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1 – 10 of 378Mathew Mackenzie, Iain Carpenter and Kathy Kotiadis
This paper demonstrates that three intermediate care services in Shepway, East Kent each cater for distinct patient groups, and that data from a single assessment process (SAP…
Abstract
This paper demonstrates that three intermediate care services in Shepway, East Kent each cater for distinct patient groups, and that data from a single assessment process (SAP) tool can be used to differentiate between them. By applying statistical techniques, inferences can be made about the likelihood of admission to a particular service, given specific health characteristics. In conclusion, we highlight the utility of standardised assessment as a means of providing data for audit and planning, and stress the importance of the SAP as a means of developing care services.
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I briefly trace the development of Mackenzie’s work, spanning nearly four decades, against the backdrop of changes in university business administration teaching and research…
Abstract
I briefly trace the development of Mackenzie’s work, spanning nearly four decades, against the backdrop of changes in university business administration teaching and research programs over the last 40 years or so. It is argued that his work is clearly processual and applied, integrates process with a number of different kinds of levels, and joins a number of other processual approaches different than his own to move beyond current mainstream Newtonian-based, “reality as a concrete structure,” organizational study emphases. Mackenzie’s and other processual work is discussed within tipping point (“that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips and spreads like wildfire,” Gladwell, 2002, back cover) and dynamic systems notions (Sterman & Wittenberg, 1999) to predict the likelihood of these works’ reaching such a tipping point and ultimately becoming a crucial part of mainstream organizational studies. It is proposed that the ideas discussed above be incorporated into a formal dynamic systems model, along the lines of Sterman and Wittenberg’s.
Francisco Ascui and Heather Lovell
The purpose of this paper is to make sense of the tensions and contradictions between different conceptions of the meaning of carbon accounting.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to make sense of the tensions and contradictions between different conceptions of the meaning of carbon accounting.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on theories of framing to help explain the divergent understandings and practices currently encompassed by the term “carbon accounting”. The empirical core of the paper is based on a review of the literature and illustrated through examples of some of the contemporary problems in carbon accounting.
Findings
Tensions and contradictions in carbon accounting can be understood as the result of “collisions” between at least five overlapping frames of reference, namely physical, political, market‐enabling, financial and social/environmental modes of carbon accounting.
Practical implications
Unresolved tensions in carbon accounting can undermine confidence in climate science, policies, markets and reporting, thereby ultimately discouraging action to mitigate climate change. Understanding this problem can contribute to finding practical solutions.
Originality/value
The paper makes three distinct contributions to the emerging theoretical literature on carbon accounting. First, it provides a unique “unpacked” definition of carbon accounting that attempts to represent the contemporary range of meanings encompassed by the term. Second, it demonstrates how social science ideas about framing can help explain why definitions and understandings of carbon accounting vary. Third, by making the interactions between different forms of carbon accounting explicit through the metaphor of colliding frames of reference, the origins of some of the contemporary intractable issues in carbon accounting can be better understood.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide comment on the contribution of the Environmental performance accountability special issue of Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide comment on the contribution of the Environmental performance accountability special issue of Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal published in 1997 towards the innovation through a personal reflection developed from the perceived need to move academics and practitioners into the same space on environmental improvement by organisations. In addition, the paper will offer future directions for environmental performance accountability research, including the potential for tools such as integrated reporting, the need for theoretical pragmatism and importance of a transdisciplinary approach to research.
Design/methodology/approach
The diegetic method used for this article allowed for the provision of a narrative about actions, characters and events of interest to an audience. This method facilitated the intersection between the biographical and the historical content and context, and a hypodiegesis provided the ability for an embedded story within the larger history. The approach allowed for a hypodiegetic as the story within the story of developing the relationships between academic accountants and practitioners.
Findings
Contained in the special issue is a set of articles marking the extremes of academic and practitioner perspectives on what is broadly termed environmental performance and accountability. Review of the content of the special issue reveals that the bias is towards academic rather than practitioner appreciation. Review of the context providing the setting for the special issue shows the need for publishers to engage in the social media mechanisms needed to commence dialogue and convey the messages of academics to practitioners.
Research limitations/implications
Subjective assessment is overtly recognized rather than subsumed in the research methods adopted.
Practical implications
The embedding of articles in special issues within a broader communications portfolio for practitioner understanding is suggested.
Originality/value
The nature of the personal reflection means that thoughts recorded are novel and unique.
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Raju M. Mathew and Santhamma Raju
Universities are social and economic instruments for investment in man and thereby for the development of human resources at the highest level. This is truer in the case of…
Abstract
Universities are social and economic instruments for investment in man and thereby for the development of human resources at the highest level. This is truer in the case of developing countries where science and technology have not yet extended their beneficial aspects to whole spheres of social life. While preserving culture and heritage, universities are the most powerful institutions for social change and innovation. At the same time, universities and colleges themselves are subject to changes and need to adapt to these.
Celiac disease is an auto-immune disorder that requires strict lifelong adherence to a gluten-free diet. I explore how a celiac diagnosis affects gendered feeding work within…
Abstract
Purpose
Celiac disease is an auto-immune disorder that requires strict lifelong adherence to a gluten-free diet. I explore how a celiac diagnosis affects gendered feeding work within families.
Methodology/approach
This chapter is based on a grounded theory analysis of field research with five celiac support groups and 80 in-depth interviews. I interviewed 15 adult men and 56 adult women with celiac, plus nine additional family members.
Findings
Gendered care work norms place the onus of responsibility for gluten-free feeding work on women, multiplying time spent planning, shopping, and preparing meals. Women employ distinct gendered strategies to accommodate the gluten-free diet. Following a strategy of integration, women tailor family meals to meet other diagnosed family members’ dietary needs and the entire family’s taste preferences. However, when women themselves have celiac, they follow a pattern of deferential subordination, not allowing their own dietary needs to alter family meals. Thus, women continue to prepare family meals as a form of care for others, even when their medical needs justify putting themselves first.
Originality/value
Social support is a key determinant of compliance with necessary lifestyle and dietary changes in chronic illness. However, little research explores the gendered dynamics within families accounting for the link between social support and dietary compliance. I show how gendered care work norms benefit husbands and children with celiac, while simultaneously disadvantaging women with celiac.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the structural relationship between online brand equity, brand experience, brand attitude, and brand attachment while considering the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the structural relationship between online brand equity, brand experience, brand attitude, and brand attachment while considering the moderating effect of store type (online stores vs app stores) and product type.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 459 completed online questionnaires were collected from experienced online (n=254) and app shoppers (n=205) to empirically test the proposed model. Partial least squares path modeling approach, a variance-based structural equation modeling, was performed to evaluate the measurement and the structural model.
Findings
The study’s empirical investigation validates the proposed model and implies that online brand equity, brand experience, and brand attitude explain 66 percent of variances in brand attachment. Partial least square-multi group analysis reveals that the type of store and product type are moderators to all the proposed relationships except the hypothesis on the relationship between online brand equity and brand attachment.
Originality/value
With the tremendous advancement of information technology that enables firms to deploy multichannel strategy in their core business activities, the role of brand in a multichannel retail environment has been ignored. This study is among several attempts to examine the role of brand among consumers experienced with online and app stores. The practical implications and limitation are discussed.
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The objective of this study is to investigate how country risk, different political actions from the government and bureaucratic behavior influence the activities in industry…
Abstract
The objective of this study is to investigate how country risk, different political actions from the government and bureaucratic behavior influence the activities in industry supply chains (SCs) in emerging markets. The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of these external stakeholders’ elements to the demand-side and supply-side drivers and barriers for improving competitiveness of Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry in the way of analyzing supply chain. Considering the phenomenon of recent change in the RMG business environment and the competitiveness issues this study uses the principles of stakeholder and resource dependence theory and aims to find out some factors which influence to make an efficient supply chain for improving competitiveness. The RMG industry of Bangladesh is the case application of this study. Following a positivist paradigm, this study adopts a two phase sequential mixed-method research design consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. Qualitative field study is then carried out to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. A survey is carried out with sample of top and middle level executives of different garment companies of Dhaka city in Bangladesh and the collected quantitative data are analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling. The findings support eight hypotheses. From the analysis the external stakeholders’ elements like bureaucratic behavior and country risk have significant influence to the barriers. From the internal stakeholders’ point of view the manufacturers’ and buyers’ drivers have significant influence on the competitiveness. Therefore, stakeholders need to take proper action to reduce the barriers and increase the drivers, as the drivers have positive influence to improve competitiveness.
This study has both theoretical and practical contributions. This study represents an important contribution to the theory by integrating two theoretical perceptions to identify factors of the RMG industry’s SC that affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. This research study contributes to the understanding of both external and internal stakeholders of national and international perspectives in the RMG (textile and clothing) business. It combines the insights of stakeholder and resource dependence theories along with the concept of the SC in improving effectiveness. In a practical sense, this study certainly contributes to the Bangladeshi RMG industry. In accordance with the desire of the RMG manufacturers, the research has shown that some influential constructs of the RMG industry’s SC affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. The outcome of the study is useful for various stakeholders of the Bangladeshi RMG industry sector ranging from the government to various private organizations. The applications of this study are extendable through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.
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Zeyad H. Almutawa, Nuttawuth Muenjohn and Jiaying Zhang
Service quality (SQ) is considered an organizational performance indicator that largely depends on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Service quality (SQ) is considered an organizational performance indicator that largely depends on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of employees’ citizenship behavior (OCB) on the relationship between affective commitment (AC) and SQ.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study has relied on two questionnaire surveys to gather cross-sectional data from 800 employees and 400 customers of telecommunications companies in Kuwait. Structural equation modeling via AMOS22 was used to build and test the hypothesized model.
Findings
The results show that OCB significantly and positively affects SQ dimensions except empathy which demonstrates insignificant association. Also, AC was found to be a strong predictor of OCB. More interestingly, the results show that AC does not show any effect on either responsiveness or empathy, while a partial mediation was found between AC and tangibles, reliability, and assurance.
Practical implications
The findings of the current study provide managers and practitioners with empirically validated model of how SQ can be achieved. The model indicates that managers need to increase the level of citizenship behavior through leveraging their employees’ AC, which in turn can result in a positive perception of SQ.
Originality/value
This study is considered among the first to investigate the causal effect of both OCB and AC on achieving high SQ. Also, the findings of this study further support the indirect relationship of AC and SQ. Moreover, this study is unique in its attempt to link both AC and OCB to the dimensions of SQ. Finally, this study is considered the first empirical investigation of SQ in the telecommunication sector in Kuwait.
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Samuel Ssekajja Mayanja, Reuben David Kizito, Henry Mutebi and Regis Kamadduka Zombeire
The study empirically explores the influence of re-organization on entrepreneurial intentions and family business generational transfers among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Abstract
Purpose
The study empirically explores the influence of re-organization on entrepreneurial intentions and family business generational transfers among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
Using multi-group analysis and partial least square structural equation models, data from 252 family-owned businesses were analyzed.
Findings
The results reveal that re-organization partially mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and family business generational transfers among SMEs.
Research limitations/implications
The study used a cross-sectional survey approach and focused on Kampala business district. If required and funding permits, a longitudinal study in this field may be conducted.
Practical implications
Family business owners ought to involve their family members in the management of the business from an early age, including them in the decision-making process, and use social exchange to strike a balance between their personal goals and the objectives of the business. In order to protect the business's goals, the business founder should mentor the next generation through quality family social interactions.
Originality/value
Integrating entrepreneurial intentions and re-organization is likely to improve the survival rate of family business generational transfers among SMEs in Uganda using social exchange theory.
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