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1 – 10 of 24Scott Kratz and Elizabeth Merritt
The US educational system is on the cusp of transformational change. Signals that the current educational structure has been destabilized include rising dissatisfaction with the…
Abstract
Purpose
The US educational system is on the cusp of transformational change. Signals that the current educational structure has been destabilized include rising dissatisfaction with the formal educational system and the proliferation of non‐traditional forms of primary education. In the coming era, museums will play a key role in the new educational landscape. A broad and shared understanding among policy makers, reformers and practitioners of the unique capabilities of museums will ensure that the new educational infrastructure takes full advantage of these strengths. This paper seeks to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper provides an overview of educational innovation in a broad cross section of US museums, citing selected examples.
Findings
There is an emerging consensus that whatever the new educational era looks like, it will focus on the development of a core set of skills. This paper reviews some ways in which museums are helping learners develop the core skills of critical thinking, synthesizing information, ability to innovate and think creatively, and collaboration. The USA needs to scale up the educational resources and skills provided by its museums via online access, better indexing of online resources, physically incorporating museums into schools and schools into museums, and making museums central points for teacher training. This will ensure museums can provide equitable access to their unique resources and fulfill their potential in the new educational landscape.
Originality/value
By applying the techniques of forecasting to the field of education, this paper provides glimpses of potential futures as seen in the vibrant innovations in education currently taking place outside traditional schools.
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This article examines the framework of the Agreement for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) and assesses its impacts on domestic autonomy and authority in matters…
Abstract
This article examines the framework of the Agreement for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) and assesses its impacts on domestic autonomy and authority in matters of food and environmental safety. The direct impact of the SPS Agreement appears quite limited, as only a few cases have arisen. The Agreement has not proven to be a pervasive tool for the purpose of overturning domestic policies on food or environmental safety, despite the fact that the WTO Panel or Appellate Body decisions have found that domestic measures violate the terms of the SPS Agreement. Limited enforcement mechanisms provide protection for domestic policies, though perhaps at the price of trade sanctions. Moreover, theoretical literature suggests that the SPS Agreement may indeed enhance democratic values by discounting the influence of special interests and retaining ultimate authority for enforcement within the discretion of domestic government. Important issues nevertheless remain, including the role of the precautionary principle in policymaking and the means to address normative values, such as developing moral consensus on animal welfare, in trade matters. Trade has proven to be a catalyst for change and cooperative development in this context.
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This longitudinally informed ethnographic work explores the interlocking socioeconomic and cultural roles, changes as well as effects of home-brewed alcoholic beverages in…
Abstract
Purpose
This longitudinally informed ethnographic work explores the interlocking socioeconomic and cultural roles, changes as well as effects of home-brewed alcoholic beverages in Maragoli society of western Kenya. The informants’ emic perspectives enhance existing knowledge and understanding of the commodification of home-brewing of alcohol. The participants’ experientially anchored views provide refined insights into how home-brews are influenced by the disintegration of livelihoods and women brewers’ need to earn money independently from men’s income to meet their financial needs. This work also documents alcohol-related maladaptive aspects including men’s misappropriation of funds, malnutrition, domestic violence, sexual promiscuity, rape, prostitution, and disposal of agricultural inputs and produce to obtain money to buy brews.
Methodology/approach
This study used a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods to enhance data quality, validity, reliability, and deep learning of the dynamics and ramifications of home-brewing of alcoholic products.
Findings
This study’s empirical results show Maragoli brewers’ ingenuity in their risk-aversive efforts to: (1) optimize positive benefits and (2) reduce the unintended maladaptive consequences of home-brews.
Practical implications
This work demonstrates that brewers are not passive victims of their productive resource constraints. They exercise ingenuity in producing and selling alcoholic beverages to earn a living even though this venture generates unintended harmful outcomes. This calls for interventions by governmental arms, nongovernmental organizations, and community-based support networks to empower brewers and their clientele to venture into alternative enterprises and consumption of less harmful refreshments. Safety-nets should also be in place to minimize vulnerability and social fragmentation attributable to home-brewed alcohol.
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The professional discourse on academic library planning and design is examined. A critical realist philosophical stance and a constructionist perspective constitute the…
Abstract
The professional discourse on academic library planning and design is examined. A critical realist philosophical stance and a constructionist perspective constitute the theoretical framework that, paired with Fairclough's methodology for critical discourse analysis, is used to examine the constitution of interpretative repertoires and of a discourse constructing the academic library as a learning place. The information commons, learning commons, and library designed for learning repertoires are described and the effects of discursive activity are analyzed. Three types of effects are presented: (1) the production by the LIS community of discourse on academic libraries of a sizable body of literature on the information commons and on the learning commons, (2) the construction of new types of libraries on the commons model proposed by Beagle, and (3) the metaphorization of the library as business. The study concludes that the existing discourse takes a facilities management perspective dominated by concerns with technology, equipment, and space requirements that does not address the physical, psychological, and environmental qualities of library space design. Consequently, it is suggested that architectural programming techniques should be used in library planning and design that consider the architectural features and environmental design factors contributing to the making of a place where learning is facilitated.
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Sandra Sun-Ah Ponting and Alana Dillette
The purpose of this study is to explore the development and implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in hospitality and tourism organizations through the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the development and implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in hospitality and tourism organizations through the lens of structuration theory.
Design/methodology/approach
This study deployed a three-stage Delphi technique involving DEI experts in hospitality and tourism organizations to build a consensus. Specifically, individual agency, development and implementation of DEI practices and best DEI practices were explored through the Delphi technique.
Findings
The findings of this study feature a framework for DEI practices and the intersection between individual agency and organizational structure. The results of this study further showcase the theoretical importance of structuration theory in understanding how organizations develop and implement DEI practices.
Originality/value
This study reveals unique perspectives on DEI within hospitality and tourism organizations, pointing to the imperative need for leadership in initiating, developing and implementing change. This study also extends previous research by highlighting how DEI practices are initiated, developed and implemented through individual agency and organizational structure.
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Lynn M Shore, Lois E Tetrick, M.Susan Taylor, Jaqueline A.-M Coyle Shapiro, Robert C Liden, Judi McLean Parks, Elizabeth Wolfe Morrison, Lyman W Porter, Sandra L Robinson, Mark V Roehling, Denise M Rousseau, René Schalk, Anne S Tsui and Linn Van Dyne
The employee-organization relationship (EOR) has increasingly become a focal point for researchers in organizational behavior, human resource management, and industrial relations…
Abstract
The employee-organization relationship (EOR) has increasingly become a focal point for researchers in organizational behavior, human resource management, and industrial relations. Literature on the EOR has developed at both the individual – (e.g. psychological contracts) and the group and organizational-levels of analysis (e.g. employment relationships). Both sets of literatures are reviewed, and we argue for the need to integrate these literatures as a means for improving understanding of the EOR. Mechanisms for integrating these literatures are suggested. A subsequent discussion of contextual effects on the EOR follows in which we suggest that researchers develop models that explicitly incorporate context. We then examine a number of theoretical lenses to explain various attributes of the EOR such as the dynamism and fairness of the exchange, and new ways of understanding the exchange including positive functional relationships and integrative negotiations. The article concludes with a discussion of future research needed on the EOR.
The aim of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the pressures that can cause mission drift among social enterprises and some of the steps that social enterprises can…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the pressures that can cause mission drift among social enterprises and some of the steps that social enterprises can take to combat these pressures.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is conceptual in nature. It draws on resource dependency theory, institutional theory and various extant empirical studies to develop an understanding of the causes of mission drift. This analysis is then used to examine the practical steps that social enterprises can take to combat mission drift.
Findings
The paper highlights how high dependence on a resource provider and the demands of “competing” institutional environments can lead to mission drift. Based on this analysis, the paper sets out various governance mechanisms and management strategies that can be used to combat mission drift.
Practical implications
The paper sets out practical steps social enterprises can take to try to prevent mission drift. While governance mechanisms provide important safeguards, there is still a danger of mission drift unless active steps are taken to manage the tensions that arise from trying to achieve both commercial and social goals. These strategies can be divided into two broad types. Those that seek to compartmentalise the different activities into separate parts of the organization and those that seek to integrate them. Integrative strategies include careful selection and socialization, compromise and “selective coupling”.
Originality/value
The paper will be of value to other researchers attempting to understand the dynamics of social enterprises and, in particular, the processes that can lead to mission drift and to managers of social enterprises keen to combat these processes.
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Hasan Celik, David R. Nowicki, Hasan Uvet, Saban Adana and Sedat Cevikparmak
This study aims to empirically test the effects of key characteristics of performance-based contracting (PBC) (i.e. reward/payment scheme, increased supplier autonomy and transfer…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to empirically test the effects of key characteristics of performance-based contracting (PBC) (i.e. reward/payment scheme, increased supplier autonomy and transfer of responsibilities) on supplier goal commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
This study developed a conceptual model applying goal-setting theory (GST), expectancy theory (ET) and job characteristics theory (JCT). Survey data were collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to establish a validated measurement instrument for testing the hypotheses.
Findings
The findings revealed that PBC positively affects supplier goal commitment due to its unique characteristics, which translates into improved supplier performance. Furthermore, this study validated the mediating role of goal alignment and felt accountability operating between PBC characteristics and supplier goal commitment.
Research limitations/implications
This study explored the buyer–supplier relationship from the supplier's standpoint. Using a more inclusive data set, future research may involve a dyadic analysis and focus on the effects of the following factors on the supplier goal commitment: relational aspects (e.g. trust and collaboration), the risk transfer from the buyer to the supplier, different incentive schemes and successful PBC implementation factors.
Practical implications
This study presents new, validated insights for contract selection, design and management. It underlines the importance of choosing the proper contract, having the appropriate contract design based on the desired outcomes and effective contract management by exhibiting the psychological/behavioral effect of fundamental PBC characteristics.
Originality/value
PBC represents an active research stream, but its psychological/behavioral implications are understudied. Therefore, this research puts forth a conceptual framework with multiple testable hypotheses illustrating the relationship between PBC and supplier goal commitment.
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