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1 – 10 of 67Mark S. Reed, Pippa J. Chapman, Guy Ziv, Gavin Stewart, Helen Kendall, Amy Taylor and Dianna Kopansky
There is growing interest around the world in more effectively linking public payments to the provision of public goods from agriculture. However, published evidence syntheses…
Abstract
There is growing interest around the world in more effectively linking public payments to the provision of public goods from agriculture. However, published evidence syntheses suggest mixed, weak or uncertain evidence for many agri-environment scheme options. To inform any future “public money for public goods” based policy, further synthesis work is needed to assess the evidence-base for the full range of interventions currently funded under agri-environment schemes. Further empirical research and trials should then focus on interventions for which there is mixed or limited evidence. Furthermore, to ensure the data collected is comparable and can be synthesised effectively, it is necessary to reach agreement on essential variables and methods that can be prioritised by those conducting research and monitoring. Future policy could then prioritise public money for the public goods that can most reliably be delivered, offering better value for taxpayers and improving the provision of ecosystem services from agricultural landscapes.
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Considerable interest has been aroused concerning the West Dorset Health Authority′s approach to the setting of standards. There is a great deal of commitment both to the process…
Abstract
Considerable interest has been aroused concerning the West Dorset Health Authority′s approach to the setting of standards. There is a great deal of commitment both to the process and to the standards themselves. Setting standards involves not only the nursing staff but includes many other clinical and non‐clinical disciplines. Medical staff are becoming involved contributing to the process in their domains and those of others. The article has been written in response to many requests for information about the process. For those who want to try it out under guidance, a series of short seminars is being arranged in conjunction with Mercia Publications who are based on the Science Park at the University of Keele.
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Helen Inseng Duh and Oluwole Iyiola
Two life-course theories (human capital and socialization) were employed to examine how childhood family resources received and peer communication about clothes shopping influence…
Abstract
Purpose
Two life-course theories (human capital and socialization) were employed to examine how childhood family resources received and peer communication about clothes shopping influence consumer decision-making styles (CDMS) at young adulthood.
Design/methodology/approach
Young adults (18–35 years old) were surveyed from two large African economies: South Africa (N = 306) and Nigeria (N = 272). The participants were surveyed at the economic capitals (Johannesburg and Lagos) of both countries to identify and explain CDMS related to clothes shopping. Structural equation modeling and multi-group analyses were used to analyze data.
Findings
The results found six CDMS in both countries, dominated by four utilitarian dimensions (perfectionist, price, quality and time/shopping uninterested consciousness). Structural equation modeling results revealed that family resources and peer communication received during adolescence predicted most of the six CDMS in both countries. Multi-group analyses found that there were no country differences in constructs' relationships.
Practical implications
From the results that young adults in both countries displayed more utilitarian than symbolic decision-making styles when shopping for clothing, it is suggested that retailers and other companies provide value-for-money to capture and retain this large, lucrative, but disloyal, young adult consumer segment.
Originality/value
Since 1986, when eight consumer decision-making styles were identified, studies of CDMS over the last three decades have focused on validating the scale and exploring demographic and cultural differences. Few studies have examined CDMS drivers, but not using a life-course approach.
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The study aims to examine the role that gendered talk plays in the workplace in both task and non‐task related interactions.
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to examine the role that gendered talk plays in the workplace in both task and non‐task related interactions.
Design/methodology/approach
The research undertaken is a hybrid of qualitative and quantitative research using a single case study. The case study, comprising mixed gender and mixed status employees of an American multinational corporation, demonstrates similarities and differences between women's and men's speech patterns in this workplace setting. Through the recording and subsequent transcription of meetings that took place among the participants, a data archive was created, enabling analysis of the conversations to take place.
Findings
The research findings imply that organisations may need to move away from cultures that favour particular talk related norms to ones that facilitate the integration and assimilation of different types of talk, recognising that women and men use language differently.
Research limitations/implications
The speaking dimension of communication is very rich and can be understood at many different levels. Thus, by virtue of the nature of this undertaking along with the richness and the time and energy constraints within which it operated, it was impossible to broaden the scope of the inquiry any further. It is necessary to continue this research involving various other combinations of participants on a gender and a status dimension.
Practical implications
This research uncovers the impact of gendered talk on decision making and leadership in the organisation.
Originality/value
This paper offers valuable insights for practitioners in relation to the challenge faced by organisations in their need to achieve a more balanced representation of women and men in decision‐making positions.
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Jussara dos Santos Raxlen and Rachel Sherman
In the 1970s and 1980s, studies of the unpaid household and family labor of upper-class women linked this labor to class reproduction. In recent years, however, the topic of class…
Abstract
In the 1970s and 1980s, studies of the unpaid household and family labor of upper-class women linked this labor to class reproduction. In recent years, however, the topic of class has dropped out of analyses of unpaid labor, and such labor has been ignored in recent studies of elites. In this chapter, drawing primarily on 18 in-depth interviews with wealthy New York stay-at-home mothers, we look at what elite women’s unpaid labor consists of, highlighting previously untheorized consumption and lifestyle work; ask what it reproduces; and analyze how women themselves interpret and represent it. In the current historical moment, elite women face not only the cultural expectation that they will work for pay, but also the prominence of meritocracy as a mechanism of class legitimation in a diversified upper class. In this context, we argue, elite women’s unpaid labor serves to reproduce “meritocratic” dispositions of children rather than closed, homogenous elite communities, as identified in previous studies. Our respondents struggle to frame their activities as legitimate and productive work. In doing so, they not only resist longstanding stereotypes of “ladies who lunch” but also seek to justify and normalize their own class privileges, thus reproducing the same hegemonic discourses of work and worth that stigmatize their unpaid work.
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Helen Chester, Paul Clarkson, Linda Davies, Caroline Sutcliffe, Brenda Roe, Jane Hughes and David Challis
The purpose of this paper is to describe a case study to test the applicability of the discrete choice experiment (DCE) method to assess the preferences of carers of people with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe a case study to test the applicability of the discrete choice experiment (DCE) method to assess the preferences of carers of people with dementia. The focus of enquiry was home care provision.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-method approach was adopted for this pilot study. A literature review identified key characteristics of home care for dementia. This informed consultations with lay representatives. Key attributes of home care for the DCE were identified and formed the basis for the schedule. In all, 28 carers were recruited by two voluntary organisations to complete the DCE. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to analyse the data.
Findings
Seven attributes of home care for people with dementia were identified from the consultation. The use of the DCE approach permitted the identification of those most important to carers. Despite the modest sample, statistically significant findings were reported in relation to five of the attributes indicating their relevance. A lay involvement in the identification of attributes contributed to the ease of administration of the schedule and relevance of the findings.
Originality/value
This study demonstrated the utility of a DCE to capture the preferences of carers of people with dementia and thereby gather information from carers to inform policy, practice and service development. Their involvement in the design of the schedule was critical to this process.
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Guohong Helen Han and Yuntao Bai
Research has shown that creative self-efficacy is an important antecedent of workplace creativity, but recent research indicates that this relationship may be moderated by…
Abstract
Purpose
Research has shown that creative self-efficacy is an important antecedent of workplace creativity, but recent research indicates that this relationship may be moderated by contextual factors. The current study investigates whether leader dialectical thinking and leader member exchange moderate the relationship between employee creative self-efficacy and employee creativity.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey sample of 222 employees in 43 teams from Chinese high-tech companies was collected and HLM was used to test our research model.
Findings
The positive association between employee creative self-efficacy and employee creativity was strengthened when a leader displayed a dialectical thinking style. Additional analyses failed to find support for the moderating role of leader-member exchange (LMX).
Research limitations/implications
These findings establish leadership cognitive style as a potential boundary condition of the relationship between creative self-efficacy and employee creativity.
Practical implications
Companies can make an active effort in recruiting and training leaders who have a dialectical mindset as they can play significant roles in facilitating employee creativity.
Social implications
Technological advancement and innovation is important for social welfare. This paper helps to improve the efficiency of creativity processes and finally benefits the whole society.
Originality/value
This is the first introduction of the leader's dialectical thinking as a moderator of the relationship between creative self-efficacy and creativity.
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David K. Banner and Helen LaVan
There are no significant differences between work and job satisfaction, especially among groups using flexitime. Additional research is still needed to identify variables which do…
Abstract
There are no significant differences between work and job satisfaction, especially among groups using flexitime. Additional research is still needed to identify variables which do impact on the work‐leisure relationship. A sample of 138 managerial and professional employees from a range of organisations, administered with a questionnaire containing demographic data, a leisure satisfaction scale, work satisfaction scale, imbedded scales on role conflict, ambiguity and organisational commitment, showed conflicting findings on the work‐leisure relationship
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To report the findings of a European Social Fund (ESF) financed study into the investigation and development of business practices and managerial skills in the social enterprises…
Abstract
Purpose
To report the findings of a European Social Fund (ESF) financed study into the investigation and development of business practices and managerial skills in the social enterprises sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative and grounded research investigation was conducted using interviews with owner/managers of 15 social enterprises in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, UK, and aimed to develop a strategic understanding of social enterprise business practices and issues and to develop baseline information to develop a management tool based on the balanced scorecard (BS) of Kaplan and Norton (1996). Develops a definition of social enterprise and presents a brief background of the post‐war development of the social enterprises sector, its recent growth and increasing competition for resources.
Findings
The results indicated that social enterprises adopt varying practices, face many issues and, while many are beginning to make themselves more accountable in terms of their social value, there was little evidence to suggest that social enterprises were measuring their social impact beyond providing data that was sought by funders. Reveals that the social enterprise managers implied that the next step was to become more proactive in recording and marketing their social values and that developing social value indicators is the next challenge, while evidence suggests that tools developed for social enterprises need to be informal, non‐generic and based on experiential learning.
Originality/value
Reveals key concepts that will form the framework for a modified BS.
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