Search results

In Egypt, the IUD is the most common contraceptive method since 1988 and has remained so despite a recent drop in its share from 59.9% in 2008 to 51.5% in 2014 in favour of hormonal methods, which increased from 19.7% for pills and 12.3% for injectables in 2008 to 27.4% and 14.5% in 2014 according to 2014 Egypt demographic and health survey (EDHS). The recent shift away from intrauterine contraceptive device (IUDs) to hormonal methods have contributed to increased discontinuation. This paper aims to answer three questions: To what extent does the method type influence the hazard of contraceptive discontinuation in Egypt? Is the interaction between method type and duration of use a predictor of the probability of discontinuation after controlling other variables? What are the other important background variables that affect the hazard of contraceptive discontinuation?

Using data from EDHS2014, separate multilevel discrete-time proportional hazard models for events of interest (abandoned use while in need, switched to another method in the month following discontinuation and method failure) were built.

Only IUD users are significantly less likely to abandon use while in need and to experience method failure and a reduced risk of switching. During the first 6–10 months of use, all types of discontinuation can be significantly reduced for all three methods. Demographic variables do not significantly affect abandonment but strongly affect switching and significantly affect failure. Socio-economic variables do not significantly affect abandonment and switching. Exposure to media has a significant effect on abandonment but not on switching. Community contraceptive prevalence rate strongly affects switching.

Results confirm that the counselling should be more intense during the first year of method use and should pay special attention to women who are 25 years old and above and those who have two or more children. Also, media campaigns are important and especially those addressing the issue of abandoning while in need.

The purpose of this study is to explore the process of initial sensemaking that organizational members activate when they reflect on AI adoption in their work settings, and how the perceived features of AI technologies trigger sensemaking processes which in turn have the potential to influence workplace learning modes and trajectories.

We adopted an explorative qualitative and interactive approach to capture free fantasies and imaginative ideas of AI among people within the industry. We adopt a conceptual perspective that combines theories on initial sensemaking and workplace learning as a theoretical lens to analyze data collected during 23 focus groups held at four large Swedish manufacturing companies. The data were analyzed using the Gioia method.

Two aggregated dimensions were defined and led to the development of an integrated conceptualization of the initial sensemaking of AI technology adoption. Specifically, sensemaking triggered by abstract features of AI technology mainly pointed to an exploitative learning path. Sensemaking triggered by concrete features of the technology mainly pointed to explorative paths, where socio-technical processes appear to be crucial in the process of AI adoption.

This is one of the first studies that attempts to explore and conceptualize how organizations make sense of prospective workplace learning in the context of AI adoption.

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on different types of knowledge created and how this links to the project design, process, and content.

In this paper the authors investigate participants' experiences from a three-year interactive research project, designed to trigger reflection among the participants. They apply a knowledge creation perspective on experiences expressed by participants as a result of different research project activities.

The study resulted in five categories of insights with potential for sustainable influence on the participating organizations: an understanding of concepts and theories; an understanding of the impacts of collaborative, reflective work processes; an understanding of the meaning of one's own organizational context; an understanding of the importance of increased organizational self-awareness; and an understanding of the potential for human interaction and communication.

The author’s findings suggest that it is possible to design a project to promote more profound and sustainable effects on a business beyond the explicit purpose of the project. They advise practitioners to make room for iterative reflection; be mindful to create a trustful and open environment in the team; challenge results with opposing views and theories; and make room for sharing experiences and giving feedback.

This study contributes to unraveling key practices which can nurture conditions for knowledge creation in interactive research projects and business projects alike.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate consensus formation among the top and middle managers during the strategy process. Specifically, the paper seeks to gain insight into the role of strategic consensus during the transition between strategy formulation and implementation.

Adopting a social practice perspective and a single case study approach, we undertook semi-structured interviews of twenty-seven managers working in a Kuwaiti Ministry. Data collected were analyzed using thematic analysis.

We found that social interaction among individuals with similar characteristics and shared understanding fosters consensus. Factors such as alignment of strategic priorities, managerial flux and centralized control contribute to the extent to which strategic consensus is achievable. Additionally, managerial turnover and lack of empowerment hamper the development of shared understanding. Finally, that consensus on strategy content is insufficient for effective intergroup communications.

The research contributes to the strategic consensus literature from a social practice perspective as it provides new insights into the dynamics between top managers and middle managers. Significantly, it highlights the importance and need for common understanding, as well as communications prioritization among managers for consensus development and successful implementation of organization strategy.

The similarity of family planning (FP) indicators from EDHS2014 to that of EDHS2000 is alarming for policymakers and researchers who consider it as an echo of the past and a threat, which the FP programme has to face to prevent its progression. In 2000, the total fertility rate (TFR) was 3.5, the contraceptive prevalence rate was 56.1% and the discontinuation rate was 29.5%. In 2014, these indicators were 3.5, 58.5 and 30.1%, respectively. Although the change in the all method discontinuation rate is not large, it is a result of great changes in the method specific discontinuation rates, which was masked by changes in the contraceptive method mix. This study aims to present a comparison between contraceptive discontinuation rates in 2000, 2008 and 2014, discuss the reasons for discontinuation by methods and background characteristics of women and calculate the impact of eliminating discontinuation for reasons related to method and service provision on fertility.

Single/multiple decrement life tables were applied to the calendar data of the EDHS2008 and EDHS2014, to examine various net rates of contraceptive discontinuation by reasons and the status after discontinuation. The TFR estimated in the absence of method failure and abandonment while in need of births occurred within 24 months after discontinuation using installed Stata command tfr2.

The study estimates the impact of discontinuation on the TFR in 2014 to be an increase of about 20%. The TFR of 3.5 would have been only 2.8 if discontinuation due to method failure and method/service-related reasons were eliminated. Improvement regarding discontinuation behaviour is evident by increased switching, from 43.6 to 54.3% and the drop in the proportion of abandoning use while in need from 56.4 to 45.7%. Differentials suggest that discontinuation is expected to increase among vulnerable groups as desired fertility continues to rise. The increase in the share of “desire to become pregnant” – as a reason for discontinuation is a recent trend observed during the period between EDHS2008 and EDHS2014 and is recognised as a challenge by the national population strategy.

This study confirms that contraceptive discontinuation is an important part of the overall fertility increase observed by EDHS2014. The rising trend of increased desired family size and the shift away from using the intra uterine device may be considered as major challenges facing the FP programme in Egypt.

This chapter aims to develop a conceptual framework to probe evidence of open strategy (OS) phenomenon as being practiced by adaptive small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in manufacturing industries. Specifically, this study focuses on the act and doing of strategy communications, based on a set of readying and entrepreneurial practices, involving a plurality of internal and external actors (i.e., owner manager/entrepreneur, middle managers, shop floor employees, suppliers, etc.). The empirical study is based on a deep collaboration with a Scottish SME that supplies outsourced bottling and packaging services to the Scotch Whisky industry through a seven-year longitudinal qualitative inquiry. This study finds that the OS phenomenon is classified into transparent, participatory, and inclusive practices. These nested OS practices are enacted progressively as particular events are unfolding during organizational lifecycle and renewal processes. Sustaining temporal openness in strategy is underpinned by important boundary readying practices in SMEs.

Strategic consensus between operators and managers is an important means to accomplish a successful manufacturing strategy (MS) process. Previous studies largely left out individual operators from this concept. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the level of strategic consensus on the MS within the operations function, that is, the operators’ and managers’ perceptions of MS.

Interviews were conducted with both operators and managers at three small- and medium-sized enterprises in Sweden. The MS dimensions were selected based on previous research; the data were analysed by using thematic coding.

The study shows that the levels of strategic consensus on the MS vary among companies. Even when strategic consensus exists between operators and managers, their underlying reasons often differ. Furthermore, the levels of strategic consensus vary among MS dimensions. The companies’ usage of information-sharing channels, along with their size and position in the supply chain, can be important for the level of strategic consensus.

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge in three ways. First, it expands the scope of the MS dimensions under study, thus offering a stronger, resource-based perspective on MS and strategic consensus than what earlier studies showed. Second, it goes beyond the management level by including both managers and operators as the unit of analysis. Third, compared to previous research, it focuses on a new context and is based on in-depth case studies.

Strategic management is traditionally seen as an exclusive managerial task rather than inclusive where accountability is reserved for top managers. However, contemporary strategy management practices increasingly pay attention to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) by engaging with broader internal and external stakeholders via more open business models such as ecosystems. Hence, central to our examination is the concept of openness disposition, which in the context of strategic management refers to the tendency of individuals, collectives, and managers to make strategy transparent, participatory, and/or inclusive, or look for closure. While openness in strategy is regarded as a positive means of contemporary management, fostering diversity, creativity, innovation, and empowerment, there are some researched downsides too. The purpose of this chapter is to address the openness puzzle in strategy and gain a deeper understanding of the dilemmas of bottom-up strategy initiatives, and investigate the associated dilemmas, if any in the context of manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We contribute to addressing the performative effects of the dynamic expansion and contraction in openness within the SME strategy process while using the concept of openness dilemmas, tensions, and disposition. Using the Management Control Theory, this chapter will combine theory with SME practitioners’ experiences of bottom-up strategy initiatives to increase EDI in their organisations. Based on findings that emerged from a four-year longitudinal multiple case study research with 10 European SMEs, we found that bottom-up strategy exercises are more interactive. They consider a greater number of views, increase legitimacy, and EDI at the workplace, and yield more process benefits, but are time-consuming and difficult to organise that require special attention to the capability, reciprocity, and credibility dimensions.

There is a growing recognition that social norms play a key role in perpetuating gender- and age-based violence, and that tackling social norms must be an integral component of prevention and response interventions to ensure meaningful progress towards the ambitious targets of eliminating gender-based violence (Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] Target 5.2) and violence against children (SDG 16.2) by 2030. However, existing research often fails to adequately capture life-course and context-specific complexities. To explore these challenges, this chapter focuses on adolescents’ vulnerabilities to violence in Afar, one of the Ethiopia’s most disadvantaged regions. Drawing on findings from the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) mixed-methods 2018 baseline research, and using a socio-ecological framework, the chapter highlights that while the patterning of violence experienced by adolescent girls and boys is shifting across generations at the micro-level, gender- and age-related social norms remain deeply entrenched in both migrating and settled pastoralist communities. At the meso-level, institutional barriers to addressing adolescents’ experiences of violence include a lack of basic infrastructure, a dearth of confidential reporting spaces, limited adolescent- and gender-friendly personnel within the police and justice sectors, and poor coordination. At the macro-level, the chapter underscores the significant disconnect between Ethiopia’s progressive national policies and adolescents’ experiences of violence, reflected in the availability and quality of prevention and response services. The chapter concludes that to adequately tailor services to local realities and tackle adolescents’ specific vulnerabilities, a fine-grained analysis of the gendered and generational experiences of violence in its diverse forms is critical.

Domestic violence is an intimate relationship that causes physical, sexual or mental suffering. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has had a ruinous effect globally, particularly in increasing the rate of domestic violence. Thus, this study aims to assess the prevalence of domestic violence against women during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors.

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on Bench Sheko Zone residents from May to June 2021. Participants in the study were selected by multistage sampling technique. The collected data were coded, entered into EpiData 3.1 and analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Bi-variable and multiple logistic regression analysis models were fitted. Odds ratio was used at a 95% confidence level, and P-value < 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance.

A total of 1,512 eligible women participated, with a 98.3% response rate. The proportion of domestic violence against women was 42.5%. The prevalence of psychological violence was 30.4%, followed by physical violence at 20.2% and sexual violence accounted for 9.6%. Variables, such as rural residency, women with no formal education, partner who had no formal education, women with monthly income of less than 25,00 Ethiopian birr and partner who was current substance user, were found to be associated with domestic violence against women.

Domestic violence against women is still an important public health problem in Ethiopia. Special attention should be paid to identified predictors to reduce domestic violence beyond designing prevention and control strategies along with coronavirus pandemic intervention plan.

The findings of this study show domestic violence against women is still an important public health problem in Ethiopia. Special attention should be paid to identified predictors to reduce domestic violence beyond designing prevention and control strategies, along with the coronavirus pandemic intervention plan.