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1 – 10 of 21Ciara Nolan, Edel Conway, Tara Farrell and Kathy Monks
The purpose of this study is to investigate hotel industry employers' expectations of, and satisfaction with, graduate competencies in comparison with graduate perceptions of what…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate hotel industry employers' expectations of, and satisfaction with, graduate competencies in comparison with graduate perceptions of what is required for their roles and their satisfaction with how well their education experience prepared them.
Design/methodology/approach
The research involved a questionnaire survey of 41 employers and 33 graduates in the Irish hotel sector, supplemented by a series of interviews. This sector was chosen because it represents the main destination of graduates who specialise in hospitality and tourism management.
Findings
The competencies consistently regarded as important across both samples related to interpersonal and professional knowledge skill domains. However, a number of gaps were evident with regard to satisfaction with how the education experience prepared graduates for careers in the industry.
Research limitations/implications
The study was confined to graduate and employer views on hospitality and tourism management education in Ireland. Its findings would benefit from a future comparative analysis including generic business graduates, as well as support from different national contexts.
Practical implications
The findings highlight the need for greater collaboration and partnership between the industry and education providers in preparing students to meet the needs of the hotel industry. In particular, the focus of the curriculum and the pedagogical approaches used need to be reviewed to ensure closer alignment.
Originality/value
The research focuses not only on the critical competencies needed by hotel managers but also on the level of satisfaction experienced by both graduate and employer samples.
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Tara A. Reis, Jennifer C. Gibbs, Daniel Howard and Emily R. Strohacker
In 2018, the National Human Trafficking hotline received 275 cases of human trafficking in Pennsylvania, a higher than average portion of the 10,949 human trafficking cases…
Abstract
Purpose
In 2018, the National Human Trafficking hotline received 275 cases of human trafficking in Pennsylvania, a higher than average portion of the 10,949 human trafficking cases received for the USA. Whether human trafficking victims receive services or enter the criminal justice system as prostitution offenders depends on how police identify them, as police officers are usually the first to interact with human trafficking victims. Thus, understanding how police identify human trafficking is important. The purpose of the study is to explore Pennsylvania police perceptions of human trafficking.
Design/methodology/approach
Scenarios were presented in a survey to 489 Pennsylvania police officers.
Findings
Police training improved officer identification of human trafficking (vs prostitution) involving older victims. Officers with more tenure were less likely to identify older victims of human trafficking than officers with less tenure. However, older officers were better able to successfully identify older (i.e. age 25 years) victims of human trafficking, but officer age had no effect on identifying younger (i.e. age 15 years) victims of human trafficking. The implications are discussed in the study.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature by testing (1) whether training affects police ability to identify human trafficking victims in a scenario, controlling for other factors and (2) whether victim age affects officer identification of human trafficking victims. More officers correctly identified younger victims of human trafficking when force was explicitly stated, but more officers misidentified younger victims when force was not explicitly stated and older victims when force was explicitly stated.
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Cynthia O'Regan, Tomás Dwyer and Julie Mulligan
The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature and influence of artefacts in market-oriented firms.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature and influence of artefacts in market-oriented firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Document analysis, direct observation and 14 key informant interviews were undertaken in 6 case study of companies.
Findings
The research investigated the nature and influence of four categories of artefacts in market-oriented firms, specifically, stories, arrangements, rituals and language. The four categories of artefacts were found to embody, reinforce, create and compliment the values, norms and behaviours of a market-oriented culture. Market-oriented artefacts are thus core to a market-oriented culture and in developing a market orientation.
Research limitations/implications
The four categories of artefact, namely, stories, arrangements, rituals and language embody a market-oriented culture; these artefacts are necessary to implement market-oriented behaviours. Artefacts play a significant cultural and behavioural part in creating a market-oriented culture.
Practical implications
To be a market-oriented firm means implementing a market-oriented culture. This paper requires managers to assess the degree to which they have developed and used market-oriented artefacts in the establishment and strengthening of a market-oriented culture.
Originality/value
This paper addresses the limited understanding of market-oriented artefacts as an element of a market-oriented culture.
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Drawing from findings of a case study of inter‐organisational collaboration, this paper aims to employ organisational theory to examine the potential learning that opens between…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing from findings of a case study of inter‐organisational collaboration, this paper aims to employ organisational theory to examine the potential learning that opens between educational organisations. The focus is discursive practices. Two questions guide the analysis. What (unique) practices are implicated in the “knotworking” of inter‐organisational collaboration? What knowledge and capacities are learned in these discursive practices?
Design/methodology/approach
A case study was conducted of a collaboration between a university unit, school district, elementary school and parent executive board to govern a laboratory school. Documents were examined and 17 interviews conducted and analysed inductively. Document analysis and second stage transcript analysis employed methods of discourse analysis.
Findings
The case analysis suggests that collaborations open unique sites for organizational learning. Actors (teachers, administrators, parents) engage with various discourses in the “knots” of inter‐organisational networks. Those who thrive in the “knot” of collaboration learn how to be flexibly attuned to shifting elements that emerge in negotiations. Further, these actors appear to develop capacities of mapping, translating, rearticulating, and spanning boundaries among the diverse positions of organisations.
Research limitations/implications
The case study is limited in scope in order to allow in‐depth discourse analysis of the data.
Originality/value
The combination of theories employed here – a practice‐based organizational learning theory called “knotworking” and critical organisational discourse analysis – is unique in educational administration research. It is argued that together, these theories provide a useful analytic approach for administrators wanting to understand and work through the cultural and political complexities of inter‐organisational collaborations.
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Flora I. Matheson, Arthur McLuhan, Ruth Croxford, Tara Hahmann, Max Ferguson and Cilia Mejia-Lancheros
Continuity of care and access to primary care have been identified as important contributors to improved health outcomes and reduced reincarceration among people who are…
Abstract
Purpose
Continuity of care and access to primary care have been identified as important contributors to improved health outcomes and reduced reincarceration among people who are justice-involved. While the disproportionate burden of health concerns among incarcerated populations is well documented, less is known about their health service utilization, limiting the potential for effective improvements to current policy and practice. This study aims to examine health status and health care utilization among men recently released from a superjail in a large metropolitan area to better understand patterns of use, risk factors and facilitators.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants included adult men (n = 106) matched to a general population group (n = 530) in Ontario, Canada, linked to medical records (88.5% linkage) to examine baseline health status and health utilization three-months post-release. The authors compared differences between the groups in baseline health conditions and estimated the risk of emergency department, primary care, inpatient hospitalization and specialist ambulatory care visits.
Findings
Superjail participants had a significantly higher prevalence of respiratory conditions, mental illness, substance use and injuries. Substance use was a significant risk factor for all types of visits and emergency department visits were over three times higher among superjail participants.
Originality/value
This empirical case is illustrative of an emerging phenomenon in some regions of the world where emergency departments serve as de facto “walk-in clinics” for those with criminal justice involvement. Strategic approaches to health services are required to meet the complex social and health needs and disparities in access to care experienced by men released from custody.
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Lynn Sudbury-Riley, Florian Kohlbacher and Agnes Hofmeister
The purpose of this paper is to investigate self-perceived age among Baby Boomers in the UK, Germany, Japan, and Hungary, and identifies two horizontal segments based on the way…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate self-perceived age among Baby Boomers in the UK, Germany, Japan, and Hungary, and identifies two horizontal segments based on the way consumers view their age.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaires were used to sample 880 Baby Boomers. Structural equation modeling is used to investigate multinational measurement invariance of the cognitive age scale.
Findings
Two distinct segments are identified, providing support for a young-at-heart consumer culture in all nations in the study. Results also find cognitive age to exhibit partial measurement invariance, which is expected given the disparate nations under study.
Research limitations/implications
This research contributes to cross-cultural global age research which is still in an early pioneering stage. The study builds on a small number of previous studies that validate cognitive age, extends current knowledge of the measurement properties of cognitive age, and identifies two distinct international segments of Baby Boomers. Further research needs to delve into the antecedents of self-perceived age, particularly in the ways in which different life experiences and cultures may impact age identities.
Practical implications
The study has implications for marketing managers wishing to target the increasingly important young-at-heart Baby Boomer.
Originality/value
The study uses four non-American countries, uses samples matched for chronological age, and does not use convenience samples, which make it unique in the cognitive age literature. The study has value for marketing managers, global age researchers, and consumer culture researchers.
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Grant Samkin and Annika Schneider
The purpose of this paper is to examine the profiles of Australian, New Zealand and South African accounting faculty members. Additionally, the study investigates whether there…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the profiles of Australian, New Zealand and South African accounting faculty members. Additionally, the study investigates whether there are any differences in research productivity of the accounting faculty between countries as measured by peer-reviewed academic journal output.
Design/methodology/approach
This archival study uses details obtained from webpages of Departments of Accounting in the three countries to construct a profile of accounting academics.
Findings
Significant differences in the profiles of accounting academics were found that can be attributed to the institutional factors that exist in each country. Staffs at the junior lecturer and lecturer levels are more likely to be female, while senior lecturers and professors in all three countries were more likely to be male. While Australia and New Zealand had a similar percentage of staff holding PhD or equivalent academic qualifications, only a small proportion of the South African faculty held PhD or equivalent qualifications. A greater proportion of the South African faculty was professionally qualified compared to their Australian and New Zealand counterparts. New Zealand accounting faculty was more productive than their Australian colleagues, with South African academics being the least productive. Academics holding a doctoral qualification or equivalent were more productive than those that did not.
Research limitations/implications
The research limitations relate to the use of websites as the primary data source. Incompleteness of information, inconsistencies in the type of information presented and a lack of comparability of information across institutions and countries may have led to some errors and omissions. However, given the relatively large sample size of 2,049 academics, this was not deemed to materially affect the final analysis.
Originality/value
The paper provides an important contribution to the literature on accounting academics. It is the first of its kind to present a comprehensive “snapshot” of the profiles of accounting academics at the universities in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
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Tara Brooks, Ryan Zantinge and Faris Elghaish
Although data rich building information models have been widely adopted in the Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry in the United Kingdom (UK), use of 2D…
Abstract
Purpose
Although data rich building information models have been widely adopted in the Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry in the United Kingdom (UK), use of 2D drawings on site for construction is still the norm. The ability of 2-dimensional (2D) drawings to convey complex 3-dimensional information is limited and requires interpretation from operatives, and 2D drawings can be quickly superseded by model updates. Although constructing directly from a model has been adopted in the aerospace and automotive industries, its use in construction is in its infancy. This research therefore aims to investigate the potential for, and barriers to, model-based construction in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses a qualitative approach, thematically analysing 13 semi-structured interviews with UK-based construction professionals who have experience of paperless or model-based construction.
Findings
Although model -based construction has been implemented to a limited extent on some civil engineering projects; research and investment in software, network capacity, legal and contractual issues, and cultural and human factors will need to be considered before model-based construction can be implemented more widely.
Originality/value
The research contributes to an understudied, emergent area of construction practice and outlines hurdles that need to be understood and overcome before more widespread adoption of model-based construction can take place.
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Celette Sugg Skinner, Adam Buchanan, Matthew W. Kreuter, Cheryl Holt, Dawn Bucholtz and Tara Smith Strigo
This paper demonstrates that a message library – the computer‐tailored intervention component that contains all potential versions of tailored content – can be adapted for use in…
Abstract
This paper demonstrates that a message library – the computer‐tailored intervention component that contains all potential versions of tailored content – can be adapted for use in a new setting at reasonable cost and effort. A message library developed for one population was adapted to enable its use with a second population in a different geographic region. Concludes that adapting message libraries for new populations need not be a barrier to disseminating tailored interventions and designing message libraries with dissemination in mind creates tailored interventions that can be adapted for use with different populations.
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There are many frameworks and methods for involving children in design research. Human-Computer Interaction provides rich methods for involving children when designing…
Abstract
Purpose
There are many frameworks and methods for involving children in design research. Human-Computer Interaction provides rich methods for involving children when designing technologies. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper examines various approaches to involving children in design, considering whether users view children as study objects or active participants.
Findings
The BRIDGE method is a sociocultural approach to product design that views children as active participants, enabling them to contribute to the design process as competent and resourceful partners. An example is provided, in which BRIDGE was successfully applied to developing upper limb prostheses with children.
Originality/value
Approaching design in this way can provide children with opportunities to develop social, academic and design skills and to develop autonomy.
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