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This paper aims to investigate how municipalities contribute to the ecosystem for social entrepreneurs, focusing on the four largest municipalities in the Netherlands, also known as the G4 municipalities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague). Building on the ecosystem model of Spigel (2017), the findings focus on the cultural, social and material contributions of the municipalities to the ecosystem and how these contributions are perceived by the founders of social enterprises.

Focusing only on G4 municipalities, 39 semi structured interviews were carried, 15 of which were conducted with civil servants from G4 municipalities and the rest with social enterprises operating in G4 municipalities.

The results indicate that the G4 municipalities mainly contribute by helping build a positive image of social entrepreneurship and by facilitating the network of social entrepreneurs. However, municipalities often fail to substantiate their commitment by way of material resources such as financial inducements, resource provision or policies.

In the analysis, Spigel’s ecosystem model is adopted and by adopting this lens, the authors believe that the contribution of this exploratory study lies in analysing the relation of municipalities with social enterprises in a more comprehensive way. A consideration of the cultural, social and material aspects of municipality support, along with the discrepancies between these kinds of support, allows a critical analysis of the role municipalities play in social entrepreneurship in the Netherlands.

This study examines the temporal dynamics shaping our understanding of search in education and the role language plays in legitimising these dynamics. It critiques the way online search is discursively constructed using home-education as a case study, and problematises how particular discourses are privileged, whom this privileging serves, as well as the likely consequences.

The study employs Faircloughian Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as its methodological framework. Search and discursive practices were recorded during observations, search-tasks and interviews with five Australian home-educating families. Discursive features from the Google interface were also analysed.

A discursive privileging of hasty search practices was identified. This was found alongside largely ineffectual search, but participants continued to discursively represent search as fast and easy. The study highlights the complex co-option of discourses surrounding online search that privilege particular temporal and commercial landscapes.

This study contributes new knowledge regarding time as a context for understanding search behaviours, locating the perception of temporal scarcity in education within broader discursive and social structures. To date, no studies are found which investigate the temporal factors surrounding search in home-education. Increasing global reliance upon online search means the findings have broad significance, as does the proliferation of home-education induced by COVID-19. Additionally, while much work problematises the power search engines wield to privilege certain discourses, few investigate the day-to-day discursive practices of searchers affording Google and others this power.

The Eastern Mediterranean countries exhibit diversity in religion, culture, politics, and economy, amid rapid and dynamic regional developments shaped by global polarization and the international security landscape, rendering future prognostications challenging. This chapter delves into the realms of oil and natural gas production, the influx of multinational corporations, water boundaries, and renewable energy vis-à-vis fossil fuels in the Eastern Mediterranean, elucidating the realities of cooperation and competition within the region. Analysis of cooperation and competition dynamics is imperative for comprehending the tensions among states. Enhanced cooperation between states may lead to mutual benefits, such as increased oil and gas prices favoring their partnership, while any escalation in competition can swiftly be perceived as a threat, exacerbating tensions. The desirability of such cooperation or competition in the international political economy remains subject to ongoing debate.

This study aimed to examine the influence of four factors (intellectual, instrumental, self-actualizing and CPD cultural factors) on teachers' engagement in continuing professional development (CPD), specifically in the context of three lesson study activities: teaching research team activity, teaching research group activity and research lesson study activity in Chinese school settings.

A mixed-methods design was employed to examine the perceived effects of these factors on the engagement levels of 33 primary school teachers who participated in lesson study activities. The research used a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews as data collection instruments.

The results indicated that participants demonstrated higher levels of engagement in research lesson study and teaching research group, whereas their engagement in teaching research team was comparatively lower. Intellectual and CPD cultural factors emerged as the strongest predictors of engagement in all the activities. Self-actualizing factors highly influenced teachers' engagement in research lesson study. Instrumental factors mainly affected novice teachers and some mentors in the teaching research group, but not others.

This study addresses a gap in the existing literature by investigating factors influencing teachers' engagement in lesson study professional development. The observed variation in teachers' engagement behaviors and attitudes provides policy makers and school leaders with a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms and effects of these engagement factors on teachers' professional development.

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how principles from variation theory can contribute to the planning of teaching and learning beyond learning study.

We study whether and how principles from variation theory contributed to a group of teachers’ planning of teaching and learning about decimal numbers in Grades 4 to 7 working in Subject Didactic Groups – a collaborative arrangement suited to daily teaching. A theoretical thematic analysis approach was used when analyzing eight audio-recorded meetings and written documents.

The study shows that variation theory principles contributed to the teachers’ planning of teaching and learning. Two themes were identified: the theory contributed to the teachers being able to (1) specify what their students needed to learn and (2) design tasks that they anticipated would afford the opportunity to learn what was identified as being necessary to learn.

The paper demonstrates how variation theory can contribute to teachers’ planning of teaching and learning when used in a collaborative arrangement other than learning study. This leads into a discussion about variation theory being used separately from learning study and the benefits and limitations this other collaborative arrangement can have for gaining knowledge of what is to be learned and taught.

This study is conducted with an aim to develop and validate self-talk scale for service sector employees designed to measure dimensions that are relevant for their conduct in job.

A three-phase study, which is conducted firstly, with a sample of 250 and then with another sample of 671 employees of service sector. Both factor exploration and confirmation are applied for testing the psychometric properties.

A well-developed and validated instrument comprising of 17 statements with four dimensions of self-talk, which are self-compassionate, rational, task oriented and self-regulation in social settings relevant to regulate ones job behaviour.

The instrument so developed becomes the first of its kind to be validated on organisational employees. The instrument provides an important means to estimate the cognitive process of self-talk, especially for employees working in fields that requires them to deal with people. Moreover, enabling individuals to understand the subtle nuances that take place in the mind while regulating ones behaviour. Thus, proving to be a promising instrument, as this can serve as a base for identifying the need for industrial training programmes or interventions.

This study proposes “genuine small talk” in hospitality settings, particularly in coffee shops and its impact on enhancing guest experiences. This study aims to delineate how genuine small talk, characterized by sincerity, mutual respect, truthfulness and empathy, differs from traditional conversational engagements and influences service outcomes.

The study adopts a case research approach, focusing on the global coffee shop industry, particularly in high-context cultural settings. Using an abductive research paradigm, it intertwines theoretical concepts with empirical data gathered from face-to-face interviews with coffee shop visitors and managers. Data analysis involved qualitative coding techniques to synthesize and interpret findings related to genuine small talk.

Genuine small talk in hospitality, marked by sincerity, mutual respect, truthfulness and empathy, significantly enhances customer experiences. It transforms service encounters, turning negative experiences into positive ones and fostering customer loyalty. The study finds that genuine small talk is a strategic tool for emotional resonance and repeat patronage, yet its effectiveness depends on the staff’s ability to discern and adapt to customer moods and preferences.

This study highlights that genuine interpersonal interactions are key to enhancing customer experiences in hospitality. These genuine exchanges, characterized by sincerity, mutual respect, truthfulness and empathy, not only improve the immediate service encounter but also foster long-term customer loyalty. By transforming transactional interactions into meaningful connections, genuine small talk serves as a strategic tool in the hospitality industry, potentially reshaping service dynamics and elevating the perceived value of customer service. This research underscores the importance of staff training in emotional intelligence and adaptability to customer preferences, crucial for implementing genuine small talk effectively.

This research contributes to the hospitality literature by elucidating the nuanced role of genuine small talk in service encounters. It extends existing discourses of service interactions by highlighting the potential of genuine small talk in fostering connections and enhancing guest experiences.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the literature on information elicitation. The authors investigated the impact of social influence strategies on eyewitness recall performance. Specifically, the authors examined the effect of social influence techniques (Cialdini, 2007) on recall performance (Experiment 1) and conducted a follow-up experiment to examine the incremental effect of social proof on the report everything cognitive interview mnemonic (Experiment 2).

Participants watched a video depicting vandalism (Experiment 1: N = 174) or a verbal altercation (Experiment 2: N = 128) and were asked to recall the witnessed event. Experiment 1: Participants were assigned randomly to one of six conditions: control (open-ended prompt), engage and explain (interview ground rules), consistency (signing an agreement to work diligently), reciprocity (given water and food), authority (told of interviewer’s training) and social proof (shown transcript from an exemplar participant). Experiment 2: The authors used a 2 (social proof: present, absent) × 2 (report everything: present, absent) between-participants design.

Across both experiments, participants exposed to the social proof tactic (i.e. compared to a model exemplar) spoke longer and recalled more correct details than participants not exposed to the social proof tactic. In Experiment 2, participants interviewed with the report everything mnemonic also spoke longer, recalled more correct details, more incorrect details and provided slightly more confabulations than those not interviewed with the report everything mnemonic.

The findings have practical value for police investigators and other professionals who conduct interviews (e.g. military personnel, doctors obtaining information from patients). Interviewers can incorporate social proof in their interviewing practices to help increase the amount and accuracy of information obtained.

The current inquiry advances the public relations field and practice in several ways. First, this research addresses a clear gap in research on subjective well-being, specifically among PR professionals across career stages and generations. Second, the findings reveal important generational similarities and differences in how PR practitioners talk about well-being. This provides an empirical basis for developing tailored, multi-generational approaches to supporting well-being in PR workplaces. Lastly, this research provides practical implications for PR professionals to understand generational perspectives and to implement flexible policies to improve well-being.

The current study explored subjective well-being (SWB) across generations of public relations professionals. Using a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 PR practitioners at various career levels – entry, mid-level and senior.

Analysis revealed several similarities but a key disparity among cohorts. Senior-level professionals specifically reported struggling with work–life balance and the perceived ability to be autonomous, while entry-level professionals expressed commitment to setting boundaries on their time. These findings highlight a need for the PR industry to establish flexible workplace standards that enable employees at different career stages to collaborate and support one another’s well-being.

Our findings will appeal to your readers who seek to cultivate employee subjective well-being and understand generational issues via qualitative methods. By conducting a qualitative study in an understudied area, PR industry leaders and managers can support employee well-being across generations and career stages.

Our study is the first to examine generational dispositions as it relates to SWB across the public relations industry.