Hospitality employees' technology adoption at the workplace: evidence from a meta-analysis

PurposeThis research aims to use meta-analytical structural equation modeling to look into how hospitality employees use technology at work. It further investigates if the relationship between the constructs of the technology acceptance model (TAM) is moderated by job level (supervisory versus non-supervisory) and different cultures (eastern versus western).Design/methodology/approachIn total, 140 relationships from 30 empirical studies (N = 6,728) were used in this study's data analysis in accordance with the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis.FindingsThe findings demonstrated that perceived usefulness had a greater influence on "user attitudes” and "acceptance intention” than perceived ease of use. This study also identified that the effect sizes of relationships among TAM constructs appeared to be greater for supervisory employees or in eastern cultures than for those in non-supervisory roles or western cultures.Practical implicationsThe findings provide valuable information for practitioners to increase the adoption of employee technology. Practitioners need to focus on the identification of hospitality employee attitudes, social norms and perceived ease of use. Moreover, hospitality practitioners should be cautious when promoting the adoption of new technologies to employees, as those at different levels may respond differently.Originality/valueThis is the very first empirical investigation to meta-analyze the predictive power of the TAM in the context of hospitality staff technology adoption at the workplace. The findings also demonstrated differences in the predictive power of TAM constructs according to job level and cultural differences.

Time to surgery after completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy does not negatively impact recurrence and survival outcomes in breast cancer patients

Background: The effect of time to surgery after completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and outcomes in breast cancer patients remains poorly defined and unclear. Acceptable time to surgery has frequently been arbitrarily defined as between four to eight weeks. Various factors including resource limitation, scheduling conflicts, complications after chemotherapy, patient hesitation or interruptions from major events such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic can delay time to surgery, raising concern of an adverse impact on recurrence and survival outcomes. This study aims to ascertain if time to surgery after completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy impacts disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Material(s) and Method(s): This single-institution retrospective study included patients who underwent neoadjuvant therapy and subsequent surgery from 2006 to 2017. Demographic, clinicopathological factors and surgical data from 250 patients were analysed. 105 patients received surgery within 28 days (group 1). 119 patients received surgery within 29 to 56 days (group 2), and 26 patients received surgery after 57 days or more (group 3). DFS and OS among the three groups were compared. Result(s): Age, race, pre-chemotherapy stage, tumour type, grade, hormone receptor status, Her2 status, focality, lymphovascular invasion (LVI), radiological response to chemotherapy, type of surgery, pathological response to chemotherapy, and receipt of adjuvant radiotherapy were not significantly different between the three groups. Receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy was statistically significant (p = 0.0248) with 39 patients (37.1%) in group 1, 32 patients (26.9%) in group 2 and 3 patients (11.5%) in group 3 receiving further chemotherapy after surgery. Mean follow-up duration was 44.5 months. DFS and OS between the three groups were not found to be significantly different (p = 0.5920 and p = 0.6133 respectively). Conclusion(s): Time to surgery after completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy did not appear to affect recurrence or survival outcomes. This result was demonstrated despite fewer patients in the group with the longest duration to surgery receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. This may be due to the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in decreasing or eliminating micro-metastatic disease, an important factor in cancer recurrence and survival. Limitations of this study includes its retrospective nature and small sample size. Findings from this study may allow more flexibility and reduce the burden of scheduling patients for surgery within the usual four to eight week window in centres with resource and scheduling constraints. Further studies examining a larger population over a wide range of time durations could help clinicians better tailor time to surgery after neoadjuvant therapy. No conflict of interest. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved