Search results
11 – 20 of 22Present‐day economics is characterised by the fragmentary and reductionist approach that typifies most social sciences. Economists generally fail to recognise that the economy is…
Abstract
Present‐day economics is characterised by the fragmentary and reductionist approach that typifies most social sciences. Economists generally fail to recognise that the economy is merely one aspect of a whole ecological and social fabric; a living system composed of human beings in continual interaction with one another and with their natural resources, most of which are, in turn, living organisms. The basic error of the social sciences is to divide this fabric in fragments, assumed to be independent and to be dealt with in separate academic departments (Capra, 1982, pp. 194–5).
This study aims to assess the risks of systematisation of corruption in the UK following the Brexit referendum.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to assess the risks of systematisation of corruption in the UK following the Brexit referendum.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies theoretical and empirical findings of criminological, social, psychological, economic and legal research on the causes of systemic corruption to the socio-institutional developments following the Leave vote.
Findings
The events surrounding the referendum confirm that the resort to corrupt practices is normalised in certain sectors of the British institutions, business and media and that socio-political processes activated by the Leave vote and inadequate UK policymaking and lawmaking can aggravate the situational and socio-psychological enablers of systemic corruption. Effective solutions must go beyond mere anti-corruption laws and address deeper social issues.
Research limitations/implications
The study focuses only on some of the major situational and socio-psychological causes of systemic corruption, including the unintended criminogenic effects of the law. More interdisciplinary research is required to address other causes, such as historical and cultural factors.
Practical implications
The findings of this study can inspire practical solutions by policymakers and future research.
Social implications
The study contributes to raising social awareness and stimulating public discussion on systemic corruption in the UK and on the consequences of the referendum on public and private integrity.
Originality/value
The study offers the first systematic analysis of the effects of Brexit and the referendum on corruption through an integrated interdisciplinary approach to systemic corruption in the UK.
Details
Keywords
Celia Harding and Julie Wright
This review explores some of the key issues relevant to children and adults who have dysphagia, or eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties, and a learning disability. It…
Abstract
This review explores some of the key issues relevant to children and adults who have dysphagia, or eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties, and a learning disability. It explores the methods for attempting to identify this area of difficulty effectively, and reflects on some of the other issues that may affect management, such as carer support and training and use of appropriate communication strategies to support and enable participation from the client with learning disability.
Details
Keywords
This paper seeks to evaluate how some of the core general principles of heterodox political economy (HPE) can be applied to the issue of how HPE has managed to undergo resurgence…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to evaluate how some of the core general principles of heterodox political economy (HPE) can be applied to the issue of how HPE has managed to undergo resurgence and development over recent decades.
Design/methodology/approach
Four major principles of heterodoxy are applied successively to this issue: historical specificity; contradiction; heterogeneous agents and groups; and circular and cumulative causation.
Findings
These principles assist in comprehending how HPE is able to develop its own concepts, networks, publications, academic departments, teaching and policy‐relevant material.
Research limitations/implications
HPE has had considerable success in developing a conceptual apparatus, which helps to explain the emergence of much of its edifice being developed in academic and policy circles. The performance of HPE has been impressive.
Practical implications
The conceptual apparatus of heterodoxy can be applied to real world situations; specifically a component of world history over especially the past 40 years.
Originality/value
This is the first time such a theme has been explored in the literature.
Details
Keywords
Purpose – This chapter presents a close examination of how manufacturing managers respond to environmental pressures by formulating and implementing operational…
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter presents a close examination of how manufacturing managers respond to environmental pressures by formulating and implementing operational strategy.
Methodology – The analysis is based on interviews and observations in 31 manufacturing firms in the US Midwest.
Findings – The study reveals that competitive market pressure is only so effective at penetrating the institutional layers of inter- and intra-firm relations. Even in the highly competitive manufacturing sector, operational strategy is consistently implemented in suboptimal ways. Relatively inefficient routines are commonly institutionalized and inefficient arrangements appear to be able to persist for an indefinite period of time. To the extent that firms with variable capabilities and internal socio-technical systems must process, interpret, and react to complex external pressures and often-ambiguous signals, the sociology of work provides essential insights for the sociology of markets.
Originality – While the findings are subject to the standard caveats regarding nonrandom qualitative samples, the rich data produced and the in-depth analysis of real-world organizational pressures and managerial decision-making provide distinctive insights into how managers must balance external market pressures with internal labor process problems. Individual motivation appears to be at least as important in true organizational innovation as market discipline. While adaptation and learning certainly occur in organizations (and selection also operates through the death of extreme laggards) there exists sufficient institutional space within markets for a range of variation in organizational performance. The findings suggest that the analysis of internal organizational dynamics provides an essential part of a realistic theory of markets.
Emmanuel Eze, Rob Gleasure and Ciara Heavin
The implementation of mobile health (mHealth) in developing countries seems to be stuck in a pattern of successive pilot studies that struggle for mainstream implementation. This…
Abstract
Purpose
The implementation of mobile health (mHealth) in developing countries seems to be stuck in a pattern of successive pilot studies that struggle for mainstream implementation. This study addresses the research question: what existing health-related structures, properties and practices are presented by rural areas of developing countries that might inhibit the implementation of mHealth initiatives?
Design/methodology/approach
This study was conducted using a socio-material approach, based on an exploratory case study in West Africa. Interviews and participant observation were used to gather data. A thematic analysis identified important social and material agencies, practices and imbrications which may limit the effectiveness of mHealth apps in the region.
Findings
Findings show that, while urban healthcare is highly structured, best practice-led, rural healthcare relies on peer-based knowledge sharing, and community support. This has implications for the enacted materiality of mobile technologies. While urban actors see mHealth as a tool for automation and the enforcement of responsible healthcare best practice, rural actors see mHealth as a tool for greater interconnectivity and independent, decentralised care.
Research limitations/implications
This study has two significant limitations. First, the study focussed on a region where technology-enabled guideline-driven treatment is the main mHealth concern. Second, consistent with the exploratory nature of this study, the qualitative methodology and the single-case design, the study makes no claim to statistical generalisability.
Originality/value
To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to adopt a socio-material view that considers existing structures and practices that may influence the widespread adoption and assimilation of a new mHealth app. This helps identify contextual challenges that are limiting the potential of mHealth to improve outcomes in rural areas of developing countries.
Details
Keywords
Anushua Banerjee and Parthajit Kayal
This paper tries to locate the sectorial bubbles and examines the possibility for investors making extra profit from these bubbles in the Indian stock market.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper tries to locate the sectorial bubbles and examines the possibility for investors making extra profit from these bubbles in the Indian stock market.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use two main indicators: (1) asset centrality and (2) relative value. Asset centrality signals crowded trading, which is associated with the formation of a bubble. Relative value separates the crowded trading during the bubble run-up from the sell-off. The authors observe whether these measures can detect the cycle of bubbles in each sector of the Indian stock market for the period 2004–2019.
Findings
The authors show the sectors going through the inflationary phase delivers much better performance than the index, whereas the sectors in their deflationary phase perform quite worse than the index. This provides attractive opportunities to investors, especially the institutional investors, and fund managers of the Indian market.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, there is no study that looks into the idea of locating a sectoral bubble in the Indian financial stock market using the concept of centrality score and relative score. This work helps to locate a bubble and identify its phases successfully. Traders can enter a bubble in their inflationary period gain profit and exit the trade before the sell-off period begins.
Details
Keywords
George L. De Feis and Donald Grunewald
Later in the discussion, the options for long run strategy in dealing with a possible takeover offer and other strategic options can be discussed by the class. Lack of familiarity…
Abstract
Theoretical basis
Later in the discussion, the options for long run strategy in dealing with a possible takeover offer and other strategic options can be discussed by the class. Lack of familiarity by students with the role of the outside potential acquirer of the camp (in this case, a hotel chain) and the lack of familiarity with the role of an investor who is a family investor, who may wish to sell stock and use the proceeds for another purpose, or a small investor who invests because he or she uses the camp and takes advantage of the stockholder’s discount will probably preclude role playing, except in executive MBA classes where students have sufficient experience in possible takeover situations or in investment management, Emphasis should probably be placed on discussing the major issues, such as social and cultural issues and on marketing and public relations issues and on financial issues, including the options available in the event of a possible takeover effort. All of these issues are impacted fully by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Research methodology
Instructors will need to play an active role in teaching this case. It is recommended that the instructor give a short lecture or discussion at the beginning as to how a camp such as Camp Teddy functions. The authors recommend that the instructor then begin the case discussion by asking students questions about such issues as social and cultural issues and marketing and public relations issues.
Case overview/synopsis
Camp Teddy is a seasonal camp for families in rural Connecticut adjacent to New York City and suburbs in New York and Connecticut. It is technically a for-profit organization but operates more like a nonprofit organization because many of the campers own shares and have used the camp sometimes for several generations. The camp has traditions that are liked by many of the shareholders and campers. Although net income has increased in the past year, there does not seem to be enough funds to support necessary capital expenditures to improve facilities for the future. The largest stockholder has recently died. His immediate heirs’ control 300 of the 1,000 shares and other family members control 400 shares with the remaining 300 shares in the hands of small shareholders, many of whom use the camp each summer. A large hotel chain is interested in possibly acquiring the camp through a buyout or perhaps a hostile takeover, with a potential large gain to shareholders. The board of directors must consider a number of issues to insure good occupancy of the camp in the future and must decide what to do about a potential takeover attempt.
Complexity academic level
This case can be used in several courses, including investment management, hospitality management, corporate finance and business strategy. There are ethical and societal issues in the case, so that the case might also be used in courses looking at business, environment or business ethics. The case is best used at the graduate level, but it might be suitable for some advanced undergraduate courses.
Details