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1 – 10 of 102Melissa Abner, Fatma Baytar and David Kreiner
The purpose of this study was to provide more information about the effectiveness of the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) approach in textiles and apparel by applying…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to provide more information about the effectiveness of the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) approach in textiles and apparel by applying it to a semester-long sustainability course.
Design/methodology/approach
A University-level course was re-designed using the ESD concepts. The course was taught from a consumer viewpoint using the product lifecycle as a focus, so the information was applicable to students’ lives and multiple consumer products. Quantitative results of a pre- and post-test taken by students measured changes in knowledge, attitudes and behavior related to sustainability. Qualitative data from open-ended questions collected student feedback on instructional strategies.
Findings
A significant change in knowledge and attitudes were observed on the post-test. Students perceived assignments that required critical thinking, research and related to their lives as the most beneficial.
Practical implications
The ESD approach changed student knowledge and attitudes to be more sustainable. Assignments that included real world examples had the most impact on pro-environmental attitudes and support the use of a student-centered pedagogy.
Originality/value
This study is based on a semester-long sustainability course designed with ESD, while many existing studies are based on a single intervention or lesson. The results of this study add to the body of ESD literature in the textile and apparel area and are applicable to other disciplines.
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The present chapter reviews part of the literature that focuses on dark tourism and dark consumption. The main theories were placed under the critical lens of scrutiny. With…
Abstract
The present chapter reviews part of the literature that focuses on dark tourism and dark consumption. The main theories were placed under the critical lens of scrutiny. With strongholds and weaknesses, dark tourism seems to be enframed in an ‘economic-based paradigm’, which prioritises the managerial perspective over other methods. Like Dark Tourist, the Netflix documentary assessed in this chapter, this academic perspective accepts that the tourist's experience is the only valid source of information to understand the phenomenon. Rather, we hold the thesis that far from being a local trend, dark tourism evinces a morbid drive which not only emerges recently but involves other facets and spheres of society. We coin the term Thana-capitalism to denote a passage from risk society to a new stage, where the Other's death is situated as the main commodity to exchange. The risk society as it was imagined by Beck, set finally the pace to thana-capitalism. Dark Tourist proffers an interesting platform to gain further understanding of this slippery matter. In sharp contrast to Seaton, Sharpley or Stone, we argue that dark tourists are unable to create empathy with the victims. Instead, they visit these types of marginal destinations in order to re-elaborate a political attachment with their institutions. They consume the Other's pain not only to feel unique and special (a word that sounds all the time in the documentary) but also to affirm their privileged role as part of the selected peoples.
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This study aims to investigate the knowledge domain and development trends that appear in the scholarly corpus on religious tourism.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the knowledge domain and development trends that appear in the scholarly corpus on religious tourism.
Design/methodology/approach
The most common themes evolving in the religious tourism research field are figured out by conducting keyword and trend analyses using the bibliographic data collected from 988 research articles published in Social Science Citation-indexed journals listed in the Web of Science database between 1992 and 2022.
Findings
It has been found that the number of publications has increased exponentially. European countries are the major contributors to religious tourism research. Research has mainly clustered around the areas of spiritual experience, identity, cultural heritage, pilgrimage, tourist attitude, behavior and satisfaction. Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism are religions that have received relatively little research attention.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should focus on the sustainability of religious tourism sites, mitigating the adverse impact of the commercialization of religious tourism products and recovering religious tourism activities from the COVID-19 impact.
Practical implications
The findings are useful for corporate practitioners, site managers and entrepreneurs to take advantage of the valuable opportunities this segment offers. These findings are useful for scholars and policymakers in acquiring the latest knowledge of developments in this field.
Social implications
The insights obtained by using a holistic approach are valuable for religious tourists who want to understand the importance of visiting religious sites.
Originality/value
This study identifies key themes that have evolved in religious tourism. In so doing, it presents an agenda for pushing this research corpus forward.
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Marian Konstantin Gatzweiler and Matteo Ronzani
This study explores how thinking infrastructures can orchestrate collective sensemaking in unstable and socially contested environments, such as large-scale humanitarian crises…
Abstract
This study explores how thinking infrastructures can orchestrate collective sensemaking in unstable and socially contested environments, such as large-scale humanitarian crises. In particular, drawing from recent interest in the role of artifacts and infrastructures in sensemaking processes, the study examines the evaluative underpinnings of prospective sensemaking as groups attempt to develop novel understandings about a desired but ambiguous set of future conditions. To explore these theoretical concerns, a detailed case study of the unfolding challenges of managing a large-scale humanitarian crisis response was conducted. This study offers two contributions. Firstly, it develops a theorization of the process through which performance evaluation systems can serve as thinking infrastructures in the collaborative development of new understandings in unstable environments. Secondly, this study sheds light on the practices that support prospective sensemaking through specific features of thinking infrastructures, and unpacks how prospective and retrospective forms of sensemaking may interact in such processes.
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David G Allen, Robert W Renn and Rodger W Griffeth
As more companies and employees become involved in telecommuting, researchers and managers will need to understand the effects of this relatively new working arrangement on the…
Abstract
As more companies and employees become involved in telecommuting, researchers and managers will need to understand the effects of this relatively new working arrangement on the work perceptions and behaviors of the individual telecommuter. The extant empirical literature provides mixed results and is limited by a lack of theory; consequently, neither researchers nor managers can rely on this literature for clear direction on how telecommuting will likely affect individual telecommuters. There is a critical need for theoretical frameworks to guide research on how telecommuting may affect the telecommuter’s job perceptions, working relations, and work outcomes. We present a multi-dimensional framework of telecommuting design, and focus on how telecommuting design may affect the telecommuter’s work environment and outcomes through its effects on the social system of the telecommuter, autonomy and self-management opportunities and requirements, and role boundaries, particularly in terms of the work and non-work interface. Our goal is to provide a framework to assist managers and researchers in systematically addressing questions of how to design telecommuting arrangements to maximize their potential benefits while minimizing their potential drawbacks.
The purpose of this paper is to explore dirty work sites within an academic context. Working with particular “unloved” groups (Fielding, 1993) can present a number of challenges…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore dirty work sites within an academic context. Working with particular “unloved” groups (Fielding, 1993) can present a number of challenges to researchers, and if professional boundaries are not carefully maintained, researchers can be seen as “dirty workers” within an academic context.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws a qualitative research project that explores women's involvement with nationalist movements in the UK.
Findings
Researching “unloved” groups, and in particular racist organizations, presents a number of potential emotional and professional, and can render researchers “dirty workers” if clear professional boundaries are not maintained.
Originality/value
Examining academia and some academic research as a dirty work site adds to existing literature (Kreiner et al., 2006) that suggests any occupation can have a “dirty work” element that must be negotiated. This paper presents new challenges for managing spoiled “dirty” identities, and suggests that identity management is context-specific.
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Business schools have a moral responsibility to educate students who will behave both ethically and effectively in the workplace. Educating business students to address the…
Abstract
Business schools have a moral responsibility to educate students who will behave both ethically and effectively in the workplace. Educating business students to address the complex challenges of the modern business world requires more than helping students understand content; it requires aiding them in developing the social and emotional competencies that they will need to apply regardless of the role or industry in which they work. Viewing the classroom as a complex adaptive system (CAS) can create opportunities to experiment with activities, exercises, and assignments that allow students (and the professor) to develop skills related to self-awareness, interpersonal relationships, and responsible decision-making. This chapter first explores the necessity of social–emotional learning (SEL) for today’s business leaders. Then it considers how a mental model of the classroom as a CAS facilitates a mindset of experimentation and activity development that contributes to student SEL. The chapter concludes with examples of activities that professors have used to facilitate SEL using a mental model of the classroom as a CAS and suggestions for experimentation in the classroom.
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Olaf Hoffjann, Lea Anna-Maria Folger, Julia Gürster, Lara Johanna Hackenbeck, Jakob Halm and Lena Katharina Mirthes
Many critical descriptions can be found for public relations. While research has so far been limited to describing the negative image of the PR profession or has understood it as…
Abstract
Many critical descriptions can be found for public relations. While research has so far been limited to describing the negative image of the PR profession or has understood it as a peripheral problem, this chapter takes a more fundamental approach. Focusing on media relations as part of PR, the concerns about the profession are to be understood as a central part of its social identity, which others have initially assigned to it. This subsequently shapes their behaviour towards PR professionals, specifically spokespersons, just as it shapes the spokespersons' self-perception. Media relations is therefore characterised by something discrediting, which shapes the attitudes and behaviour of both the publics and the spokespersons themselves. In sociology, this is described by Erving Goffman's concept of stigma, which serves as the theoretical framework of the chapter. Drawing on Habermas, the discrediting characteristic of media relations is determined by the self-interest, success- and power-oriented character of strategic action. The empirical study, a survey of 429 journalists and spokespersons in Germany, addresses the following two research questions: How widespread is the stigma of spokespersons among spokespersons and journalists? And: What are the consequences of perceived stigma for job satisfaction? The findings are somewhat ambivalent showing that, on the one hand, about three out of five journalists stigmatise spokespersons. On the other hand, only about one in five spokespersons perceive themselves as stigmatised.
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Chima Mordi, Hakeem Adeniyi Ajonbadi and Olatunji David Adekoya
This study explored the challenges academics faced with work structures during the COVID-19 pandemic and their implications for their work–life balance (WLB).
Abstract
Purpose
This study explored the challenges academics faced with work structures during the COVID-19 pandemic and their implications for their work–life balance (WLB).
Design/methodology/approach
Relying on the interpretative paradigm and the qualitative research method, the dataset consists of semi-structured interviews with 43 academics in the United Kingdom.
Findings
This study’s findings indicate that academics in the UK experience issues around increased boundary permeability between work and nonwork domains and role overlap, which engender the transfer of negative rather than positive spillover experiences and exacerbate negative consequences to the well-being of academics. ICTs also reinforced gendered work-family boundaries and generated more negative work–life/family spillover for women than for men.
Practical implications
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) need to address ICT-related health issues through better work designs and HR initiatives that respond to the health requirements of academics. Policymakers should be futuristic and ensure comprehensive work–life policies for academics, which are necessary for humanising overall organisational well-being.
Originality/value
Although COVID-19 challenges are common to all workers, the experiences and effects on specific workers (in this case, UK academics) within specific national jurisdictions play out differentially, and they are often experienced with different levels of depth and intensity.
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