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1 – 10 of over 252000
Article
Publication date: 1 January 1989

Stuart Hannabuss

The management of children′s literature is a search for value andsuitability. Effective policies in library and educational work arebased firmly on knowledge of materials, and on…

Abstract

The management of children′s literature is a search for value and suitability. Effective policies in library and educational work are based firmly on knowledge of materials, and on the bibliographical and critical frame within which the materials appear and might best be selected. Boundaries, like those between quality and popular books, and between children′s and adult materials, present important challenges for selection, and implicit in this process are professional acumen and judgement. Yet also there are attitudes and systems of values, which can powerfully influence selection on grounds of morality and good taste. To guard against undue subjectivity, the knowledge frame should acknowledge the relevance of social and experiential context for all reading materials, how readers think as well as how they read, and what explicit and implicit agendas the authors have. The good professional takes all these factors on board.

Details

Library Management, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1912

MR. JOHN BURNS, President of the Local Government Board, speaking on the Housing of the Working Classes Bill before the Standing Committee of the House of Commons, on 13th May, is…

Abstract

MR. JOHN BURNS, President of the Local Government Board, speaking on the Housing of the Working Classes Bill before the Standing Committee of the House of Commons, on 13th May, is reported to have said that “he believed the time had come when men were tired of drenching the country with Public Libraries, and were beginning to realise that small gardens, parks and open spaces were infinitely better for the people.” We do not contend for one moment that more parks and open spaces are not wanted for the use of the people, but that these should be provided in place of Public Libraries is certainly another matter. If more open spaces be necessary for the physical well‐being of the race, surely libraries are quite as much a necessity for the intellectual equipment of the people. And Public Libraries, if used in an intelligent manner, will certainly help those who use the parks to appreciate their beauties all the more. We can, perhaps, forgive Lord Rosebery for his recent criticisms on libraries, because by reason of his position, and having the great advantage of owning a fine library, he has not really experienced the need for the help a Public Library affords. It is, therefore, an easy matter to criticise from his point of view. But such criticism from John Burns, the self‐made man, and essentially a man from the ranks of the people, is another matter. He is the man who must have found Public Libraries useful to him in his earlier days; indeed, one seems to remember reading somewhere, a short time ago, that Mr. Burns gave an address in which he publicly stated that he owed much to Public Libraries for the help he had received through their agency. We earnestly hope that Mr. Burns did not intend to make so sweeping an assertion as his present words imply. From the point of view of librarianship such drastic criticism as this from such an one as Mr. Burns appears to us to be of serious import, especially as there seems to be a half‐veiled sting in his words which is unduly emphasised by the inclusion of the word “infinitely”—that “open spaces were infinitely better for the people” than Public Libraries. It is tantamount to saying that our work as librarians is of little value or that we have failed in our mission, either of which is very wide of the mark.

Details

New Library World, vol. 14 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

Article
Publication date: 2 December 2019

Pedro Jácome de Moura Jr and Carlo Gabriel Porto Bellini

The purpose of this paper is to review three decades of the literature on flow measurement and propose issues to advance research on the measurement of social flow at work.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review three decades of the literature on flow measurement and propose issues to advance research on the measurement of social flow at work.

Design/methodology/approach

In a systematic literature review, the authors analyzed 143 articles published in the first three decades (1983–2013) of scholarly publications on flow measurement, of which 84 articles used scales to measure flow and 16 articles used scales to measure flow at work.

Findings

The main findings are: flow is frequently measured in association with other constructs or by means of proxies; flow measurement is highly dependent on a study’s purposes and context; flow is mostly studied at the level of the individual and, when studied beyond the individual, the measurement of flow in groups is simplified as an aggregation of individual-level measures; and social flow at work is an underresearched construct that nevertheless impacts organizations in important ways, thus deserving a specific research agenda.

Research limitations/implications

The first limitation refers to the databases included in the review. There is always the possibility that important works were ignored. Another limitation is that the coding procedure was highly dependent on the authors’ discretion, as it did not include independent coding and formal assessment of agreement among coders. But the greatest limitation may refer to our very perspectives on flow, flow measurement and social flow at work, as they are highly attached to current models instead of seeing the issues with different lenses. This limitation is also present in the literature.

Practical implications

Reviewing three decades of scholarly publications on how flow has been measured contributes to organizations in their planning for person-job fit. The measurement of flow can reveal if and when flow correlates with personal characteristics and organizational events, thus serving to inform initiatives on personnel development, acculturation and job design. However, considering that flow as a social phenomenon has been conceived in superficial terms, that a vast number of empirical studies were developed with non-professional subjects, and that flow measurement involves significant adaptations to each situation, organizations are thus advised to be careful in adopting extant instruments.

Originality/value

This study provides a rich account on how flow measurement has been addressed in the scholarly literature, and it calls attention to research opportunities on social flow at work.

Article
Publication date: 3 January 2024

Cydney Y. Caradonna

It is critical for those who are engaged in the work of resisting the movement of academically restrictive policy to understand that it is a deliberate act on the part of…

Abstract

Purpose

It is critical for those who are engaged in the work of resisting the movement of academically restrictive policy to understand that it is a deliberate act on the part of conservatives to outlaw critical race theory (CRT) specifically, because it is a theoretical mechanism for discrediting the rhetorical foundations of their policy movement. The knee-jerk institutional courses of action to now defund initiatives and curriculum related equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) represent what has always been a deeply rooted investment in white supremacy on the part of the institutions (Baldwin, 2021; Patel, 2021; Squire, 2021).

Design/methodology/approach

The author explores and defines the CRT tenets of interest convergence (Bell, 1980) and whiteness as property (Harris, 1993) in relation to EI (Fricker, 2007; Dotson, 2011) as frameworks for examining three EGOs in the region where these policies have become most dominant. All three are critical tools of analysis for understanding the stake the White conservative political elite have in EGOs, and the magnitude of EI these policies represent, and stand endorse in their rhetoric. Definitions of EI often rely on the work of Amanda Fricker’s (2013) text on the subject, but this paper is invested in the expansions of this theorization for speaking to the nature of the injustice that EGOs represent as a matter of historical trend, with grave implications for futures marked by continued oppression. Whiteness as property and interest convergence are points for explicating the dialectic and material aspects of issues of race and equity in this country; namely, how knowledge processes inherent to higher education sound even more alarms as EGOs become commonplace for college campuses.

Findings

To support the arguments laid out, the author provides a historical review of the settler-colonial foundations of higher education as an american institution. This is meant to provide contour to the image of postsecondary education that exists today. In accordance with this paper’s allegiance to CRT, many of the texts would be considered revisionist history (Delgado and Stefancic, 2023), which stray from dominant narratives of american comfort and speak more accurately to the experiences of minoritized populations. The author then applies the same analysis to the sociopolitical contexts of EGOs, and to policy language itself. Each section is closed with an explanation of its connection to tenets of CRT and EI so as to provide a thread to follow into the subsequent discussion section.

Research limitations/implications

In the first presentation of the early writings of this work, the author was lucky enough to be in community with Barbara Applebaum at the annual meeting for the American Educational Studies Association and engage in discourse surrounding EI and CRT applications to EGOs. In conversations surrounding the will in the willful ignorance that is exemplified in the movement of EGOs, the author had shared with Dr Applebaum the early thinking on how that will was the same force that brought together converging interests, which have continually forecasted interest divergence. This is commonly referred to as “political backlash.” The author had said something along the lines of: “if we follow the interest convergence, we can get in front of the subsequent political moves to turn the clocks on what was once celebrates progress.” This conversation planted the seed for what is the thesis of this paper. Interest convergence and divergence happen at the will of white populations because of the american truth of whiteness as property. In the context of higher education, this means that because educational pursuit has largely been white property, it has served as an arena for white populations to converge and diverge their interests with those of the minoritized. For example, the policies that drained federal funding for higher education in the 1970s were passed on the tails of a Civil Rights Movement that shook the very foundation of this country and expanded access to postsecondary education for racially minoritized groups (Berret, 2015).

Originality/value

Ensuring that this social construction is a matter of status quo has largely been the work of postsecondary institutions, and EGOs represent the most recent attempt at epistemically imposed inferiority. Explicit attention to the fact of higher education’s complicity and overall investment in the socialization of oppression is necessary to engage in transformative practice that resists anachronism. If higher education researchers and practitioners do not recognize the stake in both the presence and resistance to EGOs, there would likely be acts of resistance that will belie an act of interest convergence – and later divergence – on the part of the state.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 43 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1982

IT was only a very few years ago that computers came into fashion, as it were. Firms, unfortunately denied the benefit of foresight, vied with each other in being the first in…

Abstract

IT was only a very few years ago that computers came into fashion, as it were. Firms, unfortunately denied the benefit of foresight, vied with each other in being the first in their respective fields to own a computer.

Details

Work Study, vol. 31 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0043-8022

Article
Publication date: 5 March 2018

Hussain Tariq and Donghong Ding

Synthesizing theories of prosocial motivation and action identification, the purpose of this paper is to test several hypotheses associating abusive supervisory behavior with…

3144

Abstract

Purpose

Synthesizing theories of prosocial motivation and action identification, the purpose of this paper is to test several hypotheses associating abusive supervisory behavior with employees’ work behaviors via intervening variables, i.e., intrinsic motivation and family motivation.

Design/methodology/approach

The two-study examination of outcomes of abusive supervision stands in contrast to prior research, which has primarily focused on family motivation that influences supervisor-subordinate relationship. A lagged survey study at a Fortune 500 company and an experience sampling study at multi-organizations located in Anhui province of People’s Republic of China (PRC) support the moderated-mediation motivational model.

Findings

In the first study, designed as a lagged survey study, the authors found that abusive supervision is negatively associated with employees’ job performance and positively associated with employees’ turnover intentions. As anticipated, the results also found that family motivation moderates the direct relationship between abusive supervision and employees’ work behaviors. Furthermore, these results were then replicated and expanded in an experience sampling study. Consistent with the predictions, the authors found that intrinsic motivation acts as a mediator between abusive supervision and employees’ work behaviors and family motivation has the capacity to compensate for the absence of intrinsic motivation.

Research limitations/implications

Although the paper contributes to leadership and motivation literature, there are several noteworthy limitations to be discussed in the future. The subjective measurement, the validity of abusive supervision in the Chinese context and generalizing of the study in western countries are the key limitations of the study. Moreover, the authors measure abusive supervision only on high/low frequency based rather than high/low intensity. Hence, there is a possibility that intensity and frequency have dissimilar effects.

Originality/value

The study with meaningful implications on motivation and leadership research concludes that family as a powerful source of motivation encourages subordinates’ job performance and discourages employees’ turnover intentions at the workplace, even under abusive supervision.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 47 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2011

Kate Shacklock and Yvonne Brunetto

This study aims to conceptualise the notion of “older workers' intentions to continue paid working” (OWICW) and to validate a scale for measuring the impact of work‐related…

6397

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to conceptualise the notion of “older workers' intentions to continue paid working” (OWICW) and to validate a scale for measuring the impact of work‐related factors on older workers' intentions to continue in employment.

Design/methodology/approach

The theoretical framework for this investigation was the meaning of working (MOW) model. The study uses a cross‐sectional, survey‐based, self‐report strategy to gather data.

Findings

The findings were that OWICW is a function not only of factors previously tested (health and financial factors), but also of four work‐related variables – the importance of working to the individual, the flexibility of working arrangements, the individual's interests outside of work, plus management and organisational factors (such as supervision, bureaucracy and the work environment).

Practical implications

The implications of these findings include providing a framework to begin addressing the challenge of retaining valued older workers so as to attend to the growing shortage of labour across OECD countries.

Originality/value

This paper extends the Meaning of Work model to explain the impact of work‐related factors on the intentions of older workers to continue in employment, and at the individual level of analysis.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 40 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1997

Carolyn Wiley

Explores past and present attitudes of employees concerning work‐related motivational factors. Understanding the factors that employees consider motivating lends insight to the…

115987

Abstract

Explores past and present attitudes of employees concerning work‐related motivational factors. Understanding the factors that employees consider motivating lends insight to the rewards to which they more positively respond. Compares the results of four motivation surveys conducted in 1946, 1980, 1986 and 1992. The comparisons reveal that employees’ motivational preferences vary over time. In addition, the results of the 1992 survey indicate that the factors that motivate today’s workers are more extrinsic than they used to be. Although employees differ on how they rank these factors, they overwhelmingly selected “good wages” as the top motivator. A good wage is an extrinsic reward with intrinsic potency. On the surface “good wages” seem to be purely extrinsic. Yet, at a deeper level, monetary rewards communicate what the company values and affect employees’ emotional and familial wellbeing.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 18 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2003

Stephen Gibb

Increasing line manager involvement in learning and development (L&D) at work is one important part of the broader changing relations between line managers and human resource…

9810

Abstract

Increasing line manager involvement in learning and development (L&D) at work is one important part of the broader changing relations between line managers and human resource management (HRM). The advantages of increasing line manager involvement in L&D at work are frequently highlighted. However, the disadvantages raise questions about the overall impact on L&D at work. Evidence about the practice of L&D at work depending on line manager involvement is limited. Instead of having an evidence base to evaluate it there is only scope to reflect more critically on the significance of the trend to line manager involvement in L&D at work in context. Two principal interpretations are possible; one that the trend is of minimal significance, the other that it is of much greater significance. Increasing line manager involvement in L&D at work is both part of the means of attaining, and one of the ends of, broader changes in work, organisation and HRM. The conclusion here is that there are legitimate concerns about shifting to increasing line manager involvement in L&D at work, where that prejudices the provision and use of specialist L&D at work resources. However, these concerns are outweighed by the greater concern to re‐align work, organisation and management for an era where knowledge management is predominant. The issue of line manager involvement in L&D at work will continue to be an important part of the corporate and critical review agendas.

Details

Employee Relations, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 April 2021

Per-Ola Maneschiöld and Diana Lucaci-Maneschiöld

The purpose of this paper is to investigate aspects related to difficulty to retain nursing assistants at nursing homes in Sweden related to perceived work environment…

1953

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate aspects related to difficulty to retain nursing assistants at nursing homes in Sweden related to perceived work environment characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

To reveal aspects related to difficulty to retain nursing assistants, the paper uses the BIKVA model, sense of coherence and New Public Management (NPM). In total, three focus groups with nursing assistants at three nursing homes are interviewed with corresponding individual interviews with their senior managers and users. The purpose is to analyze the situation from the affected group of nursing assistants. The focus of this study is how nursing assistants discuss related to recruit and retain nursing assistants at nursing homes and elderly care and the response from senior management related to those aspects.

Findings

The main conclusions are that nursing assistants consider their job as meaningful, but limited latitude and direct involvement in managing their daily tasks in a continuous communication with management affect negatively. Furthermore and combined with wage levels, aspects related to scheduling, working hours, shift work, split shifts and understaffing generate a burdensome and stressful environment affecting the possibility to retain staff in a negative direction.

Originality/value

The research uses a new approach utilizing the BIKVA model, sense of coherence and NPM. The study shows that central in retaining nursing assistants at nursing homes relates to aspects such as wages, staffing, shift work and split shifts and continuous communication between nursing assistants and management.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 35 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 252000