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21 – 30 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 9 March 2015

Simon Stephens

The purpose of this paper is to identify a group of Irish graduates who decided to emigrate following the global financial crash of 2008. The paper explores how the economic…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify a group of Irish graduates who decided to emigrate following the global financial crash of 2008. The paper explores how the economic crisis in Ireland (2008-2014) framed the experience of this group of migrants. Specifically, the paper examines the push/pull factors leading to migration; the experience of the graduate migrants in the host country; and decisions regarding repatriation.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts a qualitative approach to study the experiences of graduates. The paper utilises narrative structuring to provide an enhanced understanding of the migration experience of the graduates.

Findings

The data collected during depth interviews indicates a mixed experience. There are a wide range of push/pull factors that result in migration. However, the range of push/pull factors that might result in repatriation are blurred by: personal experiences in the host country, changing family circumstances and the performance of the economy in Ireland.

Practical implications

This research highlights complex patterns of graduate mobility which reflect the multifaceted push/pull factors shaping graduate movements. Economic conditions drive migration but they also frame the migrant experience in the host country and repatriation decisions.

Originality/value

A review of the literature indicates that most of the empirical studies on the experience of graduates are quantitative. This paper argues other softer outcomes must also be studied to help fully understand the experiences of graduates.

Details

Journal of Global Mobility, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-8799

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 July 2014

Simon Hart and Howard Amos

The purpose of this paper is to outline the findings from the initial stages of an activity-based benchmarking project developed across an international network of academic…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to outline the findings from the initial stages of an activity-based benchmarking project developed across an international network of academic libraries. Through working on a shared response to the question: “if we enable and support the academic endeavour how do we measure our effectiveness?” the network of libraries is using the formal mechanism of benchmarking as a means of continuous improvement.

Design/methodology/approach

Actual improvements as a result of benchmarking are known to arise from considering and looking at processes, tools and techniques rather than from simply comparing and reviewing measurements of activity. The establishment of the Matariki Network of Universities provided the opportunity to begin work on international benchmarking amongst the member libraries. The project is a collaborative exercise involving comparisons across the libraries on a selected number of services and activities that are similar across the institutions and are representative of overall library service provision. In this first stage of the project the focus is on support for teaching and learning, specifically activities and programmes that support the transition of first-year students into university life. To simplify the process the libraries have shared details in relation to specific cohorts of students. In order to achieve this, participating libraries used an online collaborative workspace to respond to a series of questions. These responses were analysed to identify common themes, highlight exemplars and select further topics for discussion.

Findings

Acknowledging the challenge of international collaboration, processes and mechanisms were developed. It was important to establish a shared language with a set of agreed terms and definitions. Similarly, taking time for each partner to contribute to the project has been valuable. Consideration of each of the libraries responses to the survey questions reveals a diverse number of activities and practices that represent a strong commitment to the needs of students. Drawing on institutional strategic direction and policy, each library allocates substantial resourcing to these activities and practices. The exercise within the benchmarking project produced a valuable set of data for each library to review and learn from. In terms of managing the project, findings are consistent with those reported in the administration of other benchmarking projects. The libraries are in the early stages of developing a series of common international performance measures. It is evident that learning more detail about assessment processes used across each library is necessary to advance the project aims. Further work with the project partners on measuring the effectiveness of their activities will allow the testing of the application of a maturity model for quality improvement of library assessment practices.

Research limitations/implications

The project provides the opportunity to develop a series of performance measures that can be verified across an international network of libraries. Sharing information on activities and practices that impact upon the wider institution provides a means to review and improve library assessment practices.

Originality/value

This paper outlines the first benchmarking activity in the development of a review of performance measures through an activity-based benchmarking project. The activity included an international network of academic libraries. This work will lead to benchmarking effectiveness measures and the development of a library assessment capability maturity model. This will offer a development path, and a better understanding of progress, to demonstrate value and provide evidence of successful outcomes.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. 15 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 11 October 2019

David Beer

Abstract

Details

The Quirks of Digital Culture
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-916-8

Book part
Publication date: 3 January 2015

Clement Adelman

This chapter gives one version of the recent history of evaluation case study. It looks back over the emergence of case study as a sociological method, developed in the early…

Abstract

This chapter gives one version of the recent history of evaluation case study. It looks back over the emergence of case study as a sociological method, developed in the early years of the 20th Century and celebrated and elaborated by the Chicago School of urban sociology at Chicago University, starting throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Some of the basic methods, including constant comparison, were generated at that time. Only partly influenced by this methodological movement, an alliance between an Illinois-based team in the United States and a team at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom recast the case method as a key tool for the evaluation of social and educational programmes.

Details

Case Study Evaluation: Past, Present and Future Challenges
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-064-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 17 October 2011

Simon J. Williams, Stephen Katz and Paul Martin

This chapter takes a critical look at the sociological notion of ‘medicalisation’ in relation to recent trends and developments in neuroscience, neurotechnology and society…

Abstract

This chapter takes a critical look at the sociological notion of ‘medicalisation’ in relation to recent trends and developments in neuroscience, neurotechnology and society, taking memory, medicine and the brain as our prime focus and the disease category of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as our empirical case study. Five relational nexuses in particular are identified as relevant to these developments and debates, namely the bio-psych nexus, the pharma-psych nexus, the selves-subjectivity nexus, the wellness-enhancement nexus, and the neuroculture-neurofuture nexus. We show that developments in memory medicine and the shifting boundaries of cognitive health, as embodied and expressed in the case of MCI, shed further valuable light on these issues and the interconnectivity of these relational nexuses. As an emergent disease and susceptibility category, MCI illuminates not only the fuzzy boundaries between normal and abnormal cognitive functioning, but also the working of neuroscientific, neurocultural and pharmacological interests, which, in this case, are already claiming MCI as the next locus of enhancing the mind and optimising aging. Thinking both within and beyond medicalisation challenges us to find new ways to critically understand the ideas about life and health as they travel, translate or migrate from (neuro)scientific and clinical spheres to cultural life and patient experience.

Details

Sociological Reflections on the Neurosciences
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-881-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 June 2010

Leanne Fullerton, Kathleen McGettigan and Simon Stephens

This paper aims to examine the integration of management and marketing practices at heritage sites in Ireland.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the integration of management and marketing practices at heritage sites in Ireland.

Design/methodology/approach

The research process involved: phase one, a survey of 224 heritage attractions in Ireland and phase two, semi‐structured interviews with the six organizations that represent the heritage sector on the island of Ireland.

Findings

The findings suggest that market research and marketing communication are vital in achieving a balance between targeting cultural tourists and tourists with no specific interest in heritage.

Research limitations/implications

The study has the restriction of being limited to the Irish case. However, these findings provide scope for further investigation, namely extending to other destinations and to sites which use different techniques.

Originality/value

A combined commitment to visitor research by the individual heritage sites could provide information to the representative organizations to facilitate target marketing and improved onsite management. However, a change of mindset is required among heritage practitioners in Ireland regarding the use of marketing and the implications for onsite management. The authors propose that this is achievable through education linked to the study of models of best practice.

Details

International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6182

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 July 2011

Rebekah Russell-Bennett, Charmine E.J. Härtel and Amanda Beatson

Poor complaint management may result in organizations losing customers and revenue. Consumers exhibit negative emotional responses when dissatisfied and this may lead to a…

Abstract

Poor complaint management may result in organizations losing customers and revenue. Consumers exhibit negative emotional responses when dissatisfied and this may lead to a complaint to a third-party organization. Since little information is available on the role of emotion in the consumer complaint process or how to manage complaints effectively, we offer an emotions perspective by applying Affective Events Theory (AET) to complaint behavior. This study presents the first application of AET in a consumption context and advances a theoretical framework supported by qualitative research for emotional responses to complaints. In contrast to commonly held views on gender and emotion, men as well as women use emotion-focused coping to complain.

Details

What Have We Learned? Ten Years On
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-208-1

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2007

Jacqueline Botterill and Stephen Kline

This paper seeks to report historical research into McDonald's public communication strategies as the corporation responded to the rising tide of “political consumerism” that…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to report historical research into McDonald's public communication strategies as the corporation responded to the rising tide of “political consumerism” that accompanied its global market expansion (1960‐2005).

Design/methodology/approach

Reviewing the brand's public relations strategies, through a content analysis of news coverage, the paper analyzes the way communication strategists took account of the anxieties about youth labour practices, community relations, globalization, environment and obesity which forced the brand to acknowledge the lifestyle risks associated with children and youth.

Findings

The case study portrays McDonald's as a figurehead of US entrepreneurial multinational capitalism. It reveals how addressing public opposition through the courts can backfire on a brand strategy so keen on defending its honour. The case study also finds that listening and engaging with critics is as effective as suing them for McDonald's.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the historical recognition of the role that corporate communications professionals play – particularly marketing and public relations specialists – in transforming corporate practices by acknowledging consumers' growing anxieties about industrialization.

Details

Society and Business Review, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5680

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 11 October 2011

Cathy Parker, John Byrom, Gareth Roberts and Simon Quin

459

Abstract

Details

Journal of Place Management and Development, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8335

Article
Publication date: 9 August 2013

Mai Thi Thanh Thai and Ekaterina Turkina

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on “Entrepreneurial migration: characteristics, causes and effects”.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on “Entrepreneurial migration: characteristics, causes and effects”.

Design/methodology/approach

Literature review.

Findings

Studies on immigrant entrepreneurship have become increasingly popular and the importance of social context and social connections has been recognized by scholars. However, research on their effects on immigrant entrepreneurship has been rather limited. This special issue explains the essential steps of the entrepreneurial process by immigrants (i.e. host country choice, entrepreneurial engagement, new venture creation, business network development and corporate political activities) and discusses the effects of immigrant entrepreneurs on their host countries.

Originality/value

The paper presents a review of literature on entrepreneurial migration and social impacts.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

21 – 30 of over 2000