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1 – 6 of 6Ru Ying Cai, Abigail Love, Kaaren Haas, Emma Gallagher and Vicki Gibbs
Navigating the banking world may be overwhelming and intimidating for autistic people due to the generally poor accessibility of banks. Banks around the world are starting to…
Abstract
Purpose
Navigating the banking world may be overwhelming and intimidating for autistic people due to the generally poor accessibility of banks. Banks around the world are starting to improve the accessibility of their services and products to meet the needs of autistic customers better. However, no empirical research has explored autistic adults’ banking experiences and needs. This study aims to determine what banks can do to make banking more inclusive and accessible for autistic people through understanding the banking experiences of autistic adults living in Australia and identifying the factors that shape these experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 57 autistic adults aged 18–67 years (Mage = 33.00, SDage = 11.03) and 29 caregivers of autistic adults aged 32–70 years (Mage = 52.24, SDage = 7.88) completed an online survey about the banking experiences of the autistic adults. In addition, 14 of the 57 autistic adults were interviewed.
Findings
Almost all autistic participants had a bank account, and online banking was the preferred way of banking for most autistic adults. The factor most often raised by participants that influenced the banking experiences of autistic adults was supportive and helpful bank staff. Other identified factors included autistic adults’ lack of financial and banking knowledge and banks’ poor understanding of autism. The majority of autistic adults felt that banks could become more autism-friendly and provided suggestions.
Practical implications
Given that most autistic adults are likely to access financial products and services, banks must become more autism-friendly to cater to the diverse needs of autistic customers. Recommendations for how financial institutions can become more inclusive were provided.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first detailed examination of the banking experiences of autistic adults. Practical implications of the research were also provided.
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Sam Robertson, Helen Leigh-Phippard, Donald Robertson, Abigail Thomson, Jessica Casey and Lucy Jane Walsh
This study aims to explore the experiences of peers working in a range of roles within a single NHS mental health service. This study also aims to provide evidence of the impact…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the experiences of peers working in a range of roles within a single NHS mental health service. This study also aims to provide evidence of the impact of existing support, organisational structure and culture around peer working and provide recommendations for a Good Practice Guide for Peer Working. Peer roles require lived experience of mental health conditions and/or services. While the impact on them of using their own lived experience is not fully understood, anecdotal evidence suggests that peer workers may experience a greater emotional impact than other mental health workers. Burnout and retention are particular concerns.
Design/methodology/approach
This was a two-stage study using focus groups and reflexive thematic analysis in Stage 1. The key themes formed the basis of the Stage 2 workshop, which provided recommendations for a Good Practice Guide. The study team consisted of peer researchers with lived experience, supported by a Lived Experience Advisory Panel.
Findings
There is a perceived lack of support and an increased peer burden for peer workers. Recommendations included relevant ongoing training and development; support and supervision; and organisational cultural change.
Originality/value
Working within a peer-led co-production framework, this study contributes to the development of the evidence base for peer emotional labour. Based on the findings, a Good Practice Guide for Peer Working is being developed to promote good practice for the development of future peer worker roles.
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Abraham Ato Ahinful, Abigail Opoku Mensah, Samuel Koomson, Collins Cobblah, Godfred Takyi and Abdul Hamid Kwarteng
While scholars have researched the impact of specific total quality management (TQM) aspects on innovation performance (INP), empirical evidence on how the former, as a composite…
Abstract
Purpose
While scholars have researched the impact of specific total quality management (TQM) aspects on innovation performance (INP), empirical evidence on how the former, as a composite construct, influences the latter is rare. To add, empirical evidence on the mechanism through which TQM passes to affect innovative behaviour (INB) and, then, INP is limited. Essentially, scholars have requested that future research look at the boundary conditions that support the adoption of TQM activities in businesses. Although the banking sector has experienced a number of transformations, there is still a need to raise the standard of service provided to bank customers. This research sheds more light on this subject.
Design/methodology/approach
This research tests the hypotheses in Ahinful et al.’s (2023) conceptual model using responses from 260 top- and middle-level bank managers by applying Smart PLS. Organisational support and team member exchange were used as potential control variables for the mediator, while slack resources and bank size were applied to the target endogenous latent construct. Mediation and moderation effects were estimated using the variance accounted for (VAF) and product indicator approaches, respectively. Sig. level was set at 5%.
Findings
This study found that TQM and INP had a positive and significant connection (ß = 0.303, p = 0.000), and INB partially mediated this connection (VAF = 40.92%). However, government regulation (GOV; ß = 0.055, p = 0.365), market dynamism (MKD; ß = 0.063, p = 0.434), competitive intensity (CMP; ß = 0.069, p = 0.297) and technological turbulence (TUR; ß = 0.011, p = 0.865) all failed to moderate the TQM–INB connection, although the expected positive directions of these moderation relationships were established.
Research limitations/implications
This research provides empirical evidence on the TQM–INP connection, how this connection may be mediated and how the TQM–INB connection may be activated. It also sheds light on novel ways in which service quality in the banking sector may be improved. Upcoming research may explore other control variables in their research. Since the moderating relationships were unsupported, this avenue is open for further research, particularly in other banking settings across the globe.
Practical implications
Practical lessons for bank consultants, regulators, customers, employees and managers are deliberated.
Originality/value
This research is novel. It is the first to test the hypotheses in Ahinful et al.’s (2023) conceptual model. This study advances the theoretical frameworks and existing knowledge within the TQM, innovation and performance management fields.
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Samuel Koomson, William Newlove Azadda, Abigail Opoku Mensah and Frank Yao Gbadago
For a public servant (PS) to be innovative, he or she needs to gather and process enough vital information from budget setting processes. However, research addressing how…
Abstract
Purpose
For a public servant (PS) to be innovative, he or she needs to gather and process enough vital information from budget setting processes. However, research addressing how budgetary participation (BP) can trigger innovative behaviour (IB) in PSs and eventually foster task performance (TP) is rare, which is why the authors conduct this research. The purpose of this study is to understand how BP shapes TP through the IB of PSs.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop and test a mediation model with 860 responses from public sector workers across 25 government agencies using the PLS-SEM technique of Smart PLS 4. Possible control factors were addressed for both the mediator and target-independent construct. In particular, the authors use sex, age and tenure as control factors for IB. Also, the authors use job satisfaction, job engagement and perceived fairness in the budgetary system as control factors for TP.
Findings
The authors find a favourable and significant relationship between BP and TP; BP and IB; and IB and TP. The authors also find that IB partially mediates the relationship between BP and TP, such that BP fosters TP through the innovativeness of PSs. This finding suggests that PSs who participate in budget preparation are able to innovate, which, in turn enable them to perform tasks effectively.
Research limitations/implications
The authors call on forthcoming researchers to test the mediation model in other public sector settings worldwide. They may also consider other variables that can possibly mediate the positive impacts of BP on TP.
Practical implications
Lessons are discussed for governments, human resources directors and managers, management accountants, budget officers, procurement officers and other public sector workers and consultants.
Originality/value
The authors show how BP fosters TP through the innovativeness of PSs, since there is much more to know in this regard. The authors also help to resolve the paradox of inconsistency in the BP–TP literature by using IB as a mediator.
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Kingsley Konadu, Abigail Opoku Mensah, Samuel Koomson, Ernest Mensah Abraham, Edmund Nana Kwame Nkrumah, Joshua Amuzu, Joan-Ark Manu Agyapong, Awo Essah Bempong and Abdulai Munkaila
The purpose of this study is to test the hypotheses proposed by Konadu et al. (2023) for the first time and provide empirical insight on the subject. Corruption concerns affect…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to test the hypotheses proposed by Konadu et al. (2023) for the first time and provide empirical insight on the subject. Corruption concerns affect all economies, but those attempting to avoid foreign grants are especially vulnerable. Stakeholders in these economies have pushed for more honest public sector (PS) workers and better oversight of public funds in an effort to build a more trustworthy and efficient government to improve PS performance. Just as the mechanisms through which employee integrity (EI) influences work performance (WP) have not been proven empirically, neither has the effect of EI on WP in African economies. Also, how purposeful leadership (PL) interacts with EI to boost WP is yet to be empirically examined in the integrity literature.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper surveyed and analysed the responses of 875 workers across the three most corrupt large PS organisations in Ghana using Smart PLS 4. Perceived organisational support and contract fulfilment functioned as control factors influencing job satisfaction (JS, a mediator). Psychological need satisfaction and perceived procedural justice serve as control factors for organisational identification (OI, an additional mediator). Education, tenure, job position, sex and age were used as control variables in WP. Product indicator and variance accounted for (VAF) methods were used to estimate the impacts of moderation and mediation, respectively. A 5% level of significance was determined.
Findings
As hypothesised, this study found that EI and WP had a significantly positive connection (ß = 0.119, p = 0.026), and both JS (VAF = 25.16%) and OI (VAF = 39.59%) partially mediated this connection. Moreover, PL positively moderated the EI–JS (ß = 0.155, p = 0.000) and EI–OI (ß = 0.095, p = 0.000) connections.
Research limitations/implications
This paper affords empirical insight on the EI–WP relationship, how this relationship is mediated and how the EI–JS and EI–OI relationships are amplified. In this context, it sheds light on new ways in which EI and WP in the PS are improved. In addition, this paper provides a roadmap for forthcoming academics to test the hypotheses in diverse PS contexts globally to triangulate the results.
Practical implications
Leadership in PS organisations must maintain a “values-grounded approach” to all parts of human resource (HR) practices, including hiring, performance reviews, leadership enhancement programmes, training and promotions, if they are to attract, develop and retain employees who stand for the sector’s ethics and beliefs.
Social implications
This research gives African nations proof that enhancing EI in the PS is important, and it lays out the many ways in which EI transforms into WP. It also draws attention to the challenges that purposeful leaders may help alleviate and the opportunities that they may present.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the hypotheses put forward in the conceptual research by Konadu et al. (2023) are tested empirically for the first time in this study. It also adds to the empirical literature that already exists on EI, JS, OI, WP and PL in the PS. This contributes to the disciplines of integrity, performance and leadership by enhancing theoretical frameworks and expanding upon existing knowledge.
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Asael Islas-Moreno, Daniel Emigdio Uriza-Ávila, Ana Lieseld Guzmán-Elizalde and Gabriel Aguirre-Álvarez
The study aims to analyze the effect of the previous preparation and the work carried out in the field during a study trip on the development of competencies in agribusiness…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to analyze the effect of the previous preparation and the work carried out in the field during a study trip on the development of competencies in agribusiness students.
Design/methodology/approach
The destination was the pineapple area of the Papaloapan Lower Basin in Mexico, and 42 students from 6 different semester levels participated. The students answered a test prior to the trip, received an evaluation for their activities in the field and prepared reports and posters as products of the experience. The relationship between the scores obtained was examined through a comparative analysis.
Findings
The findings are framed in the cyclical model of experiential learning with four stages (feeling, watching, thinking and doing) by Kolb (1984). It is found that the acquisition of specific knowledge about what the experience will entail leads to better preparation, motivation and confidence to live the experience (potentiation of feeling and watching). In turn, specific knowledge and better use of experience promote the development of problem solving, interpersonal and communication skills (potentiation of thinking and doing).
Research limitations/implications
Statistical representativeness is not a quality of the study since it is based on a comparative analysis.
Originality/value
The study analyzes an educational component of great value in the business area, about which little is known in the agribusiness subarea.
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