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1 – 10 of 231
Article
Publication date: 28 February 2024

Robert J. Donovan, Geoffrey Jalleh and Catherine Drane

Source credibility is a key influencing factor across both commercial and social marketing. It is perhaps even more important for the latter given that the issues under…

Abstract

Purpose

Source credibility is a key influencing factor across both commercial and social marketing. It is perhaps even more important for the latter given that the issues under consideration generally have substantial implications for both individual and societal health and well-being. The Act-Belong-Commit campaign is a world-first population-wide application of social marketing in the area of positive mental health promotion. This study aims to focus on the perceived credibility of the Act-Belong-Commit campaign as a source of information about mental health as a predictor of three types of behavioural responses to the campaign: adopting mental health enhancing behaviours; seeking information about mental health and mental health problems; and seeking help for a mental health problem.

Design/methodology/approach

A state-wide survey was undertaken of the adult population in an Australian state where the Act-Belong-Commit campaign originated. The survey included measures of the above three behavioural responses to the campaign and measures of respondents’ perceptions of Act-Belong-Commit’s source credibility. Logistic regression analyses were performed to determine whether the three behavioural responses can be predicted based on perceived source credibility. The predictive performance of the model was examined by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.

Findings

Greater perceived source credibility was significantly associated with having done something for their mental health and for having sought information, and an increased likelihood, but not significantly so, of having sought help for a mental health problem.

Originality/value

Despite the acknowledged importance of source credibility, there has been little published research that the authors are aware of that has looked at the impact of such on the effectiveness of social marketing campaigns. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first published study of the association between source credibility and behavioural response to a social marketing campaign.

Details

Journal of Social Marketing, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6763

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2024

Christina Donovan and Hannes Hautz

This paper seeks to illustrate how interventionist education reforms shape dis/trust-building processes and their impact on teacher professionalism in vocational education and…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to illustrate how interventionist education reforms shape dis/trust-building processes and their impact on teacher professionalism in vocational education and training (VET) across national contexts. Using trust as the object of analysis, we discuss the affective mechanisms of becoming a professional in a standards-based neoliberal environment.

Design/methodology/approach

Through an analysis of VET teacher narratives in England and Austria, the paper draws attention to the ways in which policy instrumentalism has created a culture of distrust in VET. Drawing upon foundational work on system trust developed by Niklas Luhmann, we illustrate how conditions for trust sit at symbolic thresholds, which set the conditions for professional recognition within VET.

Findings

Our analysis revealed that attempts to standardise VET strategy are fuelled by the need for existential security and predictability, leading to tensions in the cultivation of system trust. Conditions for professional recognition across both contexts were based on practices of documentation and subordination, narrowly defining modes of legitimate self-expression in organisations. This constitutes a crisis of trust in VET teacher professionalism, which undermines pedagogical autonomy and integrity.

Practical implications

We seek to highlight the impact that reduced trust in the governance of VET can have on issues associated with teacher motivation, well-being and retention. The consideration of trust is therefore essential both for policy design and implementation in VET organisations.

Originality/value

The application of trust theory offers a distinctive lens through which to understand the impact of accountability, performativity and governance processes upon teacher subjectivity within VET across national contexts.

Details

Education + Training, vol. 66 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 June 2024

Andy Hodder

This article examines the intellectual antecedents of Alan Fox’s frames of reference and contributes to academic work that seeks to unravel the pre-Donovan roots of British…

Abstract

Purpose

This article examines the intellectual antecedents of Alan Fox’s frames of reference and contributes to academic work that seeks to unravel the pre-Donovan roots of British industrial relations. It examines the origins of the unitary and pluralist frames of reference with a particular focus on the work of Norman Ross.

Design/methodology/approach

This article draws on published academic materials to examine the origins of the unitary and pluralist frames of reference.

Findings

The article identifies usage of the term “frame of reference” in industrial relations literature from the 1940s and demonstrates the origins of the unitary and pluralist conceptions of the firm in the works of Ross in the 1950s and 1960s.

Originality/value

The article provides a “fresh look” at the origins of the frames of reference.

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 April 2024

Dave Lyddon and Xuebing Cao

This study investigates the origins and elaboration of the managerial “unitary” frame of reference associated with Alan Fox, focusing on unionised firms: the industrial relations…

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates the origins and elaboration of the managerial “unitary” frame of reference associated with Alan Fox, focusing on unionised firms: the industrial relations context, intellectual roots, elaboration, adaptation by other writers, and international applicability.

Design/methodology/approach

Tracing the above requirements through contemporaneous sources.

Findings

Fox’s designation of the unitary frame needs to be understood in its 1960s’ context, particularly the promotion of “productivity bargaining”, and its furthering through management training and education. Fox’s specific contribution is identified. Subsequent UK writers have underplayed the importance of the legal dimension of managerial authority, especially relevant in the US context, while other extra-economic factors bolster the managerial unitary frame in authoritarian societies such as China.

Originality/value

The use of Fox's neglected 1960s’ writings; tracking how Fox developed the unitary frame concept and how it was funnelled into the narrow parameters of non-unionism by subsequent writers; identifying its applicability beyond the UK (with the USA as a historical example and China as a contemporary one).

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 February 2024

Alan S. Marcus, Katherine A. Griffith and Francis Gary Powers Jr

In this article, we use the film Bridge of Spies – which depicts the case of U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers – and relevant primary sources, particularly Powers' letters from…

Abstract

Purpose

In this article, we use the film Bridge of Spies – which depicts the case of U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers – and relevant primary sources, particularly Powers' letters from prison, to provide teachers with a case that can engage students with the complexity of the Cold War. Understanding USA–Russia relations is as important today as ever as we watch the tragedy unfold in Ukraine. Using primary sources to reflect on the Cold War can help secondary students understand the historical context of the war in Ukraine as well as how to evaluate and critique sources of information about the war.

Design/methodology/approach

The film and personal letters provide insights often not available or obvious when we focus on the political or military history of an event or time period. The Cold War is frequently defined by the rhetoric of the USA and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) governments – but everyday people and citizens had a wider range of views and experiences. The film and letters bring out the humanity of the Cold War.

Findings

This article supports secondary teachers in incorporating film and primary sources as teaching tools to study the Cold War while more broadly thinking about these sources as ways to understand the past. The letters used, including those from U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers, help us understand his time in a Soviet prison as well as the behind-the-scenes work to free him as part of a prisoner exchange.

Originality/value

The U-2 Incident and other events of the Cold War provide important context for understanding the Cold War-like tensions between the USA and Russia today. The distrust between these countries has a long history. However, documents like the film and letters discussed here show that there is much more to the bluster of political leaders and the military chess game. There is an important human element to these events and an impact on individuals who are much more than pawns in international diplomacy.

Details

Social Studies Research and Practice, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1933-5415

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 December 2023

Sandra Vaiciulyte, Helen Underhill and Elizabeth Reddy

Fires have the potential to destroy, resulting in the loss of property and livelihoods, as well as injury, death and repeated trauma for those who are already vulnerable. However…

Abstract

Purpose

Fires have the potential to destroy, resulting in the loss of property and livelihoods, as well as injury, death and repeated trauma for those who are already vulnerable. However, fire as a hazard has been treated rigidly and un-critically, a model that has influenced how it is perceived by policy makers, first responders, engineers and academics and subsequently approaches to implementing and better understanding fire prevention, mitigation, response and recovery from the impacts of fire.

Design/methodology/approach

This article deals with fire, arguing that its case can help imagine what liberation might mean within and for disaster studies. The study argues against dogmatic, outdated, technological and solution-focused perspectives that have constrained how fire and its effects are understood and discuss what disciplinary liberation could mean for the study of fire and its integration within DRR. The study’s approach is based on the DRR Assemblage Theory, which points to fire as an issue at a societal level.

Findings

The study explores the themes of fire and liberation through contributions and insights that have emerged through the authors' professional experience in research and practice. It offers an original and timely engagement with disaster studies through the lens of fire, an increasingly pertinent phenomenon for disaster scholars and practitioners alike.

Originality/value

By drawing on the example of fire as a socio-technical-environmental phenomenon, this paper contributes a novel perspective on the intellectual and practical possibilities that can emerge from disciplinary liberation.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 33 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 April 2024

Peter Ackers

This paper presents an historical reconstruction of the radicalisation of Alan Fox, the industrial sociologist and a detailed analysis of his early historical and sociological…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper presents an historical reconstruction of the radicalisation of Alan Fox, the industrial sociologist and a detailed analysis of his early historical and sociological writing in the classical pluralist phase.

Design/methodology/approach

An intellectual history, including detailed discussion of key Fox texts, supported by interviews with Fox and other Biographical sources.

Findings

Fox’s radicalisation was incomplete, as he carried over from his industrial relations (IR) pluralist mentors, Allan Flanders and Hugh Clegg, a suspicion of political Marxism, a sense of historical contingency and an awareness of the fragmented nature of industrial conflict.

Originality/value

Recent academic attention has centred on Fox’s later radical pluralism with its “structural” approach to the employment relationship. This paper revisits his early, neglected classical pluralist writing. It also illuminates his transition from institutional IR to a broader sociology of work, influenced by AH Halsey, John Goldthorpe and others and the complex nature of his radicalisation.

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 April 2024

Liam Murphy

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic organisations are adapting to a new environment of global talent shortages, economic uncertainty and geo-political turmoil. As an outcome, the…

Abstract

Purpose

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic organisations are adapting to a new environment of global talent shortages, economic uncertainty and geo-political turmoil. As an outcome, the organisational strategies of digital transformation and remote working have been accelerated in the race to boost innovation, competitivity and attract staff. This has led to the rise of two new organisational dynamics: the increase of virtual teams (VTs) and focus on widespread work automation. However, despite the rise of these two related phenomena, literature does not connect them as one research area, and there is a gap in the understanding of the new employee wellbeing needs they form and how to respond to them. This paper aims to bridge this gap through a systematic literature across these areas.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper conducts a systematic literature review across the areas of leadership, VTs and automation over the past three years.

Findings

In this review, a number of newly arising employee wellbeing needs are identified such as fear of job displacement, a lack of self-efficacy and social cohesion, poor relationships with leaders and more. In addition, this paper recommends three fundamental research gaps to be addressed by future studies: 1. How to build and cultivate the new leadership skills needed to support VTs and workplace automation? 2. How to design work in a way that caters for employee wellbeing needs when operating in VTs or hybrid teams and working on or with workplace automation? 3. How to design work in a way that builds and emphasises the new employee skillsets to support augmentation and solves for the new employee wellbeing needs experienced by workplace automation?

Originality/value

This paper provides a novel contribution to literature by centralising current schools of thought across the cross-disciplinary themes and synthesising literature to recommend new wellbeing and leadership skills for organisations to focus on, alongside producing a new research agenda for scholars to focus.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 31 May 2024

Benno Viererbl, Nora Denner and Stefanie Holzer

Personalised statements from CEOs can be used as a tool to protect reputation in corporate crises. However, it needs to be considered that CEOs have different personalities. The…

Abstract

Personalised statements from CEOs can be used as a tool to protect reputation in corporate crises. However, it needs to be considered that CEOs have different personalities. The present chapter, therefore, examines the effects of social distance of a CEO in combination with crisis communication strategies in corporate crises. This is illustrated by means of an experimental study with a 2 × 2 between-subjects design (factor 1: close vs. far social distance of the CEO; factor 2: deny vs. rebuild crisis communication strategy). The results indicate that in preventable crises, a close social distance of the CEO is beneficial for the CEO’s image as well as the image of the organisation because it promotes empathy and motivated assessment. Empathy towards the CEO remains unaffected by the communication strategy. The effect of the social distance on the motivated assessment occurs, however, only with a deny strategy. If an apology is pronounced, there is no difference whether an approachable or a distant CEO is speaking. The study discussed in this chapter is among the first to take empathy and motivated reasoning into account when analysing the effects of privatisation on CEO image and organisational image.

Details

Communication in Uncertain Times
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83549-592-6

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 May 2024

Neeru Choudhary and Shilpa Jain

This study aims to identify and review research articles to understand the conceptualization of employee engagement (EE) in a remote working environment. Specifically, the aim is…

1621

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to identify and review research articles to understand the conceptualization of employee engagement (EE) in a remote working environment. Specifically, the aim is to explore the antecedents impacting remote workers’ engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review was conducted, encompassing empirical studies sourced from EBSCO, Emerald and Gale databases. Studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 2013 and 2023 covering countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) were included. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed to capture the review process.

Findings

A total of 25 empirical studies published across 18 journals were synthesized, with the results being reported in terms of three research objectives. The researchers identified that individual, organizational/job resources and organizational/job demands are the three main antecedents affecting EE in remote working environments.

Research limitations/implications

This study can serve as an important source of information for academics and practitioners as well as postulate new avenues for the future research. While the Job Demands-Resources model remains relevant in specifying demands and resources as antecedents of workforce engagement, technological antecedents gain prominence as additional factors contribute to the engagement of remote workforce.

Originality/value

This article studies the shifting landscape of EE with the rise of remote working and the need to gain a better understanding of how to keep remote workers engaged.

Details

Journal of Work-Applied Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2205-2062

Keywords

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