The predictive effect of teachers’ perception of school principals’ motivating language on teachers’ self-efficacy via a cultural context

The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between teachers' perception of school principals' motivating language and teachers' self-efficacy mediated by the cultural context. School principals' linguistic communication skills are critical to sustain the motivation of teachers and their self-efficacy. Motivating language theory (MLT), on which this study is based, provides a model that helps us understand how the language, more precisely, the speech acts, used by school principals have an impact on teachers' self-efficacy. A survey method was employed with 252 teachers through convenience sampling. The teachers' mean age was 34.87 (SD = 9.22) years, and the average length of service was 11.72 (SD = 9.42) years. The results showed that school principals' use of motivating language was significantly and positively associated with teachers' self-efficacy (b = 0.10, p < 0.000). The low-context culture was found to have a full mediating effect in this relationship (b = 0.04, t = 3.1771, p < 0.000). The findings contribute to leader communication theory by highlighting a particular emphasis on the language school principals use to motivate teachers

Understanding the complexities of Building-Integrated Agriculture. Can food shape the future built environment?

Our food system is facing an unprecedented challenge: feeding a fast growing population without depleting precious resources like energy, soil, and water.Furthermore, the increasing urbanization has rapidly exacerbated the gap between farm to plate, leaving cities vulnerable to changes in the production and supply chain, as demonstrated by recent pandemics and wars. In this context, emerging technologies that allow plants to grow in absence of soil, permit to produce food in high densely built-up areas, bringing food production right were most consumers live. These initiatives enter within the so called Building-Integrated Agriculture (BIA), which is referred as the practice of locating greenhouses and soilless plant cultivation technologies on top and inside mixed-use buildings to exploit the synergies between the building environment and agriculture, involving resource recovery such as water, energy and nutrient flows. This paper aims at determining strategies, objectives, and best practices of BIA projects through the review of 21 case studies, to understand how a new advanced and future-oriented agriculture applied within the cities borders, can possibly shape the urban built environment and food systems of the future

Earnings Management, Related Party Transactions and Corporate Performance: The Moderating Role of Internal Control

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the impacts of earnings management (EM) and related party transactions (RPTs) on corporate financial performance in an emerging market, Iran. This paper also aims to examine the moderating role of internal control weakness (ICW) in the relationship between them. The study sample includes 108 Iranian manufacturing companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) between 2013 and 2018, and panel data with random effects are used to test the hypotheses. When an accounting-based measure called ROA is defined as a proxy for corporate performance, the results show that there is a negative association between real earnings management (REM) and corporate financial situation, while accrual-based earnings management (AEM) and firm value are correlated positively. However, when Tobin's Q index is defined as a proxy for corporate performance, we do not find any significant association between them. Consistent with the tunneling hypothesis or agency theory, our findings confirm RPTs damage corporate value (ROA and Tobin's Q) because managers probably consider it a mechanism to exploit enterprise resources owing to existing conflictual interests. Moreover, purchase-related party transactions lead to lower ROA, whereas sale-related party transactions and Tobin's Q are correlated negatively. Moreover, weak internal control has a positive moderating influence on the linkage between AEM and Tobin's Q index. Finally, we provide robust evidence that there is a positive association between sale growth and institutional owners with ROA and Tobin's Q, although financial leverage and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have a destructive effect on corporate value

Business model innovation and digital transformation in global management consulting firms

Purpose: This paper contains an exploratory analysis of the business model innovations (BMIs) that management consulting firms (MCFs) undertake to remain competitive during digital transformation. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses data from a longitudinal multiple case study of the European practices of major global MCFs to provide an overview of how they reconfigure their business model (BM) to gain competitive advantages. It maps BMIs in MCFs through value creation innovation, value proposition innovation and value capturing innovation. Findings: There is a shift in value proposition from solely giving advice or supporting information technology (IT) implementation to providing end-to-end digital solutions. To materialize value propositions, MCFs acquire new knowledge and digital assets through talent scouting, and mergers and acquisitions (M&As). MCFs rely heavily on complementary knowledge and capabilities of actors within ecosystems; thus, they focus on expanding, creating their ecosystems and adopting platforms' configuration and characteristics. Research limitations/implications: Inductively, the authors reached an analytical generalization through six propositions and a theoretical frame that embeds propositions in the previous literature. Future research should test them across the overall management consulting industry. Practical implications: MCFs are recognized as drivers of innovation and BMIs in most client firms. However, MCFs are rarely analyzed with respect to their BMIs. Understanding how MCFs innovate their business models (BMs) to provide digital transformation (DT) consulting services is relevant for delivering management innovation across industries. Originality/value: This is the first exploratory study on BMI inside global MCFs during DT

LED lighting systems for horticulture: Business growth and global distribution

In recent years, research on light emitting diodes (LEDs) has highlighted their great potential as a lighting system for plant growth, development and metabolism control. The suitability of LED devices for plant cultivation has turned the technology into a main component in controlled or closed plant-growing environments, experiencing an extremely fast development of horticulture LED metrics. In this context, the present study aims to provide an insight into the current global horticulture LED industry and the present features and potentialities for LEDs' applications. An updated review of this industry has been integrated through a database compilation of 301 manufacturers and 1473 LED lighting systems for plant growth. The research identifies Europe (40%) and North America (29%) as the main regions for production. Additionally, the current LED luminaires' lifespans show 10 and 30% losses of light output after 45,000 and 60,000 working hours on average, respectively, while the vast majority of worldwide LED lighting systems present efficacy values ranging from 2 to 3 μmol J-1 (70%). Thus, an update on the status of the horticultural LED sector, LEDs' applications and metrics, and the intense innovation are described and discussed

Growing e-waste management risk awareness points towards new recycling scenarios: The view of the Big Four's youngest consultants

The e-waste sector is characterised by a rapid growth at global level and therefore involves an area not yet sufficiently investigated in its risk management dimension. This research fills the gap of the absence of a holistic approach to risk identification and assessment in e-waste management, suggesting a new Risk Awareness Indicator (RAI). An integrated Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA)-Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is proposed to calculate the new index. Weights and values will be proposed by twenty Big Four's youngest consultants (generation-Z and millennials). For e-waste, cyber risks related to personal data are critical in the collection phase, environmental risks in the transport phase, and financial and economic risks in the processing phase. Recycling scenarios pose less overall risk than landfill alternatives. The results can help policy makers to meet the circular economy targets set at the European Union level by implementing administrative and regulatory simplifications to support recycling supply chains and make them more efficient and resilient after the pandemic disruption. This work focuses on e-waste and the opinion of screenagers consultants, however the methodology used to design the RAI index makes it easy to replicate the analysis to other social settings and other waste supply chains