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Research into how the wage fix/employment flex phenomenon operates in a recession.

This article draws from “institutional” labour economics and mainstream industrial relations, but differs from the more usual uses of their ideas in a number of ways. For example, the observation we make, that wages and prices are “sticky” downwards and that labour markets respond to falls in demand by employment and quantity adjustments, is not new. Similarly, the idea that labour markets are different from “normal” commodity markets is not of recent origin Hence, while Clay and Hicks were making such observations and speculating on the labour relations consequences of them, Keynes was using the concept of wage rigidity (stickiness) as a central building block in his General Theory which dealt with the conditions for macro‐economic equilibrium.

The paper uses a procedure called data envelopment analysis (DEA) to compare internal against external (outsource) efficiency in the delivery of finance function activities. The approach allows a direct comparison between the in‐house efficiency of UK small, medium and large companies in managing their accounting activities both with UK outsource contractors and also against the rather larger and more numerous contractors observed in Italy. The paper finds that, through comparative advantages, outsourcing presents a more efficient solution for the management of very small firm accounting than internal provision. Furthermore, there is evidence that substantial scale benefits continue to be available to outsource contractors, while inefficiency on internal provision is mainly technical. The paper concludes that outsourcing provision is likely to offer worthwhile savings to small firms, allowing them to shed competitive weaknesses and operate at efficient or best practice levels. At the same time, by converting an internal fixed cost, fixed capacity activity into a flexible, variable cost activity, SMEs have the potential to transform a previously unmanageable activity into an efficient or best practice activity that can grow or contract with the business.

The purpose of this paper is to test the positive effect of strategy‐technology integration on performance in comparison with the impact of other types of strategies.

General conclusions are drawn and strategic implications derived from a survey of 355 UK manufacturing companies which had expressed interest in the introduction of new computer‐based technology.

It was found that the companies with strategy‐technology integration showed better financial and operational performance. Strategies of technology leadership and market orientation were also associated with enhanced financial performance. However, a number of organisational conditions were found to be necessary for the pursuit of these strategies.

Further research is needed to examine the process and structure in which strategy technology can be better integrated.

Firms should strive to achieve strategy‐technology integration to maximise the benefits of adopting new technologies.

The empirical research presented in this paper fills a gap in the existing literature.

This paper seeks to examine key factors within the control of store managers to optimizing inventory and store results.

This research integrates principles of action research and traditional research in a big box retail environment.

While this study confirms theories that link inventory to sales, merchandise selection, and technology, it emphasizes the role of people. Furthermore, it proves that different stores within same companies and different departments within same stores deliver different results due, mainly, to human factors – specifically, critical thinking, functional knowledge, and leadership.

This study does not address inventory assortment, space allocation, automatic replenishment, planograms design, technology, logistics, and other factors that may impact inventory but mostly outside the control of big box store managers.

This study proposes practical tools and ideas to optimizing inventory and business results in big‐box stores. It also serves as an example of extracting and verifying retail management theory from practice. As such, it benefits both practitioners and academics.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the complicated nature of safeguarding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students. First, this paper will address the issues that LGBT students face as a minoritized group in their school system, which inhibits their opportunities to reach their full potential when it comes to emotional and academic growth. Second, this paper will be used to discuss how leadership is vital in order for school communities to help address the issues that their LGBT population face. Third, the author will make the case that a lack of leadership self-efficacy can hinder the process.

Three different research studies were used to highlight the needs of LGBT students. However, there is additional research that is used as well to illustrate the need for leadership self-efficacy to support LGBT safeguards. When it comes to LGBT research the research of GLSEN (formerly known as the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) was used. GLSEN’s research consisted of 7,898 students between the ages of 13 and 21. Second, data from the Every Teachers Project by the Manitoba Teachers’ Society were used which involved 3,400 teachers around Canada. Although there are certain nuances between international examples which include those LGBT students living in the dominant culture as well as within indigenous populations, the author builds the case that the harassment and bullying has a common theme and can be addressed through common methods. Additionally, qualitative doctoral research was used, which consisted of 20 interviews of school leaders from three different school districts in New York State. Lastly, for the purpose of this paper the author will use the acronym LGBT to identify those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. There are many acronyms (e.g. LGBTQ, LGBTI, etc.) representing the community, and only when the research use those other acronyms, will those be used to highlight subgroup populations.

Findings indicate that, as a minoritized population, LGBT students are highly at risk for being verbally and physically harassed at school, and go unprotected by the adults who are in charge of keeping them safe. School leadership is instrumental in the safeguarding of LGBT students. Additionally, safeguarding is not nearly enough. It is important to understand that LGBT students should not just be safeguarded, but should also be surrounded by curriculum and images that will help them feel accepted into the greater school community, which takes an increased level of self-efficacy on the part of the leader.

The topic of engaging LGBT students in the school community is sparse at best. Additionally, this paper provides the case for safeguarding and engaging LGBT students, as well as all minoritized populations, but also discusses why it is the moral purpose of leaders to do so. However, the author believes that the addition of understanding leadership actions around safeguarding LGBT students through the lens of leadership self-efficacy and building collective efficacy is an important one, and will add to the originality of this paper.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to present an Australian mentor preparation program designed to prepare experienced teachers to mentor beginning teachers and second, to identify and discuss mentor teachers’ personal and professional outcomes and the wider contextual implications emerging from the Mentoring Beginning Teachers (MBT) mentor preparation program.

This case study, situated within Queensland, Australia, draws on qualitative data collected via interviews and focus groups with mentor teachers who participated in a large-scale systemic mentor preparation program. The program positions mentoring as supportive, based on a process of collaborative inquiry and encouraging critically reflexive praxis with the mentor professional learning focusing on reflection, dialog and criticality.

Initial findings show the outcomes of the mentor preparation program include building a common language and shared understanding around the role of mentor, consolidating a collaborative inquiry approach to mentoring and providing opportunity for self-reflection and critique around mentoring approaches and practices. Some findings, such as a greater self-awareness and validation of mentors’ own teaching performance, have confirmed previous research. However, the originality of this research lies in the personal and professional impacts for mentor teachers and the wider contextual impacts that have emerged from the study.

The study highlights the impact of the mentor preparation program on the professional learning of teacher-mentors and contributes to the current lack of empirical research that identifies the personal and professional impacts for mentors and the wider contextual factors that impact effective mentoring in schools.

The originality of this research lies in the personal and professional impacts for mentor teachers and the wider contextual impacts more broadly that have emerged from the study.

This paper aims to answer report how mentors who onboard newcomers to a high-stress social work organization can learn about their onboarding practice by treating onboarding as a wicked problem that escapes definitive formulation and final solutions.

The authors follow an action research approach with three iterations of learning about onboarding with mentors in a Danish social work organization struggling with an employee turnover exceeding 30%.

The authors unfold the authors’ emerging sensitivity to wickedity over the iterations of learning about onboarding with the mentors. As the authors foreground the wickedity of the authors onboarding in the last iteration, three lessons learned could be derived: it warrants the mentors’ continuous inquiry; opens inquiry into the ambivalence of mentoring; and convenes responsibility for inquiry to a community of mentors.

This study of problematic onboarding to high-stress social work shows the value of fore-grounding wickedity instead of hiding it with a positive framing. This wickedity rests on situated grounding and is only transferrable to other organizations with the utmost caution.

High-stress social work organizations without the capacity to systematically sustain best practices for onboarding may, instead, increase attention to the wickedity of onboarding as a motivation for continuous inquiry by a broader community of mentors.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to present an action research study of problem wickedity to motivate mentors’ inquiry into onboarding newcomers to high-stress social work.

This study aims to investigate an under-researched area, an international marketing perspective, based on international dynamic capability, environmental sustainability and organizational marketing performance in gamification and non-gamification-based organizational culture (OC). This paper deepens the understanding of gamification-based and non-gamification-based OC influence on innovation capability and environmental and organizational marketing performance through the theory of organizational creativity and the theory of administrative behavior (AB).

The authors collect data from firms that abide by the ISO 14091 certifications to ensure the proper quality standards. Primary data from 384 firms are used to test the hypotheses. The results would help firms invest in technological solutions by practicing creativity over time. Additionally, the study helps explore how AB is critical in steering technological creativity for making firms climate-conscious.

The study's findings identified that OC has a positive influence on technological innovation capabilities and environmental innovation capabilities. Technological innovation capabilities have a beneficial impact on environmental sustainability. Environmental sustainability appears to have a substantial correlation with technological innovation skills. Environmental innovation capabilities positively impact environmental sustainability and organizational marketing performance. A moderating effect of gamification on the international dynamic capabilities within a relationship between organizational culture and environmental innovation capabilities exists.

The investigation is confined to understanding how gamification-based and non-gamification-based organizational marketing culture affects innovation capability, environmental sustainability and organizational performance through the lens of theory of organizational creativity and theory of AB.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce this special issue focussing on the mentoring of beginning teachers which supports the professional learning of not only mentees but also mentors. The paper identifies the varied aims of beginning teacher mentoring programmes, some of the reasons for mentoring and an introduction to the six research papers published in the issue.

The papers in this issue examine different perspectives relating to the mentoring of student teachers and newly qualified teachers (NQTs). Different types of mentoring relationships are examined in various international contexts. The research, from Australia, the Republic of Ireland, Malta, Norway, Scotland, the USA and Wales, addresses the challenges that can occur in mentoring relationships, and enables us to better understand the professional learning that takes place in successful mentoring relationships.

The authors of the papers delineate how critical reflective practice, inquiry into professional practice, collaboration and professional learning for both mentees and mentors are key aims for many mentoring programmes. The six studies used different methods to investigate external and/or school-based mentoring programmes for student teachers and NQTs.

A snapshot of current research into professional learning is provided with most studies being small qualitative ones. However, common themes can be identified across countries and contexts. The authors of each paper outline the implications for teacher education for their own contexts, as well as for international contexts.

Teacher education programmes employ mentoring pairs and triads in order to develop particular traits and reflective practices in teachers. Research shows how mentor programmes provide classroom experience and professional learning for student and NQTs as well as professional learning for teacher mentors. University tutors play a key role in supporting not only the mentees and mentors but also the mentoring relationship.