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Article
Publication date: 25 March 2024

Anuradha Iddagoda, Rebecca Abraham, Manoaj Keppetipola and Hiranya Dissanayake

Military values/virtues are a subset of ethical values. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of military virtues on job performance, either directly, or indirectly…

Abstract

Purpose

Military values/virtues are a subset of ethical values. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of military virtues on job performance, either directly, or indirectly through mediation by, loyalty, patience, respect, employee engagement, job performance, military ethics, courage, self-discipline, caring, military virtue, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) employee engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

Military virtues were conceptualized as a collective construct, consisting of loyalty, courage, patience, respect, self-discipline and caring. Using a sample of 254 military officers in the SLAF, the authors measured the effect of military virtues on job performance. The first model was a direct measurement of the influence of military virtues on job performance. The second model measured the influence of military virtues on employee engagement, followed by measurement of the influence of employee engagement on job performance. Structural equation modeling was used in data analysis.

Findings

Both direct effects and mediated effects of military virtues on job performance were significant. However, the direct effect was stronger, suggesting that military virtues in and of themselves resulted in superior performance, more effectively, than by first increasing employee engagement with the task or the organization.

Originality/value

This may be an initial empirical examination of the effects of military virtues on job performance.

Details

International Journal of Ethics and Systems, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9369

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 February 2024

Charlotte Meierdirk

Many veterans struggle with the civilian world and the loss of identity associated with leaving the service. This research investigates the Building Heroes Charity's role in…

Abstract

Purpose

Many veterans struggle with the civilian world and the loss of identity associated with leaving the service. This research investigates the Building Heroes Charity's role in assisting service leavers transitioning to civil employment, in the United Kingdom (UK) and what can be learnt from the training and support.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory case study design was chosen to investigate the transition from military to civilian employment. The case study consisted of 12 in-depth interviews consisting of nine veterans, who had attended the Building Heroes courses and three course tutors.

Findings

The Building Heroes Charity does have an important role to fulfill in the transition of military personnel from the service to civilian work. There are positive outcomes that complement the work done by the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), but there still needs to be recognition that the needs of veterans do differ by age, transferability of competencies and the financial resources available.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations of this research are the sample size is small and the majority of the veterans are from the Army. This is mostly because the Army is the largest of the services.

Originality/value

Though there is limited research into the employment of veterans, there is evidence to demonstrate that veterans are more likely to suffer from depression and potential homelessness than nonservice personnel. This research is unique in investigating the role of a charity whose main purpose is to improve the employability of veterans by reducing the competency skills gap between the military and construction industry.

Details

Education + Training, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

Expert briefing
Publication date: 26 January 2024

It cited investor capital shortfalls amid the Gaza conflict, also highlighting another USD4mn allocated to early-stage Palestinian businesses. Israel’s government in December 2023…

Details

DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB284819

ISSN: 2633-304X

Keywords

Geographic
Topical

Abstract

Details

Understanding Intercultural Interaction: An Analysis of Key Concepts, 2nd Edition
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-438-8

Book part
Publication date: 20 March 2024

Satlaj Dighe, John M. LaVelle, Paidamoyo Chikate, Meral Acikgoz, Padmavati Kannan, Doris Espelien and Trupti Sarode

Although educators would likely agree that values and ethics are important in all disciplines, they have particular importance for practice-oriented fields. These applied…

Abstract

Although educators would likely agree that values and ethics are important in all disciplines, they have particular importance for practice-oriented fields. These applied professionals need to solve complex social problems that require the application of ethical standards and value perspectives. While the importance of value-engaged practice is known to the applied field, there is little research and conversation about how values can be integrated into teaching. This chapter synthesizes values-education approaches in various practice-based disciplines such as public administration (PA), program evaluation, social work, and public health. This chapter draws from empirical and theoretical works as well as the authors' experiences developing, participating in, and conducting values-based research on professionals and professional education.

Article
Publication date: 30 January 2024

Gerald McNerney

The purpose of this study is to create an ethical norm that will help guide the human race toward long-term survival.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to create an ethical norm that will help guide the human race toward long-term survival.

Design/methodology/approach

The project posits a new societal ethical norm designed around a fundamental principle: the long-term survival of the human race with individual dignity. This study examines the requirements of the new norm and what is needed to achieve that goal.

Findings

There are three types of organizations that have the organizational and economic capacity to be responsible for future outcomes: governments, religions and corporations. These three types of organizations must act as if they have a moral compass that will compel them to develop and uphold the requirements for the survival of humanity with individual dignity.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis shows that a new, broader ethical norm must be established, and this norm implies that large organizations must act with a future embracing ethical behavior.

Practical implications

This study generates specific pathways for example: governments should adopt the just war principles and prohibitions on governments or other institutions from teaching any form of class superiority. These and other pathways are designed to diffuse threats to the fundamental principle.

Social implications

The fundamental principle includes universal human dignity. This means that the notion of individual dignity must be defined or understood, and the requirements to attain this goal must be identified.

Originality/value

This project takes concepts from long-termism, forward-looking collective responsibility, corporate social responsibility and the global catastrophic risk institute to advocate for a new ethical norm.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 April 2024

Rob Elkington, Robyn Ruttenberg-Rozen and Nadia Worthington

This paper aims to explore virtual simulations, merging artificial intelligence with real-world simulations, supporting Canadian armed forces (CAF) junior military leaders (JMLs…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore virtual simulations, merging artificial intelligence with real-world simulations, supporting Canadian armed forces (CAF) junior military leaders (JMLs) leadership development. Our research questions are: (1) How do virtual simulations support CAF junior military leadership development within a globalized and complex environment in the 21st century? (2) Could virtual simulations support a leadership culture change through efficacious “soft skills” training? In this paper, we explore the efficacy of virtual simulations for enhancing or developing leadership in JMLs in the CAF through a four-day pilot project with twenty JMLs (n = 20).

Design/methodology/approach

To assess the efficacy of virtual simulations for leadership development, we designed and studied a four-day leadership workshop for JMLs in the CAF using several virtual artificial intelligence leadership role-play simulations developed by McGraw Hill in their smart book textbook (Manning & Curtis, 2022) and several non-virtual in-class simulations for comparison. We selected four twenty to thirty-minute virtual role-play simulations that synergized with the in-person morning leadership workshop. We facilitated the three-hour leadership workshops and virtual/in-class simulations over four consecutive days. We emulated the ELESS model (De Freitas & Routledge, 2013) to assess soft and leadership skills.

Findings

The participants (JMLs) reported beneficial learning utility associated with the virtual simulations. Participants also expressed that further utility might be leveraged through virtual simulations incorporating greater complexity with multiple potential outcomes. They also suggested that leadership simulations designed around military situations would prove highly beneficial, something that was outside of the scope of this small pilot project.

Research limitations/implications

Since this phase of our research is a pilot project, we secured a small amount of funding to test our hypothesis that simulations enhance leadership development for JMLs. These funding limitations resulted in several constraints in the research, such as the availability of virtual simulations articulating leadership from a military perspective. However, we believed the assigned organizational leadership simulations in the McGraw Hill Smart Book ecosystem would approximate generic leadership situations enough to test the hypothesis with the JMLs. As a pilot project, our sample size was relatively small (n = 20 JMLs) since participation was voluntary amidst a busy spring season for the JMLs. Since this is a pilot project, we suggest that twenty JMLs are an adequate sampling to test the hypothesis that simulations enhance JML leadership development. We will expand the sample size in the next phase of our research as we work with the CAF to expand the pool of participants to at least forty JML participants (n = 40). We also plan to secure further funding to collaborate with subject matter experts to design virtual simulations based on Canadian military leadership scenarios.

Practical implications

The CAF host robust simulations capabilities for combat training, but have not exploited the potential training and analytical capacity of virtual leadership simulations for leadership development within the CAF. We believe that virtual simulations provide an opportunity for the CAF to effect desired culture change through leadership development that leverages the substantial pedagogical benefits of simulations.

Social implications

The CAF encountered several detrimental leadership scandals that eroded the reputational capital of the CAF. In the current geo-political climate of an expanding North American Treaty Organization (NATO) and threats from several international actors, the CAF seeks to expand its capabilities by adding and enhancing its human capital. However, the CAF currently experiences a significant gap in its human capital aspirations. There is a unanimous consensus that the endemic traditional culture of the CAF, as expressed in the recent explosive leadership scandals, is a deterrent to recruitment and thus weakens the CAF’s capability. The CAF targets leadership development with new leadership paradigms as pivotal to culture change. The CAF suggests that by enhancing leadership development in the CAF the new cadre of leadership will change the culture of the CAF and thereby enhance the reputational capital of the CAF. It is believed that this rejuvenated culture will lead to greater recruitment and retention, leading to a strengthened military. A strengthened military is important to provide effective support and protection for the Canadian people in these volatile and uncertain times. This expanded capacity will enable the CAF to address external military threats more effectively and also the increasing operations other than war (OOTW), such as the military support of long-term care facilities during COVID-19 or the military’s support in fighting record wildfires and the military’s support in climate change related disasters such as flooding.

Originality/value

The satisfaction measures indicated by the participants are typical evaluative measures of leadership development (Noe, 2023). These satisfaction ratings do not, however, indicate whether training has produced a change in behaviour (Brown, 2022). The implications of these outcomes for leadership education are that role-player simulations are useful leadership education and development tools because they provide a theatre of practice in which mistakes are not detrimental and serve as learning moments (Moore, 2012; Piro and O’Callaghan, 2021; Riotto, 2021). Further, the importance of role-player simulations that closely approximate the sector where leadership is experienced and practiced is perceived to enhance the experience. While the CAF invest in combat related simulations, but leadership development simulations are not as evident in the training and development array. This study seeks to assess their potential value as a leadership development tool within the wider context of character development as a leadership competency.

Details

Journal of Leadership Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1552-9045

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 October 2023

Mohammed Aboramadan, Julia Barbar, Wasim Alhabil and Hussam Alhalbusi

Building on the theories of social learning and social information processing, this paper aims to examine the effect of green servant leadership (GSL) on green voice behavior…

Abstract

Purpose

Building on the theories of social learning and social information processing, this paper aims to examine the effect of green servant leadership (GSL) on green voice behavior among staff working in Qatari higher education. In this relationship, the climate for green initiative (CFGI) was used to act as a mediating mechanism.

Design/methodology/approach

Data in this study were collected from 275 staff working in Qatari higher education. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

Findings

The results suggest that GSL positively influences green voice behavior, whereas CFGI mediated this link.

Practical implications

The results can be beneficial to higher education pertaining to the importance of GSL in generating positive green behaviors such as green voice behavior. Furthermore, the results highlight the significant role CFGI plays in motivating such behaviors.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examines the link between GSL and green voice behavior in the higher education context. Furthermore, research on CFGI has received limited attention so far.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 April 2024

Ayse Ocal and Kevin Crowston

Research on artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential effects on the workplace is increasing. How AI and the futures of work are framed in traditional media has been examined…

Abstract

Purpose

Research on artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential effects on the workplace is increasing. How AI and the futures of work are framed in traditional media has been examined in prior studies, but current research has not gone far enough in examining how AI is framed on social media. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining how people frame the futures of work and intelligent machines when they post on social media.

Design/methodology/approach

We investigate public interpretations, assumptions and expectations, referring to framing expressed in social media conversations. We also coded the emotions and attitudes expressed in the text data. A corpus consisting of 998 unique Reddit post titles and their corresponding 16,611 comments was analyzed using computer-aided textual analysis comprising a BERTopic model and two BERT text classification models, one for emotion and the other for sentiment analysis, supported by human judgment.

Findings

Different interpretations, assumptions and expectations were found in the conversations. Three subframes were analyzed in detail under the overarching frame of the New World of Work: (1) general impacts of intelligent machines on society, (2) undertaking of tasks (augmentation and substitution) and (3) loss of jobs. The general attitude observed in conversations was slightly positive, and the most common emotion category was curiosity.

Originality/value

Findings from this research can uncover public needs and expectations regarding the future of work with intelligent machines. The findings may also help shape research directions about futures of work. Furthermore, firms, organizations or industries may employ framing methods to analyze customers’ or workers’ responses or even influence the responses. Another contribution of this work is the application of framing theory to interpreting how people conceptualize the future of work with intelligent machines.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 February 2024

Chern Li Liew and Victoria Passau

Online/Digital cultural heritage platforms have the potential to serve as empowering sites and tools for democratic participation, and for promoting social cohesion, acting as…

Abstract

Purpose

Online/Digital cultural heritage platforms have the potential to serve as empowering sites and tools for democratic participation, and for promoting social cohesion, acting as convergence points for diverse societal groups. They enable the gathering of multiple voices, including those of minorities and groups often marginalised in mainstream cultural heritage documentation. This research paper examines the ways in which these aspirations of cultural heritage platforms as meeting, learning and dialogic spaces for connecting and empowering online communities have been realised.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a qualitative design, interviews were conducted with users of New Zealand’s Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Online Cenotaph. Participants shared their experiences with the platform, perceptions of it as a collective social history resource and views on its role as a participatory space for online communities. They also discussed their expectations for its development as an online space for collective memorialisation.

Findings

Interviews revealed that users value Online Cenotaph for placing personal, publicly contributed memories and narratives alongside primary military sources. Participants expressed feelings of civic responsibility, social awareness and a sense of identity and connection through their use and contribution to this online commemorative space. The shift from a one-way flow of information from the Museum towards embracing public contribution embodying a high-trust approach, was a notable finding.

Originality/value

This research underscores the evolving role of museums and other GLAM institutions in recognising the importance of inclusivity, diversity and community participation. It provides insights into how digital cultural heritage social platforms can contribute towards these goals and promote social cohesion. This research is also a starting point for further studies on crowdsourcing and social Web activities on digital cultural heritage platforms as sites of community building through public participation and engagement in historical/cultural heritage narratives.

Details

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9342

Keywords

1 – 10 of 190