Sustainability practices of family firms: the interplay between family ownership and long-term orientation

Sustainability practices are critical for family firms, as they relate directly to the continuity of the business and relationships with important stakeholders, such as members of the local community. Nevertheless, not all family firms wish to adopt sustainability practices. To examine this, we draw upon the socioemotional wealth perspective in order to develop a theoretical model of the direct negative effects of family ownership on the adoption of sustainability practices. We also suggest moderating effects of long-term orientation (LTO) on this link. Our model is tested on a sample of 195 family firms in the tourism and hospitality sector. The results support our hypothesis that family ownership negatively influences the adoption of sustainability practices. Additionally, LTO moderates the relationship between family ownership and the adoption of sustainability practices, such that family owners with a high LTO are more likely to adopt this particular practice compared to those with a low LTO.     

Misconceptions emerging in mathematics student teachers’ limit instruction and their reflections

The purpose of this study is to investigate the misconceptions emerging in mathematics student teachers’ limit instruction and the reflections of these misconceptions on their teaching. In this study, which used the case study design, regarding the limit concept, four senior mathematics student teachers’ four-hour limit instruction was examined within the context of misconceptions as described in the literature. Mathematics student teachers’ lesson plans, video recordings of the participants’ lessons in which they taught the concept of limit and audio recordings of semi-structured interviews were used to gather data. Participants carried their instruction mostly by demonstrating that the function’s limit is different than the function’s value at \(x=a\) . However, since mathematics student teachers did not have adequate knowledge of misconceptions regarding the limit concept, some misconceptions emerged in their teaching process. Three of the participants made illustrations by making use of the meaning attributed to limit in daily language, and this situation caused students to perceive the limit concept as the maximum value to be reached and as a boundary not to be exceeded.     

How do flexible work arrangements alleviate work-family-conflict? The roles of flexibility i-deals and family-supportive cultures

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) are becoming common in emerging economies, though it is not clear if and how employees benefit from them in terms of their work-family balance and well-being. In contrast to previous work that used structural-functional explanations, we argue that FWA implementation should be depicted within its socio-political and socio-cultural context. We used survey data collected from 213 professionals in Istanbul, Turkey to examine the roles of flexibility i-deals and perceived family-supportive culture in the relationship between FWA availability and these employee outcomes. Results supported the hypothesis that i-deals mediate the relationship between FWAs and work-to-family conflict. Furthermore, perceived family supportive cultures predicted both work-to-family and family-to-work conflict and moderated the relationship between i-deals and family-to-work conflict. Finally work-to-family conflict mediated the relationship of flexibility i-deals and family supportive cultures with perceived general health. These finding are discussed for their implications for employees who are trying to balance their work and family lives and for organizations who are considering implementing FWAs.     

The relationship between tourism,CO2 emissions and economic growth: a case of Mediterranean countries

This study explores the impact of tourism on economic growth considering CO₂ emissions utilizing panel data techniques for a sample of Mediterranean countries. The cointegration tests reveal that there is a positive long-run equilibrium between tourism, CO₂ emissions and economic growth. This positive long-run relationship may suggest that tourism increases the level of CO₂ emissions and has a statistically significant impact on economic growth in Mediterranean countries. Emirmahmutoglu and Kose (2011. Testing for Granger causality in heterogeneous mixed panels. Economic Modelling, 28(3), 870–876.) test results reveal that the tourism-led growth hypothesis, which suggests that tourism contributes to economic growth, is valid for Egypt, Italy, and Spain. Additionally, there exists a bidirectional relationship between tourism and economic growth both in Morocco and Turkey.     

Fading attraction: Turkey's shifting relationship with the European Union

In this paper, we examine Turkey's changing economic relations with the European Union (EU) and the rest of the world during the past few decades. We argue that a combination of the EU's reluctance to accept Turkey as a member, internal economic and political developments, and the rise of economic and political opportunities elsewhere have shifted the country to diversify its economic relations around the world and reduced its reliance on the ties with Europe. This shift, which had started long before the 2008 global financial crisis and accelerated in its aftermath, seems to have helped Turkey weather relatively well the recent economic storms in Europe.     

Experiences of a dyslexic child in an English as a foreign language class

This qualitative study investigates and reveals the difficulties experienced by a dyslexic 7 year-old child learning English as a foreign language in a state elementary school. Aiming to advance the understanding of challenges dyslexics experience in English as a foreign language classes, a qualitative case study was designed. Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed that a dyslexic child struggles with linguistic difficulties, such as pronunciation, spelling, reading and writing. In addition, short and long term memory are impaired, which causes problems concerning word finding, memorization and naming objects. Contrary to the findings of most research, the participant of this study was found to be highly motivated towards learning English and that she had positive affectivity due to her personality. This study is expected to contribute to the teaching of English language to elementary school children with dyslexia and serve as a means to increase service quality of foreign language classes offered for dyslexic children.

     

Performance evaluation of reverse logistics in food supply chains in a circular economy using system dynamics

Supply chains are composed of multiple stakeholders who have complex interrelationships. In addition, the forward and reverse flow of materials, information, human resources, and finance occurs among different stakeholders in closing the loop of supply chains. Reverse logistics (RL) activities are gaining importance in terms of size and quantity due to both economic and environmental concerns. These flows in RL in supply chains are both dynamic and complex in nature. Further, the environmental impact of RL activities has barely been considered in holistic way in available literature. In this study, a system dynamics model has been developed to analyze and comprehend the green performance of RL activities by predicting the environmental impact of RL activities. The proposed model has been validated by a case study in the context of a food supply chain. In the company where the case study is carried out, the environmental effects of RL activities have been analyzed. These activities in a food supply chain in terms of CO₂ (carbon dioxide), NO_x (nitrogen oxide), SO₂ (sulfur dioxide), and PM (particulate matter) emissions have been predicted through a system dynamics model for the years 2020 to 2024. The proposed methodology is applied in a food supply context, a major player in retail business, especially in emerging economies. According to our findings, the RL activities in a food supply chain can significantly contribute to green performance management by minimizing food waste and loss; hence, the environmental impacts of such activities should be closely examined from a managerial perspective.     

Work-Family Balance and Marketing Capabilities as Determinants of Chinese Women Entrepreneurs' Firm Performance

ABSTRACT

The authors examine how work-family balance and marketing capabilities are related to Chinese women entrepreneurs' firm performance. Drawing on the family embeddedness perspective, findings show that both factors are positively related to firm performance. Public policy recommendations, implications, and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

The determinants of venture creation time: a cross-country perspective

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of macro-institutional and macro-non-institutional factors on the new venture creation time across emerging as well as developed economies in Europe using panel data from 2003 to 2006 in 15 emerging and developed countries. This paper finds significant relationships between the venture start-up time and institutional factors that include lending interest rates, start-up procedures, and taxation and one non-institutional factor, GDP per capita. Additionally, we found differences in the factors between emerging and developed countries. Institutional factors, such as start-up procedures and trade opportunities, are important determinants of new venture creation time in emerging countries, consistent with the findings of recent studies. To encourage business formation, policy makers may need to revise policies concerning these factors which can facilitate or restrict new venture formation. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.