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1 – 10 of 45Obinna Alo, Ahmad Arslan, Anna Yumiao Tian and Vijay Pereira
This paper is one of the first studies to examine specificities, including limits of mindfulness at work in an African organisational context, whilst dealing with the ongoing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper is one of the first studies to examine specificities, including limits of mindfulness at work in an African organisational context, whilst dealing with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It specifically addresses the role of organisational and managerial support systems in restoring employee wellbeing, social connectedness and attachment to their organisations, in order to overcome the exclusion caused by the ongoing pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a qualitative research methodology that includes interviews as the main data source. The sample comprises of 20 entrepreneurs (organisational leaders) from Ghana and Nigeria.
Findings
The authors found that COVID-19-induced worries restricted the practice of mindfulness, and this was prevalent at the peak of the pandemic, particularly due to very tough economic conditions caused by reduction in salaries, and intensified by pre-existing general economic and social insecurities, and institutional voids in Africa. This aspect further resulted in lack of engagement and lack of commitment, which affected overall team performance and restricted employees’ mindfulness at work. Hence, quietness by employees even though can be linked to mindfulness was linked to larger psychological stress that they were facing. The authors also found leaders/manager’s emotional intelligence, social skills and organisational support systems to be helpful in such circumstances. However, their effectiveness varied among the cases.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first studies to establish a link between the COVID-19 pandemic and mindfulness limitations. Moreover, it is a pioneering study specifically highlighting the damaging impact of COVID-19-induced concerns on leader–member exchange (LMX) and team–member exchange (TMX) relationships, particularly in the African context. It further brings in a unique discussion on the mitigating mechanisms of such COVID-19-induced concerns in organisations and highlights the roles of manager’s/leader’s emotional intelligence, social skills and supportive intervention patterns. Finally, the authors offer an in-depth assessment of the effectiveness of organisational interventions and supportive relational systems in restoring social connectedness following a social exclusion caused by COVID-19-induced worries.
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Nathan Keates and Julie Beadle-Brown
Previous studies have confirmed the potential benefits of participating in theatrical improvisation, including improved mental health, well-being, skills and strategy development…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous studies have confirmed the potential benefits of participating in theatrical improvisation, including improved mental health, well-being, skills and strategy development. This study aims to explore the experiences of improv (a subset of theatrical improvisation) for autistic, non-autistic, yet neurodivergent and neurotypical people. In particular, it explores whether participants believe that there have been any benefits from participating in improv.
Design/methodology/approach
Twenty adult participants were recruited using snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and qualitative content analysis (QCA). IPA explored the autistic lived experience during improv participation, while QCA sought to identify the benefits gained.
Findings
Implementing IPA allowed for the benefits of improv to be embedded into autistic lived experience. This was aggregated into two themes: “life beyond improv” and “social worlds negative impact”. Findings from QCA found five themes: “creativity and opportunities: the arts and workplace”; “acceptance, cognitive flexibility and rolling with it”; “interpersonal, social and communication skills and human connection”; “gains in mental health, quality of life and wellbeing”; and for just autistic participants, “‘I've gone full autistic’ (and can learn why neurotypicals are like they are)”.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is a novel study area that has not been investigated previously.
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Thierno Malick Diallo, Amoudath Adebomi Mazu, Abdelkrim Araar and Abdoulaye Dieye
As rural nonfarm activities grow in developing countries, less attention is being paid to the opportunities they may provide for women. The purpose of this study is to examine the…
Abstract
Purpose
As rural nonfarm activities grow in developing countries, less attention is being paid to the opportunities they may provide for women. The purpose of this study is to examine the gender-differentiated impact of nonfarm diversification strategies in rural Senegal.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses data collected from the Senegalese poverty monitoring survey and employs an instrumental variable (IV) approach and a multinomial endogenous treatment model to investigate the extent to which diversification strategies lead to improved outcomes for rural women and their households.
Findings
While nonfarm diversification is a male-dominated livelihood strategy, rural women make the most of it, regardless of whether they diversify into low- or high-return nonfarm activities. At the individual level, diversification improves rural women’s well-being through large income-increasing effects and higher empowerment but has no effect on rural men’s well-being. At the household level, the authors find that, when only women diversify, households have lower per capita income but are less likely to be food insecure than when only men or both genders diversify.
Research limitations/implications
This study is based on cross-sectional data, making it impossible to examine the dynamic effects of nonfarm diversification strategies on well-being outcomes.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the current literature on rural livelihood diversification. While much attention has been paid to the feminization of agriculture, remarkably little is known about the expanding role of rural women in the nonfarm sector.
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Rachel X. Peng and Ryan Yang Wang
As public health professionals strive to promote vaccines for inoculation efforts, fervent anti-vaccination movements are marshaling against it. This study is motived by a need…
Abstract
Purpose
As public health professionals strive to promote vaccines for inoculation efforts, fervent anti-vaccination movements are marshaling against it. This study is motived by a need to better understand the online discussion around vaccination. The authors identified the sentiments, emotions and topics of pro- and anti-vaxxers’ tweets, investigated their change since the pandemic started and further examined the associations between these content features and audiences’ engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing a snowball sampling method, data were collected from the Twitter accounts of 100 pro-vaxxers (266,680 tweets) and 100 anti-vaxxers (248,425 tweets). The authors are adopting a zero-shot machine learning algorithm with a pre-trained transformer-based model for sentiment analysis and structural topic modeling to extract the topics. And the authors use the hurdle negative binomial model to test the relationships among sentiment/emotion, topics and engagement.
Findings
In general, pro-vaxxers used more positive tones and more emotions of joy in their tweets, while anti-vaxxers utilized more negative terms. The cues of sadness predominantly encourage retweets across the pro- and anti-vaccine corpus, while tweets amplifying the emotion of surprise are more attention-grabbing and getting more likes. Topic modeling of tweets yields the top 15 topics for pro- and anti-vaxxers separately. Among the pro-vaxxers’ tweets, the topics of “Child protection” and “COVID-19 situation” are positively predicting audiences’ engagement. For anti-vaxxers, the topics of “Supporting Trump,” “Injured children,” “COVID-19 situation,” “Media propaganda” and “Community building” are more appealing to audiences.
Originality/value
This study utilizes social media data and a state-of-art machine learning algorithm to generate insights into the development of emotionally appealing content and effective vaccine promotion strategies while combating coronavirus disease 2019 and moving toward a global recovery.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-03-2022-0186
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Paul Kojo Ametepe, Adeleke Oladapo Banwo and Mustapha Sina Arilesere
Combating and detecting fraud is a daunting task, especially in the Nigerian banking sector, because it necessitates a thorough understanding of the nature of fraud, as well as…
Abstract
Purpose
Combating and detecting fraud is a daunting task, especially in the Nigerian banking sector, because it necessitates a thorough understanding of the nature of fraud, as well as how it can be performed and concealed by fraudsters. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to empirically examine the relationship and the predictive ability between amoral behavior, control climate and perceived job insecurity on fraudulent intentions among bank employees in Lagos Metropolis.
Design/methodology/approach
Descriptive and cross-sectional designs were used to select employees from 12 banks using predetermined scales. In total, 1,080 questionnaires were distributed, but 950 were retrieved and analyzed. The study used multistage sampling by applying cluster, purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Correlation and hierarchical regression analyses were used to analyze the data.
Findings
A significant positive relationship and predictive abilities were established between employee’s amoral behavior and fraudulent intentions on the one hand, and employee’s job insecurity and fraudulent intention on the other, going by the additional variance identified when each variable was added in each step, implying that employees who exhibit amoral behavior are likely to engage in fraudulent intentions. In the same manner, employees who feel insecure are likely to engage in fraudulent acts because they would want to secure their future. However, there was a significant negative relationship and predictive ability between control climate and fraudulent intention; implying that inculcating a strict control climate minimizes or totally eradicates employees’ intentions to commit fraud.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is limited to amoral behavior, control climate, perceived job insecurity and fraudulent intentions; it is limited to employees in the banking sector, with a special focus on emerging economies, Nigeria, West Africa. The implication of this is that the result may not be generalized to other sectors and other countries.
Practical implications
The practical implication of the study is that managers should be aware that employees who are in danger of losing their jobs are more likely to engage in the fraudulent act, and this should be looked into. Training and retraining, workshops, conferences and seminars on employee morale behaviors as well as strict adherence to ethical codes of conduct are vital to enlighten the employees on the dangers of perpetrating fraud and the impact on themselves and the economy at large. Control climate is a very vital tool in curtailing the incidences of fraud in the organization.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the knowledge by filling the gaps left by a lack of empirical examination into the combined influence of amoral behavior, control climate and perceived job insecurity on fraudulent intentions, especially among bankers in Lagos Metropolis. It provides management with guides on how to drastically reduce the menace of fraudulent intentions in the banking sector and by extension in other non-banking organizations.
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Amira Schiff and Chen Kertcher
This study delves into the transformation of UAE-Israel relations, which transitioned from a long-term rivalry to a formal peace agreement in 2020. It aims to uncover the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study delves into the transformation of UAE-Israel relations, which transitioned from a long-term rivalry to a formal peace agreement in 2020. It aims to uncover the multifaceted elements that influenced both nations’ pursuit of bilateral negotiations, with a special emphasis on the role of unofficial collaboration.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing a case study approach, the research traces the evolution of the UAE-Israel ties, mapping their progression from covert collaborations to public accords. This exploration is set against a backdrop of political, economic, and societal factors that have historically characterized the broader Israel-Arab conflict. Real-world dynamics and theoretical constructs are analyzed in tandem to derive comprehensive insights.
Findings
Key drivers for the transformation of UAE-Israel relations included the threat from Iran, internal disturbances, economic stresses, and the strategic advantages of discreet diplomacy. Exogenous catalysts like the Covid-19 pandemic and Israel's annexation plans in 2019-2020 played pivotal roles, capitalizing on pre-existing covert collaborations and shared regional interests. Constructive strategies, notably inducements, effectively reshaped their adversarial relationship. The resultant U.S.-mediated agreement conferred strategic, security, economic, and diplomatic benefits to both parties. Importantly, the potency of conengagement conflict management strategy, especially when bolstered by exogenous factors and growing mutual interest, emerged as a game-changer in terminating longstanding rivalries.
Originality/value
This study offers a unique perspective on Israel-UAE relations, emphasizing the significance of covert engagements, inducements, and the innovative conengagement strategy in conflict resolution. By examining a relationship devoid of direct armed conflict, the research underscores the interplay of economic, political, and societal factors in reshaping rivalries. This case study serves as a testament to the potential for transformative change in enduring disputes when the right conditions and strategies align, supplementing conventional perspectives and offering valuable implications for policy and mediation initiatives in the Middle East.
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Margot Dyen, Andréa Gourmelen, Samuel Guillemot, Ziad Malas and Annick Tamaro
Preventative public health policies often rely on objective criteria to identify people in vulnerable situations. Age is one of the criteria when investigating the risk of…
Abstract
Purpose
Preventative public health policies often rely on objective criteria to identify people in vulnerable situations. Age is one of the criteria when investigating the risk of malnutrition associated with ageing. By looking at changes in the food practices of individuals as they age, this study aims to seek to contribute to more precise targeting of older adults in view of the dynamic nature of ageing.
Design/methodology/approach
From a theoretical perspective, this research is based on the life course paradigm. Data were collected from 42 semi-structured interviews with retirees aged 60 and over.
Findings
The results show that some ageing events lead to immense reconfigurations of individuals’ lives, implying changes as prior food practices are extensively replaced by new ones (“rebuilding after a tsunami”). Other more diffuse and gradual effects of ageing lead to adaptations of previous food practices and, in a more localised way, areas that can be targeted by healthy eating campaigns (“plugging the gaps”). Lastly, this study shows that a normative perspective can help endorse a new social role (“getting into character”), and that relying on their human capital (“it’s a matter of perspective”) can help people cope with new age-related mindsets.
Research limitations/implications
The sample did not include individuals with serious physical or mental health problems at the time of the interviews.
Practical implications
The study identifies social, biological and psychological events related to ageing that have an impact on food practices, as well as moments and milestones for developing public policy campaigns to promote healthy eating.
Originality/value
The study gives insights into the place of food in the process of coping with ageing, showing that food can be either a problem to solve or a resource to help cope with social or psychological imbalances. The holistic view adopted contributes to identifying other events that impact food practices (and consequently health) during the ageing process.
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Kristin Stewart, Glen Brodowsky and Donald Sciglimpaglia
Many believe that any social media harms kids because of frequent use. This study aims to examine these assumptions. It proposes and tests a model that considers two alternative…
Abstract
Purpose
Many believe that any social media harms kids because of frequent use. This study aims to examine these assumptions. It proposes and tests a model that considers two alternative pathways – one negative and one positive – through which social media affects teens’ self-reported subjective well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
This research used Preacher and Hayes process modeling to conduct path analysis on data collected on 585 teenagers from across the USA.
Findings
Results showed that along a negative pathway, frequent social media use leads to greater risky social media engagement that ultimately diminishes adolescent’s sense of well-being. Also, and perhaps simultaneously, frequent social media use leads to socially-connected social media use that enhances adolescent’s sense of well-being.
Practical implications
The research recommends ways parents, policymakers and platforms can encourage teens to use social media to connect with friends while guiding them away from pathways exposing them to risky behaviors.
Originality/value
Findings show more social media use is not necessarily harmful, but more of some types is bad, while more of others is good.
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Glenda Cook, Annette Hand, Jill Wales and Alexandra Kirton
Mobile technology and applications offer a new approach to personalised care for older people. Hear Me Now (HMN), developed by Maldaba Ltd, is an application for smartphones and…
Abstract
Purpose
Mobile technology and applications offer a new approach to personalised care for older people. Hear Me Now (HMN), developed by Maldaba Ltd, is an application for smartphones and tablets. Although originally conceived and co-produced by individuals with learning disabilities and their supporters, anecdotal evidence from specialist practitioners indicated that older people with chronic health conditions and frailty might also benefit from use of the HMN app. This feasibility study sought to explore whether older people could use the HMN app and examine their usage. The aim of this feasibility study was to explore whether older people could use HMN and to examine their usage of this application.
Design/methodology/approach
A purposive sample of six individuals (M = 4; F = 2) aged between 65 and 90 years was recruited for the study. Following training, the participants used HMN at home for different purposes over three months. Concurrently, the participants took part in an online interview every three weeks (N = 5 interviews). They also completed the Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) questionnaire during Weeks 1 and 12 and the system usability scale during Week 12 to assess usability of HMN.
Findings
The participants used the HMN app for a range of purposes and indicated that their confidence and skills increased when using HMN. Though the participants reported diverse experiences of using HMN for different purposes, it was clear the majority considered this app helpful in managing daily life and their health conditions; however, they also experienced barriers in its use such as dexterity and visual problems.
Research limitations/implications
This is a small feasibility study that was restricted to older people using the HMN app. Though valuable insights were obtained from the participants, the evidence that older people could use HMN to support their personal activities and to self-manage health conditions remains anecdotal. Further research is therefore warranted following adaptation of HMN for use by older people.
Originality/value
This study indicates that patient self-management apps such as HMN have the potential to enable older adults with long-term health conditions to play an active role in managing their condition.
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Norhudayati Mustapha, Jihad Mohammad, Farzana Quoquab and Zarina Abdul Salam
The acceptance of Islamic banking services by non-Muslim customers is not promising in the Malaysian context. Thus, this study aims to examine the effect factors that may motivate…
Abstract
Purpose
The acceptance of Islamic banking services by non-Muslim customers is not promising in the Malaysian context. Thus, this study aims to examine the effect factors that may motivate this customer group to adopt the Islamic banking services in the Malaysian context.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data through google docs from 188 respondents. Structural equation modelling partial least squares (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the hypothetical model of this study.
Findings
The result of this study found that knowledge about Islamic banking exerts a positive effect on non-Muslim beliefs (attitudinal, control and norm). Moreover, this study found a significant relationship between attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control with non-Muslim Intention towards Islamic banking services. Furthermore, the mediating effect of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control was supported.
Originality/value
This is a pioneer study that contributes to the consumer behavior literature by extending the theory of planned behavior by incorporating knowledge in the model. In addition, this study develops comparatively new relationships, practically the mediation role of beliefs (attitudinal, control and norm) between knowledge and intention.
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