BAED's Publications

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    A framework for a responsible circular economy
    (Elsevier, 2024-05-10) Purvis, B. ; Celebi, D. ; Pansera, M.
    The move towards a Circular Economy (CE) from the perspective of a ‘just transition’ necessitates an approach which deems stakeholder knowledge and agency as central. Under this paradigm the transition to a CE is conceived not as a technocratic challenge, but as a process of socioeconomic transformation grounded in principles of social and environmental justice. We suggest that Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), as an approach for considering the relation of science to wider society, in particular the constituent concepts of anticipation, inclusion, reflection, and responsiveness (Owen et al., 2013), presents itself as a lens through which we can embed considerations of justice within CE practices. In exploring these dimensions with a critical view to how the CE discourse has often failed to consider who will benefit from the transition to a CE, we present a framework for supporting the design of responsible CE practices. We argue that such a framework can provide a starting point for future refinement and enrichment of the decision context faced by the relevant groups in the course of the transition to a just CE.
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    An investigation of social entrepreneurial intentions formation among South-East European postgraduate students
    (Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2016-11-21) Kostas Politis ; Panayiotis Ketikidis ; Anastasios D. Diamantidis ; Lambros Lazuras
    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the formation of social entrepreneurial intentions (SEIs) in postgraduate students in the South-East European region. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative approach (self-administered online questionnaire) is used to gather data. The total number of the questionnaires that were collected and analyzed through SPSS statistical suite was 115 from which 111 were valid. Findings – From the proposed five hypotheses set in the literature, only the personality trait theory was totally rejected because it failed to predict social and commercial entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). The remaining hypotheses were found to be valid. The study’s key finding is that the chosen theory (Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TPB)), is able to predict both kinds of intentions. An alarming key finding is that tensions in mission focus seem to be present in the early shaped intentions of potential social entrepreneurs. Research limitations/implications – Research findings impose that major educational and policy efforts are needed to promote the theme of social entrepreneurship (SE). The results indicate that most of the postgraduates have not yet fully understood the mindset of SE as they were confused about the synergy of the goals (inherent in their social vs profit intentions). Originality/value – This research contributes in three major ways to the literature. First, it shows that SEIs seem to be shaped similarly to EIs; determined mostly by two of the motivational factors of the TPB (personal attitude and perceived behavioral control). Second, it shows which factors seem to affect both constructs and third, it adds to the literature by showing that tensions in mission focus are evident early on in the intentions’ formation process, underlying the necessity of immediate educational and legislative precautions.
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    Bank Asset and Informational Quality
    ( 2020-02) Kladakis, George ; Chen, Lei ; Sotirios K. Bellos
    We examine the relationship between bank asset and informational quality. We use a diversified panel of 699 banks from 84 countries and measure opacity (lack of informational quality) with rating disagreements between issuer-specific ratings by three credit rating agencies (S&P, Moody’s and Fitch). Results from panel ordered logit regressions show that poor asset quality increases the probability of greater credit rating disagreements. Considering that the recent regulatory frameworks require from banks to reduce the worrying levels of non-performing loans and to increase transparency in their risk-taking, our findings have important policy implications.
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    Breaking the curse: extracting strategic directions for hotel industry in Wuhan from TripAdvisor quantitative rating
    ( 2022-03-15) Niki Glaveli ; Stergios Palamas ; Chris Liassidis ; Evangelos Grigoroudis
    The coronavirus pandemic had a tremendous impact on the hotel industry worldwide. The present study highlights strategic directions for quality improvements and customer satisfaction enhancement in Wuhan hotels by applying Multiple Criteria Satisfaction Analysis to online user-generated satisfaction ratings. In total, 21.247 guest satisfaction ratings on four aspects of hotel stay (location, cleanliness, value for money and service) as well as on overall satisfaction for the 406 hotels listed for Wuhan on TripAdvisor were retrieved. The analysis revealed that convenient location is the most important satisfaction criterion for hotel guests’ satisfaction and that hotels perform well regarding this criterion. Also, cleanliness, value for moneyand service can be potential threats for customer satisfaction.
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    Consumers’ Perceptions on Complexity and Prospects of Ethical Luxury: Qualitative Insights from Taiwan
    (SAGE JOURNALS, 2019) Karatzas, Stelios ; Kapoulas, Alexandros ; Priporas, Vasileios, Constantinos
    This qualitative study explores ethical luxury in Taiwan, a country that represents a significant demographic in the luxury market. The study utilized the ZMET technique and focus groups. A total of 28 heavy users of luxury brands were interviewed. Results indicate that luxury brands are chiefly defined by such constructs as price, quality and aesthetical attributes, whereas ethicality is centrally demarcated by human wellbeing, the environment and animal welfare, amongst other elements. The fusion of these two concepts implies several encouraging outlooks and certain deterring factors. Results denote that there is potential for ethical luxury's inception in the Taiwanese market, but with considerable forethought in the process. This study extends the body of knowledge in how consumers perceive the prospect of ethical luxury, especially from a non-western perspective.
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    Consumption in the Circular Economy: Learning from Our Mistakes
    (Circular Economy and Sustainable Strategies, 2021-01-10) Georgantzis Garcia, D. ; Kipnis, E. ; Vasileiou, E. ; Solomon, A.
    The Circular Economy (CE) is gaining increasing attention among businesses, policymakers and academia, and across research disciplines. While the concept’s strong diffusion may be considered its main strength, it has also contributed to the emergence of many different understandings and definitions, which may hinder or slow down its success. Specifically, despite growing attention, the role of the consumption side in the CE remains a largely under-researched topic. In the present review, we first search the literature by means of snowball mapping and a systematic key-word strategy, and then critically analyze the identified sources in order to elucidate the fundamental elements that should characterize consumption in a CE. We extract two pillars, directly from definition, that should be at the nucleus of future research on consumption in the CE: (1) the hierarchical nature of circular strategies, with “reduce” being preferred to all other strategies; and (2) the inadequacy of defining the CE only through its loops or strategies without considering its goal of attaining sustainable development. Moreover, the discussion is placed within the extant consumer research streams deemed relevant, in order to bridge these with the context of the CE. We highlight limitations of said research streams regarding their typical focus on the quality (and not the quantity) of consumption, the lack of heterogeneity in the theories and data collection methods employed, and the non-impact-based instruments typically used to measure consumption behaviors. We show how these limitations have contributed to the emergence of the intention–behavior gap, a phenomenon extant studies identify as key to overcome for encouraging sustainable consumption practices. In particular, we focus the analysis on the intention–behavior gap in order to: (1) establish the state-of-the-art; and (2) uncover avenues for future research addressing extant limitations.
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    Consumption in the Circular Economy: Learning from Our Mistakes
    ( 2021-01-10) Garcia,
    The Circular Economy (CE) is gaining increasing attention among businesses, policymakers and academia, and across research disciplines. While the concept’s strong diffusion may be considered its main strength, it has also contributed to the emergence of many different understandings and definitions, which may hinder or slow down its success. Specifically, despite growing attention, the role of the consumption side in the CE remains a largely under-researched topic. In the present review, we first search the literature by means of snowball mapping and a systematic key-word strategy, and then critically analyze the identified sources in order to elucidate the fundamental elements that should characterize consumption in a CE. We extract two pillars, directly from definition, that should be at the nucleus of future research on consumption in the CE: (1) the hierarchical nature of circular strategies, with “reduce” being preferred to all other strategies; and (2) the inadequacy of defining the CE only through its loops or strategies without considering its goal of attaining sustainable development. Moreover, the discussion is placed within the extant consumer research streams deemed relevant, in order to bridge these with the context of the CE. We highlight limitations of said research streams regarding their typical focus on the quality (and not the quantity) of consumption, the lack of heterogeneity in the theories and data collection methods employed, and the non-impact-based instruments typically used to measure consumption behaviors. We show how these limitations have contributed to the emergence of the intention–behavior gap, a phenomenon extant studies identify as key to overcome for encouraging sustainable consumption practices. In particular, we focus the analysis on the intention–behavior gap in order to: (1) establish the state-of-the-art; and (2) uncover avenues for future research addressing extant limitations.
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    Continuity and Change in Greek Politics in an Age of Austerity
    (Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018-02-20) Prodromidou Alexandra
    This chapter discusses the impact of austerity policies on Greek politics and attempts to identify patterns of continuity and change in the post-1974 era. The first part maps the evolution of politics in Greece, with a focus on the development of the clientelistic state, which shaped state policies largely based on political cost. The second part discusses the changes occurring post-2010, including the decline of the socialist PASOK in favour of the rise of fringe populist parties. It is argued that the political and social turmoil created by the austerity measures adopted have been conditioned by the already existing particular brand of populist and clientelistic governance, which stood at the core of the country’s party political system at least since the 1980s.
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    Corporate Liquidity, Supply Chain and Cost issues Awareness within the COVID-19 context: Evidence from US Management Reports’ Textual Analysis
    (EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LIMITED, 2021-04-07) Athanasios P. Fassas ; Sotirios K. Bellos ; Kladakis, George
    The purpose of this study is to assess the management responses and intentions of 3,279 US firms from all industries, before and after the coronavirus outbreak, to identify the level of managerial concern about specific financial issues and potential economic costs of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses textual analysis of official management reports to search for specific single words in five domains related to corporate finance and governance. This paper focuses on the relative frequency of single words using a weighting scheme that adjusts for document length and for the inverse document frequency. This paper then uses t-tests to investigate the univariate differences across groups of reports before and after the US stock market crash in February 2020. Findings The applied textual and empirical analysis provides evidence that firms’ primary concerns relate to the disruption in supply chains, liquidity need and coronavirus-led recession. This paper also shows that the main cost reduction measure they are considering is salary reduction, rather than workforce reduction. This paper also shows evidence that firm managers are rather swift to provide coronavirus-related information in the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) corporate filings. Practical implications The findings provide a primary view of the directions, on which US firms will move in the near future, and thus, they can be used as tools for the formulation of appropriate government policies in the corresponding sectors, which could mitigate the economic risks related to the pandemic. At the business level, the disseminated knowledge can assist firms either in the same sector or in similar/related sectors to “locate” themselves within the map of the pandemic and to adjust or align correspondingly their strategies and decisions as they will have a view of the bigger picture. Originality/value The empirical analysis divulges US firms’ management primary concerns after the COVID-19 outbreak, and thus, offers insights to the processes taking place in the US business community and the formulating new corporate and economic reality.
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    Credit Risk Determinants: Evidence from the Bulgarian Banking System
    (SSRN, 2019-03-19) Petros Golitsis ; Athanasios P. Fassas ; Anna Lyutakova
    The present study examines a wide set of credit risk determinants for the Bulgarian banking system. Using both monthly and quarterly data and employing two methodologies, Vector Autoregressive and Autoregressive Distributed Lag models, we test ninety-one possible determinants of the banks’ credit risk, as measured by non-performing loans, loan loss provisions and problematic loans. Our empirical findings show that both bank-specific and institutional, in addition to macroeconomic, factors have a significant impact on the credit risk of the banking system in the country.
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    Determinants of non-performing loans in North Macedonia
    (Taylor & Francis Online, 2022-11-25) Petros Golitsis ; Khurshid Khudoykulov ; Savica Palanov
    This paper aims to examine macroeconomic and bank-specific determinants of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the case of the Republic of North Macedonia. Following the respective literature review that indicates the GDP and the unemployment rate as the most relevant macroeconomic variables, and weighted average interest rate, gross loans, and lagged NPLs as the bank bank-specific ones, we apply an ARDL bounds testing approach to investigate the determinants of NPLs of this landlocked, new NATO member country that seeks access to the EU. The studied period is from the first quarter of 2005 to the second quarter of 2022, which includes apart from the severe financial crises, i.e. the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007–2009 and the European Sovereign Debt Crisis of 2010–2012, the Pandemic Covid-19 period and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Our research output provides statistical evidence that the strongest long-run impact on NPLs comes from unemployment, GDP and interest rates; while Gross Loans seem not to have any significant effect. Our findings, holding both in the short- and the long-run, bear signs that are consistent with the economic theory. Overall, we add in the understanding, measuring, and forecasting of NPLs in a country under transition, and propose corrective macroeconomic policy measures in mitigating the related pressure and shocks, especially under periods of prolonged uncertainty.
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    Developing a Sustainable Work Environment for Substitute Teachers: A Multi-Criteria Job Satisfaction Approach
    (MDPI AG Sustainability, 2023-01-07) Niki Glaveli ; Panagiotis Manolitzas ; Fotios Vouzas ; Chris Liassidis
    Retention of provisional substitute teachers (PSTs) in the teaching profession is an important and timely topic that relates to the sustainability of the schools’ work environment and teaching profession. The present study re-examines these issues using teacher job satisfaction (TJS) as a surrogate variable. More precisely, MUlti-criteria Satisfaction Analysis (MUSA) -a method that combines Multi-Criteria Decision and Importance-Performance Analysis- is applied to a data set of primary school substitute teachers from Greece to assess the contribution of schools’ performance on 5 important aspects of the school environment i.e., opportunities for self-fulfillment, work intensity/load, salary/income, leadership and collegial relations, to overall PSTs JS. The findings indicate that selffulfillment and collegial relationships contribute the most to PST overall JS, whilst salary/income the least. The results further suggest that self-fulfillment is not only the facet of the work environment that PSTs value the most but also the strong point of the schools’ work environment. The study provides a new strategic perspective on TJS research, as well as evidence-based strategies for improving the quality of work life and attrition rate levels of substitute teachers. Moreover, the theoretical and practical implications of this study are presented and avenues for future research are highlighted.
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    Drivers of intentions to use healthcare information systems among health and care professionals
    (SAGE journals, 2018-11-30) Vladimir Ljubicic ; Panayiotis H Ketikidis ; Lambros Lazuras
    Although investment in healthcare technology is rapidly increasing, the readiness to use emerging technologies among healthcare professionals is still low. The present study relies on an integrated model derived from the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and the diffusion of innovation model to assess the factors that predicted healthcare professionals’ intentions to use healthcare information systems. Using a cross-sectional correlational design, 105 healthcare professionals (M age = 41.06, standard deviation = 9.18; 49% consultants and General Practitioners (GPs); 56.2% females) from hospitals in England completed online structured questionnaires. One-way analysis of variance showed that there were no differences in healthcare information systems usage intentions, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and diffusion of innovation variables between consultants/GPs and non-medical staff (i.e. nurses and administration staff). Linear regression analysis demonstrated that the integrative model predicted 78.1 per cent (adjusted R2) in intentions to use healthcare information systems, and variables from both unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and the diffusion of innovation had significant effects. Moderated regression analysis further revealed that the interaction between voluntariness and effort expectancy, and voluntariness and social influence significantly predicted usage intentions on top of the main effects of the individual predictors. This poses direct implications for both practice and theory in this field. Future research should consider the predictive validity of integrative theoretical models of technology acceptance and utilization in healthcare settings.
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    Dynamic co-movements and directional spillovers among energy futures. Studies in Economics and Finance
    (EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LIMITED, 2020-06) Sercan Demiralay ; Hourvouliades, N ; Athanasios P. Fassas
    Purpose - This paper aims to examine dynamic equicorrelations (DECO) and directional volatility spillover effects among four energy futures markets, namely, West Texas Intermediate crude oil, heating oil, natural gas and reformulated blendstock for oxygenate blending gasoline, by using a multivariate fractionally integrated asymmetric power ARCH–DECO–generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model and the spillover index technique. Design/methodology/approach - The empirical analysis uses the dynamic equicorrelation model of Engle and Kelly (2012) to examine time-varying correlations at equilibrium. The authors further analyze dynamic volatility transmission among energy futures by using Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) dynamic spillover index based on generalized value-at-risk framework. Findings - The empirical results provide evidence of heightened equicorrelations at times of financial turmoil. More specifically, the dynamic spillover analysis shows that volatility is transmitted predominantly from crude oil to the other markets and risk transfer among four markets exhibits asymmetries. Spillovers are found to be highly responsive to dramatic events such as the 9/11 terror attack, 2008–2009 global financial crisis and 2014–2016 oil glut. Practical implications - The results of this study have important practical implications for investors, portfolio managers and energy policymakers as the presence of time-varying co-movements and spillovers suggests the need for dynamic trading strategies. There are also implications regarding risk management practices, as there is evidence of increased volatility transmission at times of financial turmoil and uncertainty. Finally, the results provide insights to policymakers in a better understanding of the spillover dynamics. Originality/value - This paper investigates the DECOs and spillover effects among crude oil, natural gas, heating oil and gasoline futures markets. To the best of the knowledge, this is one of a few studies that examine co-movements and risk transfer in energy futures in a comprehensive framework.
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    Dynamic spillovers and linkages between gold, crude oil, S&P 500, and other economic and financial variables. Evidence from the USA
    (Elsevier, 2022-11) Petros Golitsis ; Pavlos Gkasis ; Sotirios K. Bellos
    This paper focuses on the price determinants of gold, and on the challenges associated with gold’s safe haven property. Specifically, it analyses the interlinkages and the return spillover effect among gold, crude oil, S&P 500, dollar exchange rate, Consumer Price Index (CPI), economic policy uncertainty and Treasury bills, by employing a Vector Autoregression (VAR) and the spillover index of Diebold and Yilmaz (2012), Diebold and Yılmaz (2014). Monthly realized return series, covering the period from 2nd of January 1986 to 31st of December 2019 are used to examine the short-run linkages, and the return spillovers rolling-window estimates in analyzing the transmission mechanism in a time-varying fashion, respectively. Our findings identify gold as a strong dollar hedge, while crude oil and Treasury bills appear to drive inflation; they also indicate strong spillover effects between exchange rate and gold returns. In general, co-movement dynamics display state-dependent characteristics. Both total and directional spillovers increase significantly during market turbulence caused by severe financial crises such as the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007–2009 and the European Sovereign Debt Crisis of 2010–2012. Net spillovers switch between positive and negative values for all these markets, implying that the recipient/transmitter position changes drastically with market events. Economic policy uncertainty, stock market returns, and crude oil price returns are the main transmitters, while Treasury bills and CPI are the main return shock recipients. Gold and exchange rate act both as receivers and transmitters over the sample period.
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    Ethical bank disclosures and liquidity creation
    (Elsevier, 2023-02-26) Kladakis, George ; Chen, Lei ; Sotirios K. Bellos
    Ethics in finance and in banks have attracted increasing attention after the global financial crisis of 2007–2009. Although engagement in more ethical activities for banks has been a legitimate social expectation, the impact of it on the financial performance appears to be unclear. We examine whether ethics-related disclosures can help banks create more liquidity by conducting textual analysis of hand-collected bank annual reports and unearth interesting findings. First, we find that the probability of including a code of ethics in the annual report increases with bank risk (i.e. loan loss reserves and risk-weighted assets). Second, our results indicate that liquidity creation is positively associated with the relative frequency of ethics-related terms in the annual reports of banks that publish a code of ethics. Our findings suggest that ethical bank disclosures can mitigate risk concerns and attract more business that allows banks to create more liquidity.
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    Everyday politics of austerity: Infrastructure and vulnerability in times of crisis
    (SAGE, 2019-02-26) Petrova Saska ; Prodromidou Alexandra
    Growing numbers of households in Greece are unable to secure adequate levels of energy services in the home – a condition generally known as energy poverty. This situation can largely be attributed to the imposition of an austerity regime following the post-2008 debt crisis. We scrutinize the everyday experiences of, and resistance to, austerity among the ‘new energy poor’ – an emergent socio-demographic group whose vulnerability is contingent upon decreasing incomes, high prices, new taxation and inadequate socio-technical infrastructures. Having undertaken ethnographic research with 25 households living in and around the Northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, we draw on theoretical insights from the domains of informal household practices and environmentality frameworks to highlight the manner in which the austerity regime simultaneously renders households vulnerable and governable. The geographies of the new energy poor include a variety of spatial settings – inurban and peri-urban locations alike – that are constitutive of multiple material sites while being dependent upon them. This points to the existence of an infrastructurally embedded everyday landscape of austerity that amalgamates the state policies, corporate interests, household practices and material pathways through which energy is produced and consumed.
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    Factors Affecting General Practitioners’ Readiness to Accept and Use an Electronic Health Record System in the Republic of North Macedonia: A National Survey of General Practitioners
    (JMIR Publications, 2021) Tomi Dimitrovski ; Peter A Bath ; Panagiotis H. Ketikidis ; Lambros Lazuras
    Background: Electronic health records (EHRs) represent an important aspect of digital health care, and to promote their use further, we need to better understand the drivers of their acceptance among health care professionals. EHRs are not simple computer applications; they should be considered as a highly integrated set of systems. Technology acceptance theories can be used to better understand users’ intentions to use EHRs. It is recommended to assess factors that determine the future acceptance of a system before it is implemented. Objective: This study uses a modified version of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology with the aim of examining the factors associated with intentions to use an EHR application among general practitioners (GPs) in the Republic of North Macedonia, a country that has been underrepresented in extant literature. More specifically, this study aims to assess the role of technology acceptance predictors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, job relevance, descriptive norms, and satisfaction with existing eHealth systems already implemented in the country. Methods: A web-based invitation was sent to 1174 GPs, of whom 458 completed the questionnaire (response rate=40.2%). The research instrument assessed performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, and social influence in relation to the GPs’ intentions to use future EHR systems. Job relevance, descriptive norms, satisfaction with currently used eHealth systems in the country, and computer/internet use were also measured. Results: Hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that effort expectancy, descriptive norms, social influence, facilitating conditions, and job relevance were significantly associated with intentions to use the future EHR system, but performance expectance was not. Multiple mediation modeling analyses further showed that social influence (z=2.64; P<.001), facilitating conditions (z=4.54; P<.001), descriptive norms (z=4.91; P<.001), and effort expectancy (z=5.81; P=.008) mediated the association between job relevance and intentions. Finally, moderated regression analysis showed that the association between social influence and usage intention was significantly moderated (P=.02) by experience (Bexperience×social influence=.005; 95% CI 0.001 to 0.010; β=.080). In addition, the association between social influence and intentions was significantly moderated (P=.02) by age (Bage×social influence=.005; 95% CI 0.001 to 0.010; β=.077). Conclusions: Expectations of less effort in using EHRs and perceptions on supportive infrastructures for enabling EHR use were significantly associated with the greater acceptance of EHRs among GPs. Social norms were also associated with intentions, even more so among older GPs and those with less work experience. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are also discussed. JMIR Med Inform 2021;9(4):e21109
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    Factors Affecting General Practitioners’ Readiness to Accept and Use an Electronic Health Record System in the Republic of North Macedonia:A National Survey of General Practitioners
    (JMIR Publications, 2021-04) Tomi Dimitrovski ; Peter A Bath ; Panayiotis Ketikidis ; Lambros Lazuras
    Background: Electronic health records (EHRs) represent an important aspect of digital health care, and to promote their use further, we need to better understand the drivers of their acceptance among health care professionals. EHRs are not simple computer applications; they should be considered as a highly integrated set of systems. Technology acceptance theories can be used to better understand users’ intentions to use EHRs. It is recommended to assess factors that determine the future acceptance of a system before it is implemented. Objective: This study uses a modified version of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology with the aim of examining the factors associated with intentions to use an EHR application among general practitioners (GPs) in the Republic of North Macedonia, a country that has been underrepresented in extant literature. More specifically, this study aims to assess the role of technology acceptance predictors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, job relevance, descriptive norms, and satisfaction with existing eHealth systems already implemented in the country. Methods: A web-based invitation was sent to 1174 GPs, of whom 458 completed the questionnaire (response rate=40.2%). The research instrument assessed performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, and social influence in relation to the GPs’ intentions to use future EHR systems. Job relevance, descriptive norms, satisfaction with currently used eHealth systems in the country, and computer/internet use were also measured. Results: Hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that effort expectancy, descriptive norms, social influence, facilitating conditions, and job relevance were significantly associated with intentions to use the future EHR system, but performance expectance was not. Multiple mediation modeling analyses further showed that social influence (z=2.64; P<.001), facilitating conditions (z=4.54; P<.001), descriptive norms (z=4.91; P<.001), and effort expectancy (z=5.81; P=.008) mediated the association between job relevance and intentions. Finally, moderated regression analysis showed that the association between social influence and usage intention was significantly moderated (P=.02) by experience (Bexperience×social influence=.005; 95% CI 0.001 to 0.010; β=.080). In addition, the association between social influence and intentions was significantly moderated (P=.02) by age (Bage×social influence=.005; 95% CI 0.001 to 0.010; β=.077). Conclusions: Expectations of less effort in using EHRs and perceptions on supportive infrastructures for enabling EHR use were significantly associated with the greater acceptance of EHRs among GPs. Social norms were also associated with intentions, even more so among older GPs and those with less work experience. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are also discussed.
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    Five-star hotels of a multinational enterprise in countries of the transitional periphery: A case study in human resource management
    (Elsevier, 2015-12) Serafini, G. O. ; Szamosi, L. T.
    The paper examines the application of human resource management (HRM) practices by a Multinational Enterprise (MNE) whose operations extend from unexplored post-Soviet countries’ transitional periphery economies to advanced economies. By involving hotels of a global luxury US chain in Azerbaijan (Caucasus) and Kyrgyzstan (Central Asia), this in-depth case study focuses on the labour-intensive hospitality industry which, although being relatively neglected by mainstream research, is among the first movers in new markets through the setting of business infrastructure and then leisure tourism. Through Whitley's dimensions of employer–employee interdependence and employee delegation, comparisons highlighted few differences between properties operating in the particular transitional periphery economies and those in a developed country (Germany) owned by the same chain. On the basis of corroboration obtained through a multiple case study methodology, dissimilarities identified were in terms of the flexibility of employment, outsourcing and dismissal procedures; however, despite socio-economic differences across nations, it is argued that luxury hospitality MNEs are able to maintain an overall uniform implementation of HRM policies and practices regardless of locale through a “geocentric” approach as illustrated by Perlmutter (1969) in his seminal work.