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1 – 10 of 69Vasilikie Demos and Marcia Texler Segal
This introduction sets forth the main themes of the volume, reviews the methods employed by the contributors, and demonstrates the relationships among the chapters.
Abstract
Purpose
This introduction sets forth the main themes of the volume, reviews the methods employed by the contributors, and demonstrates the relationships among the chapters.
Research implications
The chapters in the volume exemplify current research approaches to the subject matter: gender-based violence. The introduction identifies both trends and gaps that might be filled by future research.
Practical and social implications
Worldwide attention is being drawn to examples and forms of gender-based violence. These are currently major topics in the media, both factual and fictional. Public policies are under discussion and programs to deal with them are developing. However, because the discussions and the programs are often not research-based or intersectionally inclusive, gender-based violence persists and victims are sometimes ignored, blamed, or subjected to further violence.
Originality/value
The chapter serves as an overall introduction to the volume and the subject matter more generally.
Details
Keywords
In 2001, the rape of “baby Tshepang” triggered a media frenzy in the small community of Louisvale, located in the Northern Cape of South Africa. The purpose of this chapter is to…
Abstract
Purpose
In 2001, the rape of “baby Tshepang” triggered a media frenzy in the small community of Louisvale, located in the Northern Cape of South Africa. The purpose of this chapter is to explore how gender discrimination and colonial discourse framed the way the rape of Tshepang was reported in print media.
Design/methodlogy/approach
From the newspaper archives of the Cape Town National Library, the University of Cape Town Library as well as newspaper articles found online, this chapter offers a reading of articles printed between 2001 and 2004. Patterns of troping were identified from the articles examined, and a number of themes were selected to be further examined using a gender perspective. Work already done by African feminist scholars on the grammar of rape was applied to deconstruct the ways in which the media presented this specific case. This chapter works with Sara Ahmed’s (2004) thoughts on shame, Linda Alcoff’s (1991) writing on Othering, Helen Moffett (2003a, 2003b, 2003c, 2006) and Jane Bennett’s (1997) work on gender and rape, as well as Achille Mbembe’s (2001) notion of facticity within colonial discourse.
Findings
This chapter argues that the ways in which the media understood this event were through well-worn stereotypes of Africa and women. An overarching theme of shame dominated how journalists represented the event. The label “A Town of Shame” stuck onto Louisvale through the mobilization of colonial and gender discourse. Quickly the town was known for its “barbaric” and “savage” existence; a town with no future and a disgrace to the country. Essentialist thinking about women was used to condemn and blame the mother of Tshepang, concretizing the myth that rape is always the fault of women.
Social Implications
Through relying on palatable stereotypes that create a self and Other, we move further away from engaging in the difficult questions of understanding rape. When rape becomes a spectacle, detached from the greater global socioeconomic realities, we deny our responsibilities of difficult and multilayered engagement.
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Vasilikie Demos and Marcia Texler Segal
This introduction sets forth the main themes of Part B of the two-part volume, reviews the methods employed by the contributors, and demonstrates the relationships among these…
Abstract
Purpose
This introduction sets forth the main themes of Part B of the two-part volume, reviews the methods employed by the contributors, and demonstrates the relationships among these chapters and those of Part A.
Design/methodology/approach
The chapters in the volume exemplify current research approaches to the subject matter: gender-based violence. The introduction identifies trends and themes.
Findings
Worldwide attention is being drawn to examples and forms of gender-based violence. These are currently major topics in the media, both factual and fictional. Public policies are under discussion and programs to deal with them are developing. However, because the discussions and the programs are often not research-based or intersectionally inclusive, gender-based violence persists and victims are sometimes ignored, blamed, or subjected to further violence.
Originality/value
The chapter serves as an overall introduction to the volume and the subject matter more generally.
Details
Keywords
Walter R. Nord, K. Doreen MacAulay and Jessica Lindsay Kelso
The purpose of this conceptual paper is twofold: to investigate the nature of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, and to discuss the effects that several factors…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this conceptual paper is twofold: to investigate the nature of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, and to discuss the effects that several factors have on CSR outcomes by drawing on concepts from organization theory.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach is used, wherein the authors review the extant literature on CSR theory with the goal of expanding upon theoretical perspectives underlying this area of research.
Findings
The findings show that both initiation and implementation influence CSR outcomes, and that these processes vary based on the degrees of centralization and routineness. In addition, the “fit” between the problems and the processes used influences the benefits of CSR. In short, the authors show that not all CSR initiatives are created equally.
Research limitations/implications
This paper does not address the potential magnitude of fit, only the direction of fit, and does not consider other factors that would play a role in successful initiation and implementation. It does not consider nor estimate the costs associated with different approaches to CSR activities. Lastly, it does not consider the history of an organization when discussing various CSR structures.
Originality/value
This study enriches CSR literature by filling the gap in the extant CSR literature and by proposing a more holistic view to CSR initiatives. The authors offer six propositions that purport the effects that various factors – (de)centralization, fit, CSR–human resources synergies, transformational leadership and pride – have on a company’s CSR activities and recruitment efforts.
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Jessica M. Blomfield, Ashlea C. Troth and Peter J. Jordan
Sustainability is an emotional issue. It is also an issue that is gaining prominence in organizational agendas. In this chapter, we outline a model to explain how employees…
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainability is an emotional issue. It is also an issue that is gaining prominence in organizational agendas. In this chapter, we outline a model to explain how employees perceive change agents working to implement sustainability initiatives in organizations. Using this model, we argue that organizational support for sustainability can influence how employees respond to sustainability messages. We further argue that the intensity of emotions that change agents display, and how appropriate those emotions are within the organizational context, will influence how employees perceive those individuals and the success of their efforts to influence green outcomes.
Research implications
We extend the Dual Threshold Model of emotions (DTM: Geddes & Callister, 2007) to assess the impact of displays of emotional intensity on achieving sustainability goals. Our model links emotional propriety to change agent success. By exploring variations of the DTM in terms of contextual factors and emotional intensity, our model elaborates on the dynamic nature of emotional thresholds.
Practical implications
Using our framework, change agents may be able to improve their influence by matching the emotional intensity of their messages to the relevant display rules for that organization. That is, change agents who are perceived to express emotion within the thresholds of propriety can enhance their success in implementing green outcomes.
Originality/value
This chapter examines sustainability initiatives at the interpersonal behavior level. We combine aspects of organizational behavior, emotion in organizations, and organizations and the natural environment to create a new model for understanding change agent success in corporate sustainability.
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Jessica L. Robinson, Karl Manrodt, Monique Lynn Murfield, Christopher A. Boone and Paige Rutner
The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a dual pathway model whereby addressing the question, “What are the effects of supply chain orientation and organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a dual pathway model whereby addressing the question, “What are the effects of supply chain orientation and organizational identification on internal integration and supplier integration?”.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey design was performed to collect data from supply chain professionals regarding their organization’s supply chain orientation (SCO), organizational identification (OI) and achieved states of both internal and supplier integration. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling was performed to test the dual mediating pathways.
Findings
The results show that internal integration partially mediates relationships between SCO and supplier integration and for OI and supplier integration. In comparing the mediating effects to test competing theories, the SCO path yields stronger complementary partial mediation. This supports the proposition that SCO and OI mutually exist within an organization and influence achieved integrative behaviors. Additionally, results suggest the behavioral spillover effect exists for an internally integrated organization that has also achieved supplier integration.
Originality/value
This research makes several contributions to extant literature, including finding that SCO contributes to levels of achieved integration. Also, this research theoretically integrates literature on the social dilemma associated with supplier integration and the behavioral spillover effect, suggesting that SCO allows for positive internal integrative behaviors to spillover to integrated suppliers. Finally, this research contributes to research on OI by finding achieved integration is an outcome, which refutes a dominate theory that explains OI facilitates negative behaviors toward external organizations.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine what employees perceive as positive and negative aspects of their work, and how these affect their perceptions of the quality of work life…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine what employees perceive as positive and negative aspects of their work, and how these affect their perceptions of the quality of work life (QWL) and their career development decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative study using data collected from an online discussion forum. Thematic and textual analysis was performed to identify core themes associated with perceptions of QWL and career development. Data analysis was based on the researchers' interpretations of narratives based on the online postings of 140 part‐time MBA students and guided by the literature.
Findings
Four major themes emerged as domains of tensions within which employees operated to construct meanings around their work life. These include: internal and external tension, private and public tension, self and otherness tension, and present and future tension. Career development support, flexibility and autonomy in job design as well as flexibility in career development planning emerged as positive career development strategies that would affect employees' perceptions of QWL.
Research limitations/implications
This research advances the understanding of employees' perceptions on QWL and its relationship with career development planning. Future studies should include primary data gathered through face‐to‐face interaction to overcome the limitations of this study.
Practical implications
This study has identified the positive and negative factors that influence the way employees perceive their QWL. These factors can help organizations to conceptualize strategies that seek to positively integrate QWL and career development, ensuring long‐term competitive advantage.
Originality/value
The paper offers four domains of tensions and a career development matrix that will add value to both the research and practice of QWL and career planning in organizations.
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David L Cooperrider and Michel Avital
Appreciative Inquiry is a constructive inquiry process that searches for everything that “gives life” to organizations, communities, and larger human systems when they are most…
Abstract
Appreciative Inquiry is a constructive inquiry process that searches for everything that “gives life” to organizations, communities, and larger human systems when they are most alive, effective, creative and healthy in their interconnected ecology of relationships. To appreciate, quite simply, means to value and to recognize that which has value – it is a way of knowing and valuing the best in life. In the language of Positive Organizational Scholarship it means a research focus – a positive bias – seeking fresh understanding of dynamics described by words like excellence, thriving, abundance, resilience, or exceptional and life-giving (Cameron, Dutton & Quinn, 2003). In this context the word appreciate means to value those things of value – it is a mode of knowing often connected to the idea of esthetic appreciation in the arts. To appreciate also means to be grateful or thankful for – it is a way of being and maintaining a positive stance along the path of life’s journey. And not incidentally, to appreciate is to increase in value too. Combining the three – appreciation as a way of knowing, as a way of being and as an increase in value- suggests that Appreciative Inquiry is simultaneously a life-centric form of study and a constructive mode of practice. As a form of study, Appreciative Inquiry focuses on searching systematically for those capacities and processes that give life and strength and possibility to a living system; and as a constructive mode of practice, it aims at designing and crafting human organizations through a process in which valuing and creating are viewed as one, and where inquiry and change are powerfully related and understood as a seamless and integral whole. But the key to really understanding Appreciative Inquiry is to put the emphasis on the second word in the inseparable pair. While many are intrigued with the Appreciative Inquiry positive bias – toward the good, the better, the exceptional, and the possible – it is the power of inquiry we must learn more about and underscore. Inquiry is all about openness, curiosity, creative questioning; its spirit involves what Whitehead once called “the adventure of ideas.”