Search results

1 – 10 of over 7000
Article
Publication date: 29 June 2018

Richard William Butler

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of golf tourism in contributing to the overall sustainability of the destination community of St Andrews, Scotland.

1132

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of golf tourism in contributing to the overall sustainability of the destination community of St Andrews, Scotland.

Design/methodology/approach

It uses a primarily qualitative assessment of impacts supported by archive material from local sources including the local media.

Findings

Golf tourism in the town of St Andrews has a long history and has been integrated into the development of the town for many centuries. This has meant that there has been developed a positive relationship between golf and its organisation and the community, and there is widespread support for golf tourism and acknowledgement of the importance of this activity for the well-being of the town. There is acceptance that residents benefit in many ways from the presence of golf tourism in the town.

Research limitations/implications

No direct quantitative assessments were made, but previous surveys of the impact of golf tourism on the town are used in drawing the conclusions. Extensive literary research was conducted on attitudes and perceptions of community residents to golf tourism.

Practical implications

It is clear that the concept of sustainable development is context specific in terms of its validity and effectiveness, and it should be examined in terms of local conditions and arrangements.

Social implications

In this case, an activity that has taken place in the community for 500 years is widely accepted and improved through tourism development.

Originality/value

While case studies are not always of benefit and often reflect only a single viewpoint at one time, this paper shows that implications can be drawn from case studies that reflect situations that exist in other destinations.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 74 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 September 2022

Hasan Yousef Aljuhmani, Bashar Ababneh, Lawrence Emeagwali and Hamzah Elrehail

Although prior researchers have consistently established a significant relationship between different strategic stances and organizational performances across different research…

Abstract

Purpose

Although prior researchers have consistently established a significant relationship between different strategic stances and organizational performances across different research contexts, the mechanisms underlying this link remain unclear. This study attempts to fill this gap in the literature by testing the mediating effect of the use of strategic performance measurement systems (SPMS) on the relationship between strategic stances (prospector, defender, and reactor) and organizational performance in the public sector.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is based on data collected by surveying 224 managers at public organizations in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and conducts an analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

The study findings show that prospector strategy is positively associated with organizational performance through the use of SPMS. The reactor strategy was negatively related to organizational performance through the use of SPMS. The defender strategy shows mixed results in terms of its effect on the use of SPMS and organizational performance.

Research limitations/implications

The results obtained here provide strong evidence of the vitality of the use of SPMS for efficiency and effectiveness as a mediator between prospector strategy and organizational performance. To extend this position, future researchers could incorporate other contingent variables, such as structural autonomy, or use experimental design methods during economic austerity in the aftermath of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic.

Originality/value

This study represents an attempt to address public administration literature' general calls for grounded research that spells out to practitioners how different strategic stances are likely to affect the use of SPMS to achieve organizational performance levels in the public sector. The present study extends the public administration literature by examining the unexplored linkage of the use of SPMS through which strategic stances influence organizational performance in major public sector organizations.

Details

Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-4323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 June 2023

Scott M. Andrews

This research paper takes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from empirical data, to explore the relationship between organisational change management and strategic leadership…

1109

Abstract

Purpose

This research paper takes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from empirical data, to explore the relationship between organisational change management and strategic leadership to promote growth in value-driven, membership-based organisations through a qualitative multi-case-based analysis and to provide a discussion on the philosophies and practices of leadership teams which underpin successful organisational change within such not-for-profit organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

Each participating organisation had 700+ members, had previously experienced prolonged periods of auditable membership growth and employed distinctly different organisational models to facilitate growth. A qualitative multi-case study approach was adopted informed by 32 interviews with eight leadership teams. A thematic analysis provided a comparative review of responses.

Findings

All case study organisations emphasised the significance of strategic leadership teams and clearly communicated vision and flexible organisational structures as central to their strategic planning and subsequent growth. This builds on previous research which has explored organisational change in not-for-profit organisations and strategic leadership in not-for-profit organisations, which explores the strong linkages between the roles and functions of strategic leadership, organisational structures designed with the adaptive capacity to manage continuous and convergent change and their impact on sustained growth. Such linkages are more specifically supported by extended tenure of office for those in senior leadership roles, clear delineation of roles and responsibilities, the adoption of an outward growth-oriented focus and adaptable structures that encourage wider participation in leadership and management functions for the fulfilment of the organisation's mission. Most significantly, these organisations plan with change and growth in mind.

Practical implications

The findings of this research have transferable value to other not-for-profit, membership-based, value-driven organisations as well as other faith-based organisations, which will help to provide future linkages between leadership structures, decision-making and organisational design and its impact on the not-for-profit organisations' capacity for sustained growth.

Originality/value

This research challenges previous conceptions on UK church growth trends and observes that all the case organisations presented different organisational structures which were intentionally designed, context specific and developed by leadership teams with sustained growth in mind. Results from psychometric testing of participants confirmed that senior leaders of large value-driven organisations that have demonstrated a capacity for sustained growth are consistently likely to exhibit leadership characteristics which demonstrate a balanced capacity for personal humility and a committed resolve or professional will, which is also reflected in a pragmatic-type leadership style, building on previous psychometric testing research in this context.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 36 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 May 2023

Emmanuel Ogiemwonyi Arakpogun, Jason Whalley, Roseline Wanjiru, Ziad Elsahn and Rama Krishna Reddy Kummitha

The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence-based policy recommendations for improving the implementation of universal service funds (USF) with a view to closing the digital…

40647

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence-based policy recommendations for improving the implementation of universal service funds (USF) with a view to closing the digital divide in Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a qualitative approach that draws examples from various African countries supported by 25 interviews from key stakeholders with hands-on experience and roles that shape telecommunications policy in Africa and other developing countries.

Findings

The study's findings point out that institutional voids which characterize several African countries inhibit the effectiveness of USF in African countries. The authors identify several institutional and organisational factors and explain how they negatively affect the performance of USF. The authors find that in order to overcome these obstacles, there is a need for a clear redefinition of Universal Access and Service (UAS) policies, restructuring the governance of USF, encouraging cross-sectoral collaborations, and bottom-up initiatives to bridge the digital divide in African countries.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the underexplored USF literature by shedding light on the role of institutional factors in determining the success of USF. The paper thus complements and provides a different perspective on promoting digital inclusion in Africa from the viewpoint of institutional voids, bringing new insights into the existing literature on how to deal with an intractable area of UAS policy and the wider digital divide debate in developing countries.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 36 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 October 2018

Decheng Li, Tiannian Zhou, Zegong Liu and Jian Wang

The purpose of this study is to investigate the transport phenomena of smoke flow in a semi-open vertical shaft.

1037

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the transport phenomena of smoke flow in a semi-open vertical shaft.

Design/methodology/approach

The large eddy simulation (LES) method was used to model the movement of fire-induced thermal flow in a full-scale vertical shaft. With this model, different fire locations and heat release rates (HRRs) were considered simultaneously.

Findings

It was determined that the burning intensity of the fire is enhanced when the fire attaches to the sidewall, resulting in a larger continuous flame region in the compartment and higher temperatures of the spill plume in the shaft compared to a center fire. In the initial stage of the fire with a small HRR, the buoyancy-driven spill plumes incline toward the side of the shaft opposite the window. Meanwhile, the thermal plumes are also directed away from the center of the shaft by the entrained airflow, but the inclination diminishes as HRR increases. This is because a greater HRR produces higher temperatures, resulting in a stronger buoyancy to drive smoke movement evenly in the shaft. In addition, a dimensionless equation was proposed to predict the rise-time of the smoke plume front in the shaft.

Research limitations/implications

The results need to be verified with experiments.

Practical implications

The results could be applied for design and assessment of semi-open shafts.

Originality/value

This study shows the transport phenomena of smoke flow in a vertical shaft with one open side.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 28 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 October 2007

Brenda McMahon

The purpose of this study is to examine the intersections of whiteness, anti‐racism and social justice in educational administration. It is an attempt to understand how white…

3238

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the intersections of whiteness, anti‐racism and social justice in educational administration. It is an attempt to understand how white administrators who work in racially minoritized school communities reconcile the moral challenges of articulations of racial equity with the hierarchical institutions of schooling.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study asks ten white administrators how they understand themselves as raced, the ways they see race operating at individual and institutional levels in schools and districts, and factors that facilitate and/or hinder social justice work as it pertains to race.

Findings

The data indicates that whiteness is a difficult subject for white administrators, even those who agreed to be interviewed about whiteness, racism, equity and social justice. As agents of the school districts where they are employed, the administrators generally view these issues from an organizational perspective that does not challenge hegemonic structures. They typically understand social justice from non‐critical perspectives, see whiteness at the level of the individual, racism as unacceptable individual acts, and multiculturalism as preferable to anti‐racism.

Research limitations/implications

The findings cannot be generalized; however, they show that academic education and certification programs need to be revised in order to prepare administrators to deal with issues of locatedness and difference.

Originality/value

The study is set in a Canadian context where, in spite of overwhelming evidence that visible minority students are marginalized in and by school policies and practices, racism is often overtly and emphatically conceptualized as a phenomenon that happens in other times and places.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 45 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2006

A. Salama, A. Cathcart, M. Andrews and R. Hall

This paper was motivated by the current debate over the voluntary approach to environmental disclosures in corporate annual reports and assesses the effectiveness of the current…

Abstract

This paper was motivated by the current debate over the voluntary approach to environmental disclosures in corporate annual reports and assesses the effectiveness of the current policy of voluntarism in the UK. A brief review of the relevant theories, which explain why managers might choose to voluntarily provide environmental responsibility information to parties outside the organisation, is presented. With this background, the paper then questions whether the UK government’s faith in voluntarism and the pursuit of best practice will be enough to generate any real change in current environmental reporting practices. We argue that voluntarism is not effective and that there is an urgent need to introduce strict governmental regulations on the information that must be disclosed and the form in which it should be presented in corporate annual reports as have been established in several other countries. In addition, further consideration is needed to achieve reforms in academic accounting education in order to improve corporate accountability and transparency in corporate annual reports. Organisations need to respond to the growing demands for corporate social and environmental responsibility and this will be possible with the support of an accounting profession that takes a more proactive approach to engaging with stakeholders. For this to happen, we need to rethink the focus of accounting and business education. We must move away from the dominant model, which treats accountancy as a set of techniques, towards a more holistic approach which recognises the social and environmental impacts of organisational activity.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 2 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 February 2009

Molly Andrews

The purpose of this paper is to argue for an archaeological expedition of sorts, to search for and to uncover a host of stories which might assist us in piecing together a…

1541

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to argue for an archaeological expedition of sorts, to search for and to uncover a host of stories which might assist us in piecing together a framework worth dedicating our future lives to understanding ageing.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a theoretical paper on ageing.

Findings

An individual's experience of ageing is integrally bound to questions of culture – particularly the systems of meaning within culture – and context. Just as there is not “one true story of aging”, so the paper suggests that we must have multiple narratives to assist us in building our own models of successful ageing.

Originality/value

Narratives of successful ageing, like all narratives, are never told in a vacuum. Rather, there must be those who are able to hear them, often stretching themselves beyond their own experiences, even beyond their own cultural frameworks. This has strong implications for researchers of successful ageing: together, we must try to meet the challenge of listening to diversity.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 29 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 December 2008

John E. Barbuto, Joana S. Story, Susan M. Fritz and Jack L. Schinstock

Developmental and prescriptive advising styles have been the focus of the academic advising literature for the past 35 years. Academic advising scholars have called for a new…

Abstract

Developmental and prescriptive advising styles have been the focus of the academic advising literature for the past 35 years. Academic advising scholars have called for a new paradigm in the field. Drawing from leadership theory, a new model for academic advising is proposed. Full range advising encompasses laissez-faire, management-by-exception, contingent rewards, and transformational behaviors. The long-term impact of transformational advising is one that will likely take years to fully realize, however measures of transformational leadership are both reliable and valid. These measures can be used to determine whether advisors’ use of transformational advising behaviors is related to positive student outcomes.

Details

Journal of Leadership Education, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1552-9045

Article
Publication date: 18 January 2011

Alan Vaughan Hughes and Pauline Rafferty

This paper seeks to report a project to investigate the degree of inter‐indexer consistency in the assignment of controlled vocabulary topical subject index terms to identical…

1951

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to report a project to investigate the degree of inter‐indexer consistency in the assignment of controlled vocabulary topical subject index terms to identical graphical images by different indexers at the National Library of Wales (NLW).

Design/methodology/approach

An experimental quantitative methodology was devised to investigate inter‐indexer consistency. Additionally, the project investigated the relationship, if any, between indexing exhaustivity and consistency, and the relationship, if any, between indexing consistency/exhaustivity and broad category of graphic format.

Findings

Inter‐indexer consistency in the assignment of topical subject index terms to graphic materials at the NLW was found to be generally low and highly variable. Inter‐indexer consistency fell within the range 10.8 per cent to 48.0 per cent. Indexing exhaustivity varied substantially from indexer to indexer, with a mean assignment of 3.8 terms by each indexer to each image, falling within the range 2.5 to 4.7 terms. The broad category of graphic format, whether photographic or non‐photographic, was found to have little influence on either inter‐indexer consistency or indexing exhaustivity. Indexing exhaustivity and inter‐indexer consistency exhibited a tendency toward a direct, positive relationship. The findings are necessarily limited as this is a small‐scale study within a single institution.

Originality/value

Previous consistency studies have almost exclusively investigated the indexing of print materials, with very little research published for non‐print media. With the literature also rich in discussion of the added complexities of subjectively representing the intellectual content of visual media, this study attempts to enrich existing knowledge on indexing consistency for graphic materials and to address a noticeable gap in information theory.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 67 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 7000