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Article
Publication date: 18 April 2023

Andrew Adams, Stephen Morrow and Ian Thomson

To provide insights into the role of formal and informal accounts in preventing the liquidation of a professional football club and in post-crisis rebuilding.

Abstract

Purpose

To provide insights into the role of formal and informal accounts in preventing the liquidation of a professional football club and in post-crisis rebuilding.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study, framed as a conflict arena, covers an eight-year period of a high-profile struggle over the future of a professional football club. It uses a mixed methods design, including direct engagement with key actors involved in administration proceedings and transformation to a hybrid supporter-owned organisation.

Findings

Our findings suggest that within the arena:• formal accounting and governance were of limited use in managing the complex network of relationships and preventing the abuse of power or existential crises. • informal accounting helped mobilise critical resources and maintain supporters’ emotional investment during periods of conflict. • informal accounts enabled both resistance and coalition-building in response to perceived abuse of power. • informal accounts were used by the Club as part of its legitimation activities.

Originality/value

This study provides theoretical and empirical insights into an unfolding crisis with evidence gathered directly from actors involved in the process. The conceptual framework developed in this paper creates new visibilities and possibilities for developing more effective accounting practices in settings that enable continuing emotional investment from supporters.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 37 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 31 May 2023

Elin Helgesson

This article addresses recent calls in the literature for advancing our understanding of public affairs consultants and their role conceptions. By testing and further exploring…

Abstract

Purpose

This article addresses recent calls in the literature for advancing our understanding of public affairs consultants and their role conceptions. By testing and further exploring self-perceptions of public affairs consultants the study aims to offer new insight into how consultants define and view their occupational role.

Design/methodology/approach

The study draws on a nationwide survey with public affairs consultants in Sweden.

Findings

Four main role conceptions were identified (advocate, do-gooder, expert and intermediary). Further, the study tests how personal and professional characteristics correlate with different role conceptions, by viewing professional experience and consultants' selection of clients. Data also suggest that consultants' background in politics does not promote any specific role perception. Finally, the findings also show that how consultants choose clients is a divider in the industry, where some act as passive intermediaries while other take a more active role in their choice of clients.

Originality/value

The findings enhance our understanding of public affairs as a field, and specifically about the modelling of professional roles amongst consultants. The empirical results in this study show how contemporary role typologies needs to be extended to better capture the specificities of consultants' roles in public affairs. By addressing the issue of how consultants choose clients the study engages with the complex debate of whether consultants ought to act as objective or subjective agents and hence join the conversation on ethics in public affairs.

Details

Journal of Communication Management, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-254X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 March 2012

Carole Sutton, Lynne Murray and Vivette Glover

This paper aims to update the chapter by Sutton and Murray in Support from the Start by providing an overview of: research linking the development and experiences of infants and…

655

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to update the chapter by Sutton and Murray in Support from the Start by providing an overview of: research linking the development and experiences of infants and toddlers with the risks of later antisocial behaviour; and evidence on effective interventions for children aged 0‐2 and their families.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors give a narrative review on the effects on mothers and their babies of postnatal depression.

Findings

The review examines the effects on mothers and their babies of postnatal depression, impaired bonding, insecure attachment as well as the impact of maltreatment in childhood. It considers a number of evidence‐based preventive interventions implemented in the UK to help children aged 0‐2 and their parents.

Originality/value

The paper provides an overview of recent evidence for the factors contributing to difficulties for parents of young children and identifies interventions demonstrated in high‐quality studies to prevent or address these problems.

Details

Journal of Children's Services, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-6660

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 9 August 2023

Will Jackson, Will McGowan and Emma Murray

This chapter examines the potential of ‘Artivism’ for activist criminology. Drawing on a body of work developed since 2016, this chapter explores a series of projects that have…

Abstract

This chapter examines the potential of ‘Artivism’ for activist criminology. Drawing on a body of work developed since 2016, this chapter explores a series of projects that have examined how an approach to research that harnesses the activist qualities of art could be used to inform transformative criminological research. Artivism is an approach that involves merging ‘the boundless imagination of art and the radical engagement of politics’ (Jordan, 2020, p. 60), and by amplifying marginalised voices, the overarching aim is to effect social and political change. This type of activist art is not reducible to the production of political art – art about an issue – but instead seeks to change the way that we think, speak, and act. In this sense, this approach accords with the principles of critical social research in ensuring that ‘the voices and experiences of those marginalised by institutionalised state practices are heard and represented’ (Scraton, 2007, p. 10). Examining pilot projects developed with artists and producers based in Liverpool, England, and focussed on experiences of prison and probation, the authors examine the potential that this approach has to change both the way they work as critical criminologists and the objects of this study. With reference to the question of a method for activist criminology, the chapter suggests that critical criminological work can be informed and enhanced by collaboration with socially engaged art – a form of artistic practice that seeks to address social and political issues and is often associated with activist strategies. This chapter, therefore, aims to contribute to debates about how activist criminologies may be done and offers suggestions for new directions in this work underpinned by interdisciplinary collaborations and the coproduction of research with those similarly committed to a transformative project.

Details

The Emerald International Handbook of Activist Criminology
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-199-0

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2003

Peter Murray

Empirical research has already postulated the link between learning routines and the creation of competencies, but it is less clear how competencies influence organisational…

5509

Abstract

Empirical research has already postulated the link between learning routines and the creation of competencies, but it is less clear how competencies influence organisational performance. This paper is an empirical investigation determining the relationship between the creation of competencies and the quality of learning. The purpose of the paper is to not only build on prior research that has validated the usefulness of linking levels of learning with the evidence of competencies, but also to illustrate how the creation of competencies is a socially constructed phenomenon. Thus, the paper has a strong theoretical disposition examining the existing literature as well as building on it. Socially constructed routines of themselves have little inimitable advantage to firms unless the routines are underpinned and harnessed by unique learning systems. The paper explores these concepts by showing how the creation of competencies depend on, and are predisposed to, the quality of learning interaction, the routines that are patterned from these, and the capacity of the organisation to turn the new socially constructed routines into superior performance. The paper is expected to make a major contribution to the strategic management literature by showing what types of competencies are more likely to lead to superior firm performance, and how competencies are linked to learning.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 10 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 April 2009

David Ahlstrom and Linda C. Wang

France's defeat by Germany in 1940 is one of the most shocking events in the annals of military history. Explanations for France's defeat have traditionally focused on battlefield…

1949

Abstract

Purpose

France's defeat by Germany in 1940 is one of the most shocking events in the annals of military history. Explanations for France's defeat have traditionally focused on battlefield mistakes, an unmotivated population, and even bad luck. Yet, the seeds of France's failure were sown long before her 1940 surrender. The purpose of this paper is to examine the presence of groupthink in the French General Staff during the interwar years with its deleterious effect on France's military preparedness.

Design/methodology/approach

Groupthink is used to understand the reasons behind France's decisive defeat at the start of World War II. Historians of the period and primary and secondary works were consulted and analyzed.

Findings

Multiple examples of the main eight groupthink symptoms were identified from the documentary evidence. Groupthink present in the French General Staff had an adverse impact on the France's preparations. Groupthink led to the downplaying of important information, the failure to question vital assumptions about German capabilities, and the misapplication of new military technology. This led to inflexibility and the inability to respond to innovative German technology and operational doctrine.

Research limitations/implications

Groupthink is useful in explaining complex historical events – events which often have been attributed to poor leadership, corrupt or incapable politicians, or simply luck. The application of social science theory and methods to well‐documented events, whether “historical” or otherwise has the potential to enrich the understanding of these events and the ways in which they may be studied.

Originality/value

This study also contributes to evidence on groupthink and the application of theory in social science and management to the study of well‐documented historical events.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 March 2009

Hervé Remaud and Larry Lockshin

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how a wine region should develop and position its brand using the best worst scaling (BWS) approach. A better understanding of the features…

2870

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how a wine region should develop and position its brand using the best worst scaling (BWS) approach. A better understanding of the features that characterize a wine region is critical when raising the profile of a region and trying to capture wine consumers’ share of mind.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, the degree of importance was measured of 13 features that can represent and characterize a wine region currently perceived as commodity‐based, using a questionnaire designed for the BWS approach.

Findings

The results mainly showed key similarities between the consumers and wine professionals regarding the features that can activate to raise the profile of the region. Findings also contradict the positioning recommended by industry groups and consultants.

Research limitations/implications

Using an original way to assess and measure features that would support regional brand salience, these findings confirmed the importance given to geographical names as well as activating a set of features.

Practical implications

The paper's findings suggest that the Riverland or any commodity‐based wine region would benefit from using a set of features in order to build their brand salience than relying on one single feature.

Originality/value

This paper provides preliminary findings showing the relevance of using the BWS approach when developing the key positioning messages for a wine region, or for other brands.

Details

International Journal of Wine Business Research, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1062

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 March 2017

An Van Quach, Frank Murray and Angus Morrison-Saunders

This paper aims to investigate shrimp income losses of farmers in the four farming systems in the research areas of Ca Mau, Vietnam, and determine the vulnerability of shrimp…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate shrimp income losses of farmers in the four farming systems in the research areas of Ca Mau, Vietnam, and determine the vulnerability of shrimp farming income to climate change events.

Design/methodology/approach

Field research interviews were conducted with 100 randomly selected households across the four farming systems to access shrimp income status and vulnerability levels to climate change events. Four focus groups, each aligned to a particular farming system, were surveyed to categorise likelihood and consequences of climate change effects based on a risk matrix worksheet to derive levels of risk, adaptive capacity and vulnerability levels.

Findings

Shrimp farmers in the study areas have been facing shrimp income reduction recently and shrimp farming income is vulnerable to climate change events. There are some differences between farmers’ perspectives on vulnerability levels, but some linkages are evident among shrimp farmer characteristics, ramifications for each farming system, shrimp income losses and shrimp farmers’ perspectives on vulnerability levels of shrimp incomes. From an income perspective, farmers operating in intensive shrimp farming systems appear to be less vulnerable to existing and expected climate change effects relative to those in mixed production or lower density systems.

Originality/value

Having identified the vulnerability level of shrimp farming income to climate change events in different farming systems based on shrimp farmers’ perspectives, the paper adds new knowledge to existing research on vulnerability of the aquaculture sector to climate change. The research findings have implications for policymakers who may choose to encourage intensive shrimp farming to enhance shrimp farmer resilience to the effects of climate change as well as improving cultivation techniques for shrimp farmers. The findings could thus guide local government decision-making on climate change responses and residents of Ca Mau as well as within the wider Mekong Delta in developing suitable practical adaption measures.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 28 November 2022

Jane Barker

This chapter reviews the media's fascination with one of the most infamous women in Canadian history. Karla Homolka was found guilty of manslaughter in the deaths of two Ontario…

Abstract

This chapter reviews the media's fascination with one of the most infamous women in Canadian history. Karla Homolka was found guilty of manslaughter in the deaths of two Ontario teenage girls in the early 1990s. Her husband, Paul Bernardo, was convicted on a number of charges associated with these deaths, including sexual assault and first degree murder. The chapter traces the initial print reports of the arrest, trial and sentencing of Karla Homolka; the application of the ‘Ken and Barbie’ moniker as a description of Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo; and the characterization of Karla Homolka's sentencing as the proverbial ‘deal with the devil’. The media continued to pursue Karla Homolka long after she had completed her twelve-year prison sentence and was released into the community. The media's evolution in coverage of this case is described, and it is argued that Karla Homolka's treatment by the media was, and continues to be, an example of the kind of biased coverage that illustrates the gendered manner in which violence is conceptualized in our society, and calls into question the structural and systematic condemnation that is directed towards those women who commit violent crimes. This chapter emphasizes that the lens through which the media covers violent crimes for which women are accused and/or convicted is often clouded with vitriol and malevolence.

Details

Divergent Women
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-678-1

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2003

Justin Kington and Robin Murray

Abstract

Details

Mental Health Review Journal, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-9322

21 – 30 of over 14000