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1 – 10 of 11Bernard McKenna, Martie-Louise Verreynne and Neal Waddell
Unequal workplace gender outcomes continue to motivate research. Using the prism of work-life-(im)balance, the purpose of this paper is to show how identity salience and…
Abstract
Purpose
Unequal workplace gender outcomes continue to motivate research. Using the prism of work-life-(im)balance, the purpose of this paper is to show how identity salience and motivation contribute to a subject position that for many reproduces socially gendered practices of workplaces.
Design/methodology/approach
After initial inductive computer-assisted text analysis, the authors innovatively move to deductively analyse data from focus group and semi-structured interviews of 18 female and 19 male Australian managers in the financial and government sectors.
Findings
The authors find that a gendered sense of reflexivity is virtually non-existent among the female Australian managers and professionals interviewed in this research. The inductive stage of critical discourse analysis revealed a substantial difference between men and women in two concepts, responsibility, and choice. These form the axes of the typological model to better explain how non-reflexive gendered workplace practices are “performed”.
Practical implications
This empirical research provides a foundation for understanding the role of choice and responsibility in work-home patterns for women.
Social implications
The absence of a reflexive gender-based understanding of women’s work-home choice is explained in Bourdieusian terms.
Originality/value
By not specifically using a gender lens, the authors have avoided the stereotypical understanding of gendered workplaces.
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Alemu Moges Belay, Fentahun Moges Kasie, Petri Helo, Josu Takala and Daryl J. Powell
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between quality management practice and labor productivity in labor-intensive manufacturing companies in a developing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between quality management practice and labor productivity in labor-intensive manufacturing companies in a developing nation and benchmark with the world average.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary and secondary data were collected from 34 selected companies. The primary data were obtained using a questionnaire survey to determine the quality management adoption level of each company using the European Business Excellence Model. Secondary data also collected in order to compute labor productivity of each organization and benchmark with international norms.
Findings
In this research, labor productivity is measured by revenues per employee and total assets per employee and found that adopting quality management has strong relationships with revenue per employee unlike total asset per employee that is weakly related.
Originality/value
Several authors suggest a positive relationship between adoption quality management principles and productivity in large organizations located in developed countries. However, this paper particularly focuses on labor productivity of labor-intensive companies.
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This article surveys the literature dealing with theory and applications of life cycle costing (LCC). It deals with the literature published in the last 25 years and provides 667…
Abstract
This article surveys the literature dealing with theory and applications of life cycle costing (LCC). It deals with the literature published in the last 25 years and provides 667 references.
Charles Oppenheim and Karen Selby
The Internet gives access for blind and visually impaired users to previously unobtainable information via Braille or speech synthesis interpretation. This paper looks at how…
Abstract
The Internet gives access for blind and visually impaired users to previously unobtainable information via Braille or speech synthesis interpretation. This paper looks at how three search engines, AltaVista, Yahoo! and Infoseek presented their information to a small group of visually impaired and blind users and how accessible individual Internet pages are. Two participants had varying levels of partial sight and two Subjects were blind and solely reliant on speech synthesis output. Subjects were asked for feedback on interface design at various stages of their search and any problems they encountered were noted. The barriers to access that were found appear to come about by lack of knowledge and thought by the page designers themselves. An accessible page does not have to be dull. By adhering to simple guidelines, visually impaired users would be able to access information more effectively than would otherwise be possible. Visually disabled people would also have the same opportunity to access knowledge as their sighted colleagues.
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THE Electronic Computer Exhibition and the B.I.M. conference have provided material for serious contemplation. Sir Harold Gillett, Lord Mayor of London, opening the Exhibition…
Abstract
THE Electronic Computer Exhibition and the B.I.M. conference have provided material for serious contemplation. Sir Harold Gillett, Lord Mayor of London, opening the Exhibition suggested that we are living in the age of the second industrial revolution. There are some who share the Lord Mayor's view and others who take the whole matter in their stride. One thing is certain, we shall be able to do more—and do it more efficiently.
Lisa M. Young and Swapnil Rajendra Gavade
The purpose of this paper is to use the data analysis method of sentiment analysis to improve the understanding of a large data set of employee comments from an annual employee…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use the data analysis method of sentiment analysis to improve the understanding of a large data set of employee comments from an annual employee job satisfaction survey of a US hospitality organization.
Design/methodology/approach
Sentiment analysis is used to examine the employee comments by identifying meaningful patterns, frequently used words and emotions. The statistical computing language, R, uses the sentiment analysis process to scan each employee survey comment, compare the words with the predefined word dictionary and classify the employee comments into the appropriate emotion category.
Findings
Employee responses written in English and in Spanish are compared with significant differences identified between the two groups, triggering further investigation of the Spanish comments. Sentiment analysis was then conducted on the Spanish comments comparing two groups, front-of-house vs back-of-house employees and employees with male supervisors vs female supervisors. Results from the analysis of employee comments written in Spanish point to higher scores for job sadness and anger. The negative comments referred to desires for improved healthcare, requests for increased wages and frustration with difficult supervisor relationships. The findings from this study add to the growing body of literature that has begun to focus on the unique work experiences of Latino employees in the USA.
Originality/value
This is the first study to examine a large unstructured English and Spanish text database from a hospitality organization’s employee job satisfaction surveys using sentiment analysis. Applying this big data analytics process to advance new insights into the human capital aspects of hospitality management is intriguing to many researchers. The results of this study demonstrate an issue that needs to be further investigated particularly considering the hospitality industry’s employee demographics.
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Harvey S. James, Michelle Segovia and Damilola Giwa-Daramola
The authors review the small but growing literature linking cognitive biases to food safety problems and foodborne illness outbreaks.
Abstract
Purpose
The authors review the small but growing literature linking cognitive biases to food safety problems and foodborne illness outbreaks.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a search of peer-reviewed articles utilizing empirical methods published since the year 2000 focusing on food safety or foodborne illnesses/outbreaks and cognitive biases.
Findings
The authors find that most research is conducted at the consumer side of the food system, with few studies examining the potential problems that can arise in the production and processing of food. The authors also observe that most research tends to focus on a few cognitive biases.
Originality/value
This is the most comprehensive study to date examining insights from the literature on cognitive biases and the related discipline of behavioral economics to the specific problem of foodborne illness outbreaks and food safety problems.
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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates that library programs and services must be accessible to people with disabilities. In an era in which much information resides…
Abstract
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates that library programs and services must be accessible to people with disabilities. In an era in which much information resides in digitalized form on the WWW, the ADA’s mandate must be interpreted as applying not only to physical space but also to cyberspace. Just as in the physical world, proper design is a crucial issue. Only accessibly designed Web pages ensure that all people, including those with print disabilities, have access to Web‐based information. Previous studies indicate that a large proportion of campus and university library Web pages are not accessible. This study looks at the universities that, according to US News & World Report, have the nation’s 24 most highly ranked schools of library and information science (SLIS). The findings give cause for concern. It is reasonable to assume that low Web page accessibility at the nation’s leading library schools reflects a lack of awareness about this issue among the leaders and trainers in the library profession.
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Tiao Hu, Michael Cottingham, Deborah Shapiro and Don Lee
This phenomenological study aims to explore how media promote and should promote wheelchair rugby.
Abstract
Purpose
This phenomenological study aims to explore how media promote and should promote wheelchair rugby.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 athletes at National Wheelchair Rugby Championship. In using a reflective thematical analysis approach, three themes were identified – media coverage: the promise of an unknown quantity; the battle of inspiration and athleticism; and leverage marketing and promote the “wow”.
Findings
Lacking fair representation from media resulting in the perception and reception gap between the general public and spectators was identified and explained by most of the athletes. Besides urging increased coverage with a shifting focus on athleticism, the important role of marketing was highlighted.
Originality/value
In short, the “wow” factor of the sport is its aggressiveness which can be its bestselling feature and used by stakeholders for maximum impact when marketing wheelchair rugby.
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Chris Baumann, Greg Elliott and Hamin Hamin
Customer loyalty is a focal concern for marketers who seek to identify its antecedents and causal structure with the aim of better understanding, predicting and managing loyalty…
Abstract
Purpose
Customer loyalty is a focal concern for marketers who seek to identify its antecedents and causal structure with the aim of better understanding, predicting and managing loyalty. The purpose of this paper is to model both current behaviour (measured as share of wallet) and future intentions as measures of customer loyalty, to quantify the link between current and future behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
A hybrid model, combining reflective and formative constructs, was developed, moving away from the traditional “reflective only” approach to explain customer loyalty. New predictors such as variety seeking, “resistance to change” and risk taking behaviour were tested to explain loyalty.
Findings
While “risk” is traditionally viewed as a key variable in financial services, this study finds that variety seeking and “resistance to change” predicted current behaviour and future behavioural intentions better than risk. Higher explanatory power and better model fit was found for a hybrid model combining formative and reflective constructs; in contrast to the more common fully reflective approach.
Research limitations/implications
This study adds to the emerging debate on whether concepts such as loyalty should be treated as reflective and/or formative. The implications from this study suggest that future research can usefully model current behaviour as formative and future intentions as reflective. Future research should test the extent that these findings apply across products and services beyond banking.
Originality/value
This study establishes that variety seeking and “resistance to change” can usefully explain and predict loyalty. The examination of “formative” and “reflective” concepts in explaining loyalty is also novel.
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