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11 – 20 of 37Oonagh Meade, Sara Jane MacLennan, Holly Blake and Neil Coulson
Workplace wellness schemes are emerging in NHS settings, including complementary and alternative therapy services aimed at improving employee wellbeing. The aim of this study is…
Abstract
Purpose
Workplace wellness schemes are emerging in NHS settings, including complementary and alternative therapy services aimed at improving employee wellbeing. The aim of this study is to explore the impact of one such therapy service on service users based at a large UK teaching hospital.
Design/methodology/approach
In‐depth semi‐structured interviews were undertaken with seven staff members who participated in at least one workplace complementary or alternative therapy. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach was taken in the design of interviews and the analysis of interview data.
Findings
The following themes were elucidated: having positive but tentative expectations of therapies; enhancing health and wellbeing through therapy; appreciation for the “Q‐active” therapy service as part of a workplace wellness programme; and work influencing therapy use and vice versa.
Originality/value
The study adds to the limited research literature evaluating workplace health interventions by using an interview‐based qualitative approach to access employees' experiences of this type of workplace complementary and alternative therapies. Valuable insights were gained about the significance of this particular aspect of a larger workplace health programme. The emergent themes build on the existing literature on individuals' expectations and experiences of complementary and alternative therapies and also on the potential benefits of such a service for workplace health promotion.
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Angela Wroblewski and Andrea Leitner
The TARGET approach aims at establishing a reflexive gender equality policy in research performing and research funding organisations. Monitoring has enormous potential to support…
Abstract
The TARGET approach aims at establishing a reflexive gender equality policy in research performing and research funding organisations. Monitoring has enormous potential to support reflexivity at both the institutional and the individual levels in the gender equality plan (GEP) development and implementation context. To exploit this potential, the monitoring system has to consist of meaningful indicators, which adequately represent the complex construct of gender equality and refer to the concrete objectives and policies of the GEP. To achieve this, we propose an approach to indicator development that refers to a theory of change for the GEP and its policies. Indicator development thus becomes a reflexive endeavour and monitoring a living tool. This requires constant reflection on data gaps, validity of indicators and the further development of indicators. Furthermore, we recommend the creation of space for reflexivity to discuss monitoring results with the community of practice.
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Paul Grainge and Catherine Johnson
The purpose of this paper is to examine the professional culture of television marketing in the UK, the sector of arts marketing responsible for the vast majority of programme…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the professional culture of television marketing in the UK, the sector of arts marketing responsible for the vast majority of programme trailers and channel promos seen on British television screens.
Design/methodology/approach
In research approach, it draws on participant observation at Promax UK, the main trade conference and award ceremony of the television marketing community. Developing John Caldwell’s analysis of the cultural practices of worker groups, it uses Promax as a site of study itself, exploring how a key trade gathering forges, legitimates and ritualizes the identity and practice of those involved in television marketing.
Findings
Its findings show how Promax transmits industrial lore, not only about “how to do” the job of television marketing but also “how to be” in the professional field. If trade gatherings enable professional communities to express their own values to themselves, Promax members are constructed as “TV people” rather than just “marketing people”; the creative work of television marketing is seen as akin to the creative work of television production and positioned as part of the television industry.
Originality/value
The value of the paper is the exploration of television marketing as a professional and creative discipline. This is especially relevant to marketing and media academics who have tended to overlook, or dismiss, the sector and skills of television promotion.
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This paper investigates the internationalization of consulting providers that supply to multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, United Nations and Asian Development…
Abstract
This paper investigates the internationalization of consulting providers that supply to multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, United Nations and Asian Development Bank. Previous research has identified that such clients do play a notable role in the internationalization of some consulting firms, but little empirical research has been undertaken. In this paper, a “network” approach to internationalization is taken, with the findings from an interview study suggesting that while consulting providers “follow” multilateral institutions to new markets, this is only one of several “relationship strategies” that firms use in combination to enter and develop foreign markets.
Catherine Demangeot and Amanda J. Broderick
The purpose of this paper is to address the gap in the literature on experiential elements of online shopping environments.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the gap in the literature on experiential elements of online shopping environments.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a theory‐building approach to understand how consumers perceive their experience of the navigation of an online shopping environment and identifies the facets which make up their experiential intensity. The paper first reviews the literature on the experiential attributes of web sites. It then outlines the methodology and explains the use of a “shopping with consumers” approach to uncover consumer perceptions.
Findings
Combining think‐alouds with in‐depth interviews, four dimensions of experiential intensity are found (context familiarity, product presence, visual impact and site‐user understanding), and related to four perceptions of a shopping navigation, as: an experience, a tool, an environment, and a dialogue between shopper and web site.
Originality/value
This conceptualisation adds to the literature on experience creation, which is critical in delivering consumer value. It is more specific and extensive than extant typologies, clarifies the construct and increases its explanatory power. Think‐alouds and depth interviews are shown to yield valuable insights. Consumer perceptions reflect the expectations they have of shopping environments. When shopping online, consumers think like shoppers, not computer users. They want to feel in a familiar shopping context. They want to examine products closely and seek the sense of personal relationship and involvement induced by site‐user understanding. Marketers need to harness technological developments to respond to these expectations. Practically, the study provides e‐retailers with a framework to assess the current levels of experiential intensity, or initiate the creation of more intense experiences.
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Samantha Wilkinson and Catherine Wilkinson
The purpose of this paper is to outline a study characterised by “pockets” of co-production and argue for the benefits of offering young people a palette of interdisciplinary…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to outline a study characterised by “pockets” of co-production and argue for the benefits of offering young people a palette of interdisciplinary methods to “opt into”, giving participants the opportunity to discuss their drinking practices and experiences “on their own terms”.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 40 young people, aged 15-24 years, from the suburban case study locations of Chorlton and Wythenshawe, Manchester, UK, were recruited for multi-stage qualitative research. The participants were presented with a suite of both long-standing and innovative methods that they could “opt into”, including: interviews, peer interviews, diaries, mobile phone interviews, text messaging and participant observation.
Findings
This paper shows that both long-standing and innovative methods have their own individual strengths for researching into young people’s alcohol consumption practices and experiences. Yet, each of the methods utilised in this study also had specific drawbacks for researching substance use. Offering a palette of methods for participants to “opt into” was thus beneficial in: offsetting the weaknesses of other methods; triangulating the study findings; and enabling participants to communicate with the researcher in culturally credible ways.
Originality/value
By offering an honest account about the successes and failures of deploying a range of methods when exploring young people’s drinking practices and experiences, this paper is valuable for researchers in, and beyond, the field of substance use, seeking to broaden their methodological toolkit.
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Bromley Public Library has used ALS equipment to assist with circulation control since the late 1960s. In 1981 it was decided that the previous batch system should be replaced by…
Abstract
Bromley Public Library has used ALS equipment to assist with circulation control since the late 1960s. In 1981 it was decided that the previous batch system should be replaced by the online ALS System 5 with circulation, cataloguing and acquisitions modules being implemented over a period of five years. This paper describes the OPAC aspects of this integrated system. The use of the Browser terminal, with its touch‐sensitive screen, for carrying out searches is described. Some of the problems facing a public library in creating a bibliographic database used initially for circulation control purposes and then for online catalogue searching are highlighted.
Catherine Cassell, Anna Buehring, Gillian Symon and Phil Johnson
The purpose of the paper is to introduce the themed issue about qualitative research in the business and management field
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to introduce the themed issue about qualitative research in the business and management field
Design/methodology/approach
The paper considers some issues about how to define the term “qualitative research”, and then introduces each of the papers in the themed issue.
Findings
The contents of this themed issue demonstrate the insights that qualitative research can make into the management field.
Originality/value
A large amount of interest was generated in the themed issue. As a consequence, Emerald Publishing Group are launching a new journal which specifically focuses on qualitative research in this field.
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The rhythmic patterns of urban mobilities, and their fluctuations and modifications across the day, give the streets their perceived and experienced atmosphere and character. This…
Abstract
The rhythmic patterns of urban mobilities, and their fluctuations and modifications across the day, give the streets their perceived and experienced atmosphere and character. This paper examines such street atmospheres and focusses on the role of embodied mobility rhythms in the (re)making of the atmospheres throughout the day. Utilising a rhythmanalytical framework and research data comprising videoed site observations and on-site fieldnotes, the study analyses ‘crepuscular’ (behaviour taking place during the twilight hours of the day, at dawn and dusk) mobility rhythms that reveal internal tensions and modalities of urban sites across a 24-hour period. The analysis highlights the connections between fluctuating pressures of motor traffic and mobile embodied appropriations of the space in the making of the streetscape and its changing atmospheres between the ‘day-time city’ and the ‘night-time city’. The chapter demonstrates that an analytical focus on such ‘in-between’ temporalities of the twilight can help to map the complex and multifaceted urban polyrhythmia, which, in turn, might provide new insight for rhythm-based perspectives towards urban atmospheres and street spaces as sites of urban social life.
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