Search results
1 – 10 of 35Voluntary sector information, presents particular challenges to information providers, in terms of networking across a diverse body of organisations. Opportunities offered by WWW…
Abstract
Voluntary sector information, presents particular challenges to information providers, in terms of networking across a diverse body of organisations. Opportunities offered by WWW community networks include information sharing through online databases, more efficiently updated than printed sources, and electronic networking, potentially easing communication between organisations and between sectors. This paper presents the results of both quantitative and qualitative surveys of the local voluntary sector in the Borough of Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire. The IT capabilities and information needs were measured and examined. The opinions of local practitioners in voluntary sector information were also sought. A range of different levels of IT skills and facilities was found amongst local voluntary sector organisations, and a reticence amongst some organisations to get involved in recent IT developments was also detected. Facilitation, in the form of training, IT support and facilities, was therefore identified as important to effective voluntary sector information provision. It was recommended that research should be carried out with regard to local information needs, and that an editorial board be established.
Emma Martin and Katherine Gardiner
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the steps the hospitality sector is taking to ensure compliance with the age discrimination legislation introduced in October 2006.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the steps the hospitality sector is taking to ensure compliance with the age discrimination legislation introduced in October 2006.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of the five sub sectors of the hospitality industry, hotels, restaurants, pubs and clubs, contract catering and hospitality services, was conducted during April 2006.
Findings
It was found that ageism was considered a problem by respondents from hospitality services, largely public sector organisations, and the greatest impact from the legislation was considered to be within these firms. Overall, 45 per cent of respondents reported knowing “little” or “nothing” about the incoming legislation and the overwhelming majority felt they did not know enough.
Research limitations/implications
Out of the postal survey of 950 organisations there were 112 respondents, representing a response rate of just below 12 per cent. Perhaps the most prominent issue with surveys of this type are the concerns of employers about compliance and being caught out or, in this case, it may highlight a greater level of apathy or lack of awareness than the following results show.
Practical implications
The findings show the need to target the message about the age discrimination legislation particularly to the pub, club and hotel sector.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the desire for knowledge about the legislation across the sector and the lack of awareness of sources of information.
Details
Keywords
Liz Matykiewicz and Robert McMurray
The purpose of this paper is to consider the ways in which certain occupational, organizational and political positions become active sites of leadership construction. Taking as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the ways in which certain occupational, organizational and political positions become active sites of leadership construction. Taking as their example the introduction of the Modern Matron in the English National Health Service (NHS) this paper considers how new forms of gender transcending leadership are constituted relationally through a dynamic interplay of historical, nostalgic, social, political and organizational forces.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted within an interpretive paradigm of social constructivism and draws on data from semi‐structured interviews with a purposive sample of 16 Modern Matrons working in a single English NHS Trust. In keeping with inductive, qualitative research practice, data has been analysed thematically and ordered using descriptive, hierarchical and relational coding.
Findings
Their contention is that the Modern Matron presents as a site for relational leadership in respect of both self and other. This paper argues that the construction of Modern Matron usefully points to the ways in which multiple discourses, practices and relations may be intertwined in defining what it is to lead in contemporary organizations. This paper highlights the extent to which leadership is an on‐going relational co‐construction based – in this instance – in the interplay of four factors: nostalgic authority, visibility, praxis and order negotiation. Together, these produce a mode of leading that is neither heroic nor popularist.
Research limitations/implications
Further research might consider how competing temporal, political and organizational imperatives encourage the development of particular sites for leadership, and how such leadership is then re‐performed in practice, as well as the affects/effect on individual and organisational performance.
Originality/value
The data provides opportunity to consider the “lived experience” of leaders in sites that are traditionally gendered female in non‐standard/public sector settings. Moreover, this paper presents empirical evidence in support of leadership as socially constructed and relational, borne of tension between different temporal, spatial and experiential factors, the on‐going negotiation of which both utilises and transcends masculinized and feminized gender performances. The result is a form of “leading” which is often subtle, difficult to identify and self‐effacing.
Details
Keywords
Despite the renowned poor employment practices across the hospitality industry recent analysis of the Workplace Industrial Relations Survey reported higher levels of job…
Abstract
Despite the renowned poor employment practices across the hospitality industry recent analysis of the Workplace Industrial Relations Survey reported higher levels of job satisfaction among hospitality employees than those in other industries. This paper presents a collective case study of hospitality employees across four small independent restaurants to shed light onto why this situation might exist. The paper discusses the influence an employee's orientation to work has and demonstrates how orientations underpin individual attitudes and behaviour. In presenting four different orientations to work, how individuals manage work and life for personal satisfaction and gain, is illustrated. Indeed, this individualistic ideology contributes to the levels of job satisfaction reported.
Details
Keywords
Emma H. Wood and Jonathan Moss
Using techniques developed mainly in subjective well-being and “happiness” studies, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the applicability of these and related methods for…
Abstract
Purpose
Using techniques developed mainly in subjective well-being and “happiness” studies, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the applicability of these and related methods for understanding and evaluating the emotional responses experienced within the live music event environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The concept of “experience” is debated and set within the context of music events designed to create a specific type of emotional experience for the attendees. The main tools for researching experiences over a time period are considered focusing on the “experience sampling method” (ESM) (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997) and the “day reconstruction method” (Kahneman et al., 2004). These methods are critiqued in terms of their usefulness and practicality as research tools in the study of audience emotions.
Findings
A revised method was then developed and a small-scale trial undertaken at a live music event, the results of which are presented and discussed. A conceptual model illustrating the interconnectedness of experience is introduced as an example of the application of the data gathered through this method to theory development. The paper concludes by reflecting on both the methodological appropriateness and practicality of ESMs as a way of gathering valuable data on the emotions engendered by events.
Research limitations/implications
An obstacle yet to be overcome is using this data to predict attitudinal and behavioural change related to arts marketing goals. However, studies in other areas have clearly shown that emotional response is a significant indicator of future behaviour suggesting that the potential is there.
Practical implications
The trialled method provides a useful starting point for better understanding the complexity of emotional effects triggered at live music events.
Originality/value
The paper concludes that an adaptation of these methods has the potential to provide much needed rich and credible data on the feelings and emotional reactions triggered by different elements of a live event.
Details
Keywords
The COVID-19 pandemic has driven universities to deliver education online, making use of digital platforms for both formal and informal learning. This move has accelerated…
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has driven universities to deliver education online, making use of digital platforms for both formal and informal learning. This move has accelerated concerns regarding institutions’ capabilities to protect students from online abuse and support those who fall victim to its many forms. Empirical data drawn from UK universities prior to the pandemic highlight the lack of policy and practice across the university sector around both awareness of, and support from, online abuse among the student body. Further concerns during the pandemic, which highlight failures not just of safeguarding policy, but cybersecurity practice, demonstrate the need for universities to not only recognise their duty of care regarding student welfare but also to provide training and education for all, making use of online and hybrid higher education.
Details
Keywords
Chris Connell, Emma Jones, Michael Haslam, Jayne Firestone, Gill Pope and Christine Thompson
This paper aims to explain how and why the philosophical changes to the pre-registration nursing standards by the UK’s Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) have resulted in a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explain how and why the philosophical changes to the pre-registration nursing standards by the UK’s Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) have resulted in a paradigm shift for mental health nursing.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper critically examines the changes to nursing education standards and offers an analysis of the problems associated with the shift towards a generic nursing syllabus.
Findings
The said shift prioritises physical health intervention, skills, procedures and tasks over the uniqueness of mental health nursing.
Practical implications
This paper argues that mental health nursing skills and qualities such as connection, genuine advocacy and therapeutic-use-of-self have been undervalued and under-represented by the new education standards.
Originality/value
This paper calls on the profession and service users to join the discourse and inform future mental health nursing identity. Ultimately, this paper calls on the NMC to reconsider the underpinning principles of the education standards and allot due consideration to the specific needs of the mental health nursing profession.
Details