Older Adults Using Technology for Meaningful Activities During COVID-19: An Analysis Through the Lens of Self-Determination Theory

Restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected people's opportunities to engage in activities that are meaningful to their lives. In response to these constraints, many people, including older adults, turned to digital technologies as alternative ways to pursue meaningful activities. These technology-mediated activities, however, presented new challenges for older adults' everyday use of technology. In this paper, we investigate how older adults used digital technologies for meaningful activities during COVID-19 restrictions. We conducted in-depth interviews with 40 older adults and analyzed the interview data through the lens of self-determination theory (SDT). Our analysis shows that using digital technologies for meaningful activities can both support and undermine older people's three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. We argue that future technologies should be designed to empower older adults' content creation, engagement in personal interests, exploration of technology, effortful communication, and participation in beneficent activities. © 2023 ACM.

The Impact and Complex Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Working Environment and the Use of Coworking Spaces in Malta

Coworking spaces in Malta have grown in their presence and use only within the last decade, yet the COVID-19 pandemic may have altered the cultural working office norms of Maltese society. Indeed, this chapter, using in-depth interviews with different groups of people, that is, co-worker owners, employees, traditional employers and members of an employment association, aims to explore how the pandemic may be impacting the coworking industry in complex ways. From the narratives, it emerged that the soft lockdown measures related to the pandemic had caused immediate negative effects due to the fear of contagion on the use of coworking spaces in Malta and the limitations related to social distances in workspaces. However, the pandemic itself may have created a shift within the Maltese context where the idea of remote working is perceived as beneficial and may become more popular. The pandemic may have contributed to the revision of the Maltese employers' priorities, such as the importance of owning or renting a permanent office space or giving permission to employees to work from home or renting a coworking space for socialisation at work. Therefore, the pandemic may have caused damaging short-term effects to the coworking industry in Malta yet possibly beneficial long-term effects. © 2023, The Author(s).

The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Coworking Spaces in Poland

The chapter deals with the changes occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic in the coworking sector. We have collected data and information from primary and secondary sources. The latter include in-depth interviews, covert participant observations and computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI). We analysed the changes of the number of coworking spaces (CSs) and main mechanisms behind them. The findings reveal the relatively limited scale of decrease in the number of coworking spaces and illustrate how the pandemic outbreak influenced the effects of CS operations, especially on the real estate market. It is argued that independently-run CSs suffered the most, whereas corporate CSs with a stable core of corporate clients, central location and limited competition have been more resilient. With regard to the changes generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the most significant transformations are seen in the decreasing number of non-virtual events organised by CSs, whereas the scale of the other impacts of CSs on the local milieu decreased slightly. © 2023, The Author(s).

Fashion localism: evaluation and extensions of utility in Sri Lankan fashion brands

PurposeLocalism refers to a concept that encourages local production, consumption and promotion of goods. It is a movement to encourage consumers and businesses to purchase from locally owned, independent businesses that has grown rapidly in the past decade. However, localism remains understudied by researchers. This study aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the localism movement by capturing the dynamism of fashion localism in the context of the Sri Lankan fashion retail sector.Design/methodology/approachAdopting a qualitative exploratory approach, the authors conducted a series of in-depth interviews with 12 fashion practitioners.FindingsBased on the findings, the authors propose a conceptual model of fashion localism consisting of eight themes: fashion localism design approach, locally sourced staples, land ethic, employee development, community development, consumer, regulations and limitations and future opportunities.Originality/valueThis research sheds some light on localism literature by capturing the dynamism of fashion localism. In particular, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this research is the first study in marketing to propose a conceptual model of fashion localism. This research further points out certain managerial implications by illustrating a few practical approaches to the concept of localism within the Sri Lankan fashion retail sector.

Motivations for the initiation of knowledge management activities in times of routine and emergency

Purpose: This research seeks to understand, for the first time, what motivates knowledge-intensive organizations (KIOs) to initiate knowledge management (KM) activities in times of routine and emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic was placed at the center as a case study of an extreme crisis. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the adoption of the qualitative-constructivist paradigm, the study was conducted among 52 KM professionals through in-depth interviews and focus groups. The data were analyzed using a thematic analysis method, according to the principles of the grounded theory approach. Findings: The findings reveal that opportunities and risks are two types of catalysts which accelerate KM efforts in times of routine and emergency respectively. Due to KM's support of the transition to flexible employment during COVID-19, the authors show that this field experienced real growth and prosperity in the "new normal.” KM initiatives were promoted during the COVID-19 crisis in light of gaps in retention, sharing, accessibility and development of knowledge. Originality/value: Given that knowledge risks are a field with fragmented understanding, the results contribute to understanding the importance of risk management related to knowledge in times of crises and turmoil. The authors call for incorporating this niche into the overall risk management of the organization, while adopting a holistic and long-term perspective of KM. Furthermore, the authors uncover KM's position in KIOs during the global pandemic. The paper proposes food for thought regarding informal knowledge sharing in virtual environments typical of the "Corona routine”. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Assessing Trust in Online Collaboration in E-government during the COVID-19 pandemic: An Employee Perspective

Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, firms and institutions have to shift to work from home to prevent the spreading of the pandemic. As a public sector, employees in government institutions also collaborate online during the lockdown. Collaboration online has been identified as a challenge for employees. While our understanding of how employees' perception and trust of the e-government is still limited. To address this research gap, this study intends to investigate the antecedents of employees' trust in e-government during their work process in the new normal. By conducting a qualitative study with 14 in-depth interviews with employees with e-government experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, we extracted several key antecedents of employees' trust in e-government. Based on the qualitative data analysis, a theoretical model of trust antecedents was proposed. Our study provides a deep understanding of the specific antecedents of employees' trust in the e-government context. © 2022 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved.

An exploratory study of organisational and industry drivers for the implementation of emerging technologies in logistics

Purpose: Emerging technologies have the capacity to transform industries offering substantial benefits to users. Given the increasing demand for advanced logistics services, third-party logistic service providers (LSPs) face greater pressure to deploy and realise these technologies, especially given the demands and operational challenges created during the COVID-19 crisis. Drawing upon the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory and technology–organisation–environment (TOE) framework, this paper goes beyond just identifying drivers and barriers to technology adoption to understanding how LSPs and industry experts perceive these drivers and barriers and simultaneously confront and undertake actions to implement them. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory study was conducted in three phases: (1) in-depth interviews with twelve stakeholders in the Australian logistics industry;(2) five in-depth interviews conducted with stakeholders during the COVID-19 crisis and (3) a focus group discussion session. All interviews were analysed using content analysis and revealed several drivers for the deployment of emerging technologies, including internal organisational factors that drive supply chain (SC) network optimisation. Findings: The analysis of the three phases identified several drivers for the deployment of emerging technologies in logistics, including internal organisational factors that drive SC network optimisation. Also identified were external drivers including the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, along with barriers and specific actions that were considered and implemented by LSPs for sustainable operations, particularly in a post-COVID-19 environment. Originality/value: This study explores organisational and industry drivers for the implementation of emerging technologies. Explicitly, it extends the extant research by highlighting organisational and industry drivers and enablers that influence adoption and deployment of emerging technologies. Second, it advances the existing perspectives on LSPs in the Australian context on the development and implementation of technology strategies. The paper offers insights around implementation of technologies, directly obtained from industrial application for managers and practitioners. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Perceived quality of online learning during COVID-19 in higher education in Singapore: perspectives from students, lecturers, and academic leaders

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the higher education sector in Singapore. Existing tertiary studies seeking to understand the intraperiod response to COVID-19 often focus on single institutions, jurisdictions or stakeholder groups. This study is the first in-depth qualitative multi-stakeholder examination of the higher education environment in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic. It explored the perceptions of the quality of digital pedagogy during COVID-19, how universities have adapted because of the pandemic, and how leaders, teaching staff and students have been affected by the management and educational changes via 13 semi-structured interviews across six Singapore higher education institutions. Through purposive sampling, we explore current stakeholder perceptions, structural education changes, and personal learning and teaching impacts of COVID-19. Applying Braun and Clarke's approach to thematic analysis, we inductively uncovered four major themes: the Singapore government's approach to COVID-19 and its effects on delivery;academic leadership approaches;education technology;and well-being. This article is critical as a key foundation to understand how Singapore is responding with unique geopolitical differences. We discuss the practical implications of our research for current university faculty and students during and beyond the pandemic, and outline opportunities for future research. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Understanding Older Adults' Participation in Online Social Activities

Restrictions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic have limited opportunities for older people to participate in face-to-face organised social activities. Many organisations moved these activities online, but little is known about older adults' experiences of participating in those activities. This paper reports an investigation of older adults' experiences of participating in social activities that they used to attend in-person, but which were moved online because of strict lockdown restrictions. We conducted in-depth interviews with 40 older adults living independently (alone or with others). Findings from a reflexive thematic analysis show that online social activities were important during the pandemic for not only staying connected to other people but also helping older adults stay engaged in meaningful activities, including arts, sports, cultural, and civic events. Online activities provided older adults with opportunities to connect with like-minded people;share care, encouragement, and support;participate in civic agendas;learn knowledge and develop new skills;and experience entertainment, distraction, and mental stimulation. Our participants had diverse perceptions of the transition from in-person to online social activities. Based on the findings, we present a taxonomy of multi-layered meaningful activities for older adults' digital social participation and highlight implications for future technology design. © 2022 ACM.

Using Service Blueprint to Optimize the Process Management of Group Package Tour in Kinmen

The COVID-19 led to a global border blockade, and domestic group package tours have become Taiwan tourism industry's main economic source. This study takes 30 group package tours in Kinmen by non-participatory observation method and in-depth interviews with eight tour guides, and four components based on the service design optimization are categorized as follows: (1) accommodation;(2) restaurant;(3) attractions visit;and (4) shopping. The research data indicates that: (1) Tourism operators should consider both the input of service manpower and the supervision of the quality of service delivery. (2) Tour guides are the most important key in multiple delivery services. Practical implications and future research directions are also proposed for application and management. © 2022, Chinese Society for Quality. All rights reserved.

"As if we are branded with the mark of Cain": stigma, guilt, and shame experienced by COVID-19 survivors in Israel - a qualitative study.

Stigma is associated with harmful health outcomes, and it fuels social and health inequalities. It can undermine social cohesion and encourage social exclusion of groups, which may contribute to secrecy about disease symptoms, avoidance of disease testing and vaccination, and further spread of a contagious illness. Stigmatization is a social process set to exclude those who are perceived to be a potential source of disease and may pose a threat to effective interpersonal and social relationships. In this qualitative study, we delved into the stigmatization experiences of twenty COVID-19 recovered patients during the COVID-19 first wave, using in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted during November 2020. Using thematic analysis, we found that the process of stigmatization was all-encompassing, from the stage of diagnosis throughout the duration of the disease and the recovery phases. On the basis of the data, we hypothesized that stigma is a significant public health concern, and effective and comprehensive interventions are needed to counteract the damaging and insidious effects during infectious disease pandemics such as COVID-19, and reduce infectious disease-related stigma. Interventions should address provision of emotional support frameworks for the victims of stigmatization and discrimination that accompany the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics. This study was conducted in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when uncertainty about the disease was high and fear of contamination fueled high levels of stigmatization against those who became ill with Covid-19.

Perceived quality of online learning during COVID-19 in higher education in Singapore: perspectives from students, lecturers, and academic leaders

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the higher education sector in Singapore. Existing tertiary studies seeking to understand the intraperiod response to COVID-19 often focus on single institutions, jurisdictions or stakeholder groups. This study is the first in-depth qualitative multi-stakeholder examination of the higher education environment in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic. It explored the perceptions of the quality of digital pedagogy during COVID-19, how universities have adapted because of the pandemic, and how leaders, teaching staff and students have been affected by the management and educational changes via 13 semi-structured interviews across six Singapore higher education institutions. Through purposive sampling, we explore current stakeholder perceptions, structural education changes, and personal learning and teaching impacts of COVID-19. Applying Braun and Clarke's approach to thematic analysis, we inductively uncovered four major themes: the Singapore government's approach to COVID-19 and its effects on delivery;academic leadership approaches;education technology;and well-being. This article is critical as a key foundation to understand how Singapore is responding with unique geopolitical differences. We discuss the practical implications of our research for current university faculty and students during and beyond the pandemic, and outline opportunities for future research.

What factors affect learners' online learning experience? A case study of 6 University students

In the last two decades, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic in the past two years, online teaching has been widely implemented in many countries. Learners' online learning experience is one of the important indicators to evaluate the effect of online learning. To understand the influencing factors of learners' online learning experience, this study investigated six students from a university in northern China through in-depth interviews. It is found that the students' online learning experience is affected by five factors: learning environment and technology, course contents and resources, learner's personality, teacher's ability, and teaching processes and methods. The findings of this study could provide a reference framework for online educators to improve online teaching. © 2022 ACM.

A Grounded Theoretical Research on the Perception of College Students' Online Learning under the Background of Cultural Differences

Under the influence of the COVID-19, online learning has become a way for universities around the world to maintain teaching activities. Based on this background, this study selects a class of students from a university in Macao as the survey object. The students come from Macao and Chinese mainland. Through in-depth interviews, this study finds the reactions of students from different regions and influenced by different cultures in online learning. The results of the study show that students in the two places are concerned about the advantages, disadvantages, teaching adjustments, and external conditions of online learning. However, it is worth noting that the actual perception of online learning by students is quite different, and the students in Macao show "emotional stimulation", Chinese Mainland students show "rational cognition". For this reason, we propose that the online classroom should be adjusted in accordance with cultural differences in order to achieve better online learning and teaching effects. © 2022 ACM.

COVID-19 Crisis Among Romanian Entrepreneurs—Challenges and Support Measures

There is consensus on the fact that COVID-19 crisis goes far beyond its medical roots and poses great challenges for entrepreneurs all over the world. Not only specific business models are provoked, but also the underlying principles of our economic and social system, based on human interaction and consumption as prerequisite for growth, prosperity and well-being. The pressure on the public system, national and international institutions and authorities, which were urged to come with rapid solutions and answers in order to bail-out and support the entrepreneurial ecosystem is enormous. The present paper aims at investigating the main challenges faced by Romanian entrepreneurs and the support schemes and public measures, as they were perceived by the interviewed persons, owners of small and medium-sized enterprises from Romania. After delivering a brief introduction of the specific features of the Romanian entrepreneurial environment and the impact of COVID-19 crisis on Romanian companies, the paper focuses on the policies and support measures offered by the state. Different categories of support schemes are depicted and critically analyzed within the broader European context, but also from the perspective of several Romanian entrepreneurs, target population of the aforementioned measures, participants in a qualitative study, based on in-depth interviews, conducted in the time framework July- December 2020. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

The millennial consumer's perception of digital messages from the banking sector during the pandemic

During the pandemic, brands have seen the need to create messages with greater authenticity in order to become closer and be more relevant to the consumer. Thus, advertisements on digital platforms during the COVID-19 crisis came to modify their essence and structure, telling stories that involved the subject more and making him the protagonist of the message. Some authors have catalogued this restructuring of the advertising discourse during the crisis as Advertcrisis: a creative line that uses the crisis itself to elaborate messages that promote products and services. There are several categories that have used this formula -such as the banking category-, which used the crisis as a creative line to develop its discourse. For this reason, many messages focused on highlighting concepts such as union, progress or improvement. The objective of this study was to analyze, through in-depth interviews, the perception of men and women about the digital messages that some brands of the banking category developed during the first months of the pandemic. It has been observed how the participants of this research have had a negative perception of these many of the virtual strategies, since these have only been limited to emit empty emotional messages, unrelated to the real problems they were going through. © 2022 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved.

Language Tourism as a Catalyst After COVID-19. The Case of Malaga

In an adverse international context in which the pandemic has caused a general paralysis of tourism, cities must adapt and find new market niches in which to grow safely. Among these new trends, in the field of cultural tourism, the growing interest in language tourism stands out. The main objective of this research is to carry out a deep analysis of the profile of the language tourist, proposing recommendations for an adequate and effective management. For this, the city of Malaga is used, which concentrates 15% of all language tourism in Spain. A mixed methodology will be carried out that combines qualitative techniques (in-depth interviews with stakeholder representatives) and quantitative (surveys of language tourists) to give a better answer to the research questions. The results confirm that this type of tourism is ideal in a scenario like the current one since we find ourselves with a tourist whose average stay and expense is higher than that of the conventional tourist. In addition, he is configured as a satisfied and faithful tourist. Also, recommendations are proposed for public and private institutions in order to attract and consolidate this type of tourism. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Note: Learn Online: High School Students' Adoption of Online Learning in Bangladesh during COVID-19 Pandemic

Online learning is playing a significant role, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we perform an interview study through in-depth interviews with 22 high school students of a developing country (Bangladesh) to find out about their experience and practices with online learning during the pandemic. Our findings reveal several usage strategies, challenges of the conventional usage of online learning, workarounds students adopt to address those challenges. Through the adaptability lens, we find that many students are adapting to online learning despite being in favor of it. © 2022 ACM.

Exploring the potential of delivering mental health care services using digital technologies in Bangladesh: A qualitative analysis.

Background: Bangladesh is a lower-middle-income country affected by a severe lack of mental health service availability due to a scarcity of mental health experts, limited mental health literacy, and community stigma. In other low and middle-income countries, the online provision of mental health care services has addressed issues affecting service availability, accessibility, mass awareness of services, and stigma. Objective: The current study sought to understand stakeholders' perceptions of the potential of digital media-based mental health care delivery in strengthening Bangladesh's mental health system. Method: Online in-depth interviews were conducted with seven psychiatrists and eleven people with lived experiences of mental health issues. In addition, two online focus groups were conducted with ten psychologists and nine mental health entrepreneurs. A thematic analysis of the audio transcriptions was used to identify themes. Result: Stakeholders perceived that the benefits of digital media-based mental health services included the potential of increasing the awareness, availability, and accessibility of mental health services. Participants recommended: the rehabilitation of existing pathways; the use of social media to raise awareness; and the implementation of strategies that integrate different digital-based services to strengthen the mental health system and foster positive mental health-seeking behaviors. Conclusion: Growing mental health awareness, combined with the appropriate use of digital media as a platform for distributing information and offering mental services, can help to promote mental health care. To strengthen mental health services in Bangladesh, tailored services, increased network coverage, and training are required on digital mental health.

Seeking Trustworthy Information on COVID-19: A Qualitative Study with the African American Community

COVID-19 has been known to have a disproportionate impact on African Americans in the United States. Although studies have been conducted on the reasons for this disparity, there has been less focus on how the African American population sought trustworthy health information using technology. This is important because African Americans' mistrust of the medical system has been suggested as a possible reason for the disproportionate impact. Therefore, we conducted interviews with 18 African Americans with chronic conditions to discover what types of challenges they faced while searching for trustworthy information on COVID-19 and the strategies they used to overcome these challenges. We found that participants actively evaluated the credibility of different information sources, searched for first-hand information from people they could relate to, and tried to avoid or reduce media consumption to prevent information overload. © 2022 ACM.