Distance is no longer a barrier to healthcare services: current state and future trends of telehealth research

PurposeTaking a business lens of telehealth, this article aims to review and provide a state-of-the-art overview of telehealth research.Design/methodology/approachThis research conducts a systematic literature review using the scientific procedures and rationales for systematic literature reviews (SPAR-4-SLR) protocol and a collection of bibliometric analytical techniques (i.e. performance analysis, keyword co-occurrence, keyword clustering and content analysis).FindingsUsing performance analysis, this article unpacks the publication trend and the top contributing journals, authors, institutions and regions of telehealth research. Using keyword co-occurrence and keyword clustering, this article reveals 10 major themes underpinning the intellectual structure of telehealth research: design and development of personal health record systems, health information technology (HIT) for public health management, perceived service quality among mobile health (m-health) users, paradoxes of virtual care versus in-person visits, Internet of things (IoT) in healthcare, guidelines for e-health practices and services, telemonitoring of life-threatening diseases, change management strategy for telehealth adoption, knowledge management of innovations in telehealth and technology management of telemedicine services. The article proposes directions for future research that can enrich our understanding of telehealth services.Originality/valueThis article offers a seminal state-of-the-art overview of the performance and intellectual structure of telehealth research from a business perspective.

How does ethical climate enhance work–family enrichment? Insights from psychological attachment, psychological capital and job autonomy in the restaurant industry

PurposeThis study aims to propose a conceptual model that examines the role of ethical climate on work–family enrichment in the restaurant industry, which is one of the most vulnerable sectors affected by global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The mediating effects of psychological attachment and psychological capital and the moderating effects of job autonomy were also investigated to enrich understanding of ethical climate and work–family enrichment.Design/methodology/approachThe conceptual model was evaluated by using a quantitative–qualitative mixed-methods approach. In Study 1, survey data was collected from a sample of 405 restaurant frontline employees and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. In Study 2, interviews were conducted with eight restaurant frontline employees and analyzed thematically. The data for Study 1 and Study 2 was collected from Jharkhand, a state in eastern India.FindingsThe results of Study 1 show a direct relationship between ethical climate and work–family enrichment. The mediating effect of psychological attachment and psychological capital on that direct relationship was also established, whereas job autonomy was found to be a significant moderator that negatively affects psychological attachment and work–family enrichment. The qualitative insights in Study 2 shed additional light on the rationales of the effects observed in Study 1 through the voices of restaurant frontline employees whilst triangulating the quantitative findings in Study 1.Research limitations/implicationsThis research contributes novel insights that explain how ethical climate positively shapes work–family enrichment through the lens of psychological attachment and psychological capital, albeit cautiously, given the negative effect of job autonomy. Nevertheless, this research remains limited to restaurant frontline employees, thereby necessitating future research in other service industries to improve the generalizability of its findings.Originality/valueThis research offers a seminal extension of the direct effect of ethical climate on work–family enrichment (i.e. the "what”) by theorizing and validating the mediating (i.e. the "why”) and moderating (i.e. the "how”) effects of psychological attachment, psychological capital and job autonomy.

Information source and tourist expenditure: evidence from Sarawak, Malaysia

Travel information is omnipresent. Yet, the relationship between the source of travel information and tourist expenditure remains underexplored. To address this gap, the present study examines how the source of travel information used by tourists, both pre-trip and in-destination, impacts on tourist expenditure. Using survey data collected from tourists who visited Sarawak, Malaysia prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this study is among the first of its kind to investigate the role of information source on tourist expenditure in a developing tourism destination. The study reveals that tourists who used travel agencies/tour operators and magazines/newspapers prior to their visit are likely to spend more across all expenditure categories. While in destination, tourists tend to use the internet to find the best prices on various activities, leading to significantly lower expenditure across most categories. These findings have important implications for tourism policy makers and tour operators in developing tourism destinations, empowering them with insights to formulate targeted advertising and marketing communication strategies.