Search results

Purpose – This chapter aims to explore the consequences of a renewed impetus for ‘neo-productivist’ agriculture on multifunctionality in Western Europe.

Design/methodology/approach – We analyse how the issue of multi-functionality has been interpreted and implemented in Western Europe through a comparison between Norway and Scotland (as an EU example). Relevant policy documents and literature are analysed. The chapter explores whether European agricultural multifunctionality is being revised in response to the rise of neo-liberal (neo-productivist) ideologies, food security and climate change issues.

Findings – Our results suggest that Norway and the European Union have developed somewhat different understandings of multifunctionality. In response to recent events these forms are diverging further with the EU strengthening and Norway weakening their respective policies and discourses. However, in both cases, food security and climate change are emerging as key elements in the restructuring of both policy and rhetoric.

Research limitations/implications and practical implications – The study has been limited to an overview of multifunctionality within the European context and a case study approach using Norway and Scotland. Nevertheless, in highlighting the flexible use of the notion of ‘multifunctionality’, it illustrates to policymakers the importance of maintaining a focus on its key environmental and social objectives in the face of pressures to increase production and liberalise agricultural policies.

Originality/value – This is one of the first studies to point out the varied nature of the ‘multifunctionality’ discourse in Europe and how it is likely to change further in response to economic, environmental and social changes.

Purpose – Reviewing the notion of ‘neo-productivism’ as represented in the literature, this chapter explores multiple forms of neo-productivsm and presents a case study of the dairy industry of New Zealand as a new form ‘cooperative productivism’.

Design/methodology/approach – First, a brief review of the literature on neo-productivist forms is performed in order to develop a framework of neo-productivism as presented in the literature. Second, a case study of Fonterra in New Zealand is undertaken and makes the case that Fonterra represents a new productivist form (that does not fit within the current literature) – that of cooperative productivism.

Findings – Three forms of neo-productivism are described in the literature, namely market productivism, competitive productivism and ‘neo-productivism’. We find that cooperative organisations (in this case Fonterra) can also develop into highly productivist forms when the objectives of members concur with the corporate objectives and are facilitated by a supportive government and weak environmental regulation. The possible implications for European rural development are discussed.

Originality/value – This chapter presents the first framework of the different neo-productivist forms and describes the new concept of cooperative productivism.

Reidar Almås is professor of rural sociology and regional policy at Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. He founded and directed Centre for Rural Research 1982–2007 and is currently senior advisor at CRR. He has written the Agricultural History of Norway (2002), and has published more than 15 books on rural issues, included ‘Globalisation, Localisation and Sustainable Livelihoods’ with Geoffrey Lawrence. His current research concerns agricultural policy, climate change resilience and mitigation and power in the food chain. Currently Almås is president of the International Rural Sociological Association (IRSA).

Empirical studies on occupational choice have typically concentrated on a specific sector. The purpose of this study is to compare two sectors wherein there are grounds to hypothesise that lifestyle reasons play a key role for occupational choice.

Arguing that the potential for qualitative web scraping is still underused, the hypothesis is tested through qualitative web scraping for occupational choices.

It is shown that incomes for farmers are both documented in a better way and higher than in arts. The central roles played by farmers in the provision of basic needs and in powerful value chains are possible reasons for this difference. As a common factor between the sectors, two-thirds of both farmers and artists choose their profession for reasons of self-realisation or societal motives.

This study is the first to show both common grounds and differences in occupational choices of two different sectors.

The present scenario of the Covid-19 pandemic, together with technological advancements, has provoked unprecedented turbulence in the education system, notably in universities, disrupting their conventional teaching and learning processes. Despite government support, teachers and students faced numerous challenges in the online teaching and learning process than expected. Extensive research has been undertaken to investigate the context of online education from the perspective of students, but less emphasis has been given to examining the views of teachers. Thus, the study aimed to explore attitudes of academics towards online teaching during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The study was conducted in Sri Lanka, with the population consisting of academics representing all state universities. An email survey was conducted randomly, and 355 academics responded to a Google form, out of which 332 refined questionnaires were used for analysis. Multi-item reflective indicators were used to operationalize the research constructs on a 7-point Likert scale. The face, content, and construct validities were ensured appropriately. The reflective-reflective two-stage hierarchical approach with disjoint option was applied to analyze the data using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) model. After rigorous and careful examination of data, the descriptive statistics revealed that the university academics are pretty distressed with their Internet connections and facilities at home to conduct online lectures.

Active student participation was just above the average, while teacher's attitudes towards online education, their willingness to continue it further seem quite unsatisfactory. Teacher readiness for online education appears to be acceptable only to a certain extent. The key findings of the study disclosed that the attitudes towards online teaching are determined by perceived usefulness, teacher readiness, perceived student participation whereas active student participation, a conducive teaching environment and institutional support have no significant impact on attitude towards online teaching. Further, the study contributed to the education literature analyzing online education in the Sri Lankan context.

This study sparked the debate and contributed to the literature exploring the concept from the side of teachers in which attitudes of teachers towards online teaching in Sri Lankan Contest.

Within the religious context, purchase and consumption decisions of halal food is different significantly. The purpose of this study is to emphasize the investigation of causation of halal food consumption (HFC) within China. Being a Muslim, the importance of habit, religious self-identity, moral attitude and individualism to the consumption of halal food in the host-culture is examined.

A questionnaire survey was placed and cross-sectional data consisted of 199 Muslim participants were collected, primarily from Beijing current capital of China. Data were examined by SPSS and PLS-3 to assess the model and moderating effects of individualism on HFC.

The results of the research show that moral attitude, habit and religious self-identity in the presence of individualism as a moderator have a significant and positive attitude toward HFC.

The halal food industry can communicate the Muslim community through tag (Halal), which may help Muslims with different individualism and inspire them to make their choices.

The research can be valued by the strategy makers of the food company, as well as the food industry that might pursue individualism in the communication and supply process while targeting the halal food sector in China and worldwide.

How does career boundary-crossing affect an entrepreneur’s new venture? When entrepreneurs cross industry or functional boundaries to lead startups, they may lack specific experience needed for performance. Conversely, the diverse experiences they carry can enhance exploration and lead to the emergence of innovation in startups. We highlight important consequences of career boundary-crossing, using a multi-industry longitudinal sample of high-technology firms. We find that entrepreneurs who cross functional boundaries are more likely to lead their startups into new product areas. We also find that entrepreneurs’ industry boundary-crossing is associated with startup failure, but it also increases the probability of an IPO.

The use of emergency barring orders (EBO) in the form of domestic violence protection notices and orders (DVPN-O) in reported domestic abuse (DA) cases is a relatively new development in the UK; the effectiveness of these orders has been challenged. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing their issue.

Freedom of information (FOI) requests were used alongside a survey tool. Practitioners (n = 76; mainly police practitioners) were asked about approaches to EBO application, risk and training around DA.

The findings indicate that applications are impacted largely by domestic abuse stalking harassment risk grading, typically resulting in high-risk cases receiving the most attention. Criticisms suggesting that DVPN-Os are of limited use receive some support from this study; however, as their use is restricted to these higher-risk cases, the full effect of the orders may be limited. The most important factors in decision-making are the level of physical violence, repeated victimization and the victims support for a DVPN-O. Police intelligence and the presence of children also have an effect on risk ratings. Less importance was given to lower risk–graded cases, wider intelligence from family members and information from social networks. Findings also indicate that police training is largely limited to “on-the-job” experience, e-learning and e-mail bulletins.

Respondents proposed that training could be enhanced through victim stories, cross-discipline approaches and wider knowledge beyond isolated specialisms. A number of recommendations are made in line with: structuring professional judgment, using victim accounts in police training and movement toward an evidence-led approach.

This research demonstrates a clear link to the way in which risk and the use of EBO are used by police officers. This research also highlights the desire to see and hear from victims in police training. The value of this research is shown in both the combined approach of FOI requests and a survey and assessing a currently under-researched area of DA response.

Despite the importance of high-technology firms to the global economy, relatively little is known about factors contributing to these firms’ long-run growth. We examine these factors using a unique longitudinal dataset combining two waves of detailed surveys of 345 UK high-tech firms with performance data from UK official datasets. Overall we conclude that the early strategic decisions made by firms have long-run impacts on their subsequent growth, and we suggest that policy measures targeted at shortfalls faced by these firms may have positive long-term consequences.