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Frank Ato Ghansah and Weisheng Lu
While COVID-19 mitigation measures (CMMs) aided in steady recovery during the pandemic, they also impeded movement across economies/borders, affecting quality assurance (QA) of…
Abstract
Purpose
While COVID-19 mitigation measures (CMMs) aided in steady recovery during the pandemic, they also impeded movement across economies/borders, affecting quality assurance (QA) of Cross-border Construction Logistics and Supply Chain (Cb-CLSC). However, prior studies on the pandemic in the construction project industry have not revealed how CMMs have impacted QA. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the impact of the CMMs on the QA of Cb-CLSC.
Design/methodology/approach
This is achieved by adopting an embedded mixed-method approach involving a desk literature review and engaging 150 experts from different economies across the globe using expert surveys, and results verified via semi-structured expert interviews. Structural equation modelling-based multiple regression analysis (SEM-MRA) was integrated to examine the impact of the CMMs on the QA, along with descriptive and content analysis.
Findings
The study confirmed that CMMs have not only impacted the QA negatively but also influenced the positioning of the QA for the post-pandemic era and probably to survive the risks of future pandemics. Among all the identified CMMs, the top three critical measures include “lockdown (CMM2)”, “use of personal protective equipment, such as nose masks, disinfects, etc. (CMM5)”, and “electronic/virtual meetings (CMM7)”. However, CMM5 possesses the highest contributory power to form CMM in impacting the QA, and this can be regarded as largely positive by strengthening health and safety management systems. Its negative impact lies with the project cost increment and the inconveniences of using nose and face masks.
Practical implications
This study provides a better understanding to construction practitioners and policy makers on how the pandemic policies, i.e. CMMs, have impacted QA and can aid in formulating planning and operational decisions to adequately position the QA for the post-pandemic era and to endure the risks of future pandemics.
Originality/value
The study contributes to knowledge in that it provides a better understanding of how the pandemic policies, such as CMMs, have impacted QA and can aid in formulating planning and operational decisions to adequately position the QA for the post-pandemic era and to endure the risks of future pandemics. This area of study has been given limited attention among prior studies during the pandemic.
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Nadia Caidi, Saadia Muzaffar and Elizabeth Kalbfleisch
This pan-Canadian study examines the information practices of STEM-trained immigrant women to Canada as they navigate workfinding and workplace integration. Our study focuses on a…
Abstract
Purpose
This pan-Canadian study examines the information practices of STEM-trained immigrant women to Canada as they navigate workfinding and workplace integration. Our study focuses on a population of highly skilled immigrant women from across Canada and uses an information practice lens to examine their lived experiences of migration and labour market integration. As highly trained STEM professionals in pursuit of employment, our participants have specific needs and challenges, and as we explore these, we consider the intersection of their information practices with government policies, settlement services and the hiring practices of STEM employers.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted a qualitative study using in-depth interviews with 74 immigrant women across 13 Canadian provinces and territories to understand the nature of their engagement with employment-seeking in STEM sectors. This article reports the findings related to the settlement and information experiences of the immigrant women as they navigate new information landscapes.
Findings
As immigrants, as women and as STEM professionals, the experiences of the 74 participants reflect both marginality and privilege. The reality of their intersectional identities is that these women may not be well-served by broader settlement resources targeting newcomers, but neither are the specific conventions of networking and job-seeking in the STEM sectors in Canada fully apparent or accessible to them. The findings also point to the broader systemic and contextual factors that participants have to navigate and that shape in a major way their workfinding journeys.
Originality/value
The findings of this pan-Canadian study have theoretical and practical implications for policy and research. Through interviews with these STEM professionals, we highlight the barriers and challenges of an under-studied category of migrants (the highly skilled and “desirable” type of immigrants). We provide a critical discussion of their settlement experiences and expose the idiosyncrasies of a system that claims to value skilled talent while structurally making it very difficult to deliver on its promises to recruit and retain highly qualified personnel. Our findings point to specific aspects of these skilled professionals’ experiences, as well as the broader systemic and contextual factors that shape their workfinding journey.
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Due to its high leverage nature, a bank suffers vitally from the credit risk it inherently bears. As a result, managing credit is the ultimate responsibility of a bank. In this…
Abstract
Due to its high leverage nature, a bank suffers vitally from the credit risk it inherently bears. As a result, managing credit is the ultimate responsibility of a bank. In this chapter, we examine how efficiently banks manage their credit risk via a powerful tool used widely in the decision/management science area called data envelopment analysis (DEA). Among various existing versions, our DEA is a two-stage, dynamic model that captures how each bank performs relative to its peer banks in terms of value creation and credit risk control. Using data from the largest 22 banks in the United States over the period of 1996 till 2013, we have identified leading banks such as First Bank systems and Bank of New York Mellon before and after mergers and acquisitions, respectively. With the goal of preventing financial crises such as the one that occurred in 2008, a conceptual model of credit risk reduction and management (CRR&M) is proposed in the final section of this study. Discussions on strategy formulations at both the individual bank level and the national level are provided. With the help of our two-stage DEA-based decision support systems and CRR&M-driven strategies, policy/decision-makers in a banking sector can identify improvement opportunities regarding value creation and risk mitigation. The effective tool and procedures presented in this work will help banks worldwide manage the unknown and become more resilient to potential credit crises in the 21st century.
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The aim of this paper is to explore the stakeholder exclusion practices of responsible leaders.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to explore the stakeholder exclusion practices of responsible leaders.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretive multiple case analyses of seven responsibly led organisations was employed. Twenty-two qualitative interviews were undertaken to investigate and understand perceptions and practice of responsible leaders and their approach to stakeholder inclusion and exclusion.
Findings
The findings revealed new and surprising insights where responsible leaders compromised their espoused values of inclusivity through the application of a personal bias, resulting in the exclusion of certain stakeholders. This exclusivity practice focused on the informal evaluation of potential stakeholders’ values, and where they did not align with those of the responsible leader, these stakeholders were excluded from participation with the organisation. This resulted in the creation and continuity of a culture of shared moral purpose across the organisation.
Research limitations/implications
This study focussed on responsible leader-led organisations, so the next stage of the research will include mainstream organisations (i.e. without explicit responsible leadership) to examine how personal values bias affects stakeholder selection in a wider setting.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that reflexive practice and critically appraising management methods in normative leadership approaches may lead to improvements in diversity management.
Originality/value
This paper presents original empirical data challenging current perceptions of responsible leader inclusivity practices and indicates areas of leadership development that may need to be addressed.
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Colleen Fitzpatrick and Adam Friedman
This study explores how one novice teacher navigated his first-year teaching sixth-grade social studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores how one novice teacher navigated his first-year teaching sixth-grade social studies.
Design/methodology/approach
One-sixth grade novice teacher was observed during his unit on the Islamic Empire. The teacher was interviewed before the unit began to understand his approach to combating Islamophobia and interviewed again after the unit so he could reflect on the unit and discuss if he believed he had accomplished his original goal. Classroom artifacts (handouts, slide decks, etc.) were collected.
Findings
The findings highlight the various forces that impacted the decisions the teacher made in the classroom. Lack of support from administration and various colleagues left the teacher feeling overwhelmed and unable to accomplish his goals. While the teacher started the unit with a clear purpose for teaching against Islamophobia, he ultimately taught a unit where students memorized discrete pieces of information.
Originality/value
This study adds to previous research on the need for providing administrative support for novice teachers to be able to teach in ambitious ways by highlighting the numerous shortcomings.
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The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of industry specialization of audit partners and audit committee members on the level of tax avoidance in Australian banks.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of industry specialization of audit partners and audit committee members on the level of tax avoidance in Australian banks.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a multivariate regression analysis based on hand-collected data consisting of 180 observations from Australian domestic banks between 2010 and 2018.
Findings
The primary results of the empirical analysis indicate that audit partner industry specialization is negatively associated with the level of tax avoidance in Australian banks. Regarding the audit committee, the proportion of industry specialists among audit committee members reduces the magnitude of tax avoidance. These results are robust, as they hold the same for alternative measures of tax avoidance and industry specialization of audit partner and audit committee members. Results from supplementary analysis reveal that the interactive effect of both audit firm and audit partner industry specialization strengthens the auditors’ effectiveness in reducing the level of tax avoidance.
Practical implications
As this study highlights the importance of the industry specialization in decreasing tax avoidance, it can be beneficial for policymakers to assess the impact of good governance on the level of tax avoidance in the banking industry.
Originality/value
Even though the existing studies examine the link between the governance actors’ industry specialization and tax avoidance in nonfinancial firms, this paper explores the banking industry that differs from nonfinancial firms in among others; accounting and fiscal regulations. This study further provides unique evidence indicating that industry specialization of the audit partner constitutes a significant determinant of minimizing the bank’s level of tax avoidance.
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