Cork University Business School - Journal Articles
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Item Energy poverty in EU: Using regional climatic conditions and incidence of electricity prices to map vulnerability areas across 214 NUTS2 European regions(Elsevier B.V., 2024-05-02) Andreoni, ValeriaThe rising political instabilities and the associated variations in energy prices have recently amplified the existing debate on energy poverty. Generally defined as the inability to afford enough energy services to live a comfortable life, energy poverty represents a serious issue affecting multidimensional elements of life. To address disparities and to achieve the 7th goal of the 2030 Agenda, EU Member States have been requested to track energy poverty within the National Energy and Climate Plans. The lack of a commonly adopted methodological approach makes however difficult to compare the energy poverty risks. To address this gap, this paper proposes, for the first time, an energy poverty vulnerability indicator that can be used to investigate the differences across NUTS2 European regions. By combining data on regional income, electricity prices and local climatic conditions, the proposed methodology uses a threshold approach to maps vulnerability risks for the years 2010 and 2020. Results show that in 2010 15% of the considered households classified into the highest vulnerability risk and by 2020, 40 additional regions moved to a higher category of risk. Mediterranean countries have been the most affected with extensive climatic and price incidence changes. The proposed indicator can support the definition of policies aiming to reduce regional disparities and improve the average European trends.Item Hospital doctor turnover and retention: a systematic review and new research pathway(Emerald, 2024-02-27) Raman, Siva Shaangari Seathu; McDonnell, Anthony; Beck, Matthias; Irish Research CouncilPurpose: Society is critically dependent on an adequate supply of hospital doctors to ensure optimal health care. Voluntary turnover amongst hospital doctors is, however, an increasing problem for hospitals. The aim of this study was to systematically review the extant academic literature to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the current knowledge base on hospital doctor turnover and retention. In addition to this, we synthesise the most common methodological approaches used before then offering an agenda to guide future research. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting the PRISMA methodology, we conducted a systematic literature search of four databases, namely CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Science. Findings: We identified 51 papers that empirically examined hospital doctor turnover and retention. Most of these papers were quantitative, cross-sectional studies focussed on meso-level predictors of doctor turnover. Research limitations/implications: Selection criteria concentrated on doctors who worked in hospitals, which limited knowledge of one area of the healthcare environment. The review could disregard relevant articles, such as those that discuss the turnover and retention of doctors in other specialities, including general practitioners. Additionally, being limited to peer-reviewed published journals eliminates grey literature such as dissertations, reports and case studies, which may bring impactful results. Practical implications: Globally, hospital doctor turnover is a prevalent issue that is influenced by a variety of factors. However, a lack of focus on doctors who remain in their job hinders a comprehensive understanding of the issue. Conducting “stay interviews” with doctors could provide valuable insight into what motivates them to remain and what could be done to enhance their work conditions. In addition, hospital management and recruiters should consider aspects of job embeddedness that occur outside of the workplace, such as facilitating connections outside of work. By resolving these concerns, hospitals can retain physicians more effectively and enhance their overall retention efforts. Social implications: Focussing on the reasons why employees remain with an organisation can have significant social repercussions. When organisations invest in gaining an understanding of what motivates their employees to stay in the job, they are better able to establish a positive work environment that likely to promote employee well-being and job satisfaction. This can result in enhanced job performance, increased productivity and higher employee retention rates, all of which are advantageous to the organisation and its employees. Originality/value: The review concludes that there has been little consideration of the retention, as opposed to the turnover, of hospital doctors. We argue that more expansive methodological approaches would be useful, with more qualitative approaches likely to be particularly useful. We also call on future researchers to consider focussing further on why doctors remain in posts when so many are leaving.Item The role of digital leaders’ emotional intelligence in mitigating employee technostress(Elsevier, 2024-03-29) Ertiö, Titiana; Eriksson, Taina; Rowan, Wendy; McCarthy, Stephen; TyösuojelurahastoDigital leadership involves dealing with complex challenges and anticipating trends that arise from emerging technologies. Amid the accelerated pace of digital transformation, consequences such as technostress have become apparent to organizations and their leaders. Emotional intelligence (EI) is an essential characteristic for enabling digital leaders to hone the necessary skills to lessen employees’ technostress by developing higher levels of consciousness of emotions—both one’s own and those of others. By synthesizing research-based knowledge of EI and leadership, we contribute to a broader understanding of competency requirements for digital transformation by bringing employees and the role of digital leadership through EI into the picture. This article also presents new EI strategies for digital leaders to mitigate employee technostress in digital transformation via communication, transparency, and trust.Item An assessment of the economic value of food tourism to the Irish economy(Business & Economics Society International, 2013) Moloney, Richard; Ryan, Marie; Kenneally, MartinTourism is a hedonic product. It is made up of many characteristics which can vary both quantity and importance. One of the crucial characteristics in the Irish tourism product is food and food services. Expenditure on food and beverages by tourists and the value of such expenditure is an important component in the development and expansion the overall Irish tourism product. It is an important issue which interacts with other issues such as diversification, cultural integration and the creation of closer relationships between the tourist consumer and product provider. Strong correlation has been found between increased levels of food expenditure and the retention and development of regional identity (Mak, et al, 2012). This is a result of an increased awareness in the social and in the cultural benefits of indigenous food production and of local consumption. It allows tourists to experience traditional heritage, skills and lifestyle. Both tourism and the food and beverages sectors are strong and vibrant sectors in Ireland. They are the most important indigenous drivers of the Irish economy and are playing a vital role in Ireland’s economic recovery. The sectors are central in creating jobs and increasing export earnings which, in turn, are fuelling the economic rebirth of the country. This paper provides an economic assessment of the food and drink spend by visitors to Ireland. The study reports estimates of the overall value of this aspect of the tourism sector to the economy. It compares the results with those of some of our main competitors within this niche market. Results are provided in terms of income and employment.Item An examination of how universal design for learning can satisfy student expectations(International Journal of Education & Social Sciences (IJESS), 2022-08) Ryan, Marie; O'Sullivan, KathleenThis paper investigates first year social science students’ expectations and how these expectations can direct the design of continuous assessments. This paper shows how student expectations can be framed using the universal design for learning (UDL) framework. The data was collected using an online survey based on the MEPU questionnaire developed by (1,2). Analysis of the data revealed the expectations of the sampled social science students are both practical and altruistic. The students expect their time at higher education (HE) to not only prepare them to work in the job they want and develop new skills but to also facilitate a way to give back to society and relate what they have learnt to real life. This paper demonstrates how student expectations can be met by redesigning assessments. Using UDL, learning engagement for first year social science students is more relevant, authentic, and meaningful. Students’ expectations were satisfied. Findings allow for better informed curriculum and teaching to assist students in their transition to higher education resulting in higher-quality learning. There are implications for educators in terms of marrying students’ expectations using multiple modes of expression. Recommendations suggest the continued use of UDL to enhance student engagement and enjoyment on their learning paths.