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The purpose of this article is to describe and consider the use of diamond ranking activities as visual cues to elicit ideas, prompt reflection and promote discussion amongst pupils (aged 10‐13), teachers and other staff in two qualitative research studies.

The activities included nine photographs as visual cues, and participants cut out these pictures and stuck them onto a piece of A3 paper in a diamond shape, ranking them by position where their preferred picture is at the top and the most disliked at the bottom.

Importantly, participants also annotated their diamond with qualitative comments and explanations.

This article explores the use of diamond ranking as visual cues – a tool within qualitative research that is under‐developed – as a way of engaging participants in the research process. Issues explored include inclusivity, active discussions and applicability to a wide range of people.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a concentrated strategy to embed sustainability teaching into a (chemical) engineering undergraduate curriculum throughout the whole programme. Innovative teaching approaches in subject‐specific context are described and their efficiency investigated.

The activities in chemical engineering include a week‐long module introducing fundamentals of chemical engineering in the first year, a number of industrially relevant case studies within enquiry based learning (EBL) that have a great societal impact. Information regarding the transition towards EBL, the case studies on fuel cell effectiveness and sustainable plant design are provided in this contribution. Emphasis is placed on the methods of assessment of student learning, and evaluation of student preferences of delivery is included. Student focus groups and diamond ranking are used to evaluate the effectiveness of delivery.

Focus groups and diamond ranking have confirmed that students appreciate that sustainable development is a key issue for future engineers to understand and the case study workshops are a realistic, enjoyable and effective teaching method.

The paper describes the authors' efforts to embed sustainability into a curriculum from week 1 of chemical engineering curriculum, as well as providing input on sustainability into the curriculum of the remaining engineering disciplines. These approaches can be useful for other engineering higher education providers in ensuring effective sustainability education.

This study seeks to identify the factors that are associated with the digital transformation of microfinance institutions (MFIs).

The study employs probit models to investigate the likelihood of integrating digital solutions by MFIs and Heckman models for robustness checks.

The findings reveal that the adoption of these tools is consistent with the social performance of MFIs. Furthermore, the profitability of the institutions and their home country development are associated with a larger application of digital support solutions.

Since the survey data collected is not longitudinal and does not cover many MFIs, it may encounter the absence of comprehensive results. Moreover, the study is limited to supply-side incentive factors, thus lacks of investigations under supply-demand interaction schemes. Therefore, future studies are encouraged to fill up these knowledge gaps.

The results imply that the adoption of digital solutions does not necessarily harm the social performance of MFIs. In addition, the findings may imply that financial sustainability can serve as being a preliminary condition but must not lead to the mission drift of MFIs. Findings of the study have implications for policymakers, donors and investors who wish to accelerate the digital transformation within the microfinance industry and to significantly boost financial inclusion. A focus on more social-oriented MFIs can be an appropriate solution. Furthermore, the pathway to digital financial inclusion through microfinance can be made more efficient if improved and supportive facilities as well as systems for digital technology are available.

This paper is the first one which highlights the relationship between the MFI's social performance and the application of digital solutions by MFIs. Furthermore, we discuss this link while considering cost aspects.

This paper empirically explores the role of skill losses during unemployment behind firms' behaviour in interviewing long-term unemployed

The analysis makes use of the Work Employment Relations Survey in the UK, while it applies a panel probit modelling approach to estimate the empirical findings.

The findings document that skill losses during long-term unemployment reduce the likelihood of an interview, while they emphasize the need for certain policies that could compensate for this deterioration of skills. For robustness check, the estimation strategy survives the examination of the same predictors under different types of the working environment.

The original values of the work 1 combines for the first time both duration and technology as predictors of interview probability. Until now, the independent variables were used to test whether an individual has managed to exit unemployment, thus skipping the step of the interview process.

This chapter focuses on the learning arising from an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) knowledge exchange secondment undertaken by a university researcher for a full academic year within a charity in a socio-economically deprived area of the North East of England. The charity worked alongside schools and other organisations to co-ordinate out-of-school learning activities, but there was a concern with the low levels of engagement by girls with the provision. A usual approach by the charity to finding out why the girls were not engaging with the activities provided might have involved asking the girls what provision they would like. Instead, we developed a participatory process where we – the researchers – worked with a group of young women to co-create a piece of research about their lives. As part of the process, we participated in a residential trip with them and their group leaders which provided a space – both physically and methodologically – for authentic dialogue and relationships of trust to develop. In this chapter, we outline the practical, methodological and ethical challenges (and opportunities) of engaging in this way in the context of a residential setting and conclude that this way of engaging with the girls led us to different kinds of insights that may not have been achieved with adopting more conventional research approaches.

Surveys, from an American perspective, the existing literature on economic explanations of the behaviour of universities and scholars. The modern literature is put in historical perspective introduced by a brief discussion of the positions of two of the earliest and most distinguished contributors to the literature: Adam Smith and Max Weber. Discusses the human capital and implicit contracts literatures of the behaviour of scholars, the latter elaborated in terms of the issue of tenure. The most common theoretical economic analysis of the university is the view that it is best thought of as a non‐profit organization. Discusses variants of this view, with special attention to the literature on rent‐seeking in academe. Goes on to the empirical literature on the economics of academe in the areas of academic institutions, academic earnings functions, the earnings and status of minority scholars and academic production functions. Briefly considers the relevance of the current literature to the Althoff system, suggesting that Althoff′s able, trusted advisers, and his system of institutes, may have allowed him to avoid several inefficiences that have been identified by economists as present in other academic institutions. Although the centralization of decision making in the hands of one decision maker may be efficient if the decision maker is exceptionally able, more commonly the most efficient system will be a decentralized system that allows for greater diversity and competition. Concludes with a discussion of how hypotheses on the efficiency (and fairness) of various aspects of the Althoff system could, in principle, be tested.

Expected learning objectives students will be able to examine the possible reasons for a company’s poor performance using relevant business tools. Students will be able to critically assess the role of technology and social media in the gem and jewellery industry in Dubai. Students will be able to analyse the customer segmentation approach used by five diamonds and to critically analyse its advantages and disadvantages. Students will be able to use the SWOT framework to identify the key weaknesses of and threats to five diamonds and identify the strengths and opportunities that the company needed to capitalize on, to be more competitive in the industry and generate high profitability. Students will be able to critically analyse the fit between the firm’s current business strategy and its business environment and develop a “turnaround” strategy.

Five diamonds were a trading company that dealt in gems and jewellery, natural pearls and branded watches. The company had been founded by Mustafa Al Fardan in 2003 and was currently run by his son Mohammed Al Fardan who held the position of General Manager. The company was based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) with two local branches and eight international branches in China, France, India, Switzerland, Hong Kong and the UK. The branches were located in Palm Strip Jumeirah and in the Jumeirah Al Naseem Hotel, in the Umm Sequim area. The Palm Strip Jumeirah region is one of the largest and crowded areas in Dubai with world-class facilities such as hotels, clinics, restaurants, beaches and clubs, making it a perfect location for tourists. The Umm Sequim region is in the same area where the iconic seven-star hotel, Burj Al Arab, is located. The place is also a “must be” place for tourists and has recorded a significant increase in traffic at different times of the year. Despite their strong presence locally and internationally, the firm was facing fierce competition from the hostile business environment. Industry trends and the business environment were changing the local and global gems and jewellery industry landscape. These changes had offset five diamonds’ business strategy and its long-held business tradition. As a result, the company yearly profit had started to plummet. The company needed to revise its existing business strategy and the way it operated in the market. Failure to do so would have resulted in the firm missing the huge growth opportunity and also put itself into jeopardy.

This case is useful for undergraduate and postgraduate students majoring in marketing, business management and/or strategic management.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This chapter aims to present and critically question the work undertaken with a group of children as experts in a transdisciplinary research project, ‘Exploring the way to and from school with children: An interdisciplinary approach of children’s experiences of the third place’. The project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.¹ A partnership was established between the research team and a group of 10 children (11–12 years old). The children were actively involved as co-researchers to provide the research team with expertise regarding their experiences of the school journey. Their roles as co-researchers included refining the research questions and methodological tools, analysing data, and drafting final recommendations. In this chapter, the authors outline the different stages of this transdisciplinary partnership with children as co-researchers, whilst addressing some key issues encountered during the process, including: What is expertise? When, and under what conditions, can children genuinely be co-researchers? What ethical aspects should be considered? The authors commence with an outline of the project’s theoretical framework before detailing how the participatory process enabled children to actively take part and give their views on the research. The authors address a specific focus on the ethical challenges encountered as part of the complexities of conducting research with children. They conclude with some reflections on the benefits of involving children as co-researchers and, in doing so, offer a critique of the notion of ‘expertise’ in research with children.

The purpose of this paper is to present the learning gained from undertaking research activities in co-production with young people in order to tackle alcohol misuse in local communities.

The findings are drawn from an evaluation of an alcohol misuse change programme in which opportunities to learn about and conduct research were provided to young people through co-production. The evaluation was guided by a theory of change, and a portfolio of evidence collected which included feedback from the young people and project staff about their experiences.

This paper demonstrates that young people can be empowered to take on roles as agents of change in their own communities by learning more about research processes. However, the empowerment does not come from undertaking research training per se, but by being able to work co-productively with researchers on issues and questions that are of direct relevance to themselves and which are framed within a change agenda. Shared values, strong relationships and reciprocal knowledge exchange enabling flexible and relevant responses to real-world problems and questions are needed.

The paper suggests a reflexive and co-productive learning, design and delivery approach to involving young people in research. It challenges notions of young people as a problem in terms of alcohol misuse, and rather situates them as part of a solution that is aiming at longer-term transformational community change. This is significant in that much of the existing evidence concentrates on individual intervention.

Many universities are currently investing significant sums of money into refurbishing existing learning spaces and/or building further infrastructure (including Next Generation Learning Spaces (NGLS)) to support learning and teaching in the face-to-face context. While this is usually welcome by staff and students, there is often a concern that designs are not informed by input from appropriate stakeholders.

This chapter brings together information from a range of sources to provide practical ideas and advice on designing robust, whole-of-lifecycle evaluations for learning space projects. By incorporating pre- and post-occupancy stages, involving a wide array of stakeholders and looking beyond surveys and focus groups as evaluation techniques, universities can ensure that future designs take into consideration the experiences and context of staff and students at the institution as well as lessons learned from previous projects.