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21 – 30 of over 3000
Article
Publication date: 5 July 2024

Diego Alejandro Peralta-Borray, Johana Sareth Acuña and Sebastián Zapata

Despite the most efficient mechanism to fight against corruption is whistleblowing, in most cases, civil servants prefer to remain silent. For this reason, this research seeks to…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the most efficient mechanism to fight against corruption is whistleblowing, in most cases, civil servants prefer to remain silent. For this reason, this research seeks to understand the decision-making process by which civil servants, who witness corrupt actions, prefer to remain silent.

Design/methodology/approach

A grounded theory was constructed, based on the coding of 27 in-depth interviews with civil servants from Bogotá, Colombia, who claimed having witnessed acts of corruption.

Findings

It is proposed that corruption tolerance is a process in which, upon observing an act of corruption, there is an emotional response (apathy, anger and fear) that influences the way civil servants rationalize irregular situations and determines their intention to whistleblowing. Additionally, it was found that behaviors such as patronage are normal for civil servants while irregular procurement and fraud are considered serious moral transgressions.

Originality/value

This research explores two important elements to advance the understanding of public corruption: (1) The comprehension, of the role that plays emotions in the corruption tolerance process by civil servants. Results revealed the existence of an ambivalence between anger and fear that could condition the decision to whistleblowing. (2) The validation of some theoretical elements that had been analyzed in previous research comparing them with the collected empirical information.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 June 2020

Judith A. Holton

This study explores the efficacy of social movements thinking for mobilizing resources toward sustainable change in large-scale systems such as health and social services.

Abstract

Purpose

This study explores the efficacy of social movements thinking for mobilizing resources toward sustainable change in large-scale systems such as health and social services.

Design/methodology/approach

The study proceeds from a critical realist perspective employing a qualitative multi-case study approach. Drawing on the tenets of grounded theory (i.e. constant comparative analysis and theoretical sampling), data from semi-structured interviews and field notes were analyzed to facilitate theoretical integration and elaboration.

Findings

One case study explores the emergence of social movements thinking in mobilizing a community to engage in sustainable system change. Data analysis revealed a three-stage conceptual framework whereby building momentum for change requires a fundamental shift in culture through openness and engagement to challenge the status quo by acknowledging not only the apparent problems to be addressed but also the residual apathy and cynicism holding the system captive to entrenched ideas and behaviors. By challenging the status quo, energy shifts and momentum builds as the community discovers shared values and goals. Achieving a culture shift of this magnitude requires leadership that is embedded within the community, with a personal commitment to that community and with the deep listening skills necessary to understand and engage the community and the wider system in moving forward into change. This emergent conceptual framework is then used to compare and discuss more intentional applications of social movements thinking for mobilizing resources for large-scale system change.

Originality/value

This study offers a three-stage conceptual framework for mobilizing community/system resources toward sustainable large-scale system change. The comparative application of this framework to more intentional applications of social movements thinking to planned change initiatives offers insights and lessons to be learned when large-scale systems attempt to apply such principles in redesigning health and social service systems.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 33 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 May 2020

Mohamed Metawe

This paper aims to contend that populism is damaging to both domestic and international politics; not only does it erode liberal democracy in established democracies but also…

4563

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to contend that populism is damaging to both domestic and international politics; not only does it erode liberal democracy in established democracies but also fuels authoritarianism in despotic regimes and aggravates conflicts and crises in international system.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is divided into two main sections. First, it examines how populist mobilization affects liberal democracy, and refutes the claims that populism is beneficial and reinforcing to democracy. Second, it attempts to demonstrate how populism is damaging to domestic politics (by undermining liberal democracy and supporting authoritarianism) as well as international relations (by making interstate conflicts more likely to materialize). Theoretically, populism is assumed to be a strategy used by politicians to maximize their interest. Hence, populism is a strategy used by politicians to mobilize constituents using the main features of populist discourse.

Findings

The research argues that populism has detrimental consequences on both domestic and international politics; it undermines liberal democracy in democratic countries, upsurges authoritarianism in autocratic regimes and heightens the level of conflict and crises in international politics. Populism can lead to authoritarianism. There is one major undemocratic trait shared by all populist waves around the world, particularly democracies; that is anti-pluralism/anti-institutions. Populist leaders perceive foreign policy as the continuation of domestic politics, because they consider themselves as the only true representatives of the people. Therefore, populist actors abandon any political opposition as necessarily illegitimate, with repercussions on foreign policy.

Originality/value

Some scholars argue that populism reinforces democracy by underpinning its ability to include marginalized sectors of the society and to decrease voter apathy, the research refuted these arguments. Populism is destructive to world democracy; populists are reluctant to embrace the idea of full integration with other nations. Populists reject the idea of open borders, and reckon it an apparent threat to their national security. The research concludes that populists consider maximizing their national interests on the international level by following confrontational policies instead of cooperative ones.

Details

Review of Economics and Political Science, vol. 9 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2356-9980

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2022

Kian Yeik Koay and Wai Ching Poon

Online learning has become more popular than ever in higher education owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this has also intensified students' propensity to engage in…

Abstract

Purpose

Online learning has become more popular than ever in higher education owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this has also intensified students' propensity to engage in cyberslacking behaviour during online classes without the physical presence of instructors to monitor their behaviour. Hence, this research aims to investigate the association of the Big Five personality traits and situational factors with students' cyberslacking behaviour during online classes.

Design/methodology/approach

A self-administered survey questionnaire was distributed to current university students undertaking online modules this semester. In all, 194 completed surveys were obtained for further analysis.

Findings

The results reveal that extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism and apathy towards course material have a significant association with at least one of the cyberslacking dimensions (sharing, shopping, real-time updating, accessing online content and gaming/gambling). However, agreeableness, intellect/imagination and class engagement are found to have no significant association with all the dimensions of students' cyberslacking behaviour during online classes.

Originality/value

This study fills the research gaps by empirically testing the association of the Big Five personality traits and situational factors with students' cyberslacking behaviour in e-learning environments. Several limitations and future research are also discussed.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 March 2020

Shwadhin Sharma

This paper aims to put the focus on political disaffection that the voters may have and its impact on their resistance to the changes, thereby influencing intention to adopt…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to put the focus on political disaffection that the voters may have and its impact on their resistance to the changes, thereby influencing intention to adopt Internet voting. This study also examines the impact of perceived risk and technological skills on the trust of the Internet technology and informal networks, such as social influence and media influence on the trust of the government.

Design/methodology/approach

To empirically test the model, an online survey is administered to 851 people who are eligible to vote.

Findings

The findings show that positive media influence and social influence also significantly impact trust in government but trust in government does not necessarily decrease resistance to change and positively impact intention to adopt eVoting. Also, the resistance to change was shown to significantly influence the intention to use Internet voting.

Research limitations/implications

A primary potential limitation of this study is the use of convenience sampling, which may lead to self-selection bias that limits the generalization of our research to all citizens.

Practical implications

Government institutions, as well as political parties, can use the findings of this research to understand how political dissatisfaction such as apathy and cynicism can increase trust in technology and lead to higher participation in online voting.

Originality/value

While the focus on previous literature has been heavily on security and system requirements, this study expands existing research by exploring voting habits, political disaffection, the resistance of change and informal influence on intention to use online voting.

Details

Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5038

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 August 2023

Abby Griffin and Rachel Worthington

Social psychology has focused on an individual’s reaction to emergencies and witnessing a crime, which has developed theories of bystander intervention and bystander apathy. The…

Abstract

Purpose

Social psychology has focused on an individual’s reaction to emergencies and witnessing a crime, which has developed theories of bystander intervention and bystander apathy. The purpose of this study is to explore why people choose to intervene when they are a bystander to intimate partner violence (IPV) and the psychological processes that underpin this. Decision-making was explored drawing on literature from the whistleblowing field.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a mixed methods epistemology, this study explored factors that explained intervening behaviour concerning IPV. In total, 212 participants who had known someone who was a victim of IPV were recruited from the general population.

Findings

A logistic regression model indicated that conscientiousness and fairness were found to predict intervening behaviour. Being a child witness was found to predict non-intervening behaviour. Qualitative analysis revealed three types of bystander apathy: those who lacked capability as they were children; those who were indifferent and did not see it as their place to intervene; and those who wanted to intervene but did not as they were frightened of exacerbating the situation.

Practical implications

IPV has significant physical and psychological effects on victims. However, the choice to intervene is complex, and bystander intervention in this study was also associated in some cases with not only a continuation of the IPV behaviour towards the victim but also aggression and physical violence towards the bystander (whistleblower retaliation). Based on the findings of this study, recommendations are made for how to support bystanders and victims of IPV.

Originality/value

This study involved participants with real-life experience of being a bystander to IPV. The mixed methodology provided an insight into the psychological processes, which underpin bystander experiences of IPV and maps onto the literature in relation to whistleblowing.

Details

Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-6599

Keywords

Expert briefing
Publication date: 4 October 2022

The Shura Council was first proposed in 2003 but fears that it would prove a combative institution prompted the authorities three times to postpone its introduction. Since it was…

Details

DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB273123

ISSN: 2633-304X

Keywords

Geographic
Topical
Article
Publication date: 24 December 2021

Asphat Muposhi, Brighton Nyagadza and Chengedzai Mafini

Fashion designers in South Africa remain ambivalent in embracing sustainable fashion. This study examines the role of neutralisation techniques on attitude towards sustainable…

1425

Abstract

Purpose

Fashion designers in South Africa remain ambivalent in embracing sustainable fashion. This study examines the role of neutralisation techniques on attitude towards sustainable fashion. The study was conducted in South Africa, an emerging market known for water scarcity and pollution emanating from the textile industry.

Design/methodology/approach

A structured questionnaire was used to collect cross-sectional data from a sample of 590 fashion designers using a web-based online survey. Study constructs were drawn from the neutralisation theory and theory of planned behaviour.

Findings

Standard multiple regression analysis results identified denial of injury, appeal to higher loyalties and external locus of control as the major rationalisation techniques influencing South African designers' negative attitudes towards sustainable fashion.

Research limitations/implications

Research was conducted in South Africa where the concept of sustainable fashion is still at developmental stages. The generalisation of the study findings may be enhanced by extending the study to other markets with a fully developed market for sustainable fashion.

Practical implications

The study results underscore the necessity of reducing social, structural and institutional barriers associated with the adoption of sustainable fashion. This study provides input towards efforts to develop attitude change strategies to stimulate designers to embrace sustainable fashion.

Originality/value

The research study contributes to theory, practice and future research.

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1982

Roger Armstrong and Mick Marchington

In some form or another, the concept of employee involvement in management decision‐making has held an attraction for practitioners and academics alike for a very long time. The…

Abstract

In some form or another, the concept of employee involvement in management decision‐making has held an attraction for practitioners and academics alike for a very long time. The objectives which are set for it certainly vary from a desire for increased efficiency or prosperity on the one hand, through to more democratic relations within industry on the other. The favoured forms of involvement have also differed widely from better communication to worker directors, and to more recent “flavours of the month” such as quality circles. In principle, employee involvement as a broad concept has found many adherents.

Details

Employee Relations, vol. 4 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Article
Publication date: 1 July 1904

DURING the past six years, a considerable amount of progress has been made, in certain directions, towards improving methods of library work. The improvements introduced have…

Abstract

DURING the past six years, a considerable amount of progress has been made, in certain directions, towards improving methods of library work. The improvements introduced have mostly come from the younger generation of English librarians, and it must also be added that this enthusiasm for betterment has been confined to a very small circle of young librarians. The majority of British librarians have apparently remained untouched by the movement towards more perfect methods compassed by their fellows, and it is doubtful if, in spite of the remarkably good work accomplished by a few “earnest men in various parts of the country, there is not, on the whole, a great preponderance of professional apathy in regard to burning questions of librarianship. The proof of this is only too obvious. Anyone who has watched the dwindling attendances at monthly Library Association meetings must have been struck by the fact as indicative of weakness or defectiveness somewhere. No professional association, with professional interests at stake, is going to languish, and practically sputter out, unless the members are bored, or indifferent, or in some way apathetic. For nearly four years, the interest in the Library Association meetings has been declining, and although the annual gatherings have been more or less successful, thanks to the energy of the provincial members, it must be remembered that the monthly meetings have been very badly attended, although their interest has been as great as heretofore—which, however, is not saying much. Recently, this lack of interest has assumed the form of a kind of epidemic rot, which has attacked other associations as well as the parent one. We hear of one kindred society having entirely suspended its meetings for months, while we read of another which can hardly get an attendance large enough to carry a vote of thanks to the speaker. When we hear it stated that the interest in the Library Association meetings is so languid that even the readers of papers do not trouble to appear, and that about half‐a‐dozen members is all that can be mustered on some occasions, it must be obvious to all that there is something radically wrong. We have heard it suggested that the Library Association meetings take place on an impossible day, and that the notice sent out is insufficient because only published in the Record, which nobody reads ! There may be an element of truth in these suggestions, but hardly enough to account for the all‐round apathy which undoubtedly exists. The stimulus derived from the Leeds meeting has apparently evaporated already, and beyond a decidedly more healthy response to the examination scheme of the Association, it is hard to understand in which direction activity of any kind exists. Comparing the professional work on this side of the Atlantic with that of the United States, it must be confessed that the comparison is very unfavourable to the British case. In America there are dozens of flourishing associations, counting their membership in thousands, while here, there are some half‐dozen associations, including the Library Association itself, which can only muster among them a little more than five hundred members. This is a poor record when one considers the possibilities, and if librarianship is to become a more powerful factor in the educational development of the future, it is evident that a strong effort must be made all round to double the membership of all the existing associations to begin with, and then to interest and retain the members who join by means of live meetings, publications, and other enterprizes. It will not suffice to rest on present achievements if librarianship is to be recognized as a greater power in the State than hitherto, and for this reason it behoves those librarians who have any “go” left in them, to try and pull up the existing machinery to a higher state of efficiency.

Details

New Library World, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

21 – 30 of over 3000