Search results

21 – 30 of 46
Article
Publication date: 20 February 2017

Richard A. Hawkins

This paper explores the development of a luxury retail shoe brand in Belle Époque Vienna.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores the development of a luxury retail shoe brand in Belle Époque Vienna.

Design/methodology/approach

Footwear retailing and marketing history is a neglected area. Unfortunately, no business records have survived from Robert Schlesinger’s shoe stores. However, it has been possible to reconstruct the history of the development of the Paprika Schlesinger brand from its extensive advertising in the Viennese newspaper, the Neue Freie Presse, with the guidance of the founder’s grandson, Prof Robert A. Shaw, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, Birkbeck, University of London, England. This case study would not have been possible without the digitization of some major collections of primary sources. In 2014, the European Union’s Europeana digitization initiative launched a new portal via the Library of Europe website which provides access to selected digitized historic newspaper collections in libraries across Europe. The project partners include the Austrian National Library which has digitized full runs of several major historic Austrian newspapers, including the Neue Freie Presse. Other project partners which have digitized historic newspapers which are relevant to this paper are the Landesbibliothek Dr Friedrich Teßmann of Italy’s Südtirol region, the National Library of France and the Berlin State Library. An associate project partner library, the Slovenian National and University Library’s Digital Library of Slovenia, has also digitized relevant historic newspapers. Furthermore, the City of Vienna has digitized a complete set of Vienna city directories as part of its Wienbibliothek Digital project.

Findings

This paper suggests that Robert Schlesinger created one of the first European luxury retail shoe brands.

Originality/value

This is the first academic study of the historical development of the advertising and marketing of a European luxury retail shoe brand.

Article
Publication date: 8 August 2016

Vartika Dutta and Sangeeta Sahney

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of teacher job satisfaction and school climate in mediating the relative effects of principals’ instructional and transformational…

7053

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of teacher job satisfaction and school climate in mediating the relative effects of principals’ instructional and transformational leadership practices on student outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Guided by strong evidence from theories on school leadership and work psychology, the authors hypothesized relations among dimensions of principals’ instructional and transformational leadership behaviors, teachers’ perception of the school climate (social and affective, and physical environment), their job satisfaction and student achievement. The benefits of the principal’s leadership behaviors for student achievement are primarily hypothesized as indirect, with either a weak or statistically non-significant direct positive effect on student outcomes. Path modeling was applied to validate a mediated-effects model using cross-sectional survey data (306 principals, 1,539 teachers) obtained from 306 secondary schools in the two Indian metropolitan cities of New Delhi and Kolkata.

Findings

Principal leadership behaviors were not associated directly with either teacher job satisfaction or school-aggregated student achievement. Rather, the transformational leader behavior showed an indirect effect, through the social and affective component of the school climate, on teacher job satisfaction. The physical climate, however, appeared to play a dominating role in mediating the instructional leadership effects on teacher job satisfaction. Comparing the relative indirect effect sizes of the instructional and transformational leadership behaviors on student achievement, principals appear to favor the former approach.

Originality/value

This study provides further empirical evidence that instructional leadership better captures the impact of school leadership on student outcomes, when compared to its transformational counterpart. By identifying the relative effects of different leadership practices, school leaders and educational practitioners can focus more on altering the distribution and frequency of those practices that work best for ameliorating student achievement levels.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 February 2019

William James Zuber and Colin Webber

The purpose of this paper is to examine current research on self-advocacy and self-determination of autistic students in order to provide an overview of the research and to…

1043

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine current research on self-advocacy and self-determination of autistic students in order to provide an overview of the research and to critically evaluate researcher’s methods of inclusivity of autistic people. Additionally, this paper will critically analyse the discourse of the current research to assess the extent of deficit, stigma and pathology discourse.

Design/methodology/approach

Research will be selected from a list of criteria which is to seek research that is inclusive of autistic people. The research will be analysed using elements of critical discourse analysis, critical disability studies and critical autism studies. The critical autism studies approach used in this paper is emancipatory to promote autistic scholarship, autistic inclusivity and autistic led research methods.

Findings

The result of this paper is that by prioritising, and including autistic individuals in the studies about them provides valuable educational insights and often challenges assumptions, stigmas and stereotypes of autistic individuals.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of the paper may be limited by the selection of literature reviewed and generalizability, therefore, researchers are encouraged to explore further.

Practical implications

This paper holds potential implications that question the consistency of current discourse and research into self-advocacy for autistic individuals in addition to providing effective research, teaching and support strategies based on insight. This paper also highlights some research that challenges assumptions of autistic individuals.

Social implications

This paper challenges assumptions and stigmas associated with autistic individuals and demonstrates the importance of self-advocacy and self-determination. This research transforms the paradigm of autism and education practice that has the potential to improve autistic individuals’ education and ultimately, improve their lives.

Originality/value

This research is important and valuable as there is limited research in this area. The potential of this research is that it can shift the broad perceptions of autism and make improvements in education and autistic individuals lives.

Details

Advances in Autism, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-3868

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 23 April 2010

Barbara J. Dray and Cathy Newman Thomas

Traditionally, preservice teacher education has been conducted in college and university classrooms and has relied heavily on what Shulman (1992) called “the twin demons of…

Abstract

Traditionally, preservice teacher education has been conducted in college and university classrooms and has relied heavily on what Shulman (1992) called “the twin demons of lecture and textbook” (p. 1). This educational model neglects the importance and strength of preservice teachers’ beliefs about teaching and content (Nietfeld & Enders, 2003; Putnam & Borko, 2000) and has been termed a transmission model in which teaching is telling (McLeskey & Waldron, 2004; Russell, McPherson, & Martin, 2001). The type of knowledge conveyed is considered to be declarative (Sternberg, 1999) or formal (Lundeberg & Scheurman, 1997) and is derived from theory and comprised of facts, concepts, and rules. Whitehead (1929) and more recently Bransford, Brophy, and Williams (2000) reported that this type of knowledge tends to remain inert and is unlikely to be retrieved in the very circumstances that call for its use.

Details

Current Issues and Trends in Special Education: Research, Technology, and Teacher Preparation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-955-8

Article
Publication date: 21 March 2019

James Ogechi Kereri and Simon Adamtey

In the past decade, radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs) have attracted the attention of the construction industry, having been proven to be an effective technology for…

Abstract

Purpose

In the past decade, radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs) have attracted the attention of the construction industry, having been proven to be an effective technology for addressing operational challenges in other industries such as health-care, retail and manufacturing. Despite the benefits, the use of RFID in construction industry is limited even in the face of inefficiencies that exist and that the need for improvement is yet to drive the widespread adoption in the residential/commercial construction industry. The purpose of this study is to investigate key drivers and critical success factors for RFID adoption.

Design/methodology/approach

The study included extensive and systematic literature review, interviews and questionnaire survey.

Findings

The study revealed that the most important key driver for RFID adoption is productivity improvement, while the most important critical success factors include management support and commitment, having clear RFID strategy, needs and benefits, having strong motivation for improvement, providing adequate funding and proper planning.

Practical implications

This study provides an exploratory framework that can be used by construction company executives and managers to provide justification for deciding to implement RFID on their projects and to enhance success rates of implementation.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the knowledge on RFID use in residential/commercial construction industry and provides a basis for further investigation by construction management researchers on the emerging issues regarding RFID use in the construction industry.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 April 2020

Nels Popp, Jonathan A. Jensen, Chad D. McEvoy and James F. Weiner

The purpose of the study is to ascertain whether sport organizations which outsource ticket sales force management outperform sports organizations which manage their ticket sales…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to ascertain whether sport organizations which outsource ticket sales force management outperform sports organizations which manage their ticket sales force internally, relative to ticket revenue and attendance.

Design/methodology/approach

Thirteen years of ticket revenue and football attendance data were collected for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Football bowl subdivision (FBS) Division I Athletics Departments (n = 126), as well as data on whether the organization employed an external (outsourced), internal or no ticket sales force. The number of salespeople employed was also captured. Within-subjects, fixed effects regression models, which included several control variables such as number of home contests, prior season attendance, team success and population, were run to assess the relationship between sales force type and both ticket revenue and attendance, for one year, two years and three years after sales force establishment.

Findings

All models were significant. While both internally managed ticket sales forces and those managed by outsourced firms saw significant increases in ticket revenue (compared to not employing a sales force), internally managed departments outperformed third parties. In addition, departments utilizing outsourcing companies reported lower attendance for the first two years after outsourcing, but attendance differences were negligible by the third year of outsourcing.

Practical implications

The results of the study provide data to help sport managers determine whether outsourcing sales functions within an organization will lead to greater ticket revenue and/or attendance.

Originality/value

While several sport management studies have examined the decision-making process of outsourcing organizational functions, no prior studies have examined the financial implications of doing so.

Details

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, vol. 21 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1464-6668

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 April 2020

Sławomir Wawak and Krzysztof Woźniak

The objectives of the study were to demonstrate the suitability of methodology based on a text mining toolset for detecting trends in scientific papers and to find trends that…

2150

Abstract

Purpose

The objectives of the study were to demonstrate the suitability of methodology based on a text mining toolset for detecting trends in scientific papers and to find trends that were present in the field of project management during the research time span (2000–2019).

Design/methodology/approach

An approach based on text mining tools supported by expert analysis was adopted due to an extensive number of publications in the field of project management. The novelty of the approach lies in the proposed method of trends discovery instead of the commonly used trends predefinition. The use of computer support allowed the full texts of papers, and not only abstracts, to be analysed, which significantly increased the reliability of the achieved results. Overall, 3,544 papers from seven journals were analysed.

Findings

As a result, 43 trends were discovered including seven long-lasting, four declining, 17 emerging and 15 ephemeris trends. Trends were analysed in comparison with the results of previous studies and project management frameworks. New trends and potential gaps were discussed.

Originality/value

The results highlight the topics of research that gain popularity among researchers, and which are related to the current problems that arise in project management. Therefore, the results can help focus studies on the most important areas, as well as find new ones which are not so popular yet. The knowledge of current trends is also important for those project managers who seek to improve the efficiency of their work.

Details

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8378

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 August 2020

Mitchell Scovell, Connar McShane and Anne Swinbourne

Cyclone preparedness activities can significantly reduce household-related property damage and the negative knock-on effects. Research has found, however, that many people do not…

Abstract

Purpose

Cyclone preparedness activities can significantly reduce household-related property damage and the negative knock-on effects. Research has found, however, that many people do not perform these behaviours. It is, therefore, important to understand why some people do, and others do not, perform such behaviours. This paper aims to investigate whether a commonly applied psychological theory of behaviour change can explain cyclone-specific preparedness behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a cross-sectional survey design to examine the relationship between demographic factors, cyclone experience, psychological factors and preparedness behaviour. Informed by the protection motivation theory (PMT), it was hypothesised that perceived efficacy, perceived cost and self-efficacy would be the strongest predictors of preparedness behaviour. Data from 356 respondents living in a cyclone-prone region were analysed using multiple regression and mediation analysis with the PROCESS macro in SPSS.

Findings

In support of the hypothesis, it was found that perceived efficacy and perceived cost were the strongest psychological predictors of preparedness behaviour. Contradicting the hypothesis, however, self-efficacy was not a significant predictor of preparedness behaviour. Subsequent analysis indicated that people who have experienced cyclone damage perceive that preparedness measures are more effective for reducing damage, which, in turn, increases preparedness behaviour.

Originality/value

This paper provides empirical support for the application of the protective motivation theory for explaining cyclone-specific preparedness behaviour. More specifically, the results indicate that people are more likely prepare for cyclones if they perceive that preparedness activities are effective for reducing damage and are relatively inexpensive and easy to perform. The findings suggest that to promote cyclone preparedness, risk communicators need to emphasise the efficacy of preparedness and downplay the costs.

Details

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, vol. 12 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-5908

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 June 2019

Sajad Fayezi, Andrew O’Loughlin, Ambika Zutshi, Amrik Sohal and Ajay Das

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of behaviour-based and buffer-based management mechanisms on enterprise agility using the lens of the agency theory.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of behaviour-based and buffer-based management mechanisms on enterprise agility using the lens of the agency theory.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on data collected from 185 manufacturing enterprises using a survey instrument. The authors employ structural equation modelling for data analysis.

Findings

The results of this study show that buffer-based mechanisms used for dealing with agency uncertainty of supplier/buyer not only have a positive impact on agility of enterprises, but are also contingent on the behavioural interventions used in the relationship with a supplier/buyer. Behaviour-based mechanisms also positively impact enterprise agility through mitigating the likelihood of supplier/buyer opportunism.

Practical implications

This study demonstrates that buffer- and behaviour-based management mechanisms can be used as complementary approaches against agency uncertainties for enhancing enterprise agility. Therefore, for enterprises to boost their agility, it is vital that their resources and capabilities are fairly distributed across entities responsible for creating buffers through functional flexibility, as well as individuals and teams dealing with stakeholder engagement, in particular, suppliers and buyers.

Originality/value

The authors use the lens of the agency theory to assimilate and model characteristic agency uncertainties and management mechanisms that enhance enterprise agility.

Details

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, vol. 31 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-038X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 June 2018

Olajumoke A. Awe, Nisha Kulangara and Demetria F. Henderson

In the extant literature, the effect of outsourcing activities on the firm performance has been an area of interest for several decades; yet, the body of knowledge lacks a…

1748

Abstract

Purpose

In the extant literature, the effect of outsourcing activities on the firm performance has been an area of interest for several decades; yet, the body of knowledge lacks a holistic view of this phenomenon. The potential outcomes of outsourcing and its impact on firm performance have not been aggregated in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a meta-analysis of 51 empirical results using 24 articles to examine the relationship between these variables and firm performance. The authors discuss the extant literature and examine which type of outsourcing has the greatest influence on firm performance. The authors also present the limitations and future opportunities. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed to highlight which outsourcing functions would be fiscally beneficial for firms.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper takes a granular approach by looking at different outsourced functions in the both the manufacturing and service industry. Using meta- analysis, this paper combined the quantitative study data from several selected studies in an effort to increase power, improve the effect size and resolve the uncertainty about the effects of outsourcing activities on firm performance measures.

Findings

The authors found that outsourcing enhances the firm performance. When outsourcing functions were studied individually, only IT outsourcing had significant effects on firm performance in comparison to other forms of outsourcing. This might be attributed to the fact that IT outsourcing is less costly to implement in the organization compared with other forms of outsourcing.

Originality/value

This paper is the first paper that uses a meta-analytic approach to investigate the relationship between outsourcing and performance measures based on past empirical studies that have used both primary and secondary data.

Details

Journal of Strategy and Management, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-425X

Keywords

21 – 30 of 46