Search results

1 – 10 of 20
Article
Publication date: 5 January 2024

Sharon Manasseh, Mary Low and Richard Calderwood

Universities globally have faced the introduction of research performance assessment systems that provide monetary and ranking rewards based on publication outputs. This study…

Abstract

Purpose

Universities globally have faced the introduction of research performance assessment systems that provide monetary and ranking rewards based on publication outputs. This study aims to seek an understanding of the implementation of performance-based research funding (PBRF) and its impact on the heads of departments (HoDs) and accounting academics in New Zealand (NZ) tertiary institutions. The study explores NZ accounting academics’ experiences and their workload; the relationship between teaching and research in the accounting discipline and any issues and concerns affecting new and emerging accounting researchers because of PBRF.

Design/methodology/approach

Applying an institutional theoretical lens, this paper explores accounting HoDs’ perceptions concerning the PBRF system’s impact on their academic staff. The research used semi-structured interviews to collect data from NZ’s eight universities.

Findings

The key findings posit that many institutional processes, some more coercive in nature, whereas others were normative and mimetic, have been put in place to ensure that academics are able to meet the PBRF requirements. HoDs suggest that their staff understand the importance of research, but that PBRF is a challenge to new and emerging researchers and pose threats to their recruitment. New academics must “hit the ground running” as they must demonstrate not only teaching abilities but also already have a track record of research publications; all in all, a daunting experience for new academics to overcome. There is also a teaching and research disconnect. Furthermore, many areas where improvements can be made in the design of this measurement tool remain.

Originality/value

The PBRF system has significantly impacted on accounting academics. Central university research systems were established that subsequently applied coercive institutional pressures onto line managers to ensure that their staff performed. This finding offers scope for future research to explore a better PBRF that measures and rewards research productivity but without the current system’s unintended negative consequences.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 April 2024

Birgitte Wraae, Michael Breum Ramsgaard, Katarina Ellborg and Nicolai Nybye

The contemporary focus on extracurricular activities, here the educational incubator environment, accentuates a need to understand what we offer students in terms of the…

Abstract

The contemporary focus on extracurricular activities, here the educational incubator environment, accentuates a need to understand what we offer students in terms of the curricular and extracurricular learning environments when situated in the same higher education institution (HEI). Current research points towards breaking down the invisible barriers and silo thinking. In this conceptual study, we apply the Didaktik triangle as a theoretical and conceptual framing to make comparisons of structurally based conditions for curricular and extracurricular entrepreneurship education (EE). We present a framework that helps bridge the ‘what’, ‘why’, and ‘how’ questions in the two different learning spaces and, thereby, conjoin educators and consultants in possible pedagogical discussions on how they work with the students. The suggested bridge frames a wider ‘why’ and adds a more holistic and cohesive view of the two different types of settings. Our study contributes to the literature on how to bridge the blurred lines between curricular and extracurricular activities and break down the silos. The framework can act as an inspiration for entrepreneurship educators and practitioners who wish to provide more suitable and sustainable structures and develop a holistic learning environment.

Details

Extracurricular Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Activity: A Global and Holistic Perspective
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-372-0

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2022

Goran Ivo Marinovic

Informal dwellings describe makeshift lodgings made from temporary materials, such as plastic, corrugated iron, sheeting, packing cases, or wood. These units allow low-income…

Abstract

Purpose

Informal dwellings describe makeshift lodgings made from temporary materials, such as plastic, corrugated iron, sheeting, packing cases, or wood. These units allow low-income groups to informally occupy land and create their habitable space in a phased manner. This article focuses on elements of the urban morphology, such as density, accessibility, and operating assortment of informally built areas in the southern region of Montenegro.

Design/methodology/approach

The author examines the urban morphologies of four urban areas, whose informality is traditionally viewed as markers of decline and despair. Using observations, questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews, the investigator maps dwellings in Ulcinj, Budva, Tivat, and Herceg Novi neighbourhoods. The researcher interrogated participants about land distribution during the construction of sheds, buildings' outline and orientation toward the street, and activities performed in their dwellings, such as living, working, and accommodating relatives and guests. This methodology tests the hypothesis, formulated as a deeper understanding of urban morphology for examining the interweaving of informally built settlements with the rest of the city.

Findings

A cartographic investigation is used to reframe customary rights of low-income populations to land inclusion and their place in the city. The results clearly show that the location and lifestyle are designed to obfuscate the vulnerable populations from the public view, disconnected from policymaking, and ignored by urban planning projects. However, the interviewees' destinations orientation away from the downtowns represents the possibility of reconfiguring existing urban planning practices. For creating alternative urbanisation, the orientation of less visible neighbourhoods presents a model for building regulations embedded in social forces and cultural habits of all social and ethnic groups.

Research limitations/implications

This study did not address the implementation of social hosing policies and the logistical limitations of realising them by the local and national governments. During firework, the author encountered dwellers outside four studied low-income neighbourhoods in the south region of Montenegro. Mapping morphological elements of these generally small clusters of informal built units are left for future research. Future studies could examine how informality is performed in Montenegro by moderate and high-income groups as an assemblage of different power relationships and urban practices.

Practical implications

The argument is based on counter urbanism as the orientation and destination of less visible neighbourhoods for creating building regulations embedded in social forces and cultural habits of all social and ethnic groups. This study showed that the urban morphology of informality in the coastal cities of Montenegro lays the ground for alternative urban planning practices based on the different interconnection of districts. The outcome is a strong link between different social and ethical groups through self-building practices.

Social implications

In coastal cities of Montenegro, Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian live with other low-income groups in unsanitary settlements characterised by poor living conditions, low-quality illegally built housing, no plumbing or sewage systems, and overcrowded urban areas. Mapping morphological elements of less visible urban areas propose shifting from top-down urban planning policies to a participatory model of developing urban areas.

Originality/value

The assemblage of informally built urban areas legitimise place in the city that goes against the housing market's dominant logic and exceeds alternative logics of building production. This article outlined the urban morphologies of four urban areas for turning the image of informality away from decline and despair to lessons of urban interconnection. By creating different maps, the author presented a diverse orientation of four case studies based on density, accessibility, and operating assortment.

Details

Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-6862

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 December 2023

Andy Busfield, Charlotte Peters and Karen McKenzie

This paper aims to describe and evaluate the impact of a compassion-focused therapy (CFT) group for adults with intellectual disabilities (ID).

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to describe and evaluate the impact of a compassion-focused therapy (CFT) group for adults with intellectual disabilities (ID).

Design/methodology/approach

People with ID are commonly subjected to stigmatising experiences that can contribute to feelings of shame. CFT targets shame and self-criticism by helping people to cultivate self-compassion. There is evidence to suggest that CFT can be meaningfully adapted for people with ID. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using a mixed-methods design, aiming to gain a rich evaluation of the CFT group. Eight adults with ID were referred by their local community psychology team. An 11-week group protocol was based on materials from previous research. The protocol included the development of a “compassion box”, aiming to make CFT concepts more concrete and tangible. Questionnaires measuring psychological distress, self-compassion and negative social comparisons were completed pre- and post-group. Feedback from participants and carers were collated and facilitators’ observations were recorded.

Findings

Questionnaire findings were mixed, and some participants found the measures difficult to understand. Participants’ qualitative feedback and facilitators’ observations suggested that the group created feelings of safety and connectedness whilst facilitating engagement and action with shame and self-criticism. Several participants highlighted the usefulness of the ‘”compassion box”, although some barriers were noted.

Originality/value

This paper provides a rich description of how group CFT can be adapted to meet the needs of adults with ID and is the first study of its kind, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to evaluate the incorporation of the “compassion box”.

Details

Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-1282

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 September 2023

Melany Hebles, Concepción Yániz-Alvarez-de-Eulate and Lourdes Villardón-Gallego

The debriefing is a procedure based on intra-team feedback, which has frequently been applied in university formation in health but has been less used in business. The aim of this…

Abstract

Purpose

The debriefing is a procedure based on intra-team feedback, which has frequently been applied in university formation in health but has been less used in business. The aim of this research is to analyse best practices in the actual implementation of debriefing in organisations, based on criteria the guidelines for carrying out each stage established in the procedure.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve these goals, working teams from different organisations carried out 19 group-debriefing sessions on an authentic work problem. These sessions were observed and analysed following a qualitative approach.

Findings

After observing a debriefing session in 19 organisations, four categories related to its implementation have been identified: Self-analysis, information, planning and orientation of the development of the team.

Research limitations/implications

It is important to mention some limitations to this work. The major limitation was the lack of published literature related to the debriefing in the area of organisational management. The qualitative and exploratory nature of the study limits the generalisation of the results.

Practical implications

The research has practical implications as the characterisation and description of each phase favours the transfer to implement the debriefing technique adequately in different types of organisations.

Social implications

It has been observed that all forms of debriefing have a common purpose in learning and, team and employee development, due to the powerful transferability and usefulness of debriefing in different contexts. Therefore, knowing the correct use of debriefing is a breakthrough in this area. In addition, including this type of practice will not just facilitate a better performance, it will also help teams to learn to work in a team from their own experiences.

Originality/value

It has been characterised by the process of debriefing from the correct implementation of each phase through the analysis of the narratives that arise in the debriefing sessions carried out.

研究目的

匯報是一個基於團隊內部回饋的程序, 它常見於大學組建的醫療衛生方面, 在商業上則較少使用。本研究擬基於匯報程序中所建立的每個階段, 來分析在組織內實際進行匯報的典範實務。

研究設計/方法/理念

為達至研究目標, 來自不同組織的工作團隊, 就一個真實的工作問題進行了19個匯報會議。研究人員觀察這些會議, 並以定性研究法進行探討和分析。

研究結果

研究人員觀察於19個組織進行的匯報會議後, 找出了四個進行匯報會議的範疇, 自我分析、資料、計劃和團隊發展的取向。

實務方面的啟示

本研究提供了實務方面的啟示, 因研究結果確認了匯報每個階段的特徵的描述, 以及每個階段的描述, 這會幫助在不同種類的組織內進行匯報會議時, 舉行匯報使用之技巧得以靈活調動, 以發揮各技巧的最佳效果。

研究的原創性/價值

研究人員分析有關的匯報會議內的敘述, 並從會議每個階段的正確執行, 找出了匯報程序的各個特徵。

Details

European Journal of Management and Business Economics, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2444-8451

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Anjali Singh and Sumi Jha

This study aims to investigate the factors influencing team innovation from the perspective of strategic leaders. The study draws from the leader–member exchange (LMX) theory to…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the factors influencing team innovation from the perspective of strategic leaders. The study draws from the leader–member exchange (LMX) theory to propose that the quality of exchange the leaders perceive with the team members may provide a useful cue to identify the key elements and processes that may help drive team innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative study using a hybrid approach was used, and a thematic analysis was performed. The data were based on 25 interviews collected from strategic leaders using the long interview technique.

Findings

The findings revealed themes and factors influencing innovation orientation among leaders and team members. Five themes were identified, namely modeling leadership behavior, autonomy and psychological safety for teams, organizational structure and technology, innovation and the decision-making process and innovation during times of uncertainty.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the purposefully chosen sample of only leaders who were involved in the innovation process, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to corroborate the finding using a sample of teams involved in the innovation process.

Practical implications

A conceptual model is proposed with guidance for implementing innovation decisions and strategies in practice.

Originality/value

While the strategic leadership and team innovation literature emphasizes the interaction between leaders and team members, research on how these interactions unfold is still nascent. This paper fulfills these needs from a strategic leader’s perspective.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2023

Lucia Regina and José Aguiomar Foggiatto

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed type of cancer in the world, and mastectomies to remove tumors are still common. An external breast prosthesis (EBP) can be used to minimize…

Abstract

Purpose

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed type of cancer in the world, and mastectomies to remove tumors are still common. An external breast prosthesis (EBP) can be used to minimize the asymmetry, due to the ablation. Some governments do not cover costs of that assistive technology, and women end up using socks and fabric pockets filled with seeds, to simulate the volume lost in the surgery. This study aims to offer to those women a decent solution, ergonomic, but still affordable.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors interviewed 20 mastectomized Brazilian women, listened to their relate and 3D scanned them, to give rise to personalized external lightweight breast prostheses. The authors used free software for computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing, and low-cost 3D printers. From the strategy of bespoke products, this study generalized the method, to conceive mass customized prostheses, in a compromise solution that reduces personalization, conserving the best features of design.

Findings

This study achieved a method to manufacture ergonomic, bespoke external breast prostheses, using low-cost technology. Previous literature made them using expensive scanners, software and printers.

Research limitations/implications

The authors validated this method during pandemic, which restricted the number of patients the authors could have access to. This impacted authors’ possibility to work on matching the color of the final product and real skin. The authors understood, though, that precision of color, in the final product, is challenging, because of the peculiar aspects of human skin.

Originality/value

Using the method the authors proposed, personalized external breast prostheses can be manufactured using low-cost resources, democratizing better quality of life for more breast cancer survivors.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 December 2022

Sean Bradley Power and Niamh M. Brennan

Annual general meetings have been variously described as dull rituals for accountability versus entertaining theatre at the expense of accountability. The research analyses…

1298

Abstract

Purpose

Annual general meetings have been variously described as dull rituals for accountability versus entertaining theatre at the expense of accountability. The research analyses director and shareholder participation and dialogic interactions at annual and extraordinary general meetings of Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company (BSAC). The BSAC was incorporated under a royal charter in 1889 in return for power to exploit a huge territory, Rhodesia/now Zimbabwe. The BSAC's administration ceased in 1924/25. Thus, the BSAC had a dual mandate as a private for-profit listed company and to occupy and develop the territories on behalf of the British government.

Design/methodology/approach

The article analyses 29 BSAC general meeting minutes, comprising 25 full sets of verbatim minutes between 1895 and 1925. The study adopts manual content analysis. First, the research adopts conversational analysis to analyse director and shareholder turn-taking and moves by approving and dissenting shareholders. Second, the study identifies and analyses incidents of shareholder sentiment from the shareholder turns/moves. Finally, the article assesses how shareholder sentiment changed throughout the period and whether the BSAC's share price reflected the shareholder sentiment.

Findings

The BSAC's general meetings were associated with the greater colonial project of building the British Empire. The authors find almost 1,500 incidents of shareholder sentiment. Directors and shareholders take roughly an equal number of turns (excluding shareholder sentiment). Ritual and ceremony dominate director and shareholder turns and moves, while accountability to shareholders was minimal. The BSAC share price spiked in the early years of the project, waning after that. Shareholder sentiment, both positive and negative, reflect the share price behaviour.

Originality/value

A unique database of verbatim general meeting minutes records shareholders' reactions to what they heard in the form of sounding off through cheering, “hear, hears,” laughter and applause (i.e. shareholder sentiment).

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 36 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 May 2023

Derya Çevi̇k Taşdemi̇r, Güfte Caner Akin and Yakup Durmaz

The aim of this study is to reveal the effects of “safety climate” on “productive organizational energy”, based on the idea that higher energy and productivity will be seen in…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to reveal the effects of “safety climate” on “productive organizational energy”, based on the idea that higher energy and productivity will be seen in employees with the improved safety climate in the working environment.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, data were collected using an online questionnaire from 426 employees of small and medium-sized textile enterprises in the Organized Industrial Zone in the Turkish province of Gaziantep. The “easy sampling” method was applied, one of the sampling techniques not based on probability. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the effects of the “Management's perspectives and rules” and “Colleagues and safety trainings” sub-dimensions of the safety climate on the “emotional”, “cognitive” and “behavioral” components of productive energy.

Findings

The findings showed that the safety climate in the workplace positively and significantly affects the productive organizational energy of employees. In addition, it was observed that the management's perspective and rules had a higher impact on productive organizational energy in attitudes towards the safety climate and productive energies of these employees compared to safety pieces of training.

Practical implications

First of all, the result of this study and the positive results that the safety climate in organizations might cause have been noted. It has been demonstrated that the productive energies of the employees will increase if the necessary safety climate is established in the enterprises. In addition, despite the importance attached to the safety training of the employees, as a result of the analysis, it has been determined that the management's perspective and rules (ß = 0.61; p < 0.01) have a higher positive effect on the productive energy of the employees. If these situations are considered by the managers, it is expected that the occupational health and safety management strategies created for the employees will contribute to the formation of positive behaviors in the employees.

Originality/value

The driving force of the present study is that, to our knowledge, there has been no research on this issue related to employees who are mentioned as a critical force in solving productivity and whose number is about 26 million in Turkey's population.

Details

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 41 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-671X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 September 2023

Maria Elisavet Balta, Thanos Papadopoulos and Konstantina Spanaki

This paper aims to draw on the Dynamic Capabilities View to discuss how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) use digital technologies to develop digital capabilities that will…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to draw on the Dynamic Capabilities View to discuss how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) use digital technologies to develop digital capabilities that will enable them to change their current business model and trajectory, that is, to pivot-within turbulent environments, and subsequently to survive and grow.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected and analysed qualitative data from 26 SMEs in South-East England that have used digital technologies to pivot during the pandemic. The data was collected via in-depth semi-structured interviews. The authors analysed the data by creating first-order concepts, second-order themes, and aggregating dimensions.

Findings

The findings suggest that (1) digital technologies enable pivoting by facilitating the creation of the following digital capability types: “digital sensing”, “digital seizing” and “digital transforming”; (2) Each of these digital capability types is underpinned by micro-foundations (sub-capabilities) and shaped by the digital culture of the organisation. (3) these capabilities are triggered by the turbulent environment and the existing digital technologies, and are shaped by the digital culture.

Originality/value

The authors contribute to the literature of digital entrepreneurship as the authors illustrate (1) how the micro-foundations of digital capabilities, as facilitated by digital technologies, assist pivoting; and (2) the process from key activities during pivoting to second-order themes that represent micro-foundations to digital (dynamic) capabilities for pivoting in turbulent environments. The study highlights the importance of digital pivoting for businesses in the UK Southeast that have many aspirations for growth and innovation, whilst striving to address multiple challenges including digital divide and literacy, inflation and cost of living crisis, as well as supply chain issues.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 30 no. 2/3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

1 – 10 of 20