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1 – 10 of 18Juan Zhang, Xi Gao, Xi Hong and Hamish Coates
Although doctoral education has experienced substantial development in recent decades, it remains an elite, hence fragile, dimension of university policy and practice. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
Although doctoral education has experienced substantial development in recent decades, it remains an elite, hence fragile, dimension of university policy and practice. This study aims to articulate perspectives to guide the next phase of strengthening and growth.
Design/methodology/approach
Working from theoretical and empirical research conducted in China, including scholarship on workforce ecosystems, education design and the student experience, this study contributes a framework with qualitative insights which clarify the goals and experiences of doctoral education in ways that will render it more relevant, effective and contributing.
Findings
The paper identifies areas for doctoral reform to ensure career readiness, including three distinctive outcomes and four indispensable experiences.
Originality/value
This study advances a doctoral design framework which can render transparent the substance of programs and prompt program coordinators to develop and ensure career relevance.
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Ahreum Lim, Daeun Jung and Eunsun Lee
As emerging scholars of color with transnational backgrounds, we collectively recount our socialization experiences in US higher education institutes. We explore moments of…
Abstract
Purpose
As emerging scholars of color with transnational backgrounds, we collectively recount our socialization experiences in US higher education institutes. We explore moments of betweenness as catalysts for envisioning a more inclusive academia that operates beyond the tokenism of diversity.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing betweener autoethnography (Diversi and Moreira, 2018), we inquire into the sense of impasse encountered by South Korean female emerging scholars in the field of education in becoming an outsider within the academic system.
Findings
Chronicling our shifts in perspectives of our positionality, we interweave inquiries motivating us to challenge normative pressures and map our betweener experiences onto the Wiedman and DeAngelo’s (2020) socialization model. Through this process, we wedge open in-between spaces in the socialization process that accommodate the nuanced positionality of transnational scholars.
Originality/value
Integrating postcolonial critiques on the Western-centric meritocratic academia, this piece sheds light on the complexity and fluidity of emerging transnational scholars’ socialization processes. The thick, nuanced description deepens the understanding of the complexity of their identity negotiation within the dominant logics of academia. Our inquiries interwoven through betweener autoethnography serve as guidance for mentoring international graduate students and transnational scholars.
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Constantin Bratianu, Alexeis Garcia-Perez, Francesca Dal Mas and Denise Bedford
Divya Gogia, Sandeep Kumar Gupta and Priya Rathi
In highly competitive environments, sustainability positioning is crucial for firms, as they are evaluated based on their sustainable practices. This study aims to draw on the…
Abstract
Purpose
In highly competitive environments, sustainability positioning is crucial for firms, as they are evaluated based on their sustainable practices. This study aims to draw on the legitimacy and information asymmetry theories to explore attributes that impact business-to-business (B2B) sustainability positioning in emerging economies, such as India, within the service industry.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a mixed-methods exploratory research design to examine the attributes affecting sustainability positioning. In the first phase of the study, a qualitative research method was used to explore the attributes influencing B2B sustainability positioning. In the second phase, this study used these factors to develop a structural model.
Findings
A variety of attributes was critical in assessing the sustainability positioning of B2B firms. This study identified a number of factors that explain the attributes affecting sustainability positioning in B2B markets. Some of them included environmental consciousness and external assurance.
Originality/value
This study significantly contributes to the theoretical discourse on sustainable practices in B2B businesses in multiple ways. First, it provides empirical data on the relationship between firms’ environmental consciousness and sustainability positioning in the B2B context, thereby adding to and expanding the current literature on this topic. Second, this study investigates the impact of external assurance on B2B firms’ sustainability positioning and shows how it can enhance credibility, transparency and accountability. Finally, it analyzes sustainable positioning in the service sector, specifically in India, thereby contributing to the body of knowledge on this topic.
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Sophie Hennekam and Irena Descubes
Drawing on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, this study aims to examine which job demands individuals with diagnosed mental illness perceive to be most challenging as they…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, this study aims to examine which job demands individuals with diagnosed mental illness perceive to be most challenging as they navigate the workplace, why this is the case and which resources individuals tend to mobilize to meet these demands.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on 257 qualitative surveys filled out by individuals with mental illness in various parts of the world.
Findings
The findings show that job demands that are common in today's workplace such as a high workload and a stressful environment are considered challenging by individuals with mental illness. Further, the authors show that this is the result of the ideal worker norm consisting of the need to be a steady performer that is confident, resilient and social with which the performer cannot comply on the one hand and the particularities of this population, such as performers' self-perceived low self-esteem, sensitivity to stress, fluctuating symptoms and difficulties with the social aspects of organizational life on the other hand.
Originality/value
The study points to the unique challenges of individuals with mental illness in the workplace and highlights the role human resource management (HRM) can play in providing support to allow this population to meet the demands of one's job more easily and thrive at work.
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Heather Carle, Cara-Lynn Scheuer and Stephanie Swartz
This study offers insight on the impact of virtual team projects (VTPs) of varying types (global vs domestic teams, technology vs non-tech projects) on competency and anxiety…
Abstract
Purpose
This study offers insight on the impact of virtual team projects (VTPs) of varying types (global vs domestic teams, technology vs non-tech projects) on competency and anxiety outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
Paired-sample t-tests and ANOVA tests were performed on student survey responses pre- and post-engagement of different VTPs.
Findings
The results demonstrated positive effects of VTPs on intercultural sensitivity (ISS), computer self-efficacy, perceived ease of use of online learning and COVID-19 anxiety. ISS (“interaction confidence”) improved more for students in the global vs. domestic teams and technology-related outcomes (CSE, PEU and computer anxiety) and ISS (“respect for cultural differences”) improved more for students that participated in tech projects, whereas COVID-19 anxiety lessened more for those that participated in non-tech projects.
Originality/value
The study expands understanding of the Technology Acceptance Model and provides insight into the ISS literature showing that VTPs could be a worthwhile pedagogical approach for improving student competencies and anxiety during times of academic disruption, but that project type can influence these changes.
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Peter Kodjo Luh, Miriam Arthur, Vera Fiador and Baah Aye Aye Kusi
This study aims to examine how woman corporate leadership indicators and environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure in listed banks on Ghana Stock Exchange are related.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how woman corporate leadership indicators and environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure in listed banks on Ghana Stock Exchange are related.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was obtained from the audited annual reports of the banks for the period 2006–2020. Empirical result estimation was achieved using Panel Corrected Standard Errors.
Findings
The result revealed that female chief executive officer (CEO), female board chairperson and board gender diversity are associated with higher disclosure of ESG issues in listed banks in Ghana in overall terms. However, in terms of individual disclosures, female board chairperson positively impacts social disclosure, whereas both female CEO and female board chairperson affect governance disclosure positively.
Research limitations/implications
In this era of business where there is much emphasis on green business and investment by various stakeholders for purposes of ensuring business legitimacy, the result implies that banks must consider females to occupy the positions of CEO and board chairperson since that can help to improve ESG performance of banks.
Practical implications
In this era of business where there is much emphasis on green business, socially responsible investment and impact investment by various stakeholders, the result implies that banks must consider improving the representation of women in leadership since that can help to improve ESG performance of banks and hence ability to attract more investors.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to provide empirical evidence from a developing country perspective in Sub-Saharan Africa that gender of bank leadership has implications for ESG disclosure.
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Sofía Blanco-Moreno, Aroa Costa-Feito, Carmen R. Santos and Ana M. González-Fernández
This study analyzes the effect of content marketing on women's happiness through eudaimonia and hedonism factors and the final result on desires and actions taken.
Abstract
Purpose
This study analyzes the effect of content marketing on women's happiness through eudaimonia and hedonism factors and the final result on desires and actions taken.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 227 valid questionnaires were collected from women respondents. The data analysis used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to clarify the relationships in the proposed model.
Findings
Content marketing turns out to be a crucial factor affecting both eudaimonia and hedonism. Moreover, while eudaimonia plays a particular role in women's behavior, hedonism works likewise on desires.
Practical implications
A crucial decision before developing content marketing is to consider if the final result is to produce desirability or feasibility in consumers. Content marketing addressing eudaimonia will impact feasibility; while the content aims to create desirability, the hedonic aspect of happiness should be emphasized.
Originality/value
Though content marketing and the effect of content marketing on brands' performance and consumer decision processes has been deeply analyzed in the literature, there is a lack of research into the effect of such content on consumers' well-being. Another contribution of this study is the focus on local brands and on women's eudaimonia and hedonism.
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Rong Jiang, Bin He, Zhipeng Wang, Xu Cheng, Hongrui Sang and Yanmin Zhou
Compared with traditional methods relying on manual teaching or system modeling, data-driven learning methods, such as deep reinforcement learning and imitation learning, show…
Abstract
Purpose
Compared with traditional methods relying on manual teaching or system modeling, data-driven learning methods, such as deep reinforcement learning and imitation learning, show more promising potential to cope with the challenges brought by increasingly complex tasks and environments, which have become the hot research topic in the field of robot skill learning. However, the contradiction between the difficulty of collecting robot–environment interaction data and the low data efficiency causes all these methods to face a serious data dilemma, which has become one of the key issues restricting their development. Therefore, this paper aims to comprehensively sort out and analyze the cause and solutions for the data dilemma in robot skill learning.
Design/methodology/approach
First, this review analyzes the causes of the data dilemma based on the classification and comparison of data-driven methods for robot skill learning; Then, the existing methods used to solve the data dilemma are introduced in detail. Finally, this review discusses the remaining open challenges and promising research topics for solving the data dilemma in the future.
Findings
This review shows that simulation–reality combination, state representation learning and knowledge sharing are crucial for overcoming the data dilemma of robot skill learning.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no surveys that systematically and comprehensively sort out and analyze the data dilemma in robot skill learning in the existing literature. It is hoped that this review can be helpful to better address the data dilemma in robot skill learning in the future.
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