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1 – 10 of 231
Article
Publication date: 7 December 2022

Qing-Wen Zhang, Pin-Chao Liao, Mingxuan Liang and Albert P.C. Chan

Quality failures in grid infrastructure construction would cause large-scale collapses in power supply and additional expenditures by reworks and repairs. Learning from quality…

Abstract

Purpose

Quality failures in grid infrastructure construction would cause large-scale collapses in power supply and additional expenditures by reworks and repairs. Learning from quality failures (LFQF) extracts experience from previous quality events and converts them into preventive measures to reduce or eliminate future construction quality issues. This study aims to investigate the influence factors of LFQF in the construction of grid infrastructure.

Design/methodology/approach

The related factors of LFQF, including quality management (QM) practices, quality rectification, and individual learning, were identified by reviewing literature about organizational learning and extracting experience from previous failures. A questionnaire survey was distributed to the grid companies in North, Northeast, Northwest, East, Central, and Southwest China. 381 valid responses collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the influence of these factors on LFQF.

Findings

The SEM results support that QM practices positively affect individual learning and LFQF. Quality rectification indirectly impacts LFQF via individual learning, while the results did not support the direct link between quality rectification and LFQF.

Practical implications

The findings strengthen practical insights into extracting experience from poor-quality issues and continuous improvement. The contributory factors of LFQF found in this study benefit the practitioners by taking effective measures to enhance organizational learning capability and improve the long-term construction quality performance in the grid infrastructure industry.

Originality/value

Existing research about the application of LFQF still stays at the explorative and conceptual stage. This study investigates the related factors of LFQF, including QM practices, quality rectification, and individual learning, extending the model development of learning from failures (LFF) in construction QM.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 4 March 2024

Oswald A. J. Mascarenhas, Munish Thakur and Payal Kumar

Abstract

Details

A Primer on Critical Thinking and Business Ethics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-312-1

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 5 February 2024

Katy Schnitzler

Miscarriage is the most common adverse pregnancy outcome, with an estimated one in four pregnancies ending in loss. Despite its prevalence, and significant effects, early…

Abstract

Miscarriage is the most common adverse pregnancy outcome, with an estimated one in four pregnancies ending in loss. Despite its prevalence, and significant effects, early pregnancy loss is commonly unacknowledged by organizations, and the intersect of miscarriage experiences while navigating work remains sparsely researched. Available literature, and preliminary research from my Ph.D., reveal stark findings, notably that women commonly conceal miscarriage at work, and when they do disclose, they often experience inconsistent support, or none at all. Minimization, and even discriminatory practice, are commonly witnessed (including inappropriate absence reporting, formal warnings, jeopardization of promotional opportunities, and redundancy). Effective support is often due to empathetic line managers, who sometimes have first-hand experience. Partners are commonly assigned to the “supporter role”, resulting in insufficient leave and support. The absence of formal initiatives, including policy and training, exacerbate the issue. Workplaces that fail to address miscarriage likely face reduced engagement and productivity, and increased absenteeism, presenteeism, and staff turnover. Key recommendations are presented, emphasizing the need for organizations to (i) implement a pregnancy loss policy; (ii) train managers, HR, and colleagues; (iii) provide specialist support; and (iv) tackle pro-natal cultures. Avenues for future research are explored, notably the need to adopt an intersectional lens, and to obtain management/HR and partner perspectives.

Details

Work-Life Inclusion: Broadening Perspectives Across the Life-Course
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-219-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 March 2024

Carolyn J. Cordery and David Hay

New public management (NPM) has transformed the public sector auditing context, although in quite different ways. Further, investigations into NPM’s impact on public sector…

Abstract

Purpose

New public management (NPM) has transformed the public sector auditing context, although in quite different ways. Further, investigations into NPM’s impact on public sector auditors and audit institutions have been largely unconnected, with the exception of the critical examination of performance audits. We investigate the question of how public sector auditors’ roles and activities have changed as a result of NPM and later reforms.

Design/methodology/approach

We examine and synthesise public sector audit research examining reforms since the year 2000. The research presented considers changes to external and internal public sector audits as well as the development of public sector audit institutions – known as supreme audit institutions (SAIs).

Findings

Considerable changes have occurred. Many were influenced by NPM, but others have evolved from the eco-system of accounting, auditing and public sector management. External auditors have responded to an increase in demand for accountability. Additional management and governance techniques have been introduced from the private sector, such as internal auditing and audit committees. NPM has also led to conflicting trends, particularly when governments introduced competition to public sector auditing by contracting out but then chose to centralise to improve accountability. There is also greater international influence now through bodies like the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and similar regional bodies.

Originality/value

NPM reforms and the eco-system have impacted public sector auditing. Sustainability reporting is emerging as an area requiring more auditing attention; auditors also need to continue to develop better ways to communicate with citizens. Further, research into auditing in non-Western nations and emerging technologies is also required, especially where it provides learnings around more valuable audit practices. Empirical evidence is required of the strengths and weaknesses of SAIs’ structural variety.

Details

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1096-3367

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 31 January 2024

Julie Nichols and Quenten Agius

Embedded in built environment discourse, this chapter examines the traditional knowledge and resilience of the Ngadjuri Nation Peoples through an Elder’s narrative of…

Abstract

Embedded in built environment discourse, this chapter examines the traditional knowledge and resilience of the Ngadjuri Nation Peoples through an Elder’s narrative of reconciliation as well as resistance in their subsisting colonial settlement. Removed from ‘Country’ in the 1840s, Ngadjuri Aboriginal community endured colonial industries of open-cut copper mining and large-scale pastoralism as irreparable destruction to their cultural landscapes. European processes in the resources sectors reshaped natural topographies, deconstructing Ngadjuri Songlines and Ancestral Dreaming stories. Burra’s colonial stone buildings of settlement, painstakingly cut and composed from materials of the surrounding ecological terrain, prompted new narratives from Ngadjuri as a way of alleviating scars. Broadly speaking, this chapter aims to show how cultural heritage of two communities is provocatively and conceptually unpacked through the vernacular buildings’ cross-cultural foundations. That is, an under-reported narrative was unwittingly bestowed on the colonial-built forms with hidden meanings that deserve further investigation. This chapter offers a counternarrative to colonial histories revealing Ngadjuri’s methods for reconnecting to Country and culture after generations of disempowerment. It explores how within the materiality of colonial structures, the Ngadjuri entwined their remediated storylines – revealing a data curation that had avoided popular discourse in the galleries, libraries, archives, and museums [GLAM] sector representation. This example implies there are bodies of knowledge in built cultural heritage hidden elsewhere on our Aboriginal Nations and the challenges it presents GLAM in their Indigenisation processes.

Details

Data Curation and Information Systems Design from Australasia: Implications for Cataloguing of Vernacular Knowledge in Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-615-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2023

Laurie Nathan and Joel M. Devonshire

This paper aims to critique the rationalist theoretical framework of international mediation, which ignores emotions in analyzing the decision by conflict parties to pursue a…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to critique the rationalist theoretical framework of international mediation, which ignores emotions in analyzing the decision by conflict parties to pursue a negotiated settlement or continue fighting, and to present an alternative framework that integrates emotions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on psychology research on emotions and conflict to develop an emotionally informed framework for analyzing conflict parties’ decision-making regarding a settlement. It demonstrates the framework’s validity and value through a case study of the 2000 Camp David mediation to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Findings

A rationalist approach to mediation does not have adequate explanatory and predictive power theoretically. In practice, it can reduce the prospect of success.

Research limitations/implications

The paper highlights the necessity for mediation researchers to study the effects of emotion, draw on psychology studies on conflict and explore the emotional implications of different mediation strategies and tactics.

Practical implications

The framework highlights the challenge of designing and conducting mediation in a way that cultivates emotions favorable to a settlement and lessens emotions unfavorable to a settlement.

Originality/value

This is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to critique the rationalist framework of international mediation studies and develop an alternative framework that integrates emotions.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 35 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 20 March 2024

Tom O'Donoghue and John Mortimer

Abstract

Details

Teacher Preparation in Papua New Guinea
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83549-077-8

Book part
Publication date: 31 January 2024

Julie Nichols, Lynette Newchurch, Ann Newchurch, Rebecca Agius and David Weetra

Country and cultural heritage are inextricably linked for First Nations peoples. This chapter explores those relationships in the context of repatriating cultural heritage…

Abstract

Country and cultural heritage are inextricably linked for First Nations peoples. This chapter explores those relationships in the context of repatriating cultural heritage materials back to Country and conceptualising a place for its ‘awakening’ for the Ngadjuri community of Mid-North South Australia. These materials in the context of this book ‘interpreted’ as a form of data curation, requiring potentially unique information systems designs to achieve accessibility, recoverability, and durability in remote communities with limited internet and mobile phone coverage. On the other hand, it is critically important to note, that the processes, challenges and repatriation of culturally sensitive materials and remains, are dependant here on the limitations of language. The reference to the notion of ‘data’ as a descriptor, and an inadequate term on some level, does not, and is not intended to, diminish any of their cultural significance and gravity. These are challenges that are worth the intellectual and technological investment to realise a return to Country for generationally displaced peoples and their cultural property that also needs to make it home.

Details

Data Curation and Information Systems Design from Australasia: Implications for Cataloguing of Vernacular Knowledge in Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-615-3

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 March 2024

Kathrine Anne Minzlaff, Stephen Palmer and Annette Fillery-Travis

This paper aims to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the current state of the millennial literature, highlighting the significance and challenges of millennial…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the current state of the millennial literature, highlighting the significance and challenges of millennial professionals, their reported high turnover and the various recommendations designed to engage and retain them.

Design/methodology/approach

An integrated review approach was applied to synthesise contemporary peer-reviewed articles, supplemented by legacy and grey literature and relevant book chapters, to comprehensively explore and construct a cohesive overview of the current research on the millennial workforce.

Findings

Within the wealth of available information, examining the various studies on millennial turnover reveals diverse theories, evidence and opportunities for advancement, underscoring the necessity for more robust empirical studies. The investigation identified three overarching retention strategy themes: (1) intergenerational conflict management, (2) workplace adaptations and (3) solutions rooted in a protean career orientation. In alignment with protean career concepts, coaching shows promise as an underexplored option.

Practical implications

This article holds practical significance by offering researchers a comprehensive and cohesive overview of the millennial literature. Additionally, it gives organisations a novel perspective on the crucial role coaching can play in engaging and retaining millennial employees.

Originality/value

The increased focus on retaining millennial workers in recent decades has spurred a proliferation of articles and books on this subject. However, this body of research remains fragmented, lacking an overview that provides a clear picture of its current state. This review aims to bridge this gap.

Details

Journal of Work-Applied Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2205-2062

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 December 2023

Sarah Knight, Abbie Maroño and David Keatley

The purpose of this study is to compare violent and non-violent extremists in terms of their age when they first perpetrate an extremist act, and to understand how this relates to…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to compare violent and non-violent extremists in terms of their age when they first perpetrate an extremist act, and to understand how this relates to other factors underlying extremist behaviours. While the end goal of many extremists may be functionally similar, the pathways into extremism vary, and the literature has demonstrated that a “one-size-fits-all” explanation does not exist. Motivational drivers are complex and dynamic; therefore, attempting to identify a terrorist “profile” has limited applied efficacy.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applied a temporal approach (“crime script analysis” or CSA) to identify, map and compare the sequential stages (or “scenes”) in the life histories of violent and non-violent extremists who have committed acts of extremism across different age groups. Crime scripts comprising mainly qualitative data for 40 male extremists (20 violent, 20 non-violent “cases”) were developed, and CSA was conducted according to the age at which they committed their first extremist offence.

Findings

Results demonstrated key temporal, developmental differences between the pathways of extremists who commit their first offence at different ages. One key difference was that for both the violent and non-violent extremists, those under 30 used the internet as a main means of joining networks and spreading information, whereas the over 30s made more personal, community links.

Originality/value

This research can aid identification of potential environmental triggers and potential increased susceptibility to triggers across certain age groups.

Details

Journal of Criminal Psychology, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2009-3829

Keywords

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