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1 – 7 of 7Deborah Richards, Salma Banu Nazeer Khan, Paul Formosa and Sarah Bankins
To protect information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and resources against poor cyber hygiene behaviours, organisations commonly require internal users to…
Abstract
Purpose
To protect information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and resources against poor cyber hygiene behaviours, organisations commonly require internal users to confirm they will abide by an ICT Code of Conduct. Before commencing enrolment, university students sign ICT policies, however, individuals can ignore or act contrary to these policies. This study aims to evaluate whether students can apply ICT Codes of Conduct and explores viable approaches for ensuring that students understand how to act ethically and in accordance with such codes.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors designed a between-subjects experiment involving 260 students’ responses to five scenario-pairs that involve breach/non-breach of a university’s ICT policy following a priming intervention to heighten awareness of ICT policy or relevant ethical principles, with a control group receiving no priming.
Findings
This study found a significant difference in students’ responses to the breach versus non-breach cases, indicating their ability to apply the ICT Code of Conduct. Qualitative comments revealed the priming materials influenced their reasoning.
Research limitations/implications
The authors’ priming interventions were inadequate for improving breach recognition compared to the control group. More nuanced and targeted priming interventions are suggested for future studies.
Practical implications
Appropriate application of ICT Code of Conduct can be measured by collecting student/employee responses to breach/non-breach scenario pairs based on the Code and embedded with ethical principles.
Social implications
Shared awareness and protection of ICT resources.
Originality/value
Compliance with ICT Codes of Conduct by students is under-investigated. This study shows that code-based scenarios can measure understanding and suggest that targeted priming might offer a non-resource intensive training approach.
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The purpose of this study is to examine gender and rural economic relations of the Nrobo of Southeastern Nigeria. Specifically, the study was designed to examine the subsistence…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine gender and rural economic relations of the Nrobo of Southeastern Nigeria. Specifically, the study was designed to examine the subsistence strategies, gendered role patterns and gender gaps in economic relations of the Nrobo.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used ethnographic methods of participant observation – adopting chitchatting and semi-structured interviews. Also, focus group discussion (FGD) was used to cross-check the validity of data from the other instrument.
Findings
This study found among other things, that although there is still verbal expression of gendered roles division, it does not mirror what actually obtains in society, except bio-social roles. Ideological superiority of men reflects the patrilineal kinship arrangement of society. Theoretically, some of the hypotheses of gender inequality theory were disputed for lack of adequate explanation of gender and economic relations in an egalitarian-reflected society such as Nrobo.
Originality/value
This study, to the best of my knowledge, is the first attempt to ethnographically examine gender and economic relations among this group. As such it adds to the corpus of ethnographies on the Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria.
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Olawale Daniel Akinyele, Olusola Mathew Oloba and Gisele Mah
African countries are endowed with both human and natural resources. These resources constitute integral components for any economic development due to the long-lasting…
Abstract
Purpose
African countries are endowed with both human and natural resources. These resources constitute integral components for any economic development due to the long-lasting relationship with all sectors in an economy, yet there is an obvious disagreement between growing economy and employment generation in Africa. Though there has been a growing pattern of economic size, particularly the gross domestic product (GDP) among African countries, most of these economies are low in human development. The disagreement between economic growth and employment generation in Africa despite abundant natural resources located on the continent calls for public discourse among scholars. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to examine the peculiar drivers of unemployment intensity in a region characterized by endowed resources.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts two approaches; the authors employed the pooled mean group (PMG) estimator and utilised stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to generate a government efficiency index between the period 1991 and 2017 among sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries.
Findings
The empirical results through the single output-multiple inputs framework indicate that on average, there is a low level of government efficiency towards increasing the objective of human development in Africa. However, in the long run, natural resource endowment has a positive and significant relationship with employment generation for SSA. Hence, the study established that a low level of government efficiency has a long-lasting effect on low human development experienced in Africa.
Social implications
The need to improve the level of government efficiency towards economic development by making both human and physical capital more effective will spur the exploration of natural resources.
Originality/value
The paper provides an empirical study of the effectiveness and efficiency of government through PMG and SFA in establishing the relationship between government approaches and employment level in selected SSA countries.
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Justice Muchineripi, Willie Chinyamurindi and Tendai Chimucheka
The study explores experiences of African immigrants in their self-employment journey. South Africa has been receiving many African immigrants seeking for socio-economic survival…
Abstract
Purpose
The study explores experiences of African immigrants in their self-employment journey. South Africa has been receiving many African immigrants seeking for socio-economic survival. This presents a gap to understand the self-employment journey of such immigrants post-settlement.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative inquiry is used with semi-structured interviews using a sample of African immigrants based in South Africa. Narrative enquiry was utilised in trying to understand the African immigrant self-employment journey.
Findings
The findings show strategies used by African immigrant entrepreneurs in their self-employment journey. These include immigrant relying on established relationships to respond to contextual challenges. Further, immigrant entrepreneurs turned to borrowing from family, including personal savings and using fronts as a capital generation strategy.
Originality/value
Based on the findings strategies are suggested as a useful precursor in advancing understanding of the African immigrant self-employment journey. This becomes useful especially considering ideals for assisting post-settlement of migrants.
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Md. Nazmul Haque, Kaniz Fatema and Md. Ashikur Rahman Joy
Crop suitability analysis is vital for identifying a piece of land’s potential for sustainable crop production and aids in the formulation of an effective agricultural management…
Abstract
Purpose
Crop suitability analysis is vital for identifying a piece of land’s potential for sustainable crop production and aids in the formulation of an effective agricultural management plan. This study aims to conduct crop suitability analysis of prominent Kharif (rice and maize) and Rabi (potato and wheat) crops in Sirajganj district, a flood-prone area of Bangladesh, and recommend a suitable cropping pattern to mitigate the detrimental effects of flooding.
Design/methodology/approach
Various factors such as soil drainage, soil depth, soil moisture, soil texture, soil permeability, soil pH, erosion hazard, nutrient status and flooding risk were considered for this study. For all four crops, the weights of each factor were determined using the analytical hierarchy process approach, and the scores of each subfactor were assigned on the basis of favorable circumstances of crop cultivation. Using the weighted overlay analysis in the ArcGIS 10.3 environment, the crop suitability maps were generated and were divided into four suitable classes. Geographic information system integration of crop suitability for all the crops determined the suitable cropping pattern of the study area in Kharif and Rabi seasons.
Findings
A vast portion of the study area covering 64.80% of the total land is suitable for cultivating either rice or maize in Kharif season followed by either potato or wheat in Rabi season. Other suitable cropping pattern for Kharif and Rabi seasons found in the study area are rice-wheat, rice-wheat/potato, rice/maize-wheat and rice/maize-potato, which covers a little portion of the study area.
Originality/value
This research validates the suitable location of crop cultivation on the basis of flooding occurrences in the locality.
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Patrick Nunn and Roselyn Kumar
Climate change poses diverse, often fundamental, challenges to livelihoods of island peoples. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that these challenges must be better…
Abstract
Purpose
Climate change poses diverse, often fundamental, challenges to livelihoods of island peoples. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that these challenges must be better understood before effective and sustainable adaptation is possible.
Design/methodology/approach
Understanding past livelihood impacts from climate change can help design and operationalize future interventions. In addition, globalization has had uneven effects on island countries/jurisdictions, producing situations especially in archipelagoes where there are significant differences between core and peripheral communities. This approach overcomes the problems that have characterized many recent interventions for climate-change adaptation in island contexts which have resulted in uneven and at best only marginal livelihood improvements in preparedness for future climate change.
Findings
Island contexts have a range of unique vulnerability and resilience characteristics that help explain recent and proposed responses to climate change. These include the sensitivity of coastal fringes to climate-environmental changes: and in island societies, the comparatively high degrees of social coherence, closeness to nature and spirituality that are uncommon in western contexts.
Research limitations/implications
Enhanced understanding of island environmental and social contexts, as well as insights from past climate impacts and peripherality, all contribute to more effective and sustainable future interventions for adaptation.
Originality/value
The need for more effective and sustainable adaptation in island contexts is becoming ever more exigent as the pace of twenty-first-century climate change increases.
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