Search results

This chapter provides the historical and intellectual context of studying inequality and domination using the symbolic interactionist perspective. Lonnie Athens' radical interactionism was identified as a useful framework to research the omnipresent and insidious inequality found in everyday life. Chapters presented in this volume represent a follow up of Volume 41 of Studies in Symbolic Interaction, edited by Athens, where he laid the ground work for the research of domination and subordination. Chapters in this volume demonstrate the advancements made in studying inequality in symbolic interactionist research.

Sacred forests are biocultural landscapes deeply rooted in centuries-old traditions of spiritual veneration. These sacred sites, including shrines, temple forests churches and graveyards, have historically been significant reservoirs of traditional resource management practices underpinned by spiritual reverence. However, despite their cultural and ecological importance, the cultural ecosystem services inherent to these sacred forests remain unexplored, particularly in urban settings.

This study focused on six sacred sites within Kanazawa City, Japan, using a meticulous face-to-face survey with 342 participants. We collected data on the extent of forest utilisation, the breadth of activities engaged in by visitors and their holistic appraisal of the rendered cultural ecosystem services. The findings illustrate the multifaceted benefits of urban sacred forests, encompassing participation in religious ceremonies, cultural events and festivals, complemented by educational programming that elucidates the historical and traditional underpinnings of the shrines and their surrounding communities.

It has been observed that urban forests have a crucial role in providing spiritual and communal connectivity, preserving traditional heritage, offering vital aesthetic values as green spaces and making visitors connected with nature while they are in the urban landscape. However, a concerning trend has emerged, as the younger demographic appears to lack interest in participating in the stewardship and cultural activities associated with these biocultural landscapes. Community engagement strategies must be strengthened, conservation measures should be implemented and cultural awareness programs need to be established to ensure the perpetuation and appreciation of these valuable urban sacred forests.

This study provides original perspectives on the measurable cultural ecosystem services and intangible values associated with urban sacred forests using the sacred forests in Kanazawa City, Japan. Our research illuminates the various advantages that visitors derive by examining the intersection of spiritual traditions, resource management practices and cultural significance, which has been relatively unexplored. The present study provides a significant basis for establishing initiatives that seek to promote the cultivation of respect and responsibility towards urban sacred forests.

This paper shares findings from a multi-year literacy professional development partnership between a school district and university (2014–2019). We share this case of a Literacy Cohort initiative as an example of cross-institutional professional development situated within several of NAPDS’ nine essentials, including professional learning and leading, boundary-spanning roles and reflection and innovation (NAPDS, 2021).

We asked, “In what ways did the Cohort initiative create conditions for community and collaboration in the service of meaningful literacy reforms?” Drawing on social design methodology (Gutiérrez & Vossoughi, 2010), we sought to generate and examine the educational change associated with this multi-year initiative. Our data set included programmatic data, interviews (N = 30) and artifacts of literacy teaching, learning and leading.

Our findings reflect the emphasis areas that are important to educators in the partnership: diversity by design, building relationships through collaboration and rooting literacy reforms in teacher leadership. Our discussion explores threads of reciprocity, simultaneous renewal and boundary-spanning leadership and their role in sustaining partnerships over time.

This paper contributes to our understanding of building and sustaining a cohort model of multi-year professional development through the voices, perspectives and experiences of teachers, faculty and district administrators.

This study aims to investigate whether the presence of women in the boardroom influences companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. Furthermore, it examines whether the COVID-19 pandemic and family control affect the relationship.

This study uses nonfinancial firms listed on the Indonesia and Malaysia Stock Exchange during 2018-2021. Thomson Reuters’ database is used to collect the ESG scores. Using 312 firm-year observations, the authors apply multiple regressions and sensitivity testing to ensure the robustness of the results.

This study provides empirical evidence that the presence of women in the boardroom improves companies’ ESG and family control weakens the relationship. Meanwhile, there is no support on the moderating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors also conducted additional tests using ESG pillars (i.e. environment, social and governance pillars) as the dependent variable. The findings are robust to alternative samplings.

This research is limited to Indonesia and Malaysia, thus affecting the generalizability of the results to all developing countries. The sample size is relatively small due to data limitations related to the availability of ESG scores.

The findings of this study provide a basis for the government to establish mandatory regulations regarding sustainability performance. The positive relationship between women on boards and better ESG performance suggests that encouraging gender diversity in corporate leadership can improve sustainability practices. The government may consider implementing gender quota regulations to increase women's representation on corporate boards.

Shareholders can pursue investment portfolios in socially responsible companies, prioritizing ESG performance. In addition, investors should consider the presence of women in the company’s boardroom and whether family control exists when making investment decisions.

Overall, the originality and significance of this research lie in its comprehensive examination of the moderating factors, the inclusion of different governance systems in the sample, and the exploration of psychological aspects, contributing to a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the relationship between women on boards and ESG performance in the context of developing countries.

The paper intends to show why farms as we know them today may soon be a thing of the past and that organisational behaviour research has an important contribution to make in assisting the upcoming transformation.

Two strains of literature are reviewed and then synthesised: the literature on robots replacing humans in agricultural production and the literature on vertical integration that shifts decisions to agribusiness. Then the potential contribution of organisational behaviour research is outlined.

It is shown how the farm is likely to lose both roles for which their geographic entity is important: making decisions and carrying out production. This requires contributions from organisational behaviour research in the realms of decision designs and social systems.

It can be anticipated that the most profitable strategy for farmland owners in the future will be collaboration with contractors. Farms as organisations, are increasingly losing their importance. This not only has grave social implications for farmworkers and landowners but also for scholars in organisational behaviour research.

The paper challenges an organisational unit that is so familiar to us that it is rarely questioned.

Climate hazards in the form of cyclones are projected to become more intense under the pressures of future climate change. These changes represent a growing hazard to low lying coastal cities like Beira, Mozambique. In 2019, Beira experienced the devastating impact of Cyclone Idai. One of the many impacts resulting from this Cyclone was disrupted drinking water access. This investigation explores the distribution of Cyclone Idai’s impact on drinking water access via an environmental justice lens, exploring how preexisting water access characteristics may have predisposed households to the impacts of Cyclone Idai in Beria.

Relying on household survey data collected in Beira, the investigation applied a decision tree algorithm to investigate how drinking water disruption was distributed across the household survey sample using these preexisting vulnerabilities.

The investigation found that households that mainly relied upon piped water sources and experienced inconsistent access to water in the year prior to Cyclone Idai were more likely to experience disrupted drinking water access immediately after Cyclone Idai. The results indicate that residents in formal areas of Beira, largely reliant upon piped water supply, experienced higher rates of disrupted drinking water access following Cyclone Idai.

These findings question a commonly held assumption that informal areas are more vulnerable to climate hazards, like cyclones, than formal areas of a city. The findings support the inclusion of informal settlements in the design of climate change adaptation strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain if practising healthy lifestyles improves the technical efficiency of farms in Kwara state, Nigeria. In theory, all deviations from the optimum level of output are due to random effects and inefficiency of producers in which their health plays a key part and is dependent on the kind of lifestyle practiced whether healthy or unhealthy.

Cross-sectional data were employed through a three-staged sampling technique to pick 320 arable crop farmers across the state using a well-defined questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics, healthy lifestyles index (HLI), stochastic production frontier (SPF) and propensity score matching (PSM).

First, the analysis showed that about one-third of the sampled arable crop farmers practised healthy lifestyles. Second, the average technical efficiency of arable crop production for farmers who practised a healthy lifestyle was 0.893, and the level of technical inefficiency of the farms was determined by health-related lifestyle status, number of day's illness and educational level. Third, technical efficiency was improved by 0.00431067 for farms whose farmers practised a healthy lifestyle.

Rather than seeing that technical efficiencies of farms are attributed to farm characteristics, inputs used and socioeconomic characteristics alone, the findings suggest that technical inefficiencies of arable crop farmers were also due to the kind of lifestyle practised, which was evidenced in the increased efficiency for farmers who practised healthy lifestyle.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-05-2023-0353

Land value in urban areas in India is influenced by regulations, bylaws and the amenities associated with them. Planning interventions play a significant role in enhancing the quality of the neighbourhood, thereby resulting in a change in its value. Land is a distinct commodity due to its fixed location, and planning interventions are also specific to certain locations. Consequently, the factors influencing land value will vary across different areas. While recent literature has explored some determinants of land value individually, conducting a comprehensive study specific to each location would be more beneficial for making informed policy decisions. Therefore, this article aims to examine and identify the critical factors that impact the value of residential land in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, India.

The study employed a combination of semi-structured and structured interview methods to construct a Relative Importance Index (RII) and ascertain the critical determinants affecting residential land value. A sample of 36 experts, comprising property valuers, urban planners and real estate professionals operating within the National Capital Territory of Delhi, India, were selected using snowball sampling techniques. Subsequently, rank correlation and ANOVA methods were employed to evaluate the obtained results.

Location and stage of urban development are the most critical determinants in determining residential land values in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, India. The study identifies a total of 13 critical determinants.

A scenario planning approach can be developed to achieve an equitable distribution of values and land use entropy. A land value assessment model can also be developed to assist professional valuers.

There has been a lack of emphasis on assessing the impact of planning interventions and territorial regulation on land values in the context of Delhi. This study will contribute to policy decision-making by developing a rank list of planning-based determinants of land value.

The purpose of this commentary is to discuss a framework (the Revised Model of Sport Consumer Behavior – R-MSCB; Trail, 2019) to accomplish the following objectives. (1) Provide a framework for sport marketers and sport organizations to use in their own market research. (2) Designate the processes needed to generate results and knowledge that sport organizations, sport marketers and associated corporate partners can use to improve marketing campaigns. (3) Provide suggestions for analytic techniques and measurement constructs/instruments that will facilitate market research within the sport industry.

The author created a 140-item questionnaire for the pre-survey and a 50-item questionnaire for the post-survey. The pre-survey was given at the beginning of the season, and the post-survey was given at the end of the season. The research group has generated a sequence of 13 studies and has collected pre-survey responses from over 7,800 people across 4 continents, 8 sports and 13 teams (data collections), with more teams still planned and over 2,000 post-season survey responses with data collection continuing.

This project, with its 13 studies, will provide sport organizations with the theories/frameworks, knowledge and processes to do their own market research in a more effective and efficient manner and will show sport organizations how to understand the complexities of sport consumer behavior, the motivations behind it and how it varies extensively across individuals. The author will show sports organizations how to collect data from their consumers using valid and reliable measures and constructs that will allow them to segment their consumers, how to effectively market to those segments and how to establish long-lasting relationships that make a satisfied and loyal customer.

This paper provides the framework and guidelines so that sport marketers and researchers can identify specific variables, constructs and relationships that will further their own objectives when attempting to explain sport consumer behavior. Using their own market research, they can implement the results/output in association with the Communications Strategy Model to create more effective and efficient marketing and communications campaigns and consequently drive key performance indicators (KPIs) and improve revenue streams.

The purpose of this paper is to seek to shed light on the influence of stakeholder pressure on carbon disclosure in an emerging economy.

The present study is based on Bombay Stock Exchange 100 Indian firms for the period of 5 years from 2016–17 to 2020–21. The association between stakeholder pressure and carbon disclosure, along with certain control variables, has been explored through a regression model.

The results of the study suggest that stakeholders exert a significant influence on corporate carbon disclosure. Further results confirm that regulatory and customer pressure have the most significant and positive influence, while shareholders and creditors exert a significant and negative influence on carbon disclosure. The study also finds that employee pressure does not have any association with carbon disclosure.

This study adds to the existing literature on climate change, carbon disclosure and stakeholder pressure.

The present study provides useful insights to corporate managers and policymakers as the study concludes that stakeholders exert a significant influence on carbon disclosure.

Previous studies examining the stakeholder pressure on carbon disclosure ignored emerging economies, while the present study has considered India, which is a developing as well as an emerging economy. Further, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current study is the first of its kind to investigate the stakeholder pressure on carbon disclosure in the Indian context. The present study develops a comprehensive index to measure corporate carbon disclosure.