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1 – 10 of 50Leadership coaching has received increased popularity over the past decade; however, there is a paucity of research that has examined its impact on leader behaviors within…
Abstract
Purpose
Leadership coaching has received increased popularity over the past decade; however, there is a paucity of research that has examined its impact on leader behaviors within organizations. Drawing upon transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this paper is to understand the benefits provided to followers when leaders experience leadership coaching.
Design/methodology/approach
This cross-sectional study collected data from 75 mid- to senior-level organizational leaders and 188 followers.
Findings
The results of this study reveal that leadership coaching is positively associated with leaders engaging in individualized consideration toward their followers, and in turn, leaders engage in constructive leadership behaviors (i.e. more delegation and less close supervision).
Research limitations/implications
While this study contributes to our understanding of leadership coaching for organizational leaders, it, however, focuses on a specific set of leadership behaviors and does not examine the practices embedded in the coaching process.
Practical implications
Leadership coaching facilitates the leader’s aspiration to provide their followers with more individual support. Organizations, in turn, need to promote more opportunities and practices for this interaction to continue.
Originality/value
This is the first study to empirically demonstrate the relationship between leadership coaching and constructive leadership behaviors.
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Yan Chang-Richards, Suzanne Wilkinson, Erica Seville and David Brunsdon
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the effects of a major disaster on the management of human resources in the construction sector. It sets out to identify…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the effects of a major disaster on the management of human resources in the construction sector. It sets out to identify the construction skills challenges and the factors that affected skills availability following the 2010/2011 earthquakes in Christchurch. It is hoped that this study will provide insights for on-going reconstruction and future disaster response with respect to the problem of skills shortages.
Design/methodology/approach
A triangulation method was adopted. The quantitative method, namely, a questionnaire survey, was employed to provide a baseline description. Field observations and interviews were used as a follow-up to ascertain issues and potential shortages over time. Three focus groups in the form of research workshops were convened to gain further insight into the feedback and to investigate the validity and applicability of the research findings.
Findings
The earthquakes in Christchurch had compounded the pre-existing skills shortages in the country due to heightened demand from reconstruction. Skills shortages primarily existed in seismic assessment and design for land and structures, certain trades, project management and site supervision. The limited technical capability available nationally, shortage of temporary accommodation to house additional workers, time needed for trainees to become skilled workers, lack of information about reconstruction workloads and lack of operational capacity within construction organisations, were critical constraints to the resourcing of disaster recovery projects.
Research limitations/implications
The research findings contribute to the debate on skills issues in construction. The study provides evidence that contributes to an improved understanding of the industry’s skills vulnerability and emerging issues that would likely exist after a major disaster in a resource-limited country such as New Zealand.
Practical implications
From this research, decision makers and construction organisations can gain a clear direction for improving the construction capacity and capability for on-going reconstruction. Factors that affected the post-earthquake skills availability can be considered by decision makers and construction organisations in their workforce planning for future disaster events. The recommendations will assist them in addressing skills shortages for on-going reconstruction.
Originality/value
Although the study is country-specific, the findings show the nature and scale of skills challenges the construction industry is likely to face following a major disaster, and the potential issues that may compound skills shortages. It provides lessons for other disaster-prone countries where the resource pool is small and a large number of additional workers are needed to undertake reconstruction.
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Diego Finchelstein, Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez and Erica Helena Salvaj
In this exploratory multiple case study, we aim to compare the internationalization of two state-owned enterprises (SOEs) owned by subnational governments with three owned by…
Abstract
Purpose
In this exploratory multiple case study, we aim to compare the internationalization of two state-owned enterprises (SOEs) owned by subnational governments with three owned by central governments in Latin America. This study provides a contextualized answer to the question: What are the differences in the internationalization of subnationally owned SOEs compared to central SOEs? This study finds that the speed and diversification of these two types of SOEs’ internationalization differ because they have a different expansion logic. Subnationally owned SOEs have a gradual and diversified expansion following market rules. Central government’s SOEs are specialized and take more drastic steps in their internationalization, which relates to non-market factors.
Design/methodology/approach
This study builds an exploratory qualitative comparative case analysis that uses multiple sources of data and information to develop a comprehensive understanding of SOEs through process tracing.
Findings
The study posits some assumptions that are confirmed in the case analysis. This study finds relevant differences between sub-national (SSOEs) and central authority (CSOEs’) strategies. SSOEs’ fewer resources and needs to increase income push them to follow a gradual market-driven internationalization and to diversify abroad. CSOEs non-gradual growth is justified by non-market factors (i.e. national politics). CSOEs do not diversify abroad due to the broader set of constituencies they have to face.
Research limitations/implications
Given the exploratory comparative case study of this research, the findings are bounded by the particularities of the cases and their region (Latin America). This paper and its findings can be useful for theory building but it does not claim any generalization capacity.
Originality/value
This study adds complexity into the SOEs phenomenon by distinguishing between different types of SOEs. This paper contributes to the study of subnational phenomena and its effect in SOEs’ internationalization process, which is an understudied topic. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is among the first studies that explore subnational SOEs in Latin America.
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To find out the online surfing habits of kids and recommend ways companies can improve their online message to target young consumers.
Abstract
Purpose
To find out the online surfing habits of kids and recommend ways companies can improve their online message to target young consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
The article considers how the owners of websites targeted at children relate to their audience. It investigates the online surfing habits of kids, the drivers behind their Web usage, the activities kids use the Web for, and what appeals to children online (and importantly, what doesn’t). It includes practical recommendations for website owners based on kids’ online preferences and suggests how brand owners can build customer loyalty online, analyse Web usage and segment users. It also cites several case studies of websites targeting children to highlight some individual company strategies, and mentions areas of concerns, such as data privacy online.
Findings
The Internet is an increasingly important channel for targeting young consumers. Children use the Web for a mixture of activities; they are naturally inquisitive and like to use search engines to discover new things. They also have a shorter attention span than adults, dislike too much text and complex interfaces. One way of building a deeper relationship with visitors is to ask them to register using incentives. In exclusive areas for registered guests, Web analytics can be used to identify popular items.
Originality/value
The paper is of interest to any brand owners who want to improve their website’s appeal to young consumers. It also offers insight into kids’ surfing habits and preferences, which makes it of interest to companies and agencies marketing to kids.
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Erica E. van der Westhuizen and E. Stan Miller
There are few veterinary libraries or information centres in sub‐Saharan Africa, on average one to two per country. This scarcity makes cooperation all the more vital. For…
Abstract
There are few veterinary libraries or information centres in sub‐Saharan Africa, on average one to two per country. This scarcity makes cooperation all the more vital. For successful cooperation, effective communication structures are a prerequisite. These structures are not only necessary for library staff but for the faculty members they serve as well, in their communication with colleagues in related research fields or veterinary extension projects. (1) The steps taken by the Veterinary Science Library of the University of Pretoria to promote electronic communication in particular, in order to render a more effective information service to its clients and others beyond South Africa's borders are described namely: — the use of the Internet listserv VETLIB‐L; — the use of the non‐university networks SANGONET and HealthLink mainly for community outreach projects; — making the University of Pretoria Academic Information Service's own network, ROMINFO, available to non‐university persons via dial‐in facilities; — the creation of a unique electronic forum facility by the Faculty of Veterinary Science and the Library in conjunction with the CSIR's NIBS, called VETAFRICA, mainly for practising veterinarians needing information. (2) Veterinary lecturer involvement in teaching and research is increasingly dependent on Veterinary Computer‐Mediated Communications (VC‐MC), in Africa and globally. A sampling of some of the dynamically expanding information sources globally available to online veterinary teams and animal health workers, as well as a starter list of contact details of currently available online veterinary faculties, libraries and institutions in Southern Africa, is provided.
Kiara S. Summerville, Erica T. Campbell, Krystal Flantroy, Ashley Nicole Prowell and Stephanie Anne Shelton
Qualitative research consistently centers Eurocentrism through courses' integrations of ontological, epistemological and axiological perspectives. This literal whitewashing was a…
Abstract
Purpose
Qualitative research consistently centers Eurocentrism through courses' integrations of ontological, epistemological and axiological perspectives. This literal whitewashing was a source of great frustration and confusion for the authors, four Black women, who found their identities omitted and disregarded in qualitative inquiry. Using Collins' outsider-within concept and collective narratives to center their experiences, the authors seek through their writing to actively repurpose and re-engage with qualitative scholarship that generally seeks to exclude Black women.
Design/methodology/approach
Theoretically informed by Collins' outsider-within concept, the authors use Deleuze and Parnet's collective biography to tell the stories of four Black doctoral students negotiating race, gender, class and intellectual identity, while critiquing Eurocentric theory, through coursework. The collaborative writing process provided shared space for the engagement of individual thoughts and experiences with(in) others' narratives.
Findings
Black women can interpret qualitative inquiry outside of the Eurocentric norm, and qualitative courses can provide spaces for them to do so by repositioning Black women philosophers as central to understanding qualitative inquiry.
Originality/value
Through collective biography (Deleuze and Parnet, 2007), this paper centers the voices of four Black women scholars who use a creative writing approach to think with/through theory as Black women (Jackson and Mazzei, 2012). The paper offers new discussions of and ways in which qualitative researchers might decolonize Eurocentric ways of knowing in qualitative inquiry and qualitative pedagogy from students' perspectives.
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Apprenticeships are now usually seen as a model of education focused on occupational preparation, albeit manifested in different ways across nation states. However, throughout…
Abstract
Purpose
Apprenticeships are now usually seen as a model of education focused on occupational preparation, albeit manifested in different ways across nation states. However, throughout human history, the majority of occupational preparation has been premised upon apprenticeship as a mode of learning. That is, a preparation arising mainly through apprentices’ active and interdependent engagement in their work, rather than being taught or directly guided by more experienced practitioners. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of literature.
Findings
A way of considering apprenticeship as a mode of learning as well as a model of education.
Research limitations/implications
Three elements of considering and supporting apprenticeship as a mode of learning.
Practical implications
Practice curriculum, practice pedagogies and personal epistemology.
Social implications
A way of considering apprenticeship as a mode of learning as well as a model of education.
Originality/value
A way of considering apprenticeship as a mode of learning as well as a model of education.
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Weisheng Chiu, Doyeon Won and Jung-sup Bae
The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model and to investigate the relationships among internal marketing, organizational commitment and job performance in sport…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model and to investigate the relationships among internal marketing, organizational commitment and job performance in sport and fitness services.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected using a questionnaire survey from 254 employees at each of 12 municipal sport centers in Taipei City and were analyzed primarily using structural equation modeling techniques.
Findings
The results indicated that internal marketing has positive effects on organizational commitment and job performance. Moreover, organizational commitment has a positive influence on job performance and plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between internal marketing and job performance. The findings identify the relationships among internal marketing, organizational commitment and job performance.
Originality/value
This study proposed and tested an empirical model linking internal marketing, organizational commitment and job performance in sport and fitness services. Moreover, this study further probed into the path of influence of internal marketing strategies on job performance of employees by including their organizational commitment in the mediating process. The findings of this study have insightful implications and emphasize the important role of internal marketing in the management of customer service in sports.
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