Examining Utilitarian and Hedonic Factors and their Moderators for Virtual World Collaborations

Although experts sense a big future for virtual worlds (VWs) in the workplace scenario, their use in the business world is still in a nascent stage. A key challenge for organizations is to motivate users for utilizing VW for workplace related tasks. This research investigates the behavioral intention (BI) to use VW as a workplace ‘collaboration tool’. The model, grounded in literature on ‘motivations’ and ‘task success characteristics’, not only examines the direct effects of ‘utilitarian’ and ‘hedonic’ factors on VW usage intentions but also the moderating role of ‘familiarity’ and ‘control’. Results suggest a salient role of ‘utilitarian’ as compared to ‘hedonic’ factors and demonstrate the importance of considering the moderating effects of ‘familiarity’ and ‘control’ in determining the intention to use VW for collaborations. Implications for research and practice are also discussed

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and hospitality sector: Charting new frontiers for restaurant businesses

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a key theme of discussion and focus in all debates regarding the need for business enterprises to function in a manner that is responsive and sensitive to the needs of their communities and society. Academic research has also kept pace with the rising industry interest. The literature on CSR has grown appreciably, offering important insights that scholars must collectively evaluate if they are to inform theory and practice. Appreciating the value of such an endeavour, the present study utilised a critical systematic literature review (SLR) to analyse the literature published on the role of CSR in the restaurant sector from 2004 to 2021. The SLR was executed, first, by identifying relevant studies using a clearly defined search protocol. This process resulted in 67 studies. Subsequently, a content analysis we performed on these studies to delineate thematic areas of research. Based on the stakeholder perspective, two main themes and six sub-themes of research related to individual, organisational and societal levels were identified. In addition, the content analysis also identified crucial research gaps, providing the basis for a future research agenda and the development of a research framework for the reference of scholars and practitioners. The findings of the SLR provide valuable insights that can support efforts currently underway to strengthen CSR in the restaurant sector.publishedVersio

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome: a case report

Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome (PRES) is a clinic radiological entity, characterized by variable associations of seizure activity, consciousness impairment, headache, visual abnormalities, nausea and vomiting and focal neurological signs. The global incidence of PRES is not known. It can develop in association with conditions like exposure to toxic agents, hypertension, infection and eclampsia was present in 7%. So, here I am presenting a case of our patient of 22 years primigravida, who presented with ante partum eclampsia at 28 weeks of gestation and delivered vaginally by induction of labor. Post-delivery she developed PRES which was diagnosed by MRI

Enumeration and genetic analysis of coliform bacteria from riverine systems of Rourkela: An index of water pollution

The coliform group has been used extensively as an indicator of water quality and has historically leaded to the public health protection. The aim of this estimation is to examine methods currently in use or which can be proposed for the monitoring of Coliforms in drinking water. Purposely, the need for more rapid, sensitive and specific tests is required to know the bacterial population in domestic water. Most acceptable methods for coliform detection include the multiple-tube fermentation (MTF) technique and the membrane filter (MF) technique using different specific media and incubation conditions. These methods have some limitations, however, such as in the time of duration of incubation, antagonistic organism interference were observed. Nowadays, the simple and inexpensive membrane filter technique is the most widely used method for routine enumeration of Coliforms in domestic water water as wellas MF method is best suitable method to identify the coliform in domestic water area. The detection of Coliforms based on specific enzymatic activity have improved the sensitivity of these methods. The enzymes are beta-D galactosidase and beta-D glucuronidase are widely used for the detection and enumeration of total Coliforms and Escherichia coli, respectively. Many fluorogenic substrates exist for the specific detection of these enzymatic actions, and various profitable tests based on these substrates are available. Frequent comparisons have shown in these tests may be a suitable alternative to the conservative techniques. They are more expensive, and the incubation time, even though cheap, remains take too long time for same-day results. Detection of Coliforms by molecular methods is also proposed, as these methods allow for very specific and rapid detection without the need for a cultivation step. Molecular-based methods are evaluated here by the process by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In the immunological method, different antibodies against coliform bacteria have been formed, but the application of this technique often show low antibody specificity. PCR can be used to distinguish coliform bacteria by means of signal amplification. DNA sequence coding for the beta-galactosidase gene and the beta-D glucuronidase gene has been used to detect total Coliforms and E. coli respectively

The Study to Analyze the Impact of Green Supply Chain Management in India

Green supply chain management can be explained as a supply chain management system which is beneficial for the environment and which consists of designing of products , selection of raw material,manufacturing steps and delivery and preparation of final product through a stable and sustainable process.Sustainibility is the major key to supply chain ,which starts with the understanding through all the phases of production upto final distribution. This paper majorly focuses on the importance and need of term green and concepts or activities which are related to greener activities in areas like manufacturing and remanufacturing of products having a green impact ,controlling of travel costs and waste products , reverse logistics etc. The purpose is to understand the impact and also to make people aware about the major difficulties, problems and also the advantages and profits which are a part of such a great green concept if it is successfully implemented or installed during the process of supply chain management in various organisations.Keywords : Production, customer , supply chain , green , sustainability , manufacturing , materials

ROLE OF COGNITIVE ABSORPTION AND TRUST FOR COLLABORATION IN VIRTUAL WORLD

Virtual worlds (VWs) have paved a new and important channel for user collaboration and information sharing. Businesses are now considering using VWs as innovative means for collaboration and information sharing among its organizational members. Despite the huge potential of VWs for harnessing and increasing the flow of ideas among organizations, research on the subject is rather sparse. Drawing on the social cognitive theory, we re-specify the concept of cognitive absorption (CA) in the context of VWs by theorizing environmental factors in addition to the individual factors as antecedents of CA. Further, by integrating CA with ‘trust’ we develop a VW usage model. We test the specified model with data collected from 197 VW users in Singapore. Results display the important roles that both CA and ‘trust’ play in the usage of VW. Further, through a post-hoc analysis we demonstrate the imperative need for considering both CA and ‘trust’, together in the proposed VW usage model. The study also delineates a set of implications for research and practice

Does Technostress Inhibit Employee Innovation? Examining the Linear and Curvilinear Influence of Technostress Creators

Despite the increasing quantum of research on technostress, three particularly noteworthy gaps remain. First, though prior studies have described “technostress creators” through the five dimensions techno-overload, techno-invasion, techno-complexity, techno-insecurity, and techno-uncertainty in an aggregated way, they have not adequately considered how these technostress creators individually influence job outcomes. Second, though past organizational research suggests a curvilinear relationship between job stress and job outcomes, research has yet to examine whether the stress-performance dynamics for the technostress context follows the organizational stress literature. Third, even though the literature emphasizes information and communication technology (ICT)-enabled innovation in firms, research has not explored what influence the technostress creators have on ICT-enabled innovation in-depth. Grounding our arguments in the control theory of occupational stress and conservation of resources (COR) theory, we first theorize the linear and curvilinear relationships for each of the five technostress creators with ICT-enabled employee innovation and then test the hypothesized relationships via conducting a survey on organizational employees who regularly used ICTs for professional tasks. The results offer a nuanced understanding about the nature of individual technostress creators and their relationships with ICT-enabled employee innovation. On the practical front, our research paves the way for more meaningful technostress-management strategies in organizations

Watch Out-It’s My Private Space! Examining the Influence of Technology Driven Intrusions on Employee Performance

In this research we draw upon organizational literature on spatial intrusion to identify two components of technology related employee intrusion concerns -- employee accessibility and employee visibility. Situating our arguments in learning and control perspectives, we theorize the influence of employee ‘accessibility’ and ‘visibility’ on two technology enabled employee outcomes of productivity and innovation. We test the proposed research model through a survey of senior organizational managers who regularly use organizational technologies for executing their routine tasks. Results indicate that employee accessibility generally has positive while employee visibility has negative relationship with performance outcomes. Findings have significant implications for research and practice because they show that spatial intrusion does not necessarily have a negative influence on employee performance