Empirical Investigation Research Articles

Evaluating the impact of cloud e-learning in higher education: An empirical investigation

The motivation for conducting this study is to investigate the potential of Cloud e-learning to address the high-cost and high-complexity challenges of conventional learning methods for the upgraded learning processes in higher education. The overall direction of this research is driven towards how the actual usage of Cloud e-learning module affects students’ perceptions and academic performance. A Cloud e-learning module is designed and developed to promote optimised resource utilisation in the e-learning processes in higher education. A pretest-posttest method was adopted to study the impact of Cloud e-learning usage among students and whether the diffusion of Cloud e-learning has caused a change in students’ perceptions. The pretest-posttest results and students’ academic performance were then analysed to examine the impact from the actual usage of Cloud e-learning module. The findings reveal that the change of students’ perceptions is time variant, indicating students’ mixed perceptions on the usage of Cloud e-learning module. Analysis evidently reveals that the use of Cloud e-learning improved students’ learning performance in theoretical subjects. This research is useful to educators and ICT practitioners in making informed decisions in adopting the right ICT infrastructures to support e-learning in higher education.

Enhancing teacher competence through collaborative worksheet development: an empirical investigation

This study examined the efficacy of collaborative teaching using a projectbased learning (PjBL) worksheet on plastic waste and climate change. The research design followed a type-II development approach, with two distinct phases: exploration and development, and collaborative teaching. The study involved five science teachers, two lecturers, and 45 seventh-grade students in three limited field trials. The study found that collaborative teaching through worksheet development could increase science teachers’ professionalism, particularly in the collegial phase. Furthermore, the study developed a valid PjBL-based worksheet on plastic waste and climate change, aligning with the 2013 curriculum for science instruction in junior high school, involving three core competencies. The research design employed a lesson study framework, which allowed for a thorough exploration of the research topic, leading to the development of effective instructional material. The findings of this study have significant implications for science education in junior high school, particularly in promoting active learning and fostering a deeper understanding of complex environmental issues. Overall, the study highlights the importance of collaborative teaching and the potential of PjBL-based worksheets in enhancing teacher competence and developing relevant instructional materials that align with the curriculum.

An innovative approach for the passive cooling of batteries: An empirical investigation of copper deposition on polyurethane foam for the enhancement of phase change material

A proof-of-concept utilising Copper-Plated Polyurethane Foam (CPPF) and Phase Change Material (PCM) for passive thermal management of lithium-ion batteries is demonstrated in this study. The aim of this research is to assess the effectiveness of CPPF when utilised as a constituent substance in PCM/Foam composites. Six distinct configurations of PCM/Foam composites are presented in this work using 10-pore-per-inch foam. A total of four deposition foam samples were produced. Of these, three were created by gradually increasing the immersion time in an electroless copper plating solution. For the fourth sample, an electroless plating technique was utilised for 80 min, followed by an electroplating procedure to deposit an additional layer of copper. The evaluation entails examining each plated sample in comparison to a copper foam that is commercially available with a purity level of 99.99 %. The findings reveal that the electroless-plated specimens exhibit improved effectiveness after being subjected to a prolonged plating period of 80 min. The electroplated sample exhibited the greatest degree of effectiveness, as evidenced by a 64.4 % reduction in battery cell surface temperature(10.98 °C), which is almost identical to the 64.5 % decrease in temperature (11.03 °C) observed with commercial foam but coupled with 88.1 % decrease in mass. The results suggest that the CPPF-PCM composites offer effective passive cooling properties for batteries.

Effects of alliance portfolio breadth and depth on exploratory and exploitative innovation: Evidence from Indian high-tech sectors

Firms increasingly pursue collaborative innovation using alliance portfolios (APs) to enhance innovation outcomes. AP breadth and depth are two important dimensions of collaborative innovation. AP breadth enhances a firm’s access to a variety of external knowledge whereas AP depth helps integration of external knowledge. This study examined how AP breadth and depth, separately and jointly, affect firm innovation. Drawing primarily on the organisational learning perspective, we suggested that AP breadth enhances a firm’s exploratory innovation but lowers its exploitative innovation. However, AP depth improves a firm’s exploitative innovation but diminishes its exploratory innovation. Further, we suggested that the interaction effect of AP breadth and depth is negative for exploratory innovation whereas it is positive for exploitative innovation. An empirical investigation conducted on a longitudinal dataset of Indian firms from high-tech sectors broadly supported our theoretical arguments.

Digital procurement practices in SMES: comparative cases of advanced and emerging economies

About 99 percent of American firms are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and more than 88 percent of people are employed in SMEs. However, most SMEs are not using supplier interactions in digital platforms which is a flexible IT infrastructure (software, hardware, and network) and a well-developed information management capability. Organizations can use digital procurement platforms to foster managerial improvisation and can leverage, depending on the type of unexpected event. If we look at the emerging economy, the percentage of SMEs of total business is almost the same as advanced economies, but their digitalization is much less than the advanced economy. It is obvious that digital procurement is now one of the most significant prerequisites to tackle the supply chain crisis that leads to gaining competitive advantages in the financial and non-financial perspective of a business. It is also true that lacking the proper understanding of digital transformation and organizational capabilities, many small and medium enterprises are facing enormous hardships to sustain. This study aims to examine the challenges and opportunities of SMEs with digital procurement. Based on the literature review, we present a research model of digital transformation which defines key variables. We also use case study instruments to target SMEs in different sectors in advanced (USA) and emerging economies (Bangladesh) for empirical investigation.

Empirical investigation of drivers, motivations and barriers for implementation of integrated continuous improvement system: a case of Ethiopian manufacturing industries

PurposeContinuous improvement in an integrated approach is a philosophy developed over decades based on a set of management practices. It comprises enhancement methodologies that escalate success as well as diminishes letdowns. The state-of-the-art literature finds a variety of practices for the execution of continuous improvement (CI) system. However, it is rare to find an empirical study with an inclusive system that considers various practices in one frame for improving competitiveness. With this outlook, therefore, this study aims originally to identify drivers, motivations and barriers for the application of integrated CI system, and then conduct an empirical investigation within the context of Ethiopian manufacturing industries.Design/methodology/approachJustification of the problem, extensive review of literature, identification of practices, developing research framework, investigational analysis of the empirical study using reliability and descriptive statistical analysis and identifying leading drivers (unique practices and common factors), motivations and barriers are the research approaches used in this study. Furthermore, the primary data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire and were analyzed using a statistical package for social science (SPSS) 23 and the findings were triangulated to relate to the existing state-of-the-art literature.FindingsThe findings indicate 17 common factors associated with human, strategic, operational, technology, structure, resource and information factors; 21 unique practices of just-in-time (JIT), lean-six sigma (LSS), supply chain management (SCM), total productive maintenance (TPM), and total quality management (TQM) methodologies; 20 barriers connected with internal and external issues and 17 motivations linked to operational, innovation and business results are identified. In general, the empirical analysis discovers the practices are noteworthy and commonly supported by a least of 52% of the respondents. As a result, the first five prominent common factors, barriers, unique practices and motivations are also supported by a minimum of 72%, 73.9%, 65.8% and 75% of the respondents, respectively.Research limitations/implicationsEven though this is the first-ever study in the Ethiopian manufacturing sector with the focus on integrated CI practices of JIT, TQM, TPM, SCM and LSS initiatives, some limitations have existed and the major limitations of the study are, targeted merely small number manufacturing companies despite the fact that there are hundreds of companies implementing CI system in Ethiopia, and the data collected were only based on the perception of the respondents, and other information’s like annual reports was not employed to support the findings.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study underlined that the implementation of drivers in relation to common factors and unique practices supported by exterminating barriers in manufacturing industries of Ethiopia enables to enhance competitiveness through attaining operational, innovation and business results though it requires a practical case application to prove this perception-based analysis.Originality/valueThough there are a number of studies published on integrated continuous improvement, currently it is found that there is no literature focused on the identification and empirical investigation of drivers (common factors and unique practices), motivations and barriers for application of integrated CI system with the focus of JIT, TQM, TPM, SCM and LSS initiatives. Therefore, this is the first-ever study, and the empirical analysis of the study discovered that identified practices are providing valuable insights for manufacturing industries which will be on board on this voyage including institutions, practitioners and other sectors.

Maintaining the validity of inference from linear mixed models in stepped-wedge cluster randomized trials under misspecified random-effects structures.

Linear mixed models are commonly used in analyzing stepped-wedge cluster randomized trials. A key consideration for analyzing a stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial is accounting for the potentially complex correlation structure, which can be achieved by specifying random-effects. The simplest random effects structure is random intercept but more complex structures such as random cluster-by-period, discrete-time decay, and more recently, the random intervention structure, have been proposed. Specifying appropriate random effects in practice can be challenging: assuming more complex correlation structures may be reasonable but they are vulnerable to computational challenges. To circumvent these challenges, robust variance estimators may be applied to linear mixed models to provide consistent estimators of standard errors of fixed effect parameters in the presence of random-effects misspecification. However, there has been no empirical investigation of robust variance estimators for stepped-wedge cluster randomized trials. In this article, we review six robust variance estimators (both standard and small-sample bias-corrected robust variance estimators) that are available for linear mixed models in R, and then describe a comprehensive simulation study to examine the performance of these robust variance estimators for stepped-wedge cluster randomized trials with a continuous outcome under different data generators. For each data generator, we investigate whether the use of a robust variance estimator with either the random intercept model or the random cluster-by-period model is sufficient to provide valid statistical inference for fixed effect parameters, when these working models are subject to random-effect misspecification. Our results indicate that the random intercept and random cluster-by-period models with robust variance estimators performed adequately. The CR3 robust variance estimator (approximate jackknife) estimator, coupled with the number of clusters minus two degrees of freedom correction, consistently gave the best coverage results, but could be slightly conservative when the number of clusters was below 16. We summarize the implications of our results for the linear mixed model analysis of stepped-wedge cluster randomized trials and offer some practical recommendations on the choice of the analytic model.

Students career interest and understanding of corporate governance education in Ghana

PurposeGiven the perceived weak corporate governance systems in Ghana, corporate governance education curriculum requires empirical investigations to ascertain factors that can enhance student knowledge in governance systems based on their career interests and programme of study. Therefore, we investigate whether students with a career interest in corporate governance exhibit a significantly different level of comprehension compared to those without such an interest. Furthermore, we explore whether the comprehension of course concepts differs across various business-related programmes, investigating potential variations in understanding among students from diverse programme backgrounds.Design/methodology/approachUsing a descriptive design, we adopt a quantitative approach and survey method to collect cross-sectional data from 1,050 undergraduate students in selected Ghanaian public universities. We analyse the data using t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).FindingsWe establish no statistically significant difference in comprehension levels of corporate governance concepts between students with a career interest in corporate governance and those with no career interest. However, we find statistically significant differences in the comprehension of corporate governance concepts among students pursuing different business-related programmes.Practical implicationsOur findings imply that the corporate governance course should be taught practically, giving students insights into what the course entails from an industrial viewpoint. This may entail engaging experts from industry as visiting lecturers at intervals to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Students could also benefit from mentorship programmes from industry, internships and related placements to ensure an understanding of theoretical concepts from practical perspectives.Originality/valueOur study is novel and contributes to extant literature because it is the first empirical study on corporation governance education that emphasizes on students career interests and programme of study from a developing country perspective.

Sharenting: A systematic review of the empirical literature

AbstractSharenting, the practice of parents publicly sharing information about their children on social media, has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review in order to evaluate existing publications that have empirically investigated the sharenting phenomenon and conceptualized its characteristics and possible consequences. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analysis guidelines, 61 studies were reviewed. Based on the point of view and focus of the studies, six themes emerged: characteristics of sharenting, children's privacy, professional sharenting, children's perspectives, factors affecting sharenting, and social media dilemmas. The review highlights the growing prevalence of sharenting and provides a comprehensive overview of the empirical investigations and conceptualizations of the phenomenon. The findings have implications for parents, professionals, and policymakers, and opportunities for future research to further understand the complex and multifaceted nature of sharenting.

Role of Green Management Information Systems in Employees' Green Attitude, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover Intentions: An Empirical Investigation

Role of Green Management Information Systems in Employees' Green Attitude, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover Intentions: An Empirical Investigation

Exploring the acceptance of robotic assisted surgery among the Indian population: An empirical investigation

Background Technology has completely transformed healthcare, starting with X-ray machines and MRIs to telehealth and robotic surgeries to e-health records. The launch of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) serves as a milestone in medical history, offering benefits such as smaller incisions, shorter hospital stays, and faster recovery, making it a preferred surgical option. This study mainly explores patients’ willingness to adopt robot-assisted surgery (RAS) technology in a surgical intervention and is assessed in the backdrop of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Methods This research project employs a post-positivist research philosophy and a cross-sectional research design. A structured, pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from 280 respondents. Results The results revealed that trust had a significant impact on Perceived Usefulness (β = 0.099) and Perceived Ease of Use (β = .157), and eHealth literacy had a significant impact on Perceived Ease of Use (β = 0.438) and Perceived Usefulness (β = 0.454). Additionally, Perceived Usefulness partially influenced behavioral intention (β = 0.123), and attitude had a significant influence on behavioral intention (β = 0.612). The analysis revealed an insignificant impact of eHealth literacy on Perceived Usefulness (β = 0.067). The Standard Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) value was <0.8. Mediation analysis also revealed partial mediation between the constructs. The SRMR rating of this model is 0.067, indicating that it fits the data well. Conclusion This study revealed that a patient's intention will be high if he or she believes that RAS is beneficial in treating his or her ailment. In comparison, information related to RAS is clearly known, and it does not directly affect selection intention. eHealth literacy is a significant antecedent to patients’ behavioral intention. Hence, the healthcare industry must devise strategies to promote the acceptance of RAS at all levels.

Suicidal Ideation and Academic Self-efficacy among Urban High School Students

The present study attempted an empirical investigation to explore the suicidal ideation and academic self-efficacy among urban high school students. A total of 120 (60 boys and 60 girls) respondents constituted the sample of the study. The samples were taken from 3 high schools of City Corporation, Chittagong district. The measuring instruments used in this study were: Adapted Bangla version of Suicidal Ideation of Beck et al. (1974), Adapted Bangla version of Academic self-efficacy scale of Owen md Froman ( 1988). The data were analyzed by using mean, standard deviation t-test and Pearson product moment correlation. The findings showed that there was no significant difference between boy and girl students with respect to suicidal ideation and academic self-efficacy. Results also showed that there was significant negative correlation of suicidal ideation and academic self-efficacy. The correlation coefficient between suicidal ideation and academic self-efficacy was r = - 0.215 (p< 0.05). The Chittagong Univ. J B. Sci. 8(1&2): 127-134, 2013

Orphan's Stress and Aggression

The present study attempted an empirical investigation to explore the stress and aggression of orphans as a function of gender and residence. A total of 120 respondents constituted the sample of the study. Among them 60 orphans were male (30 were urban and 30 were rural) and 60 orphans were female (30 were urban and 30 were rural). An adapted Bangla version (Fahim 2001) of ‘How stressful your life stress' scale and Bangla version (Rahman 2003) of Measure of Aggressive Behavior (MAB) scale were used for data collection. Data were analyzed by mean, standard deviation, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings of the present study showed that female orphans had significantly more stress (F=6.73, df=1, p<0.05) than male orphans and urban orphans had significantly more stress (F=24.36, df=l, p<0 .01) than rural orphans. No significant interaction effect was found between gender and residence according to stress. On the other hand, male orphans had significantly more aggression (F=33.46, df=l, p<O.O l) than female orphans and urban orphans had significantly more aggression (F=9.41, df=l, p<0.01) than rural orphans. No significant interaction. effect was found between gender and residence in relation to aggression. Results also showed that stress was positively correlated (r =.38, p<0.01) with aggression. The Chittagong Univ. J B. Sci. 8(1&2): 51-62, 2013

THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE SHARE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN JAPAN: A COMPREHENSIVE TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of financial development (FD) on the share of renewable energy (RE) usage in Japan. The existing theoretical literature and empirical analyses covering different country cases reveal that FD might have positive, negative, or insignificant effect on RE use. Since there is no empirical investigation of the issue for Japan, the study aims to contribute to the literature. To that end, we used several time-series techniques to detect the association between RE usage and FD in Japan over the 1970–2020 period. The results obtained from the ARDL, Hatemi-J, Maki, Tsong et al. and NARDL cointegration tests showed that there is a significant cointegrated relationship between the share of RE use, FD, GDP per capita and trade openness. As for the long-run coefficients obtained from the ARDL, FMOLS, CCR and NARDL estimators revealed that increases in FD and trade openness raise the share of RE usage while increases in GDP per capita reduce it. Briefly, for the Japan case, we may suggest that improving the financial market structure of the country will bear fruit in terms of the share of cleaner and sustainable energy usage.

Adulthood's Marital Adjustment and Suicidal Ideation

The present study attempted an empirical investigation to the marital adjustment and suicidal ideation of adulthood. In order to collect data, participants were selected purposively; a total 108 respondents were selected. Out of these 108 respondents, 54 were of single family and 54 were of joint family. In the 54 single families, 27 were of rural areas and 27 were of urban areas. And in the 54 joint families, 27 were of rural areas and 27 were of urban areas. Again, each group consisted of 9 early adulthood, 9 middle adulthood and 9 late adulthood. Their age ranges were from 17 to 60 above years. The Bangla version of "Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) (Ilyas 2001)" and "Suicidal ideation scale (Uddin and Hossain 2007)" were used to measure marital adjustment and suicidal ideation. The data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation t-value, one- way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson product moment correlation. The findings of the present study showed that mean of marital adjustment of late adulthood shows more marital adjustment than middle and early adulthood (F=68.98,df=2,p< 0.00); mean of marital adjustment of joint family was more than single family (F =14.24, df =1, p .< 0.00); mean of marital adjustment of rural areas was more than the urban areas (F = 12.23, df = 1, p < 0.00). On the other hand, early adulthood was more suicidal ideation than middle and late adulthood (F·=. 19.49, df =2, ·p <0.00); single-family was more suicidal ideation than joint family (F = 6.08, df = l, p <0.01); but residence had no significant on suicidal ideation. Result also 'showed negative correlation (r= - 0..32, p<0.001 ) between marital adjustment and suicidal ideation of adults. The Chittagong Univ. J. B. Sci. 8(1&2): 87-98.2013

Conceptualizing ephemerality in online marketing communication for consumers and firms

Purpose Consumers send billions of messages with high ephemerality each day, yet the effects of this type of communication are relatively unknown. Online ephemeral communication refers to sending and receiving information with a predetermined, finite lifespan in computer-mediated environments. The purpose of this paper is to conceptually understand online marketing communications with high ephemerality relative to messages with low ephemerality within a consumer’s goal system. Design/methodology/approach This paper is an attempt to conceptually understand how high ephemerality differs from low ephemerality, particularly as online ephemeral communication has emerged and is widely used by consumers and firms. Goal systems theory is applied to understand how ephemerality is a means for consumers to reach their communication goals. Findings Consumers are more likely to use messages with high ephemerality to impress with narrowly relevant content, regulate emotions, build social relationships, persuade others through peripheral cues and protect privacy, but messages with high ephemerality are less likely to help consumers manage their impression, acquire or share useful information or present strong arguments. It is also proposed that messages with high ephemerality can help marketers increase interest through frequent peripheral cues, including fun and friendly content, drive sales by creating a sense of urgency and increase loyalty, but are less likely to increase awareness, build interest through flattering or informative content or drive sales through transactional messages. Research limitations/implications This study primarily advances the goal systems literature by introducing ephemerality. The defining feature of ephemerality, lifespan, also has research implications for studies of word-of-mouth marketing. The propositions in this study are ready for empirical investigation as to when consumers and firms choose to send messages with low or high ephemerality. Practical implications Firms need to understand how consumers are using messages sent with low and high ephemerality in order for firms to best move consumers through the sales funnel. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first paper to differentiate messages with low and high ephemerality, identify the presence and effects of ephemerality in offline and online communication and explain how and why sending messages with low or high ephemerality can help consumers and firms reach their communication goals. There is only one other paper in marketing on ephemerality in online marketing communications and no other conceptual work.

An Empirical Investigation of the Three-Pathway Model and its Contribution to the Gambling Disorder Psychopathology.

Blaszczynski and Nower (2002) proposed a theoretical model that leads to problem gambling via three pathways: (1) operant conditioning; (2) emotional vulnerability; and (3) impulsivity and psychopathy. In the current investigation, we explored the relationship between these three putative causative dimensions and clinical core features of Gambling Disorder (GD): gambling craving, gambling-related cognitive distortions, gambling (wagering) behavior, and gambling severity. Data on 343 people with disordered gambling were analyzed. Measures representing the three pathways were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA generated three profiles. The original dimension of impulsivity/psychopathy was divided into two parts; the impulsivity-related traits were combined with symptoms of depression and anxiety to form one single component representing a volatile emotional, cognitive and behavioral style, named the Affect-instability component. The other two components were Psychopathy and Operant Behavior. Linear regression models for each PCA component found that the Affect-instability component was associated with all core features of GD, i.e., craving, cognitive distortions, gambling behavior and severity (standardized Β range: 0.298-0.448, all p < 0.001). Operant Behavior was significantly associated with gambling behavior (standardized Β=-0.137, p = 0.038) and gambling severity (standardized Β=-0.157, p = 0.006). Psychopathy was associated only with gambling cognitive distortions (standardized Β=-0.300, p < 0.001), suggesting a wider dimension of cognitive challenges in GD. An instability component encompassing emotional and cognitive dysregulation was the strongest predictor of all clinical features of GD. The correlation between operant conditioning and gambling severity suggests that behavioral conditioning plays a role in the persistence of maladaptive gambling.

Comparing Conformal and Quantile Regression for Uncertainty Quantification: An Empirical Investigation

Comparing Conformal and Quantile Regression for Uncertainty Quantification: An Empirical Investigation

EXPRESS: Optimizing Pricing Delegation to External Sales Forces via Commissions: an Empirical Investigation

EXPRESS: Optimizing Pricing Delegation to External Sales Forces via Commissions: an Empirical Investigation

Producer Support Estimate Effects in Terms of Commodity Production – An Empirical Investigation

The agriculture sector has steadily enjoyed government support for a relatively long period, especially in developed economies. Considerations relate to strategic behavior of countries’ leadership, in that ensuring food security is essential to avoid dependence on other countries for food supply. However, recent decades’ objectives have been focused on farmers’ income stability as well as on the environmental impacts of agriculture. While there is a consensus on the depressing effects on consumers’ and taxpayers’ welfare, the discussions on the public policy impacts on the agricultural outcome are of a wider range. Empirical studies at the farm level doubt the positive effect of farm support on their technical efficiency. This paper provides an analysis of the role of Producer Support Estimate (PSE) as a source of assistance on a commodity basis in a group of OECD and other big agricultural traders. With a special focus on the Producer Single Commodity Transfer (PSCT) effect on the countries’ commodity production levels, the general finding is that the government intervention in specific commodities investigated here may not be efficient.