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1 – 10 of 69Reports on a detailed study of a school nursing service which has revealed the untapped value of the service and a generally poor understanding of what, precisely, school nurses…
Abstract
Reports on a detailed study of a school nursing service which has revealed the untapped value of the service and a generally poor understanding of what, precisely, school nurses do, and the nature of their skills and experience. Focuses on one aspect of this study: the changing nature of the school nursing role in health education and health promotion. Finds that school nurses have adjusted their practice to meet the changing nature of children’s health needs. They now increasingly work to health education and health promotion agendas and are acting in a health advisory role. Calls into question the need for universal health screening, particularly for older children, as the core activity of school nursing. Concludes that the service should in future be designated as being for “children of school age”, and that the range of sites where school nursing is delivered should be extended.
Josep Bisbe, Anne-Marie Kruis and Paola Madini
Recent accounting research has connected the coercive and enabling types of formalisation (C/E) (Adler and Borys, 1996) with the distinction between diagnostic and interactive…
Abstract
Recent accounting research has connected the coercive and enabling types of formalisation (C/E) (Adler and Borys, 1996) with the distinction between diagnostic and interactive controls (D/I) proposed by Simons (1995, 2000) to tackle research questions on complex control situations involving both the degree of employee autonomy and patterns of management attention. The diverse conceptual approaches used for connecting C/E and D/I have led to fragmentation in the literature and raise concerns about their conceptual clarity. In this paper, we assess the conceptual clarity of various forms of connection between C/E and D/I. Firstly, we conduct an in-depth content analysis of 59 recent papers, and inductively identify three points of conceptual ambiguity and divergence in the literature (namely, the perspective from which a phenomenon is studied; whether categories capture choices driven by design or by style-of-use; and the properties of control systems). We also observe that the literature proposes various forms of connection (i.e. coexistence, inclusion, and combination approaches). Secondly, we use the three detected points of ambiguity and divergence as assessment criteria, and evaluate the extent to which conceptual clarity is at risk under each form of connection. Based on this assessment, we provide guidelines to enhance the conceptual clarity of the connections between C/E and D/I, propose several research models, and indicate opportunities for future research in this area.
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Damian Tago, Henrik Andersson and Nicolas Treich
This study contributes to the understanding of the health effects of pesticides exposure and of how pesticides have been and should be regulated.
Abstract
Purpose
This study contributes to the understanding of the health effects of pesticides exposure and of how pesticides have been and should be regulated.
Design/methodology/approach
This study presents literature reviews for the period 2000–2013 on (i) the health effects of pesticides and on (ii) preference valuation of health risks related to pesticides, as well as a discussion of the role of benefit-cost analysis applied to pesticide regulatory measures.
Findings
This study indicates that the health literature has focused on individuals with direct exposure to pesticides, i.e. farmers, while the literature on preference valuation has focused on those with indirect exposure, i.e. consumers. The discussion highlights the need to clarify the rationale for regulating pesticides, the role of risk perceptions in benefit-cost analysis, and the importance of inter-disciplinary research in this area.
Originality/value
This study relates findings of different disciplines (health, economics, public policy) regarding pesticides, and identifies gaps for future research.
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Nuraddeen Abubakar Nuhu, Kevin Baird and Ranjith Appuhami
This study examines the association between the use of a package of contemporary and a package of traditional management accounting practices with organizational change and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the association between the use of a package of contemporary and a package of traditional management accounting practices with organizational change and organizational performance.
Methodology/approach
Data were collected based on a mail survey distributed to a sample of 740 public sector organizations.
Findings
The findings indicate that while the prevalence of traditional practices is still dominant, such practices were not associated with organizational change or performance. Rather, those organizations that use contemporary management accounting practices to a greater extent experienced greater change and stronger performance.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that contemporary management accounting practices can assist public sector practitioners in improving performance and promoting organizational change.
Originality/value
The study provides an empirical insight into the use and effectiveness of management accounting practices in the public sector. The study provides the first empirical analysis of the effect of using a package of management accounting practices in the public sector.
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Barbara A. Ritter, Erika E. Small and Christy Everett
This study aims to explore followers’ perceptions of leaders as predictors of performance appraisal (PA) participation and subsequent outcomes. Prior research has acknowledged the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore followers’ perceptions of leaders as predictors of performance appraisal (PA) participation and subsequent outcomes. Prior research has acknowledged the role of Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) quality in predicting PA participation. This study sought to add to this literature by investigating the effects of LMX dimensions (loyalty, affect, contribution and respect) and the effect of perceived leader prototypicality on PA participation and subsequent outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypothesized model proposed that the LMX dimensions and leader prototypicality would predict PA participation, and the effect of PA participation on job and reward satisfaction would be mediated through PA satisfaction. Structure equation modeling using maximum likelihood estimation was used to test these hypotheses in a sample of 216 employees at a public utility company.
Findings
Although results indicated partial support for the proposed mediated model, they also indicated more complex relationships. Leader prototypicality was related to PA participation, none of the four LMX dimensions had the predicted positive effect on PA participation, though they were differentially and directly related to PA satisfaction and job satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
Employees’ perceptions of leader prototypicality is important in engaging employee participation in the PA process, and more important to participation than was the quality of the LMX relationship. The extent to which employees participate in and subsequently experience higher levels of satisfaction with the PA process may be a reflection of how employees perceive their leader. And participation in and satisfaction with the PA process lead to increased reward and job satisfaction. Future research should incorporate supervisor perspectives of these relationships and use longitudinal design to better infer causality.
Practical implications
Employee perceptions of leader prototypicality are important for encouraging their participation in the PA process, which has implications for reward and job satisfaction. Therefore, supervisors would benefit from understanding the traits (such as sensitivity, confidence and intelligence) that affect their subordinates’ leadership perceptions, and should be trained on successfully demonstrate those traits. Further, exchange relationships built on loyalty and respect affected PA satisfaction directly, which also positively affected job and reward satisfaction. Thus, supervisors should be trained to build trust- and respect-based relationships with employees.
Originality/value
The results of this study make significant contributions to the understanding of the antecedents of employee participation in and satisfaction with the PA process. The data suggest that the effect of perceived leader prototypicality on job and reward satisfaction is mediated through PA participation. Because implicit leadership theory has not previously been studied in the PA context, this new finding makes an important contribution to the PA literature. Further, by taking a multidimensional approach to LMX, these results indicated that the dimensions of loyalty and respect were related to PA satisfaction directly, but not through PA participation.
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N. Bindu, C. Prem Sankar and K. Satheesh Kumar
This paper aims to introduce a systematic computing and analytical procedure that is applied to the co-author network to identify the temporal evolution and growth of research…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to introduce a systematic computing and analytical procedure that is applied to the co-author network to identify the temporal evolution and growth of research collaborations in the area of e-governance. The empirical analysis of the temporal co-author network can trace the emerging authors and knowledge bursts over time.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applied social network theory to trace the author collaboration patterns in the domain of e-governance. Analysis of the co-author network using micro and macro parameters was done to trace the temporal evolution of the author collaborations.
Findings
E-governance is a multi-disciplinary research domain split over streams of management, politics, information technology and electronics. Hence, research collaborations play a significant role in its advancement. The knowledge sharing between individual authors, institutions and groups through research collaborations, resulting in extensive sharing of data, equipment and research methods, has boosted research activities and development in e-governance. In this paper, the authors systematically analyse the current scenario of research collaborations in the area of e-governance using co-author network to estimate its impact on the advancement of the field. The authors also analysed the temporal evolution of the co-author networks, which show remarkable growth of research collaborations in the domain of e-governance from the year 2000.
Research limitations/implications
The co-author network analysis is only a proxy measure for the analysis of research collaborations. The names of the authors and the university affiliations used in the article are as retrieved from the research repository of Scopus. The degree, citations and other parameters related with authors have scope only within the environment of the co-author network used in the analysis. The criteria used in the study is limited to the degree of research collaborations and the number of co-authored publications in the giant component of the co-author network.
Practical implications
Institutions, authors and governments can trace and select suitable topics and choose research groups of co-authors over the world for future research collaborations in e-governance. The knowledge about the emerging and most discussed topics gives an overview of the global research trends of e-governance.
Social implications
The study identified the evolution of creative collaborations in e-governance in the global perspective. The methodology introduced here is helpful to detect the proficient and productive author collaborations and the spectrum of related e-governance research topics associated with them. As the author collaborations can be mapped to the institutional and country-level collaborations, the information is helpful for researchers, institutions and governments to establish the best collaborations in e-governance research based on the author proficiency, collaboration patterns and research topics as per the requirements.
Originality/value
The paper introduces a novel research methodology using temporal analysis of co-author network to identify the evolution of research patterns and the associated research topics.
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