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1 – 10 of 69Julie Henderson, Annabelle M. Wilson, Trevor Webb, Dean McCullum, Samantha B. Meyer, John Coveney and Paul R. Ward
The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of journalists, food regulators and the food industry representatives on the impact of social media on communication about food…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of journalists, food regulators and the food industry representatives on the impact of social media on communication about food risk. The authors identify how journalists/media actors use social media in identifying and creating news stories arguing that food regulators need to maintain a social media presence to ensure that accurate information about food safety is disseminated via social media.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through 105 semi-structured interviews.
Findings
While food regulators and representatives of the food industry identify advantages of social media including two-way communication and speed of transmission of information, they maintain concerns about information provided via social media fearing the potential for loss of control of the information and sensationalism. There is evidence, however, that media actors use social media to identify food stories, to find sources, gauge public opinion and to provide a human interest angle.
Practical implications
While there are commonalities between the three groups, concerns with social media reflect professional roles. Food regulators need to be aware of how media actors use social media and maintain a social media presence. Further, they need to monitor other sources to maintain consumer trust.
Originality/value
This paper adds to public debate through comparing the perspectives of the three groups of respondents each that have their own agendas which impact how they interact with and use social media.
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Emma Tonkin, Annabelle M. Wilson, John Coveney, Julie Henderson, Samantha B. Meyer, Mary Brigid McCarthy, Seamus O’Reilly, Michael Calnan, Aileen McGloin, Edel Kelly and Paul Ward
The purpose of this paper is to compare the perspectives of actors who contribute to trust in the food system in four high income countries which have diverse food incident…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the perspectives of actors who contribute to trust in the food system in four high income countries which have diverse food incident histories: Australia, New Zealand (NZ), the United Kingdom (UK) and the Island of Ireland (IOI), focussing on their communication with the public, and their approach to food system interrelationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected in two separate studies: the first in Australia, NZ and the UK (Study 1); and the second on the IOI (Study 2). In-depth interviews were conducted with media, food industry and food regulatory actors across the four regions (n=105, Study 1; n=50, Study 2). Analysis focussed on identifying similarities and differences in the perspectives of actors from the four regions regarding the key themes of communication with the public, and relationships between media, industry and regulators.
Findings
While there were many similarities in the way food system actors from the four regions discussed (re)building trust in the context of a food incident, their perceptions differed in a number of critical ways regarding food system actor use of social media, and the attitudes and approaches towards relationships between food system actors.
Originality/value
This paper outlines opportunities for the regions studied to learn from each other when looking for practical strategies to maximise consumer trust in the food system, particularly relating to the use of social media and attitudes towards role definition in industry–regulator relationships.
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Emma Tonkin, Julie Henderson, Samantha B. Meyer, John Coveney, Paul R. Ward, Dean McCullum, Trevor Webb and Annabelle M. Wilson
Consumers’ trust in food systems is essential to their functioning and to consumers’ well-being. However, the literature exploring how food safety incidents impact consumer trust…
Abstract
Purpose
Consumers’ trust in food systems is essential to their functioning and to consumers’ well-being. However, the literature exploring how food safety incidents impact consumer trust is theoretically underdeveloped. This study explores the relationship between consumers’ expectations of the food system and its actors (regulators, food industry and the media) and how these influence trust-related judgements that consumers make during a food safety incident.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, two groups of purposefully sampled Australian participants (n = 15) spent one day engaged in qualitative public deliberation to discuss unfolding food incident scenarios. Group discussion was audio recorded and transcribed for the analysis. Facilitated group discussion included participants' expected behaviour in response to the scenario and their perceptions of actors' actions described within the scenario, particularly their trust responses (an increase, decrease or no change in their trust in the food system) and justification for these.
Findings
The findings of the study indicated that food incident features and unique consumer characteristics, particularly their expectations of the food system, interacted to form each participant's individual trust response to the scenario. Consumer expectations were delineated into “fundamental” and “anticipatory” expectations. Whether fundamental and anticipatory expectations were in alignment was central to the trust response. Experiences with the food system and its actors during business as usual contributed to forming anticipatory expectations.
Originality/value
To ensure that food incidents do not undermine consumer trust in food systems, food system actors must not only demonstrate competent management of the incident but also prioritise trustworthiness during business as usual to ensure that anticipatory expectations held by consumers are positive.
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Annabelle M Wilson, Samantha B Meyer, Trevor Webb, Julie Henderson, John Coveney, Dean McCullum and Paul R. Ward
The purpose of this paper is to report how food regulators communicate with consumers about food safety and how they believe consumers understand their role in relation to food…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report how food regulators communicate with consumers about food safety and how they believe consumers understand their role in relation to food safety. The implications of this on the role of food regulators are considered.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 42 food regulators from Australia, New Zealand and the UK participated in a semi-structured interview about their response to food incidents and issues of food regulation more generally. Data were analysed thematically.
Findings
Food regulators have a key role in communicating information to consumers about food safety and food incidents. This is done in two main ways: proactive and reactive communication. The majority of regulators said that consumers do not have a good understanding of what food regulation involves and there were varied views on whether or not this is important.
Practical implications
Both reactive and proactive communication with consumers are important, however there are clear benefits in food regulators communicating proactively with consumers, including a greater understanding of the regulators’ role. Regulators should be supported to communicate proactively where possible.
Originality/value
There is a lack of information about how food regulators communicate with consumers about food safety and how food regulators perceive consumers to understand food regulation. It is this gap that forms the basis of this paper.
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Cary Cherniss, Laurence G. Grimm and Jim P. Liautaud
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a leadership development program based on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) principles. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a leadership development program based on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) principles. The program utilized process‐designed training groups to help participants develop emotional and social competence.
Design/methodology/approach
The study involved 162 managers from nine different companies in a random assignment control group design. There were nine different groups with nine managers in each group. Each group was required to follow the identical process. Trained moderators led the groups during year 1, but during year 2 a group member served as moderator, with all new moderators committing to following the process. The outcome measure was the Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI), a multi‐rater measure of social and emotional competencies associated with effective leadership. Outcome data were collected before the program started, one year later, and two years later.
Findings
Results indicated that after two years the intervention group had improved more than the controls on all ECI variables.
Research limitations/implications
The paper offers recommendations for future research on the mechanisms underlying the process‐designed group strategy and contextual factors that optimize results.
Practical implications
The paper describes a leadership development strategy that appears to be more economical and consistent in its delivery than traditional approaches such as workshops or executive coaching.
Originality/value
Although ISO principles are utilized widely in the business world, this is the first study that has used this approach in the design and delivery of management development. Also, few evaluations of management development efforts utilize a random assignment control group design with pre‐ and post‐measures or examine the impact on emotional and social competence, as demonstrated in the workplace over such a long period of time.
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John Robinson, Andi Darell Alhakim, Grace Ma, Monisha Alam, Fernanda da Rocha Brando, Manfred Braune, Michelle Brown, Nicolas Côté, Denise Crocce Romano Espinosa, Ana Karen Garza, David Gorman, Maarten Hajer, John Madden, Rob Melnick, John Metras, Julie Newman, Rutu Patel, Rob Raven, Kenneth Sergienko, Victoria Smith, Hoor Tariq, Lysanne van der Lem, Christina Nga Jing Wong and Arnim Wiek
This study aims to explore barriers and pathways to a whole-institution governance of sustainability within the working structures of universities.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore barriers and pathways to a whole-institution governance of sustainability within the working structures of universities.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on multi-year interviews and hierarchical structure analysis of ten universities in Canada, the USA, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, Brazil, the UK and The Netherlands. The paper addresses existing literature that championed further integration between the two organizational sides of universities (academic and operations) and suggests approaches for better embedding sustainability into four primary domains of activity (education, research, campus operations and community engagement).
Findings
This research found that effective sustainability governance needs to recognise and reconcile distinct cultures, diverging accountability structures and contrasting manifestations of central-coordination and distributed-agency approaches characteristic of the university’s operational and academic activities. The positionality of actors appointed to lead institution-wide embedding influenced which domain received most attention. The paper concludes that a whole-institution approach would require significant tailoring and adjustments on both the operational and academic sides to be successful.
Originality/value
Based on a review of sustainability activities at ten universities around the world, this paper provides a detailed analysis of the governance implications of integrating sustainability into the four domains of university activity. It discusses how best to work across the operational/academic divide and suggests principles for adopting a whole institution approach to sustainability.
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Magdalena Kolka and Julie Abayomi
Current western society promotes a strong desirability to be thin. The majority of young females are unhappy with their body shape and wish to be thinner. This can lead to many…
Abstract
Purpose
Current western society promotes a strong desirability to be thin. The majority of young females are unhappy with their body shape and wish to be thinner. This can lead to many health problems such as addictive exercising, depression and disordered eating. It is also established that certain groups tend to be more prone to body image dissatisfaction (BID) than others. The purpose of this paper is to determine if there was a high prevalence of BID and/or disordered eating among students studying a food‐related degree course.
Design/methodology/approach
Students were recruited via e‐mail. Subjects were weighed, measured and BMI calculated. A software package Anamorphic Micro was used to measure BID and a validated questionnaire “BITE” assessed for disordered eating.
Findings
Nutrition students had a low mean BMI of 21.8 kg/m2. Despite this, the majority (90 per cent) were dissatisfied with their body; with 83 per cent wishing to be thinner and 60 per cent overestimating their body size. The BITE questionnaire revealed that 30 per cent scored for disordered eating and 10 per cent scored for Bulimia Nervosa.
Originality/value
This paper confirms that students studying food‐related degree courses are at greater risk of developing eating disorders.
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Marie Reumont, François Cooren and Claudia Déméné
Communicating a clear, precise, interpretable and unambiguous visual message usually relies on a cross-disciplinary team of professionals. Their complementary visions can uncover…
Abstract
Purpose
Communicating a clear, precise, interpretable and unambiguous visual message usually relies on a cross-disciplinary team of professionals. Their complementary visions can uncover which information matter and how it could be visually displayed to inform, sensitize and encourage people to act toward sustainability. While design studies generally claim that this team has to come to a shared vision, the authors question this assumption, which seems to contradict the benefits of cross-disciplinarity. The purpose of this study is to reveal how simple visual representations displayed in a PowerPoint actively participate in the expression of various and sometimes divergent visions. Recognizing the agency of visuals also leads this study to propose the notion of (un)shared professional vision, which shows that the richness of visual representations can only reveal itself through the capacity of professional visions to maintain their differences while confronting each other.
Design/methodology/approach
Over a 20-month ethnography, this study documented its own cross-disciplinary reflective design process, which aimed to design collectively an experimental environmental label, focusing on interactions occurring between professionals and visuals displayed on five key PowerPoint slides.
Findings
This study first demonstrates how, in practice, a cross-disciplinary reflective design conversation with visuals concretely unfolds through boundary-objects. This study shows how these visuals manage to ex-press themselves through the multiple visions represented in the discussions, revealing their complexity. Second, this study introduces the notion of (un)shared professional vision which underlines that unsharing a vision nurtures the team’s collective capacity to express the complexity of a design situation, while sharing a vision is also necessary to confront these respective expressions to allow the professional uncovering of what should be visually communicated.
Originality/value
The Communication as Constitutive of Organization lens the authors chose to understand the reflective design conversation illustrates that, even though each collaborator’s vision was “(un)shared,” their many voices expand the understanding of the situation and lead them to develop an unexpected and creative environmental information ecosystem that can positively transform society through visuals.
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