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The purpose of this paper is to argue that the use of legally and ethically dubious methods in ethnography can sometimes be justified in the pursuit of new knowledge. The paper offers reflections on the risks that participatory methods of enquiry can bring upon both researcher and research participants, particularly in terms of the physical and reputational risks that researchers must face when adopting ethnographic methods in unwelcoming research environments.

Ethnographic methods, specifically participant observation (PO), were adopted to penetrate a gang of criminal ticket touts in the UK through a gatekeeper who provided access to knowledge and experience.

Pushing the legal and ethical boundaries of research is not only justifiable, but sometimes necessary in the discovery of new, socially valuable and otherwise unobtainable knowledge. Ethnographic research and PO are the only methods through which it is possible to gauge an understanding and appreciation, and thus present a valid depiction, of deviant and hard to access groups. As such, the use of these methods can sometimes be justified, within certain parameters.

This research adopts ethnographic methods in the under-researched and topical area of black market ticket touting in the UK. Ethnography alone, through an “internal” understanding of the participants’ viewpoints, can reveal that much of what is discussed in the media and in Parliament is inaccurate. The paper builds on the existing literature on touting and on conducting illegal research, and offers reflections on why these methods can sometimes be justified.

This paper aims to study Vivekananda and the inner quest of humanity. Vivekananda’s quest was to hold up a mirror to us for our inner search. Vivekananda desired to show us the intrinsic truth, the innermost divinity and help manifest it. We have not reached the ultimate level of development and evolution. Swami Vivekananda was convinced that we are on the cusp of higher evolution and need to believe that we can move in that direction consciously.

We can rise to the highest levels of civilization and culture through personal research and discovery. Sustained human development is to have a goal and follow a well-thought path. The goal is the ultimate freedom.

All human beings have a spiritual core, whether we are aware of it or not; whether we manifest it or not; or whether we recognize it or not. Therefore, it is a matter of having faith that we are spiritual to begin with and then make the effort to manifest that truth.

In the East and in the Third World, civilizations had suffered severely due to invasions and colonization. They had to now struggle and achieve freedom, even at the political or social level. In the West, where human beings had a surfeit of physical enjoyment, they had to avoid the pitfalls of over-confidence and physical power.

This paper aims to uncover various types of jaycustomer behaviors, causes of the behaviors and employees’ handling approaches in casinos, which is an underresearched sector in the literature.

Using critical incident technique (CIT), the researchers prompted 52 casino employees in Macao to recall critical incidents about jaycustomer behavior that they had encountered. The informants, then, described the circumstances that led up to the situation, the responses of customers and how they and their colleagues handled the situation. Content analysis was used to develop the categories.

The findings of this study report 9 categories of jaycustomer behaviors, 9 causes of the behaviors and 12 handling approaches. Different from previous findings, breaking a promise and instigation are identified for the first time. Such causes as a losing experience and superstition are specific to the casino industry. Strict handling approaches are rarely adopted to handle jaycustomers, especially the premium customers.

Casino operators are recommended to ensure that employees are well-trained and provide clear guidelines on handling jaycustomers. Conniving approaches should be re-evaluated. Seeking support from other personnel has to be tactical. Moreover, customers should be educated to reduce their misunderstanding of gaming and transaction procedures.

There has been increasing scholarly focus on jaycustomer behaviors. However, very less is known regarding such behaviors, their causes and employees’ handling approaches in casino, a sector which is different from other hospitality sectors. The current study unveiled jaycustomer behaviors which have not been found in previous studies and causes which are specific to the casino sector.

Civil wrongdoings with consequent financial and other loss or damage to employers, employees and third parties may result in the course of various trade union activities. These day to day trade union activities take a variety of forms. The most common ones are inducement of breach of contract, conspiracy, trespass, nuisance, and intimidation. Each of these activities constitutes a tort which, unless the statutory immunities apply, would normally give rise at common law to an action for damages or, as is more frequent, enable the aggrieved party to obtain an injunction.

The Howard Shuttering Contractors case throws considerable light on the importance which the tribunals attach to warnings before dismissing an employee. In this case the tribunal took great pains to interpret the intention of the parties to the different site agreements, and it came to the conclusion that the agreed procedure was not followed. One other matter, which must be particularly noted by employers, is that where a final warning is required, this final warning must be “a warning”, and not the actual dismissal. So that where, for example, three warnings are to be given, the third must be a “warning”. It is after the employee has misconducted himself thereafter that the employer may dismiss.

This paper aims to appraise the effectiveness of gender quotas in breaking the glass ceiling for women on boards (WoBs) in companies that are legally obliged to comply with quotas (listed companies and state-owned companies, LP) and in those that are not (unlisted companies and nonstate-owned companies, NLNP). Furthermore, it investigates the glass cliff phenomenon, according to which women are more likely to be appointed to apical positions in underperforming companies.

A balanced panel data of the top 116 Italian companies by total assets, which are present in both 2010 and 2017, is used for estimating ANOVA tests across sectors and fixed-effects panel regression models.

WoBs significantly increased in both the LP and the NLNP companies, and this increase was greater in the financial sector. Furthermore, the relationship between the percentage of WoBs and firm performance is not linear but depends on the financial corporate health. Specifically, the situation in which a woman ascends to a leadership position in challenging circumstances where the risk of failure is high (glass cliff phenomenon) is only present in companies with the lowest performance in the sample, in other words, when negative values of Roe and negative or zero values of Roa occur together.

These findings have relevant policy implications that encourage the adoption of gender quotas even in specific top positions, such as CEO or president, as this could lead to a “double spillover effect” both vertically, that is, in other job positions, and horizontally, toward other companies not targeted by quotas. Practical interventions to support women in glass cliff positions, on the other hand, relate to the extent of supervisor mentoring and support to prevent women from leaving director roles and strengthen their chances for career advancement.

The authors explore the ability of gender quotas to break through the glass ceiling in companies that are not legally obliged to do so, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, for the first time, the glass cliff phenomenon in the Italian context.