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11 – 20 of over 1000This chapter will consider the media and white western society’s use of various ‘othering’ terms at the personal, social and political levels to misconstrue and…
Abstract
This chapter will consider the media and white western society’s use of various ‘othering’ terms at the personal, social and political levels to misconstrue and inaccurately describe Islam and events and actions involving Muslim people. A psychological analysis of the personal and social impact on the misuse of ‘othering’ terminology will be undertaken to explore how British African-Caribbean converts to Islam, as a group, may find themselves antagonised and alienated by descriptions made about Islamic groups and behaviours misapplied and associated to Islamic religious and cultural practices. The chapter will consider how this antagonism may lead to alienation which, in turn may result in behaviours perceived to come about as a result of radicalisation. The chapter will consider whether British African-Caribbean converts to Islam are responding in a way which is the result of a process of ‘radicalisation’ or more reacting to antagonism and alienation affecting poor mental health due to negative media and dominant social group portrayal of black people. A critique of the media portrayal in depicting Muslims and Islam as ‘the other’ rather than depicting terrorist activity and terrorist groups as anti-Islamic, separate and distinct from Islam will be considered. Missed opportunities for critical review of inaccurate and racist terminology and its potential impact on British African-Caribbean converts to Islam will be explored.
Strategies for decreasing antagonism, alienation and violence through the review of terminology and social reclaiming will be suggested. The process of ethnic identity development and an evolving British Muslim identity will also be considered and how understanding and knowledge of this minority ethnic group identity process can be used to reduce the process of antagonism, alienation and violence. Psychological theories of minority group ethnic identity development will be explored and applied to the development of an alienated psychology of British African-Caribbean converts to Islam. Minority group identity theories relevance for individual and group intervention with alienated British African-Caribbean converts to Islam will be discussed in terms of the building and maintenance of a positive sense of self and affirmation to one’s religious group membership. Affirmation of ethnicity membership is proposed as a more active activity among groups who face greater discrimination as a means of maintaining self-esteem and group cohesion and connectedness.
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Krishna Moorthy, Loh Chun T’ing, Seow Ai Na, Chew Tze Ching, Lee Yuin Loong, Lim Sze Xian and Teoh Wei Ling
This paper aims to study the factors that influence customer loyalty toward the internet service providers in Malaysia. The five factors used are corporate image…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the factors that influence customer loyalty toward the internet service providers in Malaysia. The five factors used are corporate image, perceived quality, perceived value, price fairness and promotion. The mediating variable of this study is customer satisfaction, while customer loyalty is the study variable.
Design/methodology/approach
The primary data collection has been done by distributing survey questionnaires to 338 internet users in Malaysia. The data collected have been analyzed with SAS software.
Findings
The results showed that perceived quality has the strongest influence on customer satisfaction toward internet service providers in Malaysia. However, corporate image has no relationship with customer satisfaction toward internet service providers in Malaysia. Furthermore, customer satisfaction has a significant and positive relationship to customer loyalty toward the internet service providers in Malaysia.
Originality/value
European Customer Satisfaction Index has been adopted and combined with price fairness and promotion as a new research model that other researchers may look into it further. This research may also serve as a guide to internet service providers as they may learn about the underlying factors that affect the satisfaction and loyalty of customers and which factor has the strongest impact.
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Lisa A. Schur and Douglas L Kruse
In the U.S. private sector, women are less likely than men to be union members. This study analyses a unique na‐tional survey (conducted in 1984) to determine if women are…
Abstract
In the U.S. private sector, women are less likely than men to be union members. This study analyses a unique na‐tional survey (conducted in 1984) to determine if women are less interested than men in unionising or if, instead, they are equally interested but face higher barriers to unionisation. The results support the latter interpretation. In particular, non‐union women in private sector white‐col‐lar jobs (representing over half of the female non‐union, work force) expressed more interest than comparable men in joining unions. This finding appears to reflect more optimism among the women in this group than among the men about what unions can accomplish; it is not explained by gender differences in attitudes toward jobs or em‐ployers. The authors discount theories that family respon‐sibilities, or concerns of female workers that set them apart from men, present special barriers to unionisation.
Nicholas J. Ashill, Michel Rod, Peter Thirkell and Janet Carruthers
This study aims to extend previous research on the relationship between role stressors and symptoms of burnout by examining the influence of job resourcefulness as a…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to extend previous research on the relationship between role stressors and symptoms of burnout by examining the influence of job resourcefulness as a situational personality trait in the burnout process, and its impact on service recovery performance. Using data from call centre frontline employees (FLEs) in New Zealand, it seeks to investigate the moderating influence of job resourcefulness on the relationships between role stressors, burnout symptoms and FLE service recovery performance.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, call centre FLEs completed a self‐administered online survey questionnaire on role stressors, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, job resourcefulness and service recovery performance. Data were analyzed using structural equations modelling (SEM) by means of LISREL 8.53.
Findings
The results show that job resourcefulness buffers both the dysfunctional effects of role stressors on symptoms of burnout and the effects of role stressors on FLE service recovery performance.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of the study include the generalisability of the findings within one organisational context. Suggestions for future research include an examination of other personality traits specific to FLE jobs such as customer orientation.
Practical implications
The research advances understanding of the relationships between role stressors, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, job resourcefulness as a situational personality trait and FLE service recovery performance in a call centre environment. The findings highlight the value of job resourceful FLEs, and suggest a number of practical implications for the identification, recruitment and retention of call centre FLEs.
Originality/value
No attention has been given to examining the role of situational personality traits and their effect on the burnout process. By extending previous research on the relationship between role stressors and burnout symptoms, this study investigates the impact of job resourcefulness in the burnout process and in influencing the service recovery performance efforts of call centre FLEs directly.
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Tongwei Qiu, Biliang Luo, Shangpu Li and Qinying He
The purpose of this paper is to assess the links between basic farmland preservation and land transfers in rural China.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the links between basic farmland preservation and land transfers in rural China.
Design/methodology/approach
The Chinese provincial panel data from 2006 to 2016 were analyzed with the use of Arellano–Bond linear dynamic panel data estimations.
Findings
The basic farmland preservation policy negatively affects the land transfer rate. In addition, this policy is most likely to limit land transfers between local acquaintances in the major grain-producing areas. Further evidence indicates that the basic farmland preservation policy has a negative impact on land rentals in general. Considering that land transfers such as exchanges and take-overs are excluded from rental transactions between acquaintances, the policy’s constraints on land use are likely to hinder land rentals between acquaintances, which are market-oriented.
Practical implications
Overall, this study’s analysis suggests that the farmland preservation policy’s constraints on land use rights are likely to result in a major diminishment of the rural rental markets. Under this policy, land that is designated as basic farmland cannot be converted to another use. However, it remains possible to improve the productivity of agriculture through other means. These possible avenues for improvement include enhancing the efficiency of production through expanding the scale of farming operations and developing the social services aspect of agriculture (i.e. the basic farmland preservation policy is likely to realize more social revenue than can be gained from land transfers). Thus, the arrangement of the basic farmland preservation policy in China can be managed in a way that is both economical and reasonable.
Originality/value
To ensure food security, China has enacted several laws and regulations to preserve basic farmland, and it has promoted land transfers to improve farm productivity. Therefore, it is important to understand whether the basic farmland preservation policy restricts land use rights and hinders land transfers that could improve productivity. This study provides empirical evidence showing that the basic farmland preservation policy is actually not conducive to promoting land transfers and that it even discourages the market orientation of land rentals between acquaintances. In dealing with this issue, the Chinese Government should seek to balance the relationship between preserving basic farmland and promoting land transfers.
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Liam Leonard and Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez
Purpose – This chapter provides an overview of four aspects of corporate life which frame the wider parameters of corporate social responsibility (CSR): cause marketing…
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter provides an overview of four aspects of corporate life which frame the wider parameters of corporate social responsibility (CSR): cause marketing and innovation versus corporate crime and environmental crime. By examining the positive and negative approaches of the corporate sector, this chapter highlights the significance of CSR, the success that emerges from the socially responsible firm and the problems that can emerge if the corporate is deviant in its practices.Design/methodology/approach – This chapter is based on a literature review and analysis of three aspects in corporate life: cause marketing, white-collar crime and environmental crime.Findings – This chapter provides a basis for perceiving corporate responsibility in three areas – marketing, fraud and pollution – all of which have become part of the contemporary corporate and social milieu.Practical implications – This chapter provides an outline of key elements in corporate engagement with cause marketing, white-collar crime and environmental crime, allowing for an extensive overview of the frameworks surrounding corporate behaviour.Originality/value of chapter – This chapter provides a multi-layered analysis of CSR issues from both positive and negative perspectives to provide a better understanding of the extent of the impact of corporate behaviour.
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The main aims of this paper include a revision of the essentials of the monetary approach to the balance of payments by constructing a monetary model, an extension of the…
Abstract
The main aims of this paper include a revision of the essentials of the monetary approach to the balance of payments by constructing a monetary model, an extension of the model to explain the importation of inflation in an open economy and an application of the formulated model to the two small open economies, the Netherlands and Singapore. The most important contribution of the monetary approach to the balance of payments is its focus on the role of money as opposed to the focus of traditional approaches on the real variables and on the current account of the balance of payments. Influenced originally by Johnson (1972), there have been several theoretical as well as empirical analyses supporting the major contentions of the monetary approach to the balance of payments. Notable among these are Mussa, Frenkel and Johnson (1975), Kemp (1975), Whitman (1975), and Kreinin and Officer (1978). On the basis of common elements enclosed in the writings of these authors, it is possible to construct such a model and then solve it, first, for foreign reserves inflow, and second, for the domestic inflation rate as a dependent variable. This formulation is similar to the ones found in Bhatia (1982) and Salvatore (1983), but is broader in its implications. A check of the validity of the relationships of the monetary model is also attempted by using the annual data of the Netherlands and Singapore.
Chamunorwa Nyamuranga and Jaeun Shin
The purpose of this paper is to empirically assess the effect of public health expenditure on child mortality in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically assess the effect of public health expenditure on child mortality in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region in comparison to the developing world as a whole and the region of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Design/methodology/approach
This study used panel data extracted from the World Development Indicators database for the period 2000–2013 for 98 developing countries including 15 SADC countries. A dynamic panel data model of child mortality was estimated using the system generalized method of moments technique.
Findings
Results indicate that public health expenditure has a statistically significant effect on reducing infant and under-five mortality rates in the developing world, and that this effect is strongest in the SADC. Immunization and female literacy contributed significantly to the prevention of deaths of infants and children under five in developing countries. In the region of SSA, improved water sources and the reduction in the prevalence of HIV were found to be effective in reducing childhood mortality. There was little evidence for the benefit of higher GDP per capita.
Practical implications
The findings of this study suggest four policy areas which should be prioritized in public health spending to achieve better health among children: ensuring that females have better access to education, providing immunizations, intensifying interventions against the spread of HIV/AIDS, and improving water and sanitation infrastructure.
Originality/value
This study, which shows that the benefits of public health expenditure may be augmented by regional collaborations like the SADC, is one of the first to explore regional heterogeneity in the effectiveness of public health expenditure for the improvement of children’s health across the developing world.
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