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1 – 7 of 7This study aims to identify the political alignment and political activity of the 11 Presidents of Britain’s most important scientific organisation, the Royal Society of London…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify the political alignment and political activity of the 11 Presidents of Britain’s most important scientific organisation, the Royal Society of London, in its early years 1662–1703, to determine whether or not the institution was politically aligned.
Design/methodology/approach
There is almost no information addressing the political alignment of the Royal Society or its Presidents available in the institution’s archives, or in the writings of historians specialising in its administration. Even reliable biographical sources, such as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography provide very limited information. However, as 10 Presidents were elected Member of Parliament (MP), The History of Parliament: British Political, Social and Local History provides a wealth of accurate, in-depth data, revealing the alignment of both.
Findings
All Presidents held senior government offices, the first was a Royalist aristocrat; of the remaining 10, 8 were Royalist or Tory MPs, 2 of whom were falsely imprisoned by the House of Commons, 2 were Whig MPs, while 4 were elevated to the Lords. The institution was Royalist aligned 1662–1680, Tory aligned 1680–1695 and Whig aligned 1695–1703, which reflects changes in Parliament and State.
Originality/value
This study establishes that the early Royal Society was not an apolitical institution and that the political alignment of Presidents and institution continued in later eras. Furthermore, it demonstrates how the election or appointment of an organisation’s most senior officer can be used to signal its political alignment with government and other organisations to serve various ends.
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This paper aims to explore the topic of adaptive reuse referring to urban open spaces into a more-than-human perspective. It underlines that dealing with heritage means being part…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the topic of adaptive reuse referring to urban open spaces into a more-than-human perspective. It underlines that dealing with heritage means being part of an inherent and ongoing process of transformation and so that reuse is inextricably an adaptive practice, constantly facing mutations, and that adaptation is a coral practice that involves different kinds of users and makers, inclusive of human and not human livings.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper looks at the lexicon of abandonment, in search of the more essential and intense meanings of words, and at some pioneering practices in Europe to comprehend the aesthetic and ethical implications of adaptive reuse of neglected landscapes.
Findings
Processes of reuse involve many different communities of users who in turn continuously redesign the site, into a comprehensive, coral and conflicting collaboration, whose results are never given once for all and are both uncanny and beautiful, scaring and marvellous, like a monster.
Practical implications
Accepting the idea that humans are not the only users and makers of urban sites can widen the range of tools, methods and values involved in heritage adaptive reuse.
Originality/value
This paper tries to widen the meanings of adaptation into a multispecies perspective. It intends to broaden the range of agents that can be involved as users and makers, assuming a more-than-human point of view that is not yet commonly applied.
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This essay charts an intellectual journey. Geoffrey M. Hodgson became an institutional economist in the 1980s. He explains how he discovered institutional economics and what…
Abstract
This essay charts an intellectual journey. Geoffrey M. Hodgson became an institutional economist in the 1980s. He explains how he discovered institutional economics and what strains of institutional thought were attractive for him. Another issue raised in this essay is how institutional researchers organize and move forward. Hodgson argues for an interdisciplinary approach, but this is not without its problems.
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Zelda Anne Elum and Mieke Snijder
There is an increasing need for greater awareness and understanding of the risks climate change poses to farming communities so as to inform appropriate adaptive responses. The…
Abstract
Purpose
There is an increasing need for greater awareness and understanding of the risks climate change poses to farming communities so as to inform appropriate adaptive responses. The purpose of this study is to investigate farmers’ climate change impacts, awareness, risk perception and current adaptation strategies adopted to deal with the impacts of climate change on their livelihood.
Design/methodology/approach
This research was undertaken with 67 farmers in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. This study used a combination of focus group discussion and quantitative survey to obtain data. Surveyed farmers were invited to an initial workshop and asked to take photos of climate change impacts on their land and the adaptation strategies being adopted. The photos were analysed and discussed with the farmers in a second workshop. Then, in a third workshop, farmers and other stakeholders came together to rank the most important consequences of climate change and shared knowledge on adaptation strategies. The survey and photovoice data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Findings
The results of this study showed that a majority of the farmers were knowledgeable of climate change, mostly got climate information through media. Floods and high temperatures were perceived as the most occurring climate change-related disaster risks. Majority of the farmers perceived climate change as high risk and have taken up multiple adaptation strategies in response to it, including changing planting times, mulching their land and digging irrigation pits. Farmers’ responses indicated that they want to do more but are restricted by financial resources.
Practical implications
This study outcomes provide evidence for a need to consider stakeholders’ participation in planning climate change responses to effectively address the challenges posed by climate change, particularly in coastal agricultural communities. Government and relevant agencies as recommended need to support farmers to undertake needed adaptive strategies to adapt with future flooding, high temperature and drought, providing them with necessary facilities to enhance their adaptive capacities.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this was one of the first studies to use photovoice to investigate climate change awareness, impacts and adaptations strategies with majority female farmers in west Africa. This study highlights the importance of participatory approaches to capture grassroots climate adaptation approaches.
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Muhammad Zubair Alam, Muhammad Rafiq, Sobia Nasir and Chaudhary Abdul Rehman
Employees’ personalities towards occupational outcomes have significantly gained academic attention. Personality traits (PTs) of employees as the determinant of corporate…
Abstract
Purpose
Employees’ personalities towards occupational outcomes have significantly gained academic attention. Personality traits (PTs) of employees as the determinant of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) outcomes research domain is emerging. This paper aims to assess extraversion PT activation for CE outcome under the problem-solving conflict handling style (CHS) situational cue.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey was conducted in automotive manufacturing firms in Pakistan for cross-sectional data collection. Structural equation modelling was used to assess the hypothesised theoretical model from 376 employees.
Findings
Results revealed a positive and significant impact of extraversion on CE. Also, employees with high extraversion traits were found to prefer the problem-solving style in managing workplace conflicts. The extraversion trait was also found to be activated under the situational cue of the problem-solving style.
Practical implications
The present study draws implications on person-job fit conceptions at the workplace while hiring, promoting and appointing employees. Personality assessment at the workplace is still in infancy in developing countries. The benefits of employees’ personalities can positively impact organisational performance measures like CE.
Originality/value
The present study has proposed the theoretical model based on Trait Activation Theory (TAT) and contributed theoretically through empirically testing the theoretical model by investigating the employees’ CHS role in activating their PTs towards the CE outcomes. Theoretically, using TAT conceptualisations in entrepreneurship and CE is novel as previous knowledge on PTs activation towards CE outcomes is non-existent. CHS as situational cues will attract social science researchers towards studying its role in various predictor outcome links across multiple work settings.
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