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1 – 10 of 18Caroline Barratt, Gillian Green and Ewen Speed
Previous research has established that there is a relationship between housing and mental health, however, understanding about how and why housing affects mental health is still…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research has established that there is a relationship between housing and mental health, however, understanding about how and why housing affects mental health is still limited. The purpose of this paper is to address this deficit by focusing on the experiences of residents of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 20 HMO residents who were asked about their housing career and experience of living in a HMO. Participants were recruited with assistance from community organisations and landlords.
Findings
The physical properties and social environment of the property, as well as personal circumstances experienced prior to the move into the property, all influenced how mental health was affected. The authors identify and discuss in detail three key meditating factors: safety, control and identity which may affect how living in the property impacts the mental health of tenants.
Practical implications
Good property management can lessen the potential harmful effects of living in a HMO. However, poorly run properties which house numerous vulnerable people may increase the risk of poor mental health due to attendant high levels of stress and possible risk of abuse.
Originality/value
Based on the reports of HMO residents, the authors outline the key mediating processes through which living in HMOs may affect mental wellbeing, as well as illuminating the potential risks and benefits of HMOs, an overlooked tenure in housing research.
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Caroline Cason Barratt, Phoebe Acheson and Emily Luken
This study aims to describe reference service activity within a learning commons at a large research university. The researchers tested several reference models in order to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to describe reference service activity within a learning commons at a large research university. The researchers tested several reference models in order to explore new ways of providing research support to their patrons within the electronic library. The aim was to discover student responses to different models and to investigate patron need of, and desire for, research support at the learning commons.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers combined measurements of type and frequency of reference traffic both in person and through their online chat reference service. They also gathered quantitative and qualitative information during the reference model experiments and through a survey of patrons in order to discover patron use of, and thoughts concerning, reference service in the electronic library.
Findings
Results from reference model experiments and a survey of patrons show that there is indeed an audience for research assistance in the electronic library and that in‐person research support is the preferred method of service. To keep pace with student needs, the researchers will continue to experiment with reference models that support in‐person research assistance beyond the traditional reference desk.
Practical implications
The researchers provide examples and guidelines for introducing new reference services in a learning commons environment and suggest ideas for further experimentation with reference models in a predominantly electronic environment.
Originality/value
The results of this study will be of interest to academic librarians, especially those who have or are planning a learning commons. This research is also of interest to those studying student research behavior and attitudes towards library collections and services. Because this learning commons is a unique environment as a stand‐alone electronic library, computing, and classroom space, this study makes an original contribution to the literature. As planners of learning commons explore models that move away from the traditional library, this study will inform the possible implications of new designs for reference service.
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The purpose of this paper is to understand contemporary psychostimulant use among members of online discussion fora. Two objectives are addressed: to describe accounts of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand contemporary psychostimulant use among members of online discussion fora. Two objectives are addressed: to describe accounts of practices related to psychostimulant use, and to examine how these pharmaceuticals may shape contemporary subjectivities.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a qualitative analysis of three online discussion fora belonging to Reddit. Drawing on actor-network theory, psychostimulants are envisaged as networked actants to understand the underlying logics related to their use. Non-participant observation of r/Adderall was carried out over an 18-month period. A qualitative analysis of postings on the three selected fora was also performed.
Findings
For each discussion forum, a network comprised of human and non-human actors was observed: members of the forum, psychostimulants as objects and subreddits as agentic spaces. This study reveals the emergence of multiple subjectivities associated with psychostimulant use: productivity, wellness and enhancement‐related.
Practical implications
Findings open to a wider debate regarding public health’s and healthcare professionals’ understanding of psychostimulant use outside of the clinical setting and how this may contrast with how psychostimulant use is practiced in context.
Originality/value
This research shows new online socio-cultural spaces formed around psychostimulant use. Calling upon a web-based ethnographic approach, this research presents a new perspective on the contemporary use of psychostimulants.
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Meng Jia, Mark Stevenson and Linda Caroline Hendry
This study aims to study how first-tier suppliers (FTs) operate as boundary-spanners between the focal firm and second-tier suppliers (STs) in extending sustainability-oriented…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to study how first-tier suppliers (FTs) operate as boundary-spanners between the focal firm and second-tier suppliers (STs) in extending sustainability-oriented supplier development (SSD) initiatives up the supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory multi-case study approach in the apparel industry is adopted, comprised of four cases focused on occupational health and safety issues. The paper uses primary semi-structured interviews and observation data and secondary documents, and it is informed by the boundary-spanning and social capital theory.
Findings
The influence of downstream social capital on the upstream boundary-spanning actions of FTs is highlighted. More specifically, it is found that the cognitive and relational capital that exists in the downstream relationship between an FT and the focal firm affects whether the FT adopts compliance- or improvement-oriented boundary-spanning actions in their upstream relationships with STs. Particularly important aspects of cognitive and relational capital are highlighted while the phenomenon of FTs adding their own personal interpretation to sustainability requirements when fulfilling their boundary-spanning role is identified.
Research limitations/implications
A distinction is made between compliance- and improvement-oriented boundary-spanning actions. A deeper insight into the boundary-spanning role of FTs in extending SSD initiatives up the supply chain to STs is provided along with a deeper understanding of how this role is impacted by social capital.
Practical implications
Focal firms should seek to build adequate cognitive and relational capital with their FTs before deploying SSD initiatives to extend their reach further upstream in the supply chain. In doing so, it is also important to be cognisant of the social capital that exists between FTs and STs.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the SSD literature by going beyond the buyer–FT dyad to examine the FT's boundary-spanning role in the wider buyer–FT–ST chain relationship. The study theoretically and empirically draws out the importance of relation-specific assets through the social capital lens.
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Meng Jia, Linda Caroline Hendry and Mark Stevenson
To study the learning processes and mechanisms involved in sustainability-oriented supplier development (SSD), including how knowledge is transmitted by the buyer and how it is…
Abstract
Purpose
To study the learning processes and mechanisms involved in sustainability-oriented supplier development (SSD), including how knowledge is transmitted by the buyer and how it is received, understood and internalised by the supplier.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory longitudinal multi-case study approach is adopted. The research context is a social SSD project focusing on occupational health and safety (OHS) management at four supplier factories. The paper draws on the constructs of absorptive capacity and boundary objects.
Findings
The development of a supplier's absorptive capacity for OHS management is triggered by the transfer of boundary objects that are created by the buyer. Findings suggest that each supplier starts explorative learning in a similar and passive way in order to accept the knowledge, but then each supplier proactively transforms and exploits the knowledge through continuous sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring loops that develop the boundary objects in a way that fits their own needs and contexts, incorporating the objects into organisational structures and routines.
Research limitations/implications
The research furthers the understanding of the development of supplier absorptive capacity for sustainability via SSD projects, including how it is triggered and sustained. The impact of ostensive and performative aspects of boundary objects on knowledge transfer is presented. Finally, insight is provided into how absorptive capacity and dynamic capabilities are linked in the context of SSD.
Practical implications
Buying firms should seek to develop boundary objects that can trigger and maintain learning momentum for sustainability at supplier organisations in addition to effectively transferring SSD-related sustainability knowledge. There is also a need to allow for sufficient flexibility in the design of the boundary objects, and to pay sufficient attention to how suppliers contextualise and embed them into their own organisations, providing support for this process where necessary. For the supplier, establishing structures and routines for OHS management can help to prepare for future audits, thereby reducing audit fatigue.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the supply chain learning literature by exploring the development of supplier absorptive capacity for sustainability triggered by the focal buying firm. It sheds new light on the role of boundary objects for facilitating knowledge transfer and learning between supply chain members in the context of SSD projects.
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Caroline Emberson, Silvia Maria Pinheiro and Alexander Trautrims
The purpose of this paper is to examine how first-tier suppliers in multi-tier supply chains adapt their vertical and horizontal relationships to reduce the risk of slavery-like…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how first-tier suppliers in multi-tier supply chains adapt their vertical and horizontal relationships to reduce the risk of slavery-like practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Using Archer’s morphogenetic theory as an analytical lens, this paper presents case analyses adduced from primary and secondary data related to the development of relational anti-slavery supply capabilities in Brazilian–UK beef and timber supply chains.
Findings
Four distinct types of adaptation were found among first-tier suppliers: horizontal systemisation, vertical systemisation, horizontal transformation and vertical differentiation.
Research limitations/implications
This study draws attention to the socially situated nature of corporate action, moving beyond the rationalistic discourse that underpins existing research studies of multi-tier, socially sustainable, supply chain management. Cross-sector comparison highlights sub-country and intra-sectoral differences in both institutional setting and the approaches and outcomes of individual corporate actors’ initiatives. Sustainable supply chain management theorists would do well to seek out those institutional entrepreneurs who actively reshape the institutional conditions within which they find themselves situated.
Practical implications
Practitioners may benefit from adopting a structured approach to the analysis of the necessary or contingent complementarities between their, primarily economic, objectives and the social sustainability goals of other, potential, organizational partners.
Social implications
A range of interventions that may serve to reduce the risk of slavery-like practices in global commodity chains are presented.
Originality/value
This paper presents a novel analysis of qualitative empirical data and extends understanding of the agential role played by first-tier suppliers in global, multi-tier, commodity, supply chains.
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Paul Freathy and Caroline Hare
Voluntary food co‐operatives (VFCs) remain a relatively under‐researched area of academic enquiry. However, they represent an important form of retail provision for particular…
Abstract
Voluntary food co‐operatives (VFCs) remain a relatively under‐researched area of academic enquiry. However, they represent an important form of retail provision for particular consumer groups. This paper examines the role and purpose of VFCs in Scotland. It details the primary reasons behind their establishment and examines their different methods of operation. Placed within a framework of food retail access, the research identifies the important contribution VFCs make to alleviating poverty and promoting healthy eating in inner urban areas. Significant differences exist between VFCs and the paper therefore concludes with a typology of different voluntary food co‐operatives.
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The growing numbers of older people represent an important market segment for retailers, particularly the food retail sector. The dominance of the food multiples and their growth…
Abstract
The growing numbers of older people represent an important market segment for retailers, particularly the food retail sector. The dominance of the food multiples and their growth strategies have been criticised for contributing to some older consumers being disadvantaged. This paper considers the satisfaction levels of older consumers in Scotland, with their food‐shopping experience. Drawing upon previous work by the author which identified the factors influencing satisfaction, 220 volunteers were recruited from various locations in Scotland and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The survey focused on the main shopping trip. Results indicate that, whilst there is a general trend towards satisfaction, there are key areas of dissatisfaction, such as aspects of the products for sale (merchandise), the practices and procedures of the retailer (retail practices) and factors in the community which affected the shopping trip (external shopping factors). This suggests that policy‐makers seeking to encourage the participation of food retailers in health promotion need to recognise vulnerable sub‐groups of the older population and recognise that not all older consumers can signal their preferences in the marketplace.
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Caroline Hare, David Kirk and Tim Lang
Given the many potential negative factors that influence food choice behaviour in older people, it is important to understand the problem areas of food shopping. Uses critical…
Abstract
Given the many potential negative factors that influence food choice behaviour in older people, it is important to understand the problem areas of food shopping. Uses critical incident technique (CIT) to elicit consumers’ stories of dissatisfying/satisfying shopping experiences and, where dissatisfied, identifies their expectations. Volunteers from a cross‐section of locations in Scotland were interviewed, eliciting 248 incidents. Results identified eight key elements contributing to the food shopping experience with all, except social aspects, having positive and negative incidents. Argues that the factors influencing the food shopping experience are much wider than previous research indicates and that, given the breadth of dissatisfaction across the elements, older consumers are lacking “power” within the marketplace. Expectations indicate that some consumers feel they do not have the ability to exercise any alternative to overcome their dissatisfaction.
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John Storey, Caroline Emberson and David Reade
It has been suggested that “customer responsive supply‐chain management” and “agile supply‐chain management” are necessary for the new competitive conditions. However, there is an…
Abstract
Purpose
It has been suggested that “customer responsive supply‐chain management” and “agile supply‐chain management” are necessary for the new competitive conditions. However, there is an enormous gap between the idealised prescription and actual practice. The aim of this paper is to examine, in some detail, the factors that can help to explain this mismatch between rhetoric and reality.
Design/methodology/approach
To do so, it focuses on a “best‐case” situation – the retailer Marks and Spencer and its relations with its clothing suppliers. This company has traditionally been renowned, among other things, for the sophistication of its supply‐chain activities. The research reported here is based on detailed interviews with suppliers and buyers.
Findings
The research reveals that the tenets of the customer responsive supply‐chain management model are technically feasible. But, the study also finds that even under circumstances where there is evidence that it works well, and produces valued outcomes, it remains vulnerable to erosion because of a number of institutional factors.
Research limitations/implications
The research presents a number of challenges to conventional thinking about collaborative relationships. The paper suggests the need for further work on the competing priorities between collaborative inter‐organisational working on the one hand, and competing corporate strategies and ingrained routines on the other.
Practical implications
Practitioners can derive many lessons from this research – most notably it identifies the nature of the barriers and forearms supply‐chain innovators with details of the dynamics that can so easily thwart their best efforts.
Originality/value
The paper explains the mismatch between rhetonic and reality in buyer‐seller relationships.
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