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1 – 10 of over 144000Jennifer Kahn and Shiyan Jiang
While designing personally meaningful activities with data technologies can support the development of data literacies, this paper aims to focuses on the overlooked aspect of how…
Abstract
Purpose
While designing personally meaningful activities with data technologies can support the development of data literacies, this paper aims to focuses on the overlooked aspect of how learners navigate tensions between personal experiences and data trends.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors report on an analysis of three student cases from a design study in which middle and high school youth assembled family migration stories using data visualization technologies with socioeconomic and demographic data. The authors used interaction analysis to examine how students responded to misalignments they encountered between their families’ experiences and data trends in their models, drawing on the theoretical construct of epistemic data agency.
Findings
This case analysis demonstrates ways in which students enacted epistemic data agency. Instructional support can help students deepen inquiry and avoid certain pitfalls, such as encoding data in unsound or misleading ways to support a particular story, while encouraging students to see themselves as an epistemic authority on par with data. This study opens pathways for future research that considers how data can shape personal narratives and how students can leverage their experiences in the stories they tell with data.
Originality/value
The authors introduce the construct of epistemic data agency to describe the conceptual and material practices that reveal and shape students’ relationships to the data. The descriptions of students enacting epistemic data agency in assembling data stories informs the understanding of how to better elevate and recognize students’ efforts in relation to disciplinary norms and support deeper, meaningful student learning with and about data.
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Yasaman Sadat Haj Seyed Javadi and Hussein Meihami
Teacher agency plays a crucial role in teachers’ professionalism and makes them capable of acting powerfully in their teaching context. The purpose of this study was to explore…
Abstract
Purpose
Teacher agency plays a crucial role in teachers’ professionalism and makes them capable of acting powerfully in their teaching context. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of case-based instruction (CBI) on the agency development of EFL (English as a foreign language) student-teachers.
Design/methodology/approach
The study followed a descriptive narrative design and involved ten student-teachers in five CBI sessions. The data collected through different data sources, such as narratives, interviews, recorded sessions and focused groups, were analyzed using a deductive-inductive thematic analysis.
Findings
The results showed that CBI has a constructive role in developing the agency of EFL student-teachers. Active participation in CBI sessions helps teachers consider their future desires. The exploration of cases in CBI sessions helps them recall past experiences that led to the development of their agency. Brainstorming ideas in CBI sessions helps teachers consider their beliefs in decision-making and analyze their past experiences. In conclusion, CBI can help develop teacher professionalism and acknowledgment of the importance of teacher agency.
Originality/value
The research has addressed student-teachers’ agency development through an ecological perspective and CBI.
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Xiwei Zhang, Xiaoyan Liang and Qijie Xiao
The literature on information technology outsourcing (ITO) prioritises monetary considerations and overlooks human aspects. This qualitative study adopts a contextualised approach…
Abstract
Purpose
The literature on information technology outsourcing (ITO) prioritises monetary considerations and overlooks human aspects. This qualitative study adopts a contextualised approach to address a research gap in understanding agency workers’ intent to stay in the ITO sector.
Design/methodology/approach
In contrast to previous studies that focus on intra-organisational factors and use quantitative designs, this study takes a qualitative approach. It analyses data from 85 in-depth interviews with agency workers in the Chinese ITO supply chain and project managers of supplier and client firms.
Findings
The study constructs an integrated framework covering 15 factors at three levels and shows how they interact to influence Chinese agency workers’ intent to stay in the ITO supply chain. Variations in outsourcing management styles and practices among U.S., Japanese and Chinese client firms are presented to enrich the understanding of outsourcing dynamics in a global context.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the ITO literature by providing new insights into the retention of highly skilled agency workers and deepening the contextual understanding of this issue, throwing light on the human aspects often overshadowed by monetary considerations.
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Liza Khmara and Michael Touchton
Protected areas, lands and seas set aside for nature conservation, are the main tool for governments to conserve biodiversity. The complexity of government processes, however, can…
Abstract
Purpose
Protected areas, lands and seas set aside for nature conservation, are the main tool for governments to conserve biodiversity. The complexity of government processes, however, can lead to fragmentation in protected area systems. Institutional fragmentation can preclude central coordination and undermine funding and performance. Here, we examine the impact of institutional fragmentation on budgets for protected area agencies in the United States, an important actor in the global conservation movement.
Design/methodology/approach
This article uses visual text and network analysis with agency budget documents to examine linkages between agencies. These findings are triangulated with semi-structured interviews analyzed with axial coding to develop a framework for the budget process and its outcomes in US protected area agencies.
Findings
The visual text analysis demonstrates varying levels of coordination between agencies. The conceptual framework shows that five factors - mismatches within agencies, the influence of the Presidential administration, the power of Congress as the appropriator of funds, external forces that influence Congress, and a lack of accountability in allocations – lead to institutional fragmentation and “disparate nature enclaves”.
Research limitations/implications
Interview findings are derived from a non-representative population, and thus should not be generalized for all agencies or budget systems.
Practical implications
Understanding the factors influencing agency budget proposals will inform policy to make budgeting more effective for U.S. and other national protected area systems.
Originality/value
Few studies have conducted qualitative analyses of federal agencies and their budgets, particularly for federal protected areas.
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Christopher Humphrey, Perla Mardini and Brendan O'Dwyer
The paper studies how the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) positioned itself in the process through which capacity building in developing countries was interpreted…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper studies how the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) positioned itself in the process through which capacity building in developing countries was interpreted and enacted within the global development aid agenda from 1999 to 2016.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is an in-depth case study drawing on a comprehensive analysis of publications, reports and archival materials.
Findings
The paper unveils how IFAC shaped the interpretation of capacity building and its associated practices in a manner aligned with its expansionary aims thereby transforming itself into a prominent actor within, what we term, the capacity building issue-based field. It unpacks the strategies pursued by IFAC as it mobilised economic, social and cultural resources in support of its global capacity building ambitions for the accountancy profession. It reveals how key interactions between actors in the international development exchange field and the professional exchange field of accounting underpinned IFAC’s infiltration of, and impact on the evolution of, the capacity building issue-based field. We show how IFAC increased its influence in this field despite initially operating on the periphery of the global development aid agenda.
Practical implications
The paper reveals how the global accountancy profession’s engagement with the capacity building activities of international development agencies became central to its commitment to serving the public interest. Our analysis suggests that deeper explorations of capacity building by the global accountancy profession in specific developing countries are required in order to determine whether these efforts have effectively catered to the needs of the citizens of those countries.
Originality/value
The work of professional accountancy organizations (PAOs) operating at the global level in the area of capacity building has been addressed in a fragmented fashion in prior research. This paper presents a unique analysis of developing alliances between the global accountancy profession and international aid agencies aimed at supporting the globalising efforts of IFAC within the realm of capacity building in international development aid. Theoretically, the paper advances prior work exploring the evolution of issue-based fields, in particular the role of inter-field relations in interstitial spaces within these processes.
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Alessandro Feri, Nicholas Jonathan Ind and Nathalia Christiani Tjandra
This study aims to investigate the role of marketing agencies in aligning brand purpose with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the post-pandemic era. This study explores…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the role of marketing agencies in aligning brand purpose with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the post-pandemic era. This study explores whether and how marketing agencies delineate and execute brand purpose in a way that supports sustainable consumption and marketing models.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with 35 senior managers at UK-based marketing agencies. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using NVivo software for inductive coding.
Findings
The study reveals that brand purpose in the post-pandemic era is increasingly aligned with the SDGs. Marketing agencies play a pivotal role in this alignment, as they not only help to delineate and execute the brand purpose but also do so in a way that amplifies perceived authenticity in the eyes of the brand stakeholders.
Originality/value
This research underscores the significance of marketing agencies in delineating and executing brand purpose that aligns with the SDGs. It enriches the literature by illustrating how agency expertise contributes to the evolution of brand purpose, guiding businesses towards responsible marketing practices and consumption patterns that support a sustainable future.
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First I would like to thank you for the great honour of being allowed to state my point of view on some, in my opinion very important, problems of tourism to‐day.
In recent years much attention in the UK has been given to encouraging the establishment and development of viable small firms in order to generate job creation and economic…
Abstract
In recent years much attention in the UK has been given to encouraging the establishment and development of viable small firms in order to generate job creation and economic growth. Enterprise agencies, set up by local companies, local authorities and others interested in developing the economic life of the community, have taken a major role in advising and guiding individuals who are starting their own small businesses. Enterprise agencies illustrate the growing importance of the concentration of effort within a community based upon local resources, as opposed to more traditional approaches aimed at bringing in jobs from outside the area by attracting inward investment. Reference is made to the type of services rendered by the agencies which small firm managers and directors find most useful when establishing their businesses. Observations are made about how the counselling relationship develops between the agency and the small firm in the critical early months. With over 250 enterprise agencies in existence, the UK is among the most active of EEC countries in taking positive local initiatives which aid the development of small firms.
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The specific objectives of this research were to gain an understanding of the causes of advertiser account switches in New Zealand and Singapore and compare these results with…
Abstract
The specific objectives of this research were to gain an understanding of the causes of advertiser account switches in New Zealand and Singapore and compare these results with Michell’s USA and UK studies. The main finding of this study is the reasons for broken agency‐client relationships are complex and very varied. However, Michell’s five general reasons for account switches: poor agency performance; changes in agency policies; changes in client policies; changes in agency management; and changes in client management, appear to explain most failed agency‐client relationships (although few respondents had all of the above problems at once). This report has been useful in highlighting the differences in New Zealand and Singapore agency‐client relationships.
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When we say that a tourist agency is an indispensable participant on a tourist market, we have just stated a fact accepted by both tourist theory and practice. Yet, there are…
Abstract
When we say that a tourist agency is an indispensable participant on a tourist market, we have just stated a fact accepted by both tourist theory and practice. Yet, there are, relatively speaking, few researches and analyses of tourist agencies work, still less such that would try to scientifically deal with the problems of a tourist agency's operation. With this lack of tourist technical literature in the field of the agency's role in tourism, the absence of theoreticians and those who work in practice can easily be noticed especially in area of sales on a tourist market. It is difficult to answer the question why it is so, nor can we enter into such discussions now. The aim of this contribution is to point out the importance of a process of the agency's work and give arguments for it.