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Article
Publication date: 5 January 2024

Tomisin Adefare, Ogechi Adeola, Emmanuel Mogaji, Nguyen Phong Nguyen and Stephen Alaba Mogaji

This research aims to explore the role of banks in supporting women agriculture entrepreneurs (WAEs) to contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It…

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Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to explore the role of banks in supporting women agriculture entrepreneurs (WAEs) to contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It focusses on the experiences of women entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector, recognising their vital role in driving economic growth and achieving the SDGs.

Design/methodology/approach

The study utilises the role congruity theory and the feminist agri-food systems model as its theoretical framework. Qualitative data from 35 WAEs and 7 bank managers (BMs) responsible for agricultural financial services and business development are collected and thematically analysed to achieve the research objectives.

Findings

Although BMs claim they offer specialised financial products with dedicated support teams, WAEs express scepticism due to fears of unfavourable deals and excessive requirements. WAEs need more understanding of SDGs but recognise their substantial contributions. BMs acknowledge the need to enhance efforts, improve communication of offers and integrate SDGs across all business operations beyond agriculture and women-centric initiatives.

Practical implications

Banks must prioritise gender sensitivity and inclusivity for WAEs, offering tailored financial products and flexible loan structures. Microfinance and strategic marketing can enhance outreach. WAEs benefit from forming associations, accessing support networks, collaborating with banks, government agencies, non-governmental organisations and agricultural associations for mentoring and networking, and achieving the SDGs and sustainable agriculture.

Originality/value

The study connects WAEs and banks in achieving SDGs.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2006

Margaret Barry, Colette Reynolds, Anne Sheridan and Róisín Egenton

This paper reports on the implementation and evaluation of the JOBS programme in Ireland. This is a training intervention to promote re‐employment and improve mental health among…

Abstract

This paper reports on the implementation and evaluation of the JOBS programme in Ireland. This is a training intervention to promote re‐employment and improve mental health among unemployed people that was implemented on a pilot basis in the border region of the Republic and Northern Ireland. Programme participants were unemployed people recruited from local training and employment offices and health agencies. The evaluation indicated that the programme was implemented successfully and led to improved psychological and re‐employment outcomes for the intervention group, lasting up to 12 months post‐intervention. This paper reflects on the implementation issues that arose in adapting an international evidence‐based programme to the local setting and considers the implications of the evaluation findings for the roll out of the programme on a larger scale.

Details

Journal of Public Mental Health, vol. 5 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5729

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 February 2021

Alison Sheridan, Linley Lord and Anne Ross-Smith

The purpose of this paper is to identify how board recruitment processes have been impacted by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) governance changes requiring listed boards…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify how board recruitment processes have been impacted by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) governance changes requiring listed boards to report annually on their gender diversity policy and profile.

Design/methodology/approach

Employing a social constructivist approach, the research analyses interviews conducted with matched samples of board directors and stakeholders in 2010 and 2017 about board recruitment in ASX50 companies.

Findings

The introduction of ASX guidelines requiring gender reporting disrupted traditional board appointment processes. Women's gender capital gained currency, adding an additional dimension to the high levels of human and social capital seen as desirable for board appointments. The politics of women's presence is bringing about changes to the discourse and practice about who should/can be a director. The authors identify highly strategic ways in which women's gender capital has been used to agitate for more women to be appointed to boards.

Research limitations/implications

While sample sizes are small, data within the themes cohered meaningfully across the time periods, making visible how women's presence in the board room has been reframed. Future research could consider what this may mean for board dynamics and how enduring are these changes.

Practical implications

This study highlights the forms that human and social capital take in board appointments, which can be instructive for potential directors, and how these intersect with gender capital. The insights from the study are relevant to board recruitment committees seeking to reflect their commitment to a more gender equitable environment.

Originality/value

There has been a recalibration of men's and women's gender capital in board appointments, and there is now a currency in femaleness disrupting the historical privilege afforded “maleness”.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 40 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 December 2020

Gary Spraakman, Cristobal Sanchez-Rodriguez and Carol Anne Tuck-Riggs

This paper aims to understand how the tasks of management accountants (MA) are affected by data analytics (DA).

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to understand how the tasks of management accountants (MA) are affected by data analytics (DA).

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative methodology was deemed most appropriate given the exploratory nature of the research questions (RQ). In total, 10 open-ended interview questions were used to gather the evidence. The case study design was inductive, yielding rich data from 29 respondents representing 20 different organizations.

Findings

Answers were provided to three interrelated RQs about the use of DA by MA, namely, what are their responsibilities? How does this work support inference, prediction and assurance? And how can they ensure insights from DA can be turned into decisions that add value? The findings also indicate that MA have not taken charge of the data analytic opportunities and at present, their activities remain largely focused on descriptive and financial data analysis rather than more complex activities using external data, operational data and modeling.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of this research is that it is based on a relatively small, geographically restricted sample (20 organizations in south-central Canada) as well by interviews that were only 60 min in duration.

Practical implications

Provides a base for the existing practice of management accounting with DA.

Social implications

Explains the social relationship between DA and management accounting.

Originality/value

Documented and explained the extent of actual DA use by MA.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 February 2014

Alison Sheridan, Anne Ross-Smith and Linley Lord

– The purpose of this paper is to interrogate changes to women's representation on boards from an institutional perspective in a particular national context (Australia).

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to interrogate changes to women's representation on boards from an institutional perspective in a particular national context (Australia).

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on institutional theory at the legal, political and social levels the paper identifies the factors through which women's underrepresentation on corporate boards in Australia gained traction over the period 2009-2012.

Findings

Through the analysis of the Australian context over the period 2009-2012, the paper proposes a framework to represent the multiple, differentiated and often conflicting spheres affecting women's representation on boards and how this may have wider application internationally.

Research limitations/implications

In focusing on the institutional factors, the paper does not mean to underplay organisational factors relevant to women's access to board positions; rather the authors seek to draw attention to how the organisational factors may be shaped by changing institutional “rules”. From the interrogation of the conditions under which women's underrepresentation on corporate boards in Australia gained traction, the paper provides a conceptual foundation for the emerging study of institutions and women's representation on corporate boards internationally.

Practical implications

The purpose of documenting these institutional changes in Australia is to be instructive to others addressing the practical problem of how to increase women's representation on boards and what institutional factors may need to be considered to prompt change.

Originality/value

The conceptual framework adds to the as yet relatively under-theorised field of women on corporate boards.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 33 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 April 2012

Anne R. Diekema

Together, increasing globalization and the internet created fertile grounds for the establishment of multilingual digital libraries. Providing cross‐lingual access to materials is…

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Abstract

Purpose

Together, increasing globalization and the internet created fertile grounds for the establishment of multilingual digital libraries. Providing cross‐lingual access to materials is of particular interest to political entities such as the European Union, which currently has 23 official languages, but also to multinational companies and countries that have different languages represented among their citizens. The main objective of this paper is to review the literature on multilingual digital libraries and provide an overview of this area.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a thorough literature search in four different databases, a core set of literature on multilingual digital libraries was retrieved. Literature on various aspects of this topic was reviewed. The paper is organized based on emerging themes directly drawn from the literature. Where warranted additional literature is brought in to provide necessary background information or clarification.

Findings

Creating a multilingual digital library is a highly complex undertaking and typically requires a collaborative effort between different organizations and people with different areas of expertise. Enabling users to search across languages requires translation resources to cross the language barrier, which can be challenging depending on the language and resource availability. Additional challenges were found to be in data management (localization and language processing), representation (dealing with different fonts and character codes), development (creating international software, cross‐cultural collaboration), and interoperability (system architecture and data sharing). Research in multilingual digital libraries was mostly system based involving experimental systems or system prototypes.

Research limitations/implications

Most likely the literature review does not include all possible journal articles on multilingual digital libraries even though the literature searches done to obtain these articles were thorough and deliberate. Journal articles without the descriptors used in this search and those articles not indexed in the four different databases used in the search will not be included here. The review excludes cross‐language information retrieval research unless it is directly related to existing multilingual digital libraries, or a connection to digital libraries in general is made in the paper itself.

Originality/value

This paper provides the first literature review on the topic of multilingual digital libraries and provides a concise overview of relevant aspects in this area. The number of multilingual digital libraries is growing, as is the interest from the research community in these libraries to apply their research findings from cross‐language information retrieval. This review article provides a valuable entry point to the field of multilingual digital libraries for researchers, practitioners, and other interested parties.

Details

The Electronic Library, vol. 30 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 April 2015

Anne Marie FitzGerald

School leaders in small to mid-size urban districts face shifting policy environments, increased accountability, fiscal austerity, and unfunded mandates, as they work to improve…

Abstract

School leaders in small to mid-size urban districts face shifting policy environments, increased accountability, fiscal austerity, and unfunded mandates, as they work to improve student learning and close achievement gaps. This chapter focuses on one aspect of school reform: the role of families in supporting students’ success. Given shifting demographics nationwide, recommendations for two-way partnerships with Latino families will be proffered in light of renewed definitions and an increasingly robust research base.

Details

Leading Small and Mid-Sized Urban School Districts
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-818-2

Book part
Publication date: 22 November 2019

Vasilikie Demos, Marcia Texler Segal and Kristy Kelly

Departing from an online interactive Gender Café on the topic of Knowledge Management (KM), jointly hosted by a UN agency and the Society of Gender Professionals, this chapter…

Abstract

Departing from an online interactive Gender Café on the topic of Knowledge Management (KM), jointly hosted by a UN agency and the Society of Gender Professionals, this chapter seeks to provide gender practitioners and others with practical examples of how to “gender” KM in international development. Through analyzing the travel of feminist ideas into the field of KM with inspiration from Barbara Czarniawska’s and Bernard Joerge’s (1996) theory of the travel of ideas, the chapter explores the spaces, limits, and future possibilities for the inclusion of feminist perspectives. The ideas and practical examples of how to do so provided in this chapter originated during the café, by the participants and panellists. The online Gender Café temporarily created a space for feminist perspectives. The data demonstrate how feminist perspectives were translated into issues of inclusion, the body, listening methodologies, practicing reflection, and the importance to one’s work of scrutinizing underlying values. However, for the feminist perspective to be given continuous space and material sustainability developing into an acknowledged part of KM, further actions are needed. The chapter also reflects on future assemblies of gender practitioners, gender scholars and activists, recognizing the struggles often faced by them. The chapter discusses strategies of how a collective organizing of “outside–inside” gender practitioners might push the internal work of implementing feminist perspectives forward.

Details

Gender and Practice: Knowledge, Policy, Organizations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-388-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2016

Aoife M. McDermott and Anne Reff Pedersen

The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, it sets the context for the special issue by considering conceptions of patients and their roles in service delivery and improvement…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, it sets the context for the special issue by considering conceptions of patients and their roles in service delivery and improvement. Second, it introduces the contributions to the special issue, and identifies thematic resonance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper utilises a literature synthesis and thematic analysis of the special issue submissions. These emanated from the Ninth International Organisational Behaviour in Healthcare Conference, hosted by Copenhagen Business School on behalf of the Learned Society for Studies in Organizing Healthcare.

Findings

The articles evidence a range of perspectives on patients’ roles in healthcare. These range from their being subject to, a mobilising focus for, and active participants in service delivery and improvement. Building upon the potential patient roles identified, this editorial develops five “ideal type” patient positions in healthcare delivery and improvement. These recognise that patients’ engagement with health care services is influenced both by personal characteristics and circumstances, which affect patients’ openness to engaging with health services, as well as the opportunities afforded to patients to engage, by organisations and their employees.

Originality/value

The paper explores the relationally embedded nature of patient involvement in healthcare, inherent in the interdependence between patient and providers’ roles. The typology aims to prompt discussion regarding the conceptualisation patients’ roles in healthcare organisations, and the individual, employee, organisational and contextual factors that may help and hinder their involvement in service delivery and improvement. The authors close by noting four areas meriting further research attention, and potentially useful theoretical lenses.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 30 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 May 2015

Souha R. Ezzedeen

The purpose of this study was to explore negative and stereotype-threatening depictions of career women in Hollywood films. The study draws on stereotype threat research to…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to explore negative and stereotype-threatening depictions of career women in Hollywood films. The study draws on stereotype threat research to reflect on how such portrayals might undermine women’s career aspirations and contribute to the glass ceiling’s persistence, and proposes an agenda for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

Bridging social role theories with conceptual models of films as social “texts”, the author explored depictions of 165 career women presented by 137 films, focusing on negative and potentially stereotype-threatening personal and professional characteristics and contexts.

Findings

Thematic analyses of film portrayals revealed negative and stereotype-threatening characteristics and contexts of career women, including their mean and conniving personalities, promiscuity, isolation, failures at intimacy and inability to balance work and family.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include the subjective interpretations of a single author, a broad exploratory focus and no empirical evidence of connections between film portrayals and career attitudes. Researchers are encouraged to deepen analyses of film portrayals and examine linkages with stereotype threat and career behaviours sustaining the glass ceiling.

Practical implications

Given the pervasive reach of the media and the potential for consumers to internalize its messages, the negative depictions documented here could bear an adverse effect on women’s career aspirations, contributing to the glass ceiling’s survival.

Originality/value

Questioning the role of the media, in particular the portrayals of career women in film, provides an additional angle to understand why the glass ceiling endures.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

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