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Article
Publication date: 11 August 2023

Sarah Fine

This paper features a narrative case study of a leadership team engaged in an effort to transform both culture and instructional practice at an urban charter school. The paper…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper features a narrative case study of a leadership team engaged in an effort to transform both culture and instructional practice at an urban charter school. The paper describes the team's effort to align their decision-making with two frameworks selected to anchor the school's institutional change process: restorative justice and deeper learning. Interweaving rich case data with analysis, the paper explores the dilemmas that emerged as leaders struggled to “walk the talk” of these two frameworks, using this to theorize about the synergies between them and to explore the broader leadership challenges involved in transforming schools from authoritarian to humanizing institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

The researcher employed an ethnographic approach with the goal of generating a thickly-textured single case study. Data-gathering activities included more than 400 h of participant-observation, in-depth interviewing and artifact collection, conducted over the course of a ten-month academic year. Data analysis was iterative and included frequent member checks with participants.

Findings

The paper finds that restorative justice and deeper learning have powerful epistemological connections that school leaders can harness in order to ensure a coherent approach to change processes. The paper also illuminates several of the core dilemmas that school leaders should anticipate facing when embracing these two frameworks: the dilemma of responding to feedback, the dilemma of power-sharing and the dilemma of balancing expectations with support.

Research limitations/implications

The case study approach employed in this paper allows for rich understandings of specific phenomena while also providing a platform for exploring the general qualities that these phenomena might illustrate. This approach does not allow for statistical generalizability.

Practical implications

The paper suggests that it is imperative for school leaders to explore what it means to lead in ways that are coherent with their vision for change, e.g. to cultivate symmetry. Moreover, the paper demonstrates that the value of such explorations lies in the process of grappling with the tensions that arise when humanizing frameworks are implemented within systems that uphold traditional power hierarchies. Additionally, the paper affirms the value of de-siloing the transformation of school culture from the transformation of instructional practice.

Originality/value

This paper offers an unusually textured account of the messy and uncertain processes that constitute the work of school change. This paper also draws together two educational paradigms which are rarely brought into conversation with each other despite their epistemological synergy.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 62 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 November 2023

Chongryol Park, Ronald McQuaid and Suzanne Mawson

This paper explores key factors influencing high-performing, sustained growth, high-tech small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores key factors influencing high-performing, sustained growth, high-tech small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative study is adopted to explore seventeen founder owner-managers of high-tech SMEs who sustained consistent employment growth, greater than the industry average, for seven years. Within the sample, those with higher (10% or over) employment compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) over this period are also compared to those with lower rates.

Findings

The study suggests that proactive approaches, such as flexible organization, risk management, fast decision-making and international market entry, are seen as important contributing factors to sustained growth. These findings contribute to a better theoretical and empirical understanding of sustained high-tech SME growth, in a country with a strong entrepreneurial and internationally competitive information technology sector. Also, collaboration across the SME was perceived as making an important contribution to staff development and growth, consistent with stewardship theory.

Research limitations/implications

The sample is based on successful high-tech SMEs, so there are limitations in extrapolating results to other types of firms, sectors or countries.

Practical implications

Key factors identified in this study can be considered by entrepreneurs seeking to achieve sustainable business. These also provide improved understanding for policymakers into the complexity of factors related to sustained and high growth of technology-based SMEs, which many countries are keen to foster to aid national economic growth.

Originality/value

The research provides new evidence exploring the diverse perspectives of founder owner-managers, on the sustained growth and failure in South Korean high-tech SMEs, and how these have changed since the inception of their business.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 29 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 August 2023

Persephone de Magdalene

This paper aims to identify the values antecedents of women’s social entrepreneurship. It explores where and how these values emerge and how they underpin the perceived…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the values antecedents of women’s social entrepreneurship. It explores where and how these values emerge and how they underpin the perceived desirability and feasibility of social venture creation.

Design/methodology/approach

Values development across the life-course is interrogated through retrospective sense-making by thirty UK-based women social entrepreneurs.

Findings

The findings express values related to empathy, social justice and action-taking, developed, consolidated and challenged in a variety of experiential domains over time. The cumulative effects of these processes result in the perceived desirability and feasibility of social entrepreneurial venture creation as a means of effecting social change and achieving coherence between personal values and paid work, prompting social entrepreneurial action-taking.

Originality/value

This paper offers novel, contextualised insights into the role that personal values play as antecedents to social entrepreneurship. It contributes to the sparse literature focussed on both women’s experiences of social entrepreneurship generally, and on their personal values specifically.

Details

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-6266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 December 2023

Imam Arafat, Suzanne Fifield and Theresa Dunne

The current study investigates the impact of directors' attributes on the extent of compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) fair value disclosure…

Abstract

Purpose

The current study investigates the impact of directors' attributes on the extent of compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) fair value disclosure requirements. The attributes investigated include directors' human capital (accounting qualification) and social capital (political association), directors' share ownership and the power distance between the chief executive officer (CEO) and the rest of the board members.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses disclosure analysis to measure the extent of compliance with the fair value disclosure requirements of IFRS. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is used to test the relationship between the disclosure score and directors' attributes. Data were collected from the annual reports and websites of the sample companies.

Findings

Contrary to conventional belief, this study's findings suggest that directors' social capital and the power distance between the CEO and the rest of the board act as more powerful factors than directors' human capital in explaining corporate mandatory disclosure. Specifically, the results indicate that powerful actors form a dominant coalition and co-opt influential constituents from the institutional domain to neutralize the effect of legal coercion and the accounting expertise of board members and Big Four audit firms on the extent of compliance with institutional (fair value) rules.

Research limitations/implications

This study utilizes Oliver's (1991) framework of strategic response to institutional processes in the Bangladeshi context. Although the study provides new insights into corporate disclosure practices, findings are not generalizable due to different institutional settings in different countries. Therefore, future studies could replicate the approach in different institutional settings.

Practical implications

The findings of this study will be of interest to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) as it focuses on a developing country that has adopted IFRS 13 and other fair value-related standards relatively recently.

Originality/value

The disclosure analysis contained in this study represents the first comprehensive analysis of the extent of compliance with the fair value disclosure requirements of IFRS. Furthermore, this study considers the impact of directors' social capital and finds that it is a more powerful determinant of the extent of compliance with IFRS as compared to human capital.

Details

Journal of Applied Accounting Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0967-5426

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 July 2023

Antaine Stíobhairt, Nicole Cassidy, Niamh Clarke and Suzanne Guerin

This paper aims to explore the roles of psychologists in seclusion in adult mental health services in Ireland, their perspectives on seclusion and its use in recovery-oriented…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the roles of psychologists in seclusion in adult mental health services in Ireland, their perspectives on seclusion and its use in recovery-oriented practice and related professional practice issues.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted from a social constructivist perspective. Semi-structured interviews with 17 psychologists were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Findings

Twenty-four themes were identified, which were clustered into four overarching themes. Participants viewed themselves and psychology in Ireland more broadly as peripheral to seclusion. They believed that seclusion possessed no inherent therapeutic value but viewed it as an uncomfortable and multi-faceted reality. Participants regarded seclusion and recovery as largely inconsistent and difficult to reconcile, and they perceived systemic factors, which had a pervasive negative impact on seclusion and recovery in practice.

Practical implications

The findings highlight the perceived complexity of seclusion and its interface with recovery, and the need to conscientiously balance conflicting priorities that cannot be easily reconciled to ensure ethical practice. The findings suggest psychologists are well-suited to participate in local and national discussions on using seclusion in recovery-oriented practice.

Originality/value

This study offers a unique insight into psychologists’ perceptions of seclusion and considers the implications of these views. Participants’ nuanced views suggest that psychologists can make valuable contributions to local and national discussions on these topics.

Details

Mental Health Review Journal, vol. 29 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-9322

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2024

Suzanne Peters

The research seeks to evaluate stakeholder perceptions of firms, the extent these assessments impact trust in firms and possible implications for sustainability communications.

Abstract

Purpose

The research seeks to evaluate stakeholder perceptions of firms, the extent these assessments impact trust in firms and possible implications for sustainability communications.

Design/methodology/approach

Three studies were undertaken involving two experiments (n = 436, n = 393) and one survey (n = 217). Analyses of variance was used in all three studies and in studies 2 and 3—to test for possible mediators—each variable was tested using Hayes' PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2013) with bootstrapping of 5,000 samples.

Findings

Results demonstrate significant favouring of sustainability-minded firms. Some differences between consumers and investors were found but also notable commonalities such as a general propensity to favour purpose-oriented firms and similar determinations of trust in firms.

Practical implications

Findings could support more effective sustainability communications and firm decisions regarding investments in purpose- and sustainability-oriented initiatives. The results may also support designs to pursue and promote designations (e.g. B Corp) that legitimize sustainability claims.

Originality/value

This research was unique in its evaluation of two stakeholder types in the same context. Further, it provides new insights into how a firm’s profit-purpose orientation affects stakeholder perceptions and assessments of trustworthiness.

Details

Journal of Communication Management, vol. 28 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-254X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2024

Ronald E. Day

The purpose of this paper is to examine Robert Pagès' 1948 conception of “auto-document” as a possible forerunner to the neo-documentalist conception of “documentality” as…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine Robert Pagès' 1948 conception of “auto-document” as a possible forerunner to the neo-documentalist conception of “documentality” as offered in Bernd Frohmann’s 2012 article “The Documentality of Mme Briet’s Antelope.”

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is conceptual and historical.

Findings

Robert Pagès' concept of the “auto-document” in his 1948 article proposed an understanding of documents that depends on the “uniqueness” of a document. His article proposed a post-Otletian theory of documents similar to a discussion of documents by Bernd Frohmann in 2012 with the concept of “documentality.” Further attention to Pagès work and to Frohmann’s works could result in new understandings of Briet’s works, could illuminate other works and authors understood as belonging to neo-documentation and could yield new understandings of documents and information from the perspective of documentality as a new philosophy of information and documents.

Research limitations/implications

Further attention to Pagès' work and to Frohmann’s works could yield new understandings of documents and the relation of documentary types across natural and sociocultural domains and bring renewed attention to documentality as a new philosophy of information and documents.

Practical implications

Attention to these issues could broaden the study of documents and documentation, increase the historical understanding of Suzanne Briet’s works and bring light to other works in neo-documentation, particularly in regard to the concept of documentality as a new philosophy of documentation and information.

Social implications

Attention to these issues could broaden the study of documents and documentation to include more broadly animal and other natural entities and our relationships to them. The works cited also illuminate an empirical science understanding of documents, documentary evidence and information.

Originality/value

This is one of the first papers commenting on Robert Pagès’ works and brings renewed attention to Bernd Frohmann’s works, as well as to neo-documentation and its concept and philosophy of documentality, as a new philosophy of information and documents.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 June 2023

Fidelia Ibekwe

Celebrate Michael Buckland's impressive legacy to LIS by showing his humanity, generosity and versatility.

Abstract

Purpose

Celebrate Michael Buckland's impressive legacy to LIS by showing his humanity, generosity and versatility.

Design/methodology/approach

This article is walk through a scientific career in LIS. Through personal anecdotes and life history and building upon Michael Buckland's legacy, it summarises the author’s own work seen through the prism of her interactions with Buckland, leading to scholarly contributions articulating significant statements about the field of LIS as well as pointers to past relevant publications.

Findings

Michael Buckland has a unique way of putting an end to thorny LIS issues as well as being a documentator extraordinaire.

Originality/value

It is a personal account, as such cannot be evaluated through the classical norms of empirical research as there is no ground truth. This account shows how chance encounters with fellow scholars can have a lasting influence on one's academic career as well as wider impact in a field.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 80 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 February 2023

Summer Suzanne Shelton, Amanda S. Bradshaw, Matthew Cretul and Debbie Treise

Plus-size women represent a large consumer segment that has grown in popularity with the fashion industry, retailers and advertisers. Despite advancements in clothing availability…

Abstract

Purpose

Plus-size women represent a large consumer segment that has grown in popularity with the fashion industry, retailers and advertisers. Despite advancements in clothing availability for plus-sized women, the shopping experience for these women (compared with that of straight-size women) often still falls short. The current experience leaves plus-sized women feel like a second-class, minority group despite the fact that the majority of women in USA are considered plus-size. The purpose of this study was to assess how US-based, value- and mid-market online clothing retailers position their plus-size female clothing sections in their site navigation.

Design/methodology/approach

This study assessed the websites of N = 68 popular plus- and straight-sized US-based, value- and mid-market retailers to evaluate the placement of, and options available in, their plus-sized clothing sections.

Findings

Findings revealed that the majority of retailers completely separated out the plus-sized section from the straight-sized section and that the language used to describe plus-size clothing was body-focused (versus clothing-focused for straight-size clothing sections). Theoretical and practical implications for marketers, advertisers and retailers are discussed.

Originality/value

This is the first study to assess the separation of plus- and straight-sized clothing sections in online retail spaces. As brands begin to consider combining plus- and straight-sized clothing sections (see Old Navy), it is important to assess how wide-spread the separation of sections currently is in online retail environments.

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. 27 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2023

Julianne A. Wenner, Megan Frary and Paul J. Simmonds

Historically, graduate education’s goal was to prepare academics; now most science, technology, engineering and/or mathematics (STEM) graduate students (GSs) go on to nonacademic…

Abstract

Purpose

Historically, graduate education’s goal was to prepare academics; now most science, technology, engineering and/or mathematics (STEM) graduate students (GSs) go on to nonacademic careers. STEM GSs must be equipped for success regardless of career aspirations, which can be done by strengthening GSs’ professional identities. This study aims to explore an interdisciplinary partnership designed to strengthen STEM GS professional identity.

Design/methodology/approach

The STEM Partnership Project (SPP), asked STEM GSs to serve as disciplinary experts and teach STEM content to elementary teacher candidates (TCs) so the TCs could design and teach an elementary science lesson. GSs also enrolled in a one-credit course to support SPP participation and activities. Over five semesters, the authors collected data from 28 STEM GSs across different disciplines and degree programs in the form of course assignments, surveys and interviews.

Findings

The SPP supported the development of a professional identity by having GSs serve as and feel like experts; increasing GSs’ sense of belonging in their field; increasing GSs’ self-confidence that they could (learn to) teach a wide variety of audiences; and raising GSs’ awareness of their ability to serve others via their field.

Originality/value

The SPP’s outcomes were consistent across STEM disciplines, did not require GSs to take on large amounts of coursework, nor did it cost much beyond materials for the various lessons. Furthermore, the key components that strengthened GSs’ professional identities could be adapted for different contexts and institutions.

Details

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4686

Keywords

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