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1 – 10 of 11Isto Huvila, Olle Sköld and Lisa Börjesson
Sharing information about work processes has proven to be difficult. This applies especially to information shared from those who participate in a process to those who remain…
Abstract
Purpose
Sharing information about work processes has proven to be difficult. This applies especially to information shared from those who participate in a process to those who remain outsiders. The purpose of this article is to increase understanding of how professionals document their work practices with a focus on information making by analysing how archaeologists document their information work in archaeological reports.
Design/methodology/approach
In total 47 Swedish archaeological reports published in 2018 were analysed using close reading and constant comparative categorisation.
Findings
Even if explicit narratives of methods and work process have particular significance as documentation of information making, the evidence of information making is spread out all over the report document in (1) procedural narratives, (2) descriptions of methods and tools, (3) actors and actants, (4) photographs, (5) information sources, (6) diagrams and drawings and (7) outcomes. The usability of reports as conveyors of information on information making depends more on how a forthcoming reader can live with it as a whole rather than how to learn of the details it recites.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on a limited number of documents representing one country and one scholarly and professional field.
Practical implications
Increased focus on the internal coherence of documentation and the complementarity of different types of descriptions could improve information sharing. Further, descriptions of concepts that refer to work activities and the situation when information came into being could similarly improve their usability.
Originality/value
There is little earlier research on how professionals and academics document and describe their information activities.
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Mainstream pornography is popular, freely accessible, and infused with themes of male dominance, aggression, and female subservience. Through depicting sex in these ways…
Abstract
Mainstream pornography is popular, freely accessible, and infused with themes of male dominance, aggression, and female subservience. Through depicting sex in these ways, mainstream pornography has the potential to influence the further development of harmful sexual scripts that condone or endorse violence against women and girls. These concerns warrant the adoption of a harms-based perspective in critical examinations of pornography's influence on sexual experiences. This chapter reports on findings from interviews with 24 heterosexual emerging adults living in Aotearoa/New Zealand about how pornography has impacted their lives. Despite a shared awareness among participants of mainstream pornography's misogynistic tendencies, and the potential for harm from those displays, men's and women's experiences were profoundly gendered. Men's reported experiences were often associated with concerns about their own sexual behaviors, performances, and/or abilities. Conversely, women's experiences were often shaped by how pornography had affected the way that men related to them sexually. Their experiences included instances of sexual coercion and assault which were not reported by the men. These findings signal the need for a gendered lens, situated within a broader harms-based perspective, in examinations of pornography's influence.
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Kaltume Mohammed Kamselem, Muhammad Shaheer Nuhu, Kamaldeen A.A Lawal, Amina Muhammad Liman and Mohammed Sani Abdullahi
This study investigated the effects of reward system (RS) and job conditions (JC) on employee retention (ER). In particular, this study addressed the mediating effect of employee…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigated the effects of reward system (RS) and job conditions (JC) on employee retention (ER). In particular, this study addressed the mediating effect of employee engagement (EE) on the relationship between RS, JC and ER.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper employed descriptive survey approach and the unit of analysis consisted of public hospital nursing staff. Data were collected using questionnaires with a sample of 370 nurse respondents. Structural equation modelling with Smart-Partial Least Squares (PLS) 3.3.8 was used in a statistical analysis.
Findings
The results revealed that RS and JC significantly related to ER. The study also showed the direct effect of RS and JC on EE. These findings indicate that (EE) has a partial mediating role in the relationship between RS, JC and ER.
Practical implications
The study offers important policy insights for public nursing stakeholders who seek to increase retention of skills among their nursing staff. The findings are also crucial because they may help the health sector improve their ER strategies, especially in dynamic and competitive business situations where organisations are challenged to retain personnel from a limited skilled workforce.
Originality/value
The findings of this study contribute to the literature on retention of nursing employees by enhancing the understanding of the influences of EE, RS and JC on ER among public hospitals.
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Belen Begines, Andrew L. Hook, Morgan R. Alexander, Christopher J. Tuck and Ricky D. Wildman
This paper aims to print 3D structures from polymers that resist bacterial attachment by reactive jetting of acrylate monomers.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to print 3D structures from polymers that resist bacterial attachment by reactive jetting of acrylate monomers.
Design/methodology/approach
The first step towards printing was ink development. Inks were characterised to carry out an estimation of their potential printability using the Z parameter to predict stable jetting conditions. Printability conditions were optimised for each ink using a Dimatix DMP-2800, which enabled 3D structures to be fabricated.
Findings
UV photo-initiated polymers, which resist bacterial attachment, were found to be printable using piezo-based inkjet printers. The waveform required for each ink depends on the value of the Z parameter. Once the waveform and the printability parameters were optimised, 3D objects were fabricated.
Research limitations/implications
This methodology has been confirmed as an effective method to 3D print materials that have been demonstrated to be bacteria resistant. However, ink curing depends on modification of some parameters (such as photoinitiator concentration or UV exposure time) which would result in an improvement of the curing process post jetting.
Social implications
The combination of inkjet based 3D printing with new materials resistant to bacterial attachment means the possibility of building customised medical devices with a high level of complexity and bespoke features can be fully realised. The scope and variability of the devices produced will exceed what can be achieved using standard fabrication methodologies and can be applied to reduce the incidence of device associated infections and to address increased morbidity, mortality and health care costs associated with nosocomial infections.
Originality/value
In this paper, the novel use of materials that resist bacterial attachment has been described to build 3D structures using material jetting. Its value lies on the potential impact this methodology could produce in the biomedical device and research fields.
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Hany Elbardan, Donald Nordberg and Vikash Kumar Sinha
This study aims to examine how the legitimacy of internal auditing is reconstructed during enterprise resource planning (ERP)-driven technological change.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how the legitimacy of internal auditing is reconstructed during enterprise resource planning (ERP)-driven technological change.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on the comparative analysis of internal auditing and its transformation due to ERP implementations at two case firms operating in the food sector in Egypt – one a major Egyptian multinational corporation (MNC) and the other a major domestic company (DC).
Findings
Internal auditors (IAs) at MNC saw ERP implementation as an opportunity to reconstruct the legitimacy of internal auditing work by engaging and partnering with actors involved with the ERP change. In doing so, the IAs acquired system certifications and provided line functions and external auditors with data-driven business insights. The “practical coping mechanism” adopted by the IAs led to the acceptance (and legitimacy) of their work. In contrast, IAs at DC adopted a purposeful strategy of disengaging, blaming and rejecting since they were skeptical of the top management team's (TMT's) sincerity. The “disinterestedness” led to the loss of legitimacy in the eyes of the stakeholders.
Originality/value
The article offers two contributions. First, it extends the literature by highlighting a spectrum of behavior displayed by IAs (coping with impending issues vs strategic purposefulness) during ERP-driven technological change. Second, the article contributes to the literature on legitimacy by highlighting four intertwined micro-processes – participating, socializing, learning and role-forging – that contribute to reconstructing the legitimacy of internal auditing.
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Sónia Maria Martins Caridade, Rosa Saavedra, Rita Ribeiro, Ana Cristina Oliveira, Manuela Santos, Iris Sofia Almeida and Cristina Soeiro
This paper aims to characterize the type of support provided to victims of violence against women and domestic violence (VAWDV) during the first lockdown, assessing the training…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to characterize the type of support provided to victims of violence against women and domestic violence (VAWDV) during the first lockdown, assessing the training of professionals to use remote support (RS).
Design/methodology/approach
This cross-sectional study involves a sample of 196 support professionals, mainly women (91.8%) and who integrate the Portuguese National Support Network for victims of domestic violence (NSNVDV) (Mean age = 36.49; SD = 10.52).
Findings
Telephone emerges as the main RS communication media used in the lockdown (43.9%) and the emergency state periods (57.1%). Participants reported to have never used any social applications (41.8% vs 41.8%) or videoconference (46.4% vs 58.2%), in both periods assessed, i.e. lockdown and emergency state, respectively, and 82.7% assumed to have no training with RS to assist VAWDV victims. However, support professionals recognized several advantages in using RS such as dealing with isolation, reducing inhibition, fear and shame and in promoting the victims’ empowerment.
Research limitations/implications
Given the exploratory nature of this study, only descriptive analyzes were conducted.
Originality/value
During the COVID-19 pandemic, little is known about effective RS given by professionals to victims of VAWDV in the Portuguese context. The paper aims to add knowledge to the studied field.
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Gareth James Brennan and MaryBeth Gallagher
Occupational choice describes the process that leads to occupational engagement as a result of intrinsic and extrinsic influences. There has been a considerable amount of research…
Abstract
Purpose
Occupational choice describes the process that leads to occupational engagement as a result of intrinsic and extrinsic influences. There has been a considerable amount of research concerning occupational choice, gender and adolescence. However, this has largely focused on the areas of career choice and engagement in risky health behaviours. This paper aims to expand on the literature by providing a broader scope of occupation more aligned with the concept associated with occupational science. Furthering this, the researcher aims to examine the influence of gender as an extrinsic influence on occupational choice. The researcher aims to explore how contextual influences inform gendered occupational choice.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory qualitative approach was used in the current study. Incorporating photographs as a means of elucidating conversation during the interview process, photo-elicitation interview techniques were used as part of the data collection. This involved using a collection of photographs to prompt participants to discuss their interpretations of various occupations. Six adolescent boys and girls aged 11-14 years participated in the study. Participants were recruited from mixed-gendered sports clubs in the West of Ireland. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. An occupational justice perspective was used to interpret the data.
Findings
Responses suggest that gender informs occupational choice through different mechanisms. These included social systems, physical and institutional opportunities as well as expectations participants held of themselves and others they considered to be within their social grouping. Social systems included groups such as friends and family. The ease of access to physical and institutional resources was another factor that informed choice. Participants projected views of expectations they perceived others held for them informed how the participants made their choices. These factors varied across gender. Despite opportunities being available to both sexes, choices were often restricted to particular occupations.
Originality/value
The findings suggest that factors informing the occupational choices of adolescents included a combination of intrinsic factors such as gender and perspectives, as well as external factors including peers, family and opportunities in the local community. Practical applications of this involve acknowledging and further understanding the contextually situated nature of choice to provide more equitable practice. The results of the study may provide more insight into the factors that enable and inhibit occupation. A further understanding of these influences can redirect how we view adolescent occupations in a way that promotes health.
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Laura Saukko, Kirsi Aaltonen and Harri Haapasalo
The purpose of this paper is to define the integration capability dimensions and create a model for self-assessing the integration capability in inter-organizational projects.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to define the integration capability dimensions and create a model for self-assessing the integration capability in inter-organizational projects.
Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical construct of, referred in this study as integration capability framework is elaborated following a systematic literature review. Thereafter, an integration capability self-assessment model, based on maturity thinking, is derived from the theoretical framework. The self-assessment model is further developed and tested for validity within five inter-organizational project networks in cooperation with industry practitioners, representing construction, industrial engineering, and mining sectors.
Findings
The results show that inter-organizational projects can use the developed model in self-assessing the maturity levels of various integration mechanisms, thus the state of integration capability at any point in time during inter-organizational projects.
Originality/value
This study is an attempt to identify how the integration capability dimensions can be self-assessed in inter-organizational projects, through the maturity levels of various integration mechanisms. The results offer insights for both academics and project management practitioners.
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