• Organisational Culture and The Development of Digital Competencies: Experiences of Employees in Nigerian Upstream Oil and Gas Companies

  Sivarajah, Uthayasankar; Wilmot, Natalie; Weerakkody, Vishanth J.P.; Akpan, Odiong (University of BradfordFaculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences, 2022)

  In today’s upstream oil and gas industry, employees are encouraged to develop digital competencies to support their organisations’ digital transformation initiatives. However, there is limited understanding from the employee viewpoints, of what influences their motivation to support digital workforce transformation in the context of upstream oil and gas companies’ organisational culture. This study proposes the need to comprehend the relationship between organisational culture and employees’ motivation to develop and use digital competencies from the employees’ viewpoints rather than from managers and business leaders only. Building on the digital workforce transformation and employee-driven innovation literature, the aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of employees who are required to develop and use digital competencies in their companies. Specifically, the guiding principles of interpretative phenomenological analysis were adapted in a qualitative approach to explore the employees’ experiences. Data was collected from sixteen employees selected from across four of the five international oil and gas companies in Nigeria. The findings show that three core modalities of the organisational culture (Digital Transformation Messaging & Resource Availability; Leadership and Management Styles; and Employee Mindsets & Change Management Inertia) are important considerations for the motivation of employees to develop and use digital competencies. The findings contribute to understanding the dynamics of employee mindsets regarding digital workforce transformation and highlight the relevance of incorporating employee viewpoints in the planning and implementation of change management initiatives required for digital transformation. Theoretically, the contribution from this study is a demonstration of the use of a qualitative interpretive approach to update the digital workforce transformation body of knowledge.
• Formulation, characterisation, and biocompatibility assessment of rifampicin-loaded poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) composites for local treatment of orthopaedic and wound infections

  Singhal, M.; Seaton, Colin; Surtees, Alexander; Katsikogianni, Maria (2024-11)

  Background/Objectives: The escalating challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) necessitates the development of targeted antibiotic delivery platforms, minimising systemic administration. Polymer-based drug delivery emerges as a promising solution, ensuring sustained release and prolonged efficacy of bioactive compounds, ensuring long-term efficacy. Methods: This study focuses on encapsulating rifampicin (RIF), a key antibiotic for orthopaedic and wound-related infections, within Poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), a biodegradable polymer, through solvent casting, to formulate a PLGA-RIF composite membrane. Comprehensive characterisation, employing Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal analysis and X-ray Diffraction (XRD), confirmed the integrity of both the starting and produced materials. UV-Vis spectroscopy revealed a controlled drug release profile over 21 days in various media, with the chosen media influencing the drug release, notably the tryptic soya broth (TSB) caused the highest release. The quantitative assessment of the antimicrobial efficacy of the developed PLGA-RIF composite was conducted by measuring the size of the inhibition zones against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Results: The results confirmed the composite’s potential as a robust antibacterial biomaterial, demonstrating a rapid and effective antibacterial response. Cytocompatibility tests incorporated human fibroblast and osteoblast-like cell lines and demonstrated that the RIF:PLGA (1:8) formulation maintained eukaryotic cell viability, indicating the composite’s potential for targeted medical applications in combating bacterial infections with minimal systemic impact. Conclusions: This study presents the significance of investigating drug release within appropriate and relevant physiological media. A key novelty of this work therefore lies in the exploration of drug release dynamics across different media, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of how varying physiological conditions may influence drug release and its effect on biological responses.
• Controlling the helical pitch of foldamers through terminal functionality: A solid state study

  Davis, A.R.; Ozturk, S.; Seaton, Colin; Male, L.; Pike, S.J. (2024-12)

  Developing new methods to control the size and shape of the helical structures adopted by foldamers is highly important as the secondary structure displayed by these supramolecular scaffolds often dictates their activity and function. Herein, we report on a systematic study demonstrating that the helical pitch of ortho‐azobenzene/2,6‐pyridyldicarboxamide foldamers can be readily controlled through the nature of the terminal functionality. Remarkably, simply through varying the end group of the foldamer, and without modifying any other structural features of the scaffold, the helical pitch can be over doubled in magnitude (from 3.4 Å–7.3 Å). Additionally, crystallographic analysis of a library ten foldamers has identified general trends in the influence of a range of terminal functionalities, including carboxylbenzyl (Cbz), diphenylcarbamyl (N(Ph)2), ferrocene (Fc) and tert‐butyloxycarbonyl (Boc), in controlling the folding behaviour of these supramolecular scaffolds. These studies could prove useful in the future development of functional foldamers which adopt specific sizes and shapes. A crystallographic study into the influence of varying the terminal functionality on the helical pitch of a series of foldamers is reported. Herein, we show that through systematic modification of the terminal functionality in the foldamer, from carboxylbenzyl (Cbz), diphenylamide (N(Ph)2), ferrocene to tert‐butyloxycarbonyl (Boc) helical pitches between 3.4–7.3 Å can be readily accessed in these supramolecular scaffolds.
• Making Sense of Food Safety and Food Waste: Lived Experiences in Food Catering Using Systems Thinking

  Sharif, Amir M.; Eldabi, Tillal; Tenywa, Paul I. (University of BradfordSchool of Management. Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences, 2023)

  Food safety and food waste have many strands and perspectives; one is how managers and staff make decisions. There is limited research on food catering services, how managers and staff deal with food safety and waste, and their decision approaches. To obtain a better understanding, this research sought the lived experiences of managers and staff. The research aim is to explore the lived experiences of managers and staff to better understand their decision behaviour approaches in controlling food safety and food waste. The way forward is to conduct a qualitative phenomenological research focusing on twenty-five purposefully selected managers and staff in Vancouver. Using organisational theory as a lens, data were obtained through semi-structured interviews and non-participant observations. The research used inductive thematic analysis, resulting in nineteen themes. The key findings were inadequate training and planning, improper practices and customer behaviours attributed to internal and external processes and systems; managers and staff lacked appreciation for using a specific approach to support decisions. The researcher introduces systems thinking as one approach to support decision making to enhance control of food safety and waste. The implications include appreciating the interrelationship of factors influencing food safety and food waste. The research limitations were the COVID-19 pandemic, time and resources, and insufficient participant experiences. The research contribution was using systems thinking as one of the approaches to make decisions to enhance control of food safety and food waste in food catering services.
• Firm growth, innovation and access to finance: Evidence from European SMEs

  Wu, Steven; Li, Jing; Shafiuzzaman, Mohammad (University of BradfordSchool of Management. Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences, 2023)

  This thesis examines three issues about European SMEs. Chapter Two examines how sustainable growth firms obtain external finance during and after the 2008 financial crisis. Although sustainable growth firms have past growth records and future growth aspirations; however, those firms may face challenges in obtaining external finance. We find that those firms increase their demand for external finance after the financial crisis and obtain finance from suppliers during this period to implement their growth activities. In contrast, firms are less likely to secure loans from banks during this period. Chapter Three examines how SMEs can reduce information asymmetry and increase the probability of obtaining a bank loan. SMEs can easily establish a lending relationship with suppliers, which may improve firms’ creditworthiness and reduce information asymmetry. We show that SMEs that suffer information asymmetry can obtain bank finance if these firms establish a significant relationship in the past with suppliers. This finding is more prominent for small firms as banks refuse their loan applications due to information asymmetry. Chapter Four examines financially constrained SMEs for increasing sales growth through innovation activities. As innovation has a positive effect on sales growth; therefore, conducting innovation activities can improve cash flows to constrained firms. We find that financially constrained SMEs can obtain sales growth if they conduct innovation activities. Our results suggest that product and process innovation are significant for financially constrained SMEs as those innovations provide additional cash flow in firms to reduce the adverse effect of the constrained condition.

View more