The closure of schools and nurseries during the COVID-19 lockdowns triggered the re-insourcing of childcare to the home, sparking extensive public debate and academic research on…
Abstract
The closure of schools and nurseries during the COVID-19 lockdowns triggered the re-insourcing of childcare to the home, sparking extensive public debate and academic research on the pandemic's potential impact on gender equality (see, for example, Burgess and Goldman, 2021; Vandecasteele et al. 2022). My PhD research, which explores parents' decision-making influences when planning care during their child's first year in the UK context, coincided with COVID-19. The coinciding of my data collection with COVID-19 (seven online discussions with a total of 36 participants and 12 follow up interviews, 10 which include partners) created microcosms in which wider public debates were echoed. My research draws on the Capability Approach (CA) (Sen, 2009) to conceptualise parents' capabilities to share leave as they aspire to and employs dialogical narrative analysis (DNA) (Riessman, 2008) to explore how gendered parenting norms are constitutive of parents’ care capabilities. In this chapter, I draw on feminist ethics of care to explore the disruption of gendered parenting norms, in the COVID-19 context, within parents' decision-making and a possible ‘reimagining’ of the value attributed to care (Ozkazanc-Pan and Pullen, 2021; Tronto, 2017). My findings support anticipation of what the promise of greater flexibility could bring as a result of increased visibility of caregiving during COVID-19. However, I also find evidence which supports the caution previously recommended of the need to reflect on work cultures and the predominance of masculine ideal worker norms in the UK (Chung et al. 2021).
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Elzbieta Kopciuszewska and Krzysztof Rybinski
This paper aims to investigate the usefulness and validity of student evaluations of teaching (SET) by estimating multiple biases and their cumulative effect, and assessing their…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the usefulness and validity of student evaluations of teaching (SET) by estimating multiple biases and their cumulative effect, and assessing their implications for evaluating teaching effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a rich dataset from a Polish university and applies linear and quantile regressions to estimate SET biases, including course difficulty, class size and instructor characteristics. The cumulative effect of these biases is measured, and changes during the COVID-19 pandemic are analyzed to assess their impact on SET scores.
Findings
The cumulative SET bias reaches more than one point on a 1–5 Likert scale, challenging the reliability of raw SET scores. Significant asymmetries exist between low and high SET scores. Poor initial evaluations of a teacher predict future low performance ratings, while top-rated teacher contests are often influenced by chance rather than teaching quality.
Practical implications
The findings suggest universities should discontinue using raw SET scores for faculty evaluation and instead implement adjustments for identified biases. This approach will provide a more accurate measure of teaching performance.
Originality/value
This paper builds on earlier studies that applied econometric frameworks to analyze SET bias predictors and offers a novel, comprehensive assessment of cumulative SET biases and their asymmetries. It is the first to evaluate the effects of multiple SET biases within a single model and the first to document how SET biases intensified during the pandemic, emphasizing the need for significant reform in teaching evaluation practices.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyze research trends on “Wearable devices in textile filed” from 2010 to 2023 and determine the important keywords, nations and journals…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze research trends on “Wearable devices in textile filed” from 2010 to 2023 and determine the important keywords, nations and journals associated with this topic.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing journal literature on wearable devices from the 2010 to 2023 Web of Science (WoS) database, this study employs VOSviewer, biblioshiny of the R software package and the specialized software CiteSpace to generate knowledge graphs for measuring retrieval outcomes.
Findings
The research on wearable devices integrated into textiles between 2010 and 2023 can be divided into three stages: initial slow progress, subsequent rapid advancement and final slow progress, indicating a general rise in the quantity of published material. The terms “fabrication,” “wearable electronics” and “design” are closely linked in this field. China is the most globally networked country in this field, according to the World Collaboration Map. NANO ENERGY ranked first in the number of articles published in journals, with 18 articles and 1,151 citations.
Originality/value
The study identified the present state and research trends in the field of “Wearable devices in textile filed,” offering valuable information for researchers to enhance their understanding of the field’s progress.
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Iruka Chijindu Anugwo, Miller Williams Appau, Fredrick Simpeh and Elvis Attakora-Amaniampong
Energy saving in student housing has become a major challenge in the growing tertiary higher learning institutions in Africa. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the drivers…
Abstract
Purpose
Energy saving in student housing has become a major challenge in the growing tertiary higher learning institutions in Africa. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the drivers of changes in energy-saving behaviours in student housing in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is quantitative based on the theory of planned behaviour. A survey of 1,702 on-campus university student housing users in Northern Ghana was conducted using a simple random sampling technique. Behavioural drivers were conceptualised into two broad themes and analysed using the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model tool.
Findings
The findings of this study accept the general view that behavioural factors affect energy saving. However, financial, indoor environmental quality and student housing energy management techniques positively determine changes in energy-saving behaviours in student housing than behavioural factors. Knowledge-related factors did not show any contribution to behavioural intentions of energy saving.
Practical implications
An all-inclusive energy-saving mechanism, highlighting improvement in student housing conditions, can enhance energy saving. Aside from this, increasing the attention to sustainability and energy efficiency programs in student housing environments can provide positive potential for energy saving in student housing.
Originality/value
Introducing the theory of planned behaviour in similar studies confirms the large contributions of behavioural drivers to energy saving. The additional exploration of other drivers in this study showcases the potential of influencing energy-saving decisions in student housing within the sub-Saharan sub-region.
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Kai Roland Green and Tom Wraight
This paper uses the cultural figure of Willy Wonka to explore the archetype of the “boy-entrepreneur”, and what the various film manifestations of Wonka (1971–2023) say about…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper uses the cultural figure of Willy Wonka to explore the archetype of the “boy-entrepreneur”, and what the various film manifestations of Wonka (1971–2023) say about changes in entrepreneurial masculinity. We (1) develop an original conceptualisation of boyhood as creatively, socially and gender liminal, (2) analyse the entrepreneurial archetype using literary theories and (3) provide a novel interpretation of Apollonian and Dionysian masculinity to aid future cultural analysis of founder/innovator depictions in children’s media.
Design/methodology/approach
Our study conducts a three-stage dramaturgical analysis of the major film adaptations of Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka (1971, 2005 and 2023). After supplementing the limited literature on boyhood in entrepreneurship with literary and feminist art theory, we identify the significant narrative features which frame the Wonka dramas and produce a framework which tracks thematic changes across the films in terms of the creative, social and gender liminal elements of Wonka’s boy-entrepreneur identity.
Findings
Our interpretive analysis reveals a gradual shift in values expressed through Wonka’s boy-entrepreneurialism away from a more hegemonic, Apollonian style of masculinity towards a more Dionysian style embracing emotional expression, intimacy with female characters and kin, and collaborations with nature. Such shifts reflect the growing influence of non-hegemonic entrepreneurial gender expressions, value-driven and relational approaches to new venture creation.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the hugely unexplored area of the “boy-entrepreneur”/“boy-genius”, demonstrating its durability in reality, imagination and popular culture. We provide an in-depth character portrait to provoke further attention to children’s multi-media ways of experiencing early entrepreneurial impressions. We also expand the methodological scope of research on entrepreneurial masculinity beyond real-life founders.
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Moshe Banai and Philip Tulimieri
This study uses social exchange theory to describe, explain and propose the influence of dyad partners' leadership position structure, which includes the roles they play and their…
Abstract
Purpose
This study uses social exchange theory to describe, explain and propose the influence of dyad partners' leadership position structure, which includes the roles they play and their existing and prospective common experience, on their commitment to their dyad and their cooperation.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses the case of equally empowered co-CEOs in a family business, who play the roles of family member, owner and executive; co-CEOs in a startup firm, who play the roles of owner and executive; and co-CEOs in a merger and acquisition (M&A), who play the role of executive. Co-CEOs in family businesses benefit from longer existing and longer prospective dyad longevity than co-CEOs in startups, who, in turn, benefit from longer existing and longer prospective dyad longevity than co-CEOs in M&As.
Findings
The study proposes that the roles the partners play in the dyads, and the existing and prospective longevity of their relationship, positively influence the partners' commitment to the dyad and their level of cooperation.
Originality/value
The study offers a model that has the potential to direct scholars at the formulation of the theory of top management symmetric formal power dyads dynamics and assist family business owners, startup partners, board of directors and co-CEOs in formulating and implementing upper echelons leadership plans to enhance cooperation and coordination between equal partners.
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Abstract
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Yuan Feng, Jing Zhang, Wei Han and Yongtao Luo
As China is on an inevitable march into the digital era, firms have accumulated abundant digital assets, such as algorithms and data. Facing the possibility of using digital…
Abstract
Purpose
As China is on an inevitable march into the digital era, firms have accumulated abundant digital assets, such as algorithms and data. Facing the possibility of using digital assets as a new type input, besides traditional inputs such as capital and labor, would powerful managers perform better? Would managerial power help managers increase the efficiency of how a firm combines traditional and digital inputs and converts them into outputs? Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether powerful managers promotes corporate productivity by using digital assets as a new input.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data from listed Chinese firms between 2008 and 2020, the authors constructed panel regressions with three-way fixed effects to examine whether and how managerial power influences corporate productivity in the current digital context, particularly under market uncertainty.
Findings
The findings reveal no consistent relationship between managerial power and corporate productivity. The results explain this from two contrasting effects: while managerial power promotes technological change it hinders technical efficiency – two components of total productivity. Moreover, this study identifies market uncertainty as a significant external contingency. In uncertain markets, strong managerial power positively impacts corporate productivity.
Originality/value
The results extend extant theoretical insights in the literature on how managerial power might influence corporate productivity.
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Iseoluwa Joanna Mogaji, Modupe Cecilia Mewomo and Francis Kwesi Bondinuba
While innovative building materials (IBM) have emerged as a promising solution for addressing the global construction industry’s environmental, economic and social challenges…
Abstract
Purpose
While innovative building materials (IBM) have emerged as a promising solution for addressing the global construction industry’s environmental, economic and social challenges, their adoption is plagued with increasing challenges in the Nigerian construction industry (NCI). To provide practical strategies to overcome the present IBM challenges in the NCI, the barriers that hinder its successful adoption need detailed investigation. Consequently, this study examines the barriers that affect the adoption of IBM for sustainable construction (SC) in the NCI.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research approach was used to obtain primary data from 282 construction professionals, viz. architects, builders, engineers and quantity surveyors, via a closed-ended questionnaire survey. Data were analysed using a mean item score (descriptive analysis) and exploratory factor analysis (inferential analysis).
Findings
The study revealed the top five most significant barriers to IBM adoption in the NCI. These barriers include lack of awareness and knowledge, learning/training period, cost and economic viability, lack of qualified staff and lack of end-user involvement. Factor analysis revealed five components of barriers: resource and policy-related barriers, perception and cultural-related barriers, organisational-related barriers, awareness and market-related barriers and resistance and stakeholder engagement-related barriers.
Practical implications
The findings of this study have several practical implications for construction professionals, policymakers and other stakeholders in Nigeria. The study highlights the need for increased awareness and technical expertise to promote the adoption of IBM in the NCI. The study also recommends several practical strategies for overcoming the barriers to IBM adoption and promoting SC practices in Nigeria, such as fostering a positive perception of sustainable concepts, fostering stakeholder support and involvement and promoting a more conducive environment for adopting sustainable practices. The implication of this study transcends the local context, offering a model for other countries to consider, thereby contributing to a global shift towards sustainable construction practices.
Social implications
The findings highlight the critical role of societal attitudes and awareness in adopting IBM, suggesting the need for educational and awareness programmes to shift public and organisational perception. This shows the importance of cultural change and societal readiness to embrace sustainable construction practices.
Originality/value
This study contributes significantly to knowledge of the barriers to adopting IBM for SC in NCI. Findings from the study will inform policymakers, industry professionals and other stakeholders about the key barriers that require attention and intervention, facilitating the initiatives to overcome these barriers effectively.