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1 – 10 of 685The purpose of this paper is to understand: how and why do experienced professionals, who perceive themselves as autonomous, comply with organizational pressures to overwork…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand: how and why do experienced professionals, who perceive themselves as autonomous, comply with organizational pressures to overwork? Unlike previous studies of professionals and overwork, the authors focus on experienced professionals who have achieved relatively high status within their firms and the considerable economic rewards that go with it. Drawing on the little used Bourdieusian concept of illusio, which describes the phenomenon whereby individuals are “taken in and by the game” (Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992), the authors help to explain the “autonomy paradox” in professional service firms.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is based on 36 semi-structured interviews primarily with experienced male and female accounting professionals in France.
Findings
The authors find that, in spite of their levels of experience, success, and seniority, these professionals describe themselves as feeling helpless and trapped, and experience bodily subjugation. The authors explain this in terms of individuals enhancing their social status, adopting the breadwinner role, and obtaining and retaining recognition. The authors suggest that this combination of factors cause professionals to be attracted to and captivated by the rewards that success within the accounting profession can confer.
Originality/value
As well as providing fresh insights into the autonomy paradox the authors seek to make four contributions to Bourdieusian scholarship in the professional field. First, the authors highlight the strong bodily component of overwork. Second, the authors raise questions about previous work on cynical distancing in this context. Third, the authors emphasize the significance of the pursuit of symbolic as well as economic capital. Finally, the authors argue that, while actors’ habitus may be in a state of “permanent mutation”, that mutability is in itself a sign that individuals are subject to illusio.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of cultural value orientations (mastery and subjugation) in moderating the relationship between psychological contract violation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of cultural value orientations (mastery and subjugation) in moderating the relationship between psychological contract violation (PCV) and turnover intention.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal survey method was used to collect data from downsizing survivors in two phases. The final sample was 281 cases. Confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression models were used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
PCV is positively related to turnover intention, and the relationship is moderated by cultural value orientations. Specifically, the relationship is stronger among downsizing survivors with a high level of subjugation orientation (SO) and/or a low level of mastery orientation (MO) in comparison with downsizing survivors with a low level of SO and/or a high level of MO.
Research limitations/implications
The contribution of the study lies in the utility of examining culture at an individual level of analysis in relation to PC and downsizing research. Despite a generic human functioning model, some subtle cultural influences exist affecting the processes within the model. The negative reactions to downsizing are not simply a function of situational factors, but also reflect individual differences in cultural value orientations.
Originality/value
The study addresses the need to examine the role of cultural value orientations in influencing the relationship between PCV, and employee behaviors. Such an examination is important because cultural differences may result in unique interpretations and reactions to PCV.
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Abdel K. Halabi, Frances Miley and Andrew F. Read
This research explores the historical nexus between accounting and gender to illuminate male hegemonies within accounting. It examines the nature of that hegemony at the boundary…
Abstract
Purpose
This research explores the historical nexus between accounting and gender to illuminate male hegemonies within accounting. It examines the nature of that hegemony at the boundary between the female domain of household and philanthropic activities and the male domain of business and finance.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research approach is used for this historical research. The primary source was digitised newspapers from the National Library of Australia. Newspapers have been used in previous historical accounting research and are relevant in this instance because they provide the only surviving data about the All Nations’ Fair. Given that newspapers were published daily, the depth of coverage is not replicated by other archival sources, and at that time provided a strong community voice.
Findings
Women undertook the management of and accounting for the All Nations’ Fair, a philanthropic activity designed to rescue the Geelong Cricket and Football Club from its parlous financial position. Despite women undertaking the work, the management of and accounting for, the Fair was attributed to men. This reflects a gendered construction of accounting that overpowers the reality of who undertook the work.
Research limitations/implications
This research demonstrates only a single example of women’s philanthropic accounting, so is not generalisable. It suggests however that male hegemonies have exerted and continue to exert power over women.
Originality/value
The value of this paper is that historical examples serve as a corrective to histories that have ignored women’s contribution to accounting, particularly in philanthropic activities. The relationship between women’s accounting and gender also has contemporary significance. Gendered disadvantage and subjugation to a dominant masculine hegemony remain recurring themes in accounting research because they continue to impact adversely on the experiences of many women in accounting.
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International conflicts and violence are similar in nature to domestic conflicts and violence which are also similar to those taking place between individuals. Only difference…
Abstract
International conflicts and violence are similar in nature to domestic conflicts and violence which are also similar to those taking place between individuals. Only difference between them is that of magnitude that increases as one moves from individual to societal national level and finally to international level of conflicts. The fundamental question at issue here is that of self‐interest with respect to social and political authority and economic power. The conflicts become most intense and violence gets widest and most cruel at the international level. There are two broad methods in dealing with this problem – use of force to coerce and subjugate or application of the power of persuasion to win the hearts and minds of the people. The former is the conventional secular materialistic method but often used invoking the name of religion and the latter is that of true spiritual humanistic practices and applications in preserving and promoting the cause of all of humanity.While the first does not require the system to be fair and just, the latter predicates them. The foundation of the first is “us” vs. “them” as it divides humanity into many nation states, but that of the second is “us” vs. “us” since it recognizes and practices universality of humanity. More importantly, the former grants unfettered authority to the leaders of the society in the form of sovereignty of the “nation state”, the latter subjugates the authority of the leaders to that of a higher supreme Authority.
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Tiina Kemppainen and Tiina Elina Paananen
This study examines the dualities of digital services – that is, how customers’ favorite everyday digital services can positively and negatively contribute to their well-being…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the dualities of digital services – that is, how customers’ favorite everyday digital services can positively and negatively contribute to their well-being. Thus, the study describes the meanings of favorite digital services as part of customers’ everyday lives and the types of well-being to which such services can contribute.
Design/methodology/approach
We used a qualitative research approach through semi-structured interviews conducted in 2021 to collect data from 14 young adults (22–31 years old) who actively used digital services in their daily lives.
Findings
Our findings revealed that customers’ favorite everyday digital services can contribute to their mental well-being, social well-being, and intellectual well-being. Within these three dimensions of well-being, we identified nine dualities of digital services that describe their positive and negative contributions: (1) digital escapism versus digital disruption, (2) digital relaxation versus digital stress, (3) digital empowerment versus digital subjugation, (4) digital augmentation versus digital emptiness, (5) digital socialization versus digital isolation, (6) digital togetherness versus digital exclusion, (7) digital self-expression versus digital pressure, (8) digital learning versus digital dependence, and (9) digital inspiration versus digital stagnation.
Practical implications
These findings suggest that everyday digital services have the potential to contribute to customer well-being in various aspects – both positively and negatively – accentuating the need for service providers to decipher the impacts of their offerings on well-being. Indeed, understanding the relationship between digital services and customer well-being can help companies tailor their services to customers’ needs. Companies that prioritize customer well-being not only benefit their customers but also create sustainable growth opportunities in the long run. Further, companies can use the derived information in service design to develop marketing strategies that emphasize the positive impacts of their digital services on customer well-being.
Originality/value
Although prior transformative service studies have investigated the well-being of multiple stakeholders, such studies have focused on services related to the physical and healthcare domains. Consequently, the role of everyday digital services as contributors to customer well-being is an under-researched topic. In addition, the concept of well-being and its various dimensions has received limited attention in previous service research. By investigating everyday digital services and their multidimensional contribution to customer well-being, this study broadens the perspective on well-being within TSR and aids in refining a more precise conceptualization.
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This study aims at offering a comprehensive thesis about the relationship between different cultural values and innovativeness.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims at offering a comprehensive thesis about the relationship between different cultural values and innovativeness.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on the human emancipation perspective and using data from Hofstede’s, Schwartz’s, and Inglehart’s cultural frameworks, the authors conduct a cross-national investigation into the effects of cultural values on national innovativeness.
Findings
The analyses show that emancipatory cultural dimensions such as rationality, secularity, self-expression, individualism, low uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, mastery and autonomy have significantly positive associations with national innovativeness. The opposing cultural values, such as traditionalism, religiosity, survival, collectivism, high uncertainty avoidance, short-term orientation, harmony and conservatism, have negative associations with national innovativeness.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by putting forward a comprehensive and theory-driven explanation of the relationship between cultural values and innovativeness, by using all of Hofstede’s, Schwartz’s and Inglehart’s dimensions, by incorporating ethnic, linguistic and religious diversities and by applying alternative measures of the national innovativeness.
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Building on the “Great Divide” thesis (Goody, 1977; Ong, 1982), this study analyzes the conceptual relationships between the two main communication modes (orality/literacy) and…
Abstract
Purpose
Building on the “Great Divide” thesis (Goody, 1977; Ong, 1982), this study analyzes the conceptual relationships between the two main communication modes (orality/literacy) and cultural values.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a purely conceptual approach to connect orality and literacy with nine cultural dimensions adopted from Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s (1961), Hall’s (1976) and Inglehart’s (1997) frameworks.
Findings
The analyses suggest that orality is associated with values such as high-context communication, poly-chronic time, public space proxemics, collectivism, hierarchical social structure, subjugation, past orientation, religiousness/traditionalism and survival cultural dimensions. Literacy is associated with opposing values, including low-context communication, mono-chronic time, private space proxemics, individualism, egalitarian social structure, dominance, future orientation, secularity/rationality, and self-expression cultural dimensions. The paper relies on modernization theory to explain the socio-economic implications and organizes the nine pairs of cultural dimensions according to the great divide between orality and literacy.
Originality/value
Theoretically, this study conceptualizes orality and literacy, analyzes their salient differences and examines their relationships with cultural values. While many studies have tried to explain the differences in cultural values from an economic perspective, this study offers an alternative view of cultural values’ variations across the world.
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The purpose of this study is to bring attention to the topics of colonization and decolonization in libraries by helping librarians to see how many library practices and policies…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to bring attention to the topics of colonization and decolonization in libraries by helping librarians to see how many library practices and policies are embedded in and arise from the dominant culture and can unwittingly function to subjugate the culture, language and worldview of indigenous peoples.
Design/methodology/approach
This column defines colonization and decolonization, demonstrates how and why libraries are agents of colonization and examines examples of practices and policies in need of decolonization.
Findings
While it may be challenging for librarians to detect colonizing elements in libraries because most of them are embedded in the dominant culture, it is possible to learn how to find them by listening to indigenous communities and gaining a better understanding of their worldview. Even so, decolonization is not an easy task because so much is already invested in the status quo and libraries often function with minimal or diminishing resources.
Originality/value
While there have been studies writing about specific aspects of bias and colonization in libraries, there is not much attention paid to the bigger picture of this topic. For example, the idea that the book-based culture of libraries conflicts with some facets of indigenous oral cultures is not widely discussed elsewhere, but it is addressed in this column.
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Gloria Agyemang and Jane Broadbent
The purpose of this paper is to examine the management control systems developed by universities and groups within them, to manage research within UK University Business and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the management control systems developed by universities and groups within them, to manage research within UK University Business and Management Schools. Specifically, the paper analyses how universities develop their internal management control systems in response to an externally imposed regulatory system. It also provides an agenda for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a middle range approach to consider the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) and the previous Research Assessment Exercises. It uses the language provided by a number of conceptual frames to analyse insights from the lived experience, and builds on previous literature that has recognised the perverse outcomes of such performance measurement systems.
Findings
The study finds that the internal management control systems developed by academics themselves amplify the controls imposed by the REF. These internal control systems are accepted by some academics although they encourage a movement away from previously held academic values.
Originality/value
This study contributes to debates about the dysfunctional impacts of the use of performance measures to manage research. Its originality lies in explaining that the management control systems developed to resist the imposition of external performance measurement systems may lead to symbolic violence where participants become involved with their own subjugation.
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Lois M. Christensen and Anaiza Medina
Title IX and The Lilly Ledbetter (Fair Pay Act, 2009), an extension of the Civil Rights Act, have not changed the fact that women in academia are paid 78% less than males in the…
Abstract
Title IX and The Lilly Ledbetter (Fair Pay Act, 2009), an extension of the Civil Rights Act, have not changed the fact that women in academia are paid 78% less than males in the professoriate while sometimes experiencing subjugation and oppression. This context is juxtaposed with the Golden Rule and Platinum Rule as nudged by a mentor and mentee relationship between a professor and undergraduate, young female honor student. How does this constant social convention toward women academics effect matriculated university students?
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