds. The results show that gastronomy tourism is an opportunity to promote local economic growth and fight against depopulation in the region. In addition, gastronomy has shown itself to be an instrument capable of economically empowering women who work in the maintenance of the gastronomic identity of Castilla-La Mancha.

The Disputes Around The Construction of A Regulatory Framework in The Communications Sector in Brazil: An Analysis Based on The Advocacy Coalition Framework

Objective: the objective of this research work is to analyze how conflicts occur around the construction of a regulatory framework for the communications sector in Brazil Theoretical Framework: The Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) approach is used, initially developed by Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith (1993). Also, a characterization of the communication sector in Brazil is carried out. Method: The research is qualitative in nature and data was collected through semi-structured interviews with representatives of some movements that fight for the democratization of the media in Brazil Results and Discussion: The analysis of primary and secondary data indicated that the elements perceived by the interviewees as being those that most contributed to the emergence of coalitions in favor of the democratization of the media in Brazil were predominantly political and technological. Furthermore, there is an intense conflict between groups that fight for the democratization of the media and those that are against any initiative in this regard. Research Implications: It is intended, through the results achieved, to bring elements that help guide the various debates carried out by civil society with the aim of discussing the democratization of the media in the country. Originality/Value: Discussions about the field of communication in Brazil from a perspective that focuses on power struggles between different groups in society are uncommon in management literature, especially based on the use of the defense coalition model .

The managers' perspectives on service providing in women's harm reduction centers during the COVID-19 pandemic: mixed method study

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic posed significant challenges for managers overseeing women's harm reduction centers. This study seeks to capture managers' perspectives on the service providing in women's harm reduction centers during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThis convergent mixed-method study conducted in three provinces of Iran: Tehran, Khuzestan, and Kermanshah. The study was carried out between January and May 2023. In the quantitative part, the researchers utilized reports from 10 center managers. A researcher-designed questionnaire was employed to collect data on a wide range of services and referrals provided by the centers. The qualitative part of the research involved conventional content analysis and included 12 individual interviews. Two directors from the Ministry of Health and ten managers of women’s harm reduction centers participated in the interviews. During the interpretation phase, the researchers compared the quantitative and qualitative findings to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the topic.ResultsDuring the quantitative stage of the study, it was observed that all the managers were women, with an average age of 40.7 ± 7 years. More than half of the managers had obtained a postgraduate education (n = 6, 60%), and a majority of them were married (n = 7, 70%). Additionally, 40% of the managers (n = 4) were working as contractors. During the non-COVID-19 period, there were higher coverage by centers and residents, more referrals of non-injecting drug users and sex workers, and a higher number of group counseling sessions in all three provinces compared to the COVID-19 period. The qualitative analysis revealed two primary themes: "challenges" and "capabilities."ConclusionsDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, providing some services and client referrals decreased in the centers, and center managers faced increased challenges. Many of these challenges were in the communication, executive, management, structure, education, financial, civilization, facilities, and socio-cultural sectors. Managers used their skills to manage and control these challenges. It is important to focus on these challenges and managerial capabilities to effectively handle future crises.

A Multi-perspective Approach to AI integration in the Communication Sector: Strategies, Uses, Debates, and Challenges

A Multi-perspective Approach to AI integration in the Communication Sector: Strategies, Uses, Debates, and Challenges

Analysing All-Optical Random Bit Sequences Using Gap-Based Approaches.

Quantum mechanical phenomena are revolutionizing classical engineering fields such as signal processing or cryptography. When randomness plays an important role, like in cryptography where random bit sequences guarantee certain levels of security, quantum mechanical phenomena allow new ways of generating random bit sequences. Such sequences have a lot of applications in the communication sector, e.g., regarding data transmission, simulation, sensors or radars, and beyond. They can be generated deterministically (e.g., by using polynomials, resulting in pseudo-random sequences) or in a non-deterministic way (e.g., by using physical noise sources like external devices or sensors, resulting in random sequences). Important characteristics of such binary sequences can be modelled by gap processes in conjunction with the probability theory. Recently, all-optical approaches have attracted a lot of research interest. In this work, an adaptation of the quantum key distribution setup is utilized for generating randomised bit sequences. The simulation results show that all-optically generated sequences very well resemble the theoretically ideal probability density characteristic. Additionally, an experimental optical setup is developed that confirms the simulation results. Furthermore, m-sequences show very promising results as well as Gold sequences. Additionally, the level of burstiness, i.e., the distribution of ones and zeros throughout the sequence, is studied for the different sequences. The results enable the finding that generator polynomials with concentrated non-zero coefficients lead to more bursty bit sequences.