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1 – 10 of 93Jill Harrison Berg and Bill Zoellick
Conceptual ambiguity about the term “teacher leadership” has retarded development of useful research on this topic. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework…
Abstract
Purpose
Conceptual ambiguity about the term “teacher leadership” has retarded development of useful research on this topic. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework that researchers might utilize to clarify key assumptions embedded in their use of the term “teacher leadership,” enabling members of this research community to better understand and build upon each other’s work and to develop a knowledge base on teacher leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
In 2016 a community of researchers convened in a conversation about their varied conceptions of teacher leadership. The authors analyzed documentation from this convening to identify key ways in which members’ conceptions of teacher leadership diverged. They then drew upon the teacher–leader research literature and their own experiences with teacher–leader initiatives to propose a conceptual framework that would support researchers to define teacher leadership in ways that meet established criteria for an empirically-useful concept.
Findings
Four dimensions of teacher leadership that should be referenced in an empirically-useful definition of teacher leadership are: legitimacy, support, objective and method. It is hypothesized that clarifying one’s assumptions about each of these dimensions and providing descriptive evidence of how they are instantiated will address the conceptual ambiguity that currently stymies the accumulation of knowledge in this field.
Originality/value
This paper presents a framework that can provide a strong foundation for the development of a knowledge base on teacher leadership, which is needed to inform education leaders’ efforts to maximize teachers’ leadership influence as asset for improving teaching, learning and schools.
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Sujatha Perera, Jill McKinnon and Graeme Harrison
This paper uses a stakeholder approach to examine how the role of accounting and the status of accountants changed over a 30 year period (1970 to 2000) in a major Australian…
Abstract
This paper uses a stakeholder approach to examine how the role of accounting and the status of accountants changed over a 30 year period (1970 to 2000) in a major Australian government trading enterprise. Data are gathered from semi‐structured interviews with organizational participants and documentation. The study provides support for the importance of stakeholders in shaping organizational processes and practices, including accounting practices, and for the effects of changes in stakeholder constituency and agenda on such practices. The study also provides evidence of the roles accounting and accountants may play in implementing a stakeholder agenda, including both instrumental and symbolic roles, and how the status of accountants may rise and fall commensurate with those roles.
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Hilary Fussell, Jill Harrison‐Rexrode, William R. Kennan and Vincent Hazleton
The purpose of this paper is to explore the connection between social capital, transaction costs, and organizational outcomes.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the connection between social capital, transaction costs, and organizational outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a survey of 176 employees of a high‐tech manufacturer of electronics located in the Mid‐Atlantic region of the USA. The survey included three self‐report measures: social capital, transaction costs, and organizational outcomes. Self‐report items were used to measure three dimensions of social capital: structure, relationships, and communication. Transaction cost items measured information exchange, problem solving, conflict management, and behavior regulation. Questions measuring organizational outcomes included quality, change, equity, and fairness.
Findings
The central finding of this research is the significant association between social capital and both transaction costs and organizational outcomes. As expected, trust served as a predictor of both transaction costs and organizational outcomes. In addition, the social capital components of access, timing, and network ties were significantly associated with transaction costs and organizational outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
The items used to measure the communication dimension of social capital did not demonstrate sufficient reliability to be entered into the analysis.
Practical implications
The results suggest an alternative approach to considering the connection between communication management and organizational achievement. This approach, also, theoretically centralizes communication and communication related concerns as foundational for social capital analysis.
Originality/value
This study offers a valuable alternative theoretic approach to understanding the impact of communication on organizational affairs.
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Chris Patel and Graeme Harrison
This paper chronicles Jill McKinnon's theoretical and methodological contributions to international accounting research generally and socio-cultural research specifically over a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper chronicles Jill McKinnon's theoretical and methodological contributions to international accounting research generally and socio-cultural research specifically over a 25-year period, 1981–2006. The purposes are: (1) to apprise contemporary and future researchers in international accounting, working with a socio-cultural lens, of a major contributor and contribution to the historical origin and development of that lens; and (2) to revisit and reappraise McKinnon's identification of critical theoretical and methodological cautions to guide future research in international accounting.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides a historical narrative and contemporary appraisal of: (1) McKinnon's seminal doctoral research into the Japanese system of corporate reporting regulation using a holistic and dynamic socio-cultural model of social systems change; and (2) her contribution to the advancement of cross-cultural international accounting research including her critique of that research leading to the identification of cautions, the recognition and observance of which are critical to the development of contemporary and future research. The narrative is informed by historical context of time and space, and imbued and interwoven with the personal story of McKinnon both as human and humane.
Findings
McKinnon's research invoking holistic theoretical and methodological perspectives provides a continuing template and pathway to guide contemporary and future international accounting researchers and to shape the development of international accounting research. Her career, research and humanity leave a legacy distilled into four themes that serve as counsels for accounting research and researchers; eclecticism of world-view and method choice, rigour, holism and the importance of collegiality with and to the accounting research community.
Originality/value
The paper provides original insights into the personality, career development and research of an important contributor to international accounting research specifically and interdisciplinary research in accounting generally. The paper demonstrates empirically the importance of historical analysis, contextualized by time, space and person, in understanding and informing the present state of international accounting research and, hence, linking past, present and future.
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International relocation is undoubtedly a source of stress for families, and in particular for married couples. Yet, despite familial challenges and the fact that “family…
Abstract
Purpose
International relocation is undoubtedly a source of stress for families, and in particular for married couples. Yet, despite familial challenges and the fact that “family concerns” remain a top reason for assignment refusal and assignment failure, including a growing body of anecdotal evidence suggesting that many expatriate marriages fail often at huge cost to organizations, there is not one academic study yet published on expatriate divorce. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the causes and consequences of expatriate divorce.
Design/methodology/approach
In this exploratory case-based study, the author uses respondent data from 13 face-to-face interviews and 25 online survey participants.
Findings
Findings demonstrate that expatriate marriages end in divorce for two main reasons: first, a core issue in the marriage that exists before going abroad (e.g. alcoholism, mental health problems) and which continues while abroad; and second, when one or both spouses is negatively influenced by an expatriate culture to such an extent that a form of “group think” results in polarizing behavior that is counter to how they might behave “back home” (e.g. infidelity, sexual misconduct). The consequences of divorce for expatriates are immense and include bankruptcy, destitution, homelessness, depression, psychophysiological illness, alienation from children, and suicide.
Research limitations/implications
Data are cross-sectional and findings are limited by single-response bias. Future studies would do well to research matched samples of couples engaging in global work experiences over different points in time in order to track longitudinal changes in marital quality, including why some go on to divorce while others recover from marital breakdown and stay married.
Practical implications
One of the strongest pieces of advice offered by most of the respondents is for spouses, and trailing spouses in particular, to know their legal rights and entitlements in each country where they are living in the event of divorce.
Originality/value
This is the first study to empirically explore the lived experience of expatriate divorce.
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Julie E.M. Scott, Jill L. McKinnon and Graeme L. Harrison
This study traces the development of financial reporting in two publicly funded hospitals in New South Wales over the period 1857 to post‐1975, with particular focus on the use of…
Abstract
This study traces the development of financial reporting in two publicly funded hospitals in New South Wales over the period 1857 to post‐1975, with particular focus on the use of cash and accrual accounting. The historical analysis draws on process and contextual change and stakeholder theory, and uses both primary and secondary data, to describe patterns of change (and non‐change) in the hospitals’ financial reporting and to identify the social and political influences associated with such reporting. The study provides historical context for recent developments in public sector reporting and accountability in Australia, particularly the (re)introduction of accrual accounting, and provides insights into the nature of accounting change both in public sector organizations and generally.
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Tara Christopher Crane, Betty G. Dillard and Jean A. Hamilton
Many manufacturers have implemented a participative, team‐based approach to remain competitive in this global arena. Numerous studies have extolled the competitive advantages of…
Abstract
Many manufacturers have implemented a participative, team‐based approach to remain competitive in this global arena. Numerous studies have extolled the competitive advantages of implementing this approach. Few studies, however, have examined employees’ perceptions of participative management. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine issues of culture change from the employees’ point of view by investigating the transition from piece rate to team‐based production in a sewn‐products plant. Using the case study approach, 16 in‐depth interviews were conducted, observations were made, and written documents were analyzed. Employees’ perceptions of their work environment prior to the transition, the transition itself, and the resulting new corporate culture are discussed. The new corporate culture is described as an open, participative environment built on trust where employees feel empowered to make decisions for the betterment of their team and the plant as a whole. Negative outcomes of the participative approach are also addressed.
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Steve Iliffe and Jill Manthorpe
The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential of public health perspectives to “come to the aid” of dementia research and practice.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential of public health perspectives to “come to the aid” of dementia research and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on research and policy papers.
Findings
This paper outlines some potential preventive interventions, focussing particularly on life-course phenomena like child poverty, diet and pollution, on the biological mechanisms that enable psychosocial interventions, and on the status of dementia as a syndemic disorder.
Research limitations/implications
This paper presents the opinions of the authors alone. It is based on recent research evidence and the authors’ experiences of dementia research, education and services. The implications for social scientists and for dementia research funders are contained in discussion of the need for research on prevention and social support for people with dementia and their families. While the evidence to guide primary prevention using psychosocial methods is less secure, the paper outlines a large secondary prevention research agenda in dementia.
Practical implications
Methodological approaches that facilitate harmonisation, pooling and comparison of data, are needed. In practical terms the paper argues that there is a need to know if and how psychosocial interventions work, and improve quality of life or even influence harder outcomes.
Originality/value
Few papers have considered the implications of a public health approach to dementia other than taking an epidemiological approach and focusing on the problems of dementia and rising numbers. This paper argues that a wider view of public health may be of particular relevance to dementia syndrome.
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John Goodman, Jill Earnshaw, Mick Marchington and Robin Harrison
Summarises some findings from recent empirical research into the factors influencing the incidence of claims of unfair dismissal to industrial tribunals. Using a paired comparison…
Abstract
Summarises some findings from recent empirical research into the factors influencing the incidence of claims of unfair dismissal to industrial tribunals. Using a paired comparison case study method it focuses, primarily, on small businesses and small establishments, seeking to explore significant variations. These include the presence or absence of written disciplinary procedures, their mode of operation, content and meaning, and management style and consistency. Qualitative insights include the prevalence of informal first approaches to perceived employee shortcomings and the influence of overall employee assessment in selective disciplinary action. Contrary to earlier research in small businesses it finds little principled management opposition or resentment to the introduction of written disciplinary procedures, with managers highlighting the assistance they give to them when taking disciplinary action.
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