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1 – 10 of over 44000The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of integrated rural development scheme on livelihood and rural housing condition in selected rural areas in Osun state. This is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of integrated rural development scheme on livelihood and rural housing condition in selected rural areas in Osun state. This is prompted by the need to develop effective strategy for improving the rural housing condition in Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
The impacts of the scheme were measured through survey of 344 participants obtained from 28 active communities out of the 36 communities’ coverage by Rural Development Programme of Justice Development and Peace Makers’s Centre through a multi-stage sampling. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained from the respondents. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, frequency distribution, correlation and regression analysis.
Findings
The result revealed that the mode of operation of the integrated scheme is to educate farmers on best farming practices. The integrated scheme had contributed positively to the livelihood of the respondents by providing stable source of finance than any other available finance source options, and it increased assets and skill acquisition and ability to have more combination of livelihood options as a result of the intervention. In addition, the number of respondents without personal accommodation also decreased at a significant proportion after the intervention. Also, notable numbers of respondents have increased access to domestic housing facilities such as, well, pit toilet and electricity. The result of the correlation analysis showed further that respondents with more livelihood assets and larger household size most often have a better housing condition, whereas the regression analysis revealed that change in the household size and change in livelihood assets lead to change in the housing condition. The paper suggest that integrated scheme could be used as a self-financing strategy for both qualitative and quantitative improvement of rural housing in Nigeria if the scheme enjoys the requisite government support in terms of adequacy of finance and more government agency participation for wider coverage.
Originality/value
The paper is one of the pioneering studies in Nigeria.
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Pablo Rodríguez-Gutiérrez, Carmen Correa and Carlos Larrinaga
This paper aims to generate insights about the transformative potential of integrated reporting by exploring organisational adoption of non-financial reporting design archetypes…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to generate insights about the transformative potential of integrated reporting by exploring organisational adoption of non-financial reporting design archetypes available in the field.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the concept of design archetype, this study conducts an exploratory interpretative based on qualitative semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis. The study is based on the Spanish integrated reporting field.
Findings
This study reveals that IIRC framework lacks the transformative potential to become an environmental disturbance for corporate reporting practice. It explains how organisations, in their attempt to seek coherence with underlying interpretative schemes, change their structural arrangements (structure, processes and systems) to adopt sustainability and integrated reporting design archetypes available in the field. Though organisational differences are portrayed, the transition from a sustainability-reporting archetype to an integrated-reporting archetype does not seem to be easily achieved.
Research limitations/implications
Due to its exploratory nature, further investigation of the transformative potential of integrated reporting is needed to address intra-organisational factors such as internal stakeholder interests, organisational values, individual or collective agency to embed interpretative schemes into structural arrangements, and technical and managerial capabilities enabling action.
Practical implications
Findings inform practitioners and policymakers about the hindrances to integrated reporting implementation to be considered for prospective regulation and standardisation.
Social implications
The study reflects on the difficulties for both mainstreaming sustainability to influence decision-making and developing reporting archetypes coherent with integrated thinking.
Originality/value
By focusing on archetype design, the paper provides insights to assess the transformative potential of integrated reporting.
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Integrated health care lacks a theoretical concept of the user figure that is appropriate to reflect users’ various claims and multi-dimensional interrelations in the care…
Abstract
Purpose
Integrated health care lacks a theoretical concept of the user figure that is appropriate to reflect users’ various claims and multi-dimensional interrelations in the care process. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
Key goals of integrated health care, such as a continuity of care, seamless services and better health outcomes depend strongly on users’ capabilities to engage themselves in the care process. These goals are hardly reachable if integrated health care schemes operate with a one-dimensional understanding of users’ identity.
Findings
The suggested concept of users’ identity facets suggests that users draw from different sources while receiving integrated health care. Thus, users are patients, co-producers, citizens, consumers and community members in one person and at the same time. Each facet of the user identity gains or loses relevance depending on health care contexts, health statuses, personal values and the design of service arrangements. As demonstrated by the example of disease management programmes (DMPs), care schemes for chronically ill persons, users have to apply different facets of their identities in order to benefit best from service provision. Moreover, addressing users’ identity may facilitate the extent of integration in DMPs.
Originality/value
Integrated health care schemes are challenged to invent strategies that facilitate and support coherence among users’ diverse identities in the process of service provision. Lessons could be learned from small-scale and localized integrated health care networks.
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Teresa June Atkinson, Rebecca Oatley and Simon Evans
The purpose of this paper is to report on a scoping review of the advantages and challenges of extra care housing (ECH) provision in the UK for people living with dementia. Access…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on a scoping review of the advantages and challenges of extra care housing (ECH) provision in the UK for people living with dementia. Access to suitable housing is a fundamental right for people living with dementia and can enable people to live as well as possible (Twyford and Porteus, 2021). Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of different models of housing with care has been identified as a research priority by people living with dementia (Barrett et al., 2016) but “there is no current consensus on the best model of specialist housing for people with dementia” (Twyford and Porteus, 2021, p. 29).
Design/methodology/approach
This scoping review identifies the advantages and disadvantages of living in ECH for people with dementia. It is the preliminary stage of a study that seeks to develop knowledge about different models of ECH for people living with dementia (Atkinson et al., 2021).
Findings
Advantages include the promotion of independence, flexible staffing, safety and security, social inclusion, physical design and integrated service provision. Disadvantages include barriers to entry, tensions between independence and support, managing advanced dementia, resourcing flexible care, managing social exclusion, loneliness and stigma and a disabling environment.
Research limitations/implications
The scoping review reinforces the need for further research into different models of ECH provision in the UK for people living with dementia. The review provides insight that is of benefit to all stakeholders involved in ECH and contributes to the development of evidence-based provision called for in the recent All Party Parliamentary Group inquiry (Twyford and Porteus, 2021).
Originality/value
This scoping review summarises the current position for people living with dementia in ECH.
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The growing number of publications on knowledge management (KM) has addressed heterogeneous topics that lack integration and classification. This article closes the classification…
Abstract
Purpose
The growing number of publications on knowledge management (KM) has addressed heterogeneous topics that lack integration and classification. This article closes the classification gap by presenting a classification scheme, providing an integrated overview of KM publications.
Design/methodology/approach
The development of the classification scheme follows a multistep approach. By applying a taxonomy development method, the results of a previous content analysis of 4,290 publications were processed to integrate 3,780 keywords into a classification scheme.
Findings
The classification scheme consists of 13 main categories and subcategories with six levels of detail. The scheme covers not only KM-specific keywords but also keywords from related disciplines, indicating a strong interdependence with related research domains.
Research limitations/implications
The scheme provides a starting point for ongoing collaboration within the KM community with the aim of improving the classification results and refining the scheme to manifest the core identity.
Practical implications
The scheme is helpful in understanding whether KM implementation activities in organisations are aligned with overall research activities and topics covered by publications.
Originality/value
Developing a scheme based on a prior content analysis turns out to be a unique and innovative approach that has never before been done in the KM domain.
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The conceptual synthesis of the accepted bodies of knowledge in a culture provides a sense of meaning in existence, a viable image of the future, and individual and collective…
Abstract
The conceptual synthesis of the accepted bodies of knowledge in a culture provides a sense of meaning in existence, a viable image of the future, and individual and collective motivations. In our age, the dominant bodies of knowledge are fragmented and, although they are more accurate than ever before in limited domains, they fail to guide the imagination and inspire purposive action. To rectify this situation we need to develop a coherent and explicit conceptual synthesis that is based on science but extends beyond the current range of validated scientific theories, overcoming the noxious separation of the factual and the moral, the empirical and the mystical, the sensate and the affective. General systems theory, a metadiscipline created specifically for the purpose of integrating scientific research and theories, is a highly qualified instrument for promoting the required science‐based conceptual synthesis. Efforts in this direction are aided by the intrinsic tendency within science to correct for overspecialization and fragmentation through a search for integrative general theories, and by the rising perception of societal need for integrated bodies of knowledge, capable of coping with the increasing complexity of contemporary problems.
Considers the nature and importance of intelligent buildings.Examines why intelligent buildings are important in terms of occupants,managers, owners, and developers, how the…
Abstract
Considers the nature and importance of intelligent buildings. Examines why intelligent buildings are important in terms of occupants, managers, owners, and developers, how the benefits are realized, and the components of intelligent buildings in facilities management, information management, connectivity and overall control. Concludes that the definition of an intelligent building is changing with technology and consumer understanding, with the possibility of techniques becoming outmoded within five years.
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Botshabelo Kealesitse, Barry O'Mahony, Beverley Lloyd-Walker and Michael Jay Polonsky
Governmental agencies are interested in improving the quality of their service delivery. One tool that has been used to manage their performance is performance based reward schemes…
Abstract
Purpose
Governmental agencies are interested in improving the quality of their service delivery. One tool that has been used to manage their performance is performance based reward schemes (PBRS). The aim of this paper is to examine the degree to which a sample of these plans, used within the Botswana public sector, is customer-focused. Being more customer-focused should deliver improved public sector service quality.
Design/methodology/approach
This study carried out an evaluation of a sample of Botswana PBRS plans, using multidimensional content analysis undertaken by four expert “evaluators”, to identify the degree to which the PBRS were customer-focused.
Findings
Classifying PBRS plans as being customer-focused was difficult, as the plans had few objectives related to customer experiences or outcomes. Those that did had poorly defined performance objectives, their targets were not specific, or there was limited explicit role responsibility. Thus, PBRS plans seemed not to focus on improving customer outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
The PBRS evaluated do not appear to be customer-focused and, thus, would have limited ability to improve customer experiences (i.e. public sector quality). Further research is needed in other countries to see whether these results are generalisable, and whether service levels vary with more customer-focused PBRS plans.
Practical implications
The results suggest improvements that could be adopted by organisations seeking to make their PBRS schemes customer-focused.
Originality/value
Extensive research suggests that PBRS plans can be used to improve service quality. Most of the studies have focused on the employees' perspectives and have not looked at the degree of customer orientation within the plans.
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