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1 – 10 of 138This study aims to identify the political alignment and political activity of the 11 Presidents of Britain’s most important scientific organisation, the Royal Society of London…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify the political alignment and political activity of the 11 Presidents of Britain’s most important scientific organisation, the Royal Society of London, in its early years 1662–1703, to determine whether or not the institution was politically aligned.
Design/methodology/approach
There is almost no information addressing the political alignment of the Royal Society or its Presidents available in the institution’s archives, or in the writings of historians specialising in its administration. Even reliable biographical sources, such as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography provide very limited information. However, as 10 Presidents were elected Member of Parliament (MP), The History of Parliament: British Political, Social and Local History provides a wealth of accurate, in-depth data, revealing the alignment of both.
Findings
All Presidents held senior government offices, the first was a Royalist aristocrat; of the remaining 10, 8 were Royalist or Tory MPs, 2 of whom were falsely imprisoned by the House of Commons, 2 were Whig MPs, while 4 were elevated to the Lords. The institution was Royalist aligned 1662–1680, Tory aligned 1680–1695 and Whig aligned 1695–1703, which reflects changes in Parliament and State.
Originality/value
This study establishes that the early Royal Society was not an apolitical institution and that the political alignment of Presidents and institution continued in later eras. Furthermore, it demonstrates how the election or appointment of an organisation’s most senior officer can be used to signal its political alignment with government and other organisations to serve various ends.
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Ben Morris, James Jackson and Anthony Roberts III
In recent years, Yoga practice has seen a rapid rise in popularity with many positive consequences, both physical and mental attributed to its practice. Ashtanga Yoga has been…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, Yoga practice has seen a rapid rise in popularity with many positive consequences, both physical and mental attributed to its practice. Ashtanga Yoga has been less well researched in this area and is the specific focus on this work. The aim of this study is to investigate the possible positive impact of long-term Ashtanga Yoga on psychological well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 213 long-term Ashtanga Yoga practitioners were asked to complete the positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment (PERMA) 23 scale (Butler and Kern, 2016) which measures psychological well-being. The values given by these individuals were then compared against a larger sample of 31,966 representative of the general population.
Findings
Scores were then compared with a PERMA data set representative of the general population (see Butler and Kern, 2016), primarily using a test of difference to compare samples. Secondly, the causal relationship between time spent in practice upon well-being scores.
Research limitations/implications
Findings indicated that those individuals engaged in long-term Ashtanga Yoga practice significantly outperformed the control group on all dimensions of psychological well-being.
Practical implications
This work has demonstrated specific benefits to the practice of Ashtanga Yoga on psychological well-being. Yoga is a form of exercise that is now widely available across the globe, and as such, represents an accessible form of physical practice, which has important psychological benefits.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work investigating differences in psychological well-being profiles using PERMA, as a function of Yoga practice.
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Background: The political participation of children and adolescents provided for in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Brazil’s Statute of the Child and…
Abstract
Background: The political participation of children and adolescents provided for in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Brazil’s Statute of the Child and Adolescent adopted in July 1990 has been proposed to ensure the effectiveness and guarantee of citizenship with regard to children and adolescents in adult-centered and adult-normative cultures.
Methods: This study aimed to understand the meaning of recognition in relation to the child as a subject of rights in the context of political participation in Brazil from 2001 to 2017 through the accounts of two adolescents who have been activists since childhood. The narratives were interpreted in light of the identity theory based on the critical social psychology and the sociology of childhood.
Results: This helped identify (1) the systemic unpreparedness when dealing with adolescents as persons who advocate for the civil rights of children and adolescents; (2) the attempts by education professionals to restrict adolescent activists to schools and family institutions to delegitimize them from their representative potential; and (3) that political participation could help raise the interviewed adolescents’ awareness of the power relations inherent in the social structure.
Conclusions: The effectiveness of political participation is considered a challenge, regardless of official documents being made use of, given the need for a paradigm shift with regard to the universalist theories that consider the institution of childhood exclusively as a progressive preparation for the adult world.
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Joel Bolton, Frank C. Butler and John Martin
Firm performance remains at the heart of strategic management. In the quest to refine the field’s contribution, Venkatraman and Ramanujam (1986) argued that reliance upon single…
Abstract
Purpose
Firm performance remains at the heart of strategic management. In the quest to refine the field’s contribution, Venkatraman and Ramanujam (1986) argued that reliance upon single measures of firm performance is risky and firm performance should be treated as a multidimensional construct. Subsequently, researchers have examined trends in firm performance measurement ever since. Over a decade since the last examination of this issue, this study aims to add to the ongoing conversation.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors investigated 1,972 research papers published in five premier management journals for the years 2015–2019 to determine if multidimensional measurement of firm performance has improved.
Findings
The findings suggest that approximately two-thirds of papers that measure firm performance are published using only a single measure of firm performance, and approximately three-fourths do not measure firm performance across multiple dimensions.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by emphasizing the necessity to consider the dimensionality of firm performance, use multiple measures and consistently ground firm performance variables with theory – especially control variables – to keep firm performance as the focus of the strategy field. Evidence and implications are discussed and recommendations for researchers and reviewers are provided.
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Using Lundy's model (2007), this chapter adopts a child-centred approach to discuss decision-making in relation to designing a study which aimed to amplify childhood voices of…
Abstract
Using Lundy's model (2007), this chapter adopts a child-centred approach to discuss decision-making in relation to designing a study which aimed to amplify childhood voices of parental separation (Kay-Flowers, 2019). It examines the role of young people in designing and co-producing the research tools, specifically designed to give voice to childhood experiences of parental separation and divorce. It explains how the research findings were shared with different audiences and reflects on the effectiveness of the approaches taken.
The chapter starts by outlining the four elements of ‘space’, ‘voice’, ‘audience’ and ‘influence’ in Lundy's model (2007) before going on to identify the gap in existing research on children's experience of parental separation and divorce, explaining why their voices need to be heard.
A focus group of young people were involved in designing the study. Finding current methods unsuitable for addressing the research question, they co-produced new research tools specifically designed for the study, alongside the researcher, in a process known as bricolage. The chapter explains the processes involved in creating the bricolage and describes the newly created research tools which were an online questionnaire and Prompt Simulation Video (PSV).
The last part of the chapter explains how ‘audience’ and ‘influence’ informed decision-making about how the study's findings could be presented to amplify childhood voices of parental separation and divorce, to ensure they were heard by different audiences of academics, practitioners, parents, public and children. It concludes with consideration of the effectiveness of this approach.
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Recent library and information science literature suggests transgender and nonbinary populations are not treated, served and represented on an equal or equitable basis as…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent library and information science literature suggests transgender and nonbinary populations are not treated, served and represented on an equal or equitable basis as cisgender populations are in libraries. This article aims to assess the prevalence of bias and inclusion efforts in Illinois libraries.
Design/methodology/approach
This quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive study utilizes a critical queer theory lens and includes a Likert scale survey with a demographic question on gender identity to measure four constructs and determine if there is a relationship between gender identity and bias, inclusion efforts, and knowledge of transgender and nonbinary user needs.
Findings
Results suggest respondents' biases reinforce structural cisgenderism in Illinois libraries and may account for the unequal conditions trans and nonbinary populations experience. Additionally, there is a correlation between cisgender-identifying Illinois LIS professionals and biased attitudes and behaviors, use of inclusive practices, and knowledge of transgender and nonbinary user needs.
Originality/value
This study contributes quantitative data, analysis and practical implications to a body of predominantly qualitative library literature on transgender and gender diverse experiences in libraries.
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Shiv Chaudhry, Dave Crick and James M. Crick
This study investigates how a competitor orientation (knowledge of and acting on competitors' strengths and weaknesses) facilitates coopetition activities (collaboration with…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates how a competitor orientation (knowledge of and acting on competitors' strengths and weaknesses) facilitates coopetition activities (collaboration with competitors), within networks of competing micro-sized, independent, family restaurants, owned by entrepreneurs from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Design/methodology/approach
An instrumental case study features data collected from interviews with 30 owners (as key informants) of micro-sized, independent, family-owned restaurants, in two urban clusters within the Midlands (UK). Specifically, the context involves restaurants offering South Asian cuisine and where the owner originated from the Indian sub-continent (Bangladesh, India or Pakistan). Secondary data were collected wherever possible. These two clusters (not named for ethics reasons) are highly populated by members of these respective ethnic communities; also, they contain a relatively large number of restaurants offering South Asian cuisine.
Findings
A competitor orientation facilitated strong coopetition-oriented partnerships comprised of extended family and intra-community members that helped enhance individual firms' performance, maintained family employment and sustained their cluster. It also helped owners develop subtle counter strategies where weak ties existed, such as via inter-community networks. For example, strategies attracted customers that were not loyal to a particular restaurant, or indeed, sub-ethnic cuisine (within Bangladesh, India or Pakistan, like the Punjab region). Subtle as opposed to outright counter strategies minimised retaliation, since restaurant owners wanted to avoid price wars, or spreading misinformation where the reputation of a cluster may suffer alongside the likely survival of individual businesses within that regional cluster.
Originality/value
Mixed evidence exists in earlier studies regarding the competitive rivalry in certain sectors where ethnic minority ownership is prominent; not least, restaurants located in regional clusters. However, this investigation considers the notion – what if some of these earlier studies are wrong? More specifically, does certain prior research under-represent the extent that rival entrepreneurs of an ethnic minority origin collaborate rather than compete for mutually beneficial purposes? New evidence emerges regarding ways in which a competitor orientation can influence the performance-enhancing nature of coopetition activities among business owners originating from both intra and inter-ethnic communities.
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Underpinned by a stakeholder-oriented resource-based theoretical lens, this inter-disciplinary study investigates the association between an entrepreneurial orientation and firm…
Abstract
Purpose
Underpinned by a stakeholder-oriented resource-based theoretical lens, this inter-disciplinary study investigates the association between an entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance under different degrees of coopetition (cooperation among rival firms).
Design/methodology/approach
Alongside undertaking 20 semi-structured interviews, survey responses were obtained from 302 smaller-sized producers in the American wine industry. The elements of the conceptual model were evaluated via hierarchical regression. Moreover, all major robustness checks were assessed.
Findings
Positive and significant relationships respectively existed between an entrepreneurial orientation and coopetition with firm performance. However, a somewhat counter-intuitive finding involved the interaction between these two constructs negatively and significantly influencing firm performance.
Originality/value
Even though employing an entrepreneurial orientation has been long-since linked to facilitating improved firm performance, under-resourced owner-managers of certain smaller-sized enterprises may struggle to implement these activities. In principle, cooperating with competitors can enhance resources/capabilities and lead to mutually beneficial outcomes. Nevertheless, unique insights suggest that the potential exists for coopetition-based networking activities to have detrimental outcomes with respect to entrepreneurially orientated strategies. Consequently, decision-makers are advised to consider the merits of collaborating with their industry rivals, but also be aware of the potential “dark sides” surrounding these behaviours. Furthermore, improved knowledge emerges regarding the stakeholder themes of resource-based theory.
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