Emre Amasyalı and Axel van den Berg
The use of the concept of “agency,” in the sense of action that is to some extent free of “structural” constraints, has enjoyed enormous and growing popularity in the sociological…
Abstract
The use of the concept of “agency,” in the sense of action that is to some extent free of “structural” constraints, has enjoyed enormous and growing popularity in the sociological literature over the past several decades. In a previous paper, we examined the range of theoretical rationales offered by sociologists for the inclusion of the notion of “agency” in sociological explanations. Having found these rationales seriously wanting, in this paper we attempt to determine empirically what role “agency” actually plays in the recent sociological literature. We examine a random sample of 147 articles in sociology journals that use the concept of “agency” with the aim of identifying the ways in which the term is used and what function the concept serves in the sociological explanations offered. We identify four principal (often overlapping) uses of “agency”: (1) purely descriptive; (2) as a synonym for “power”; (3) as a way to identify resistance to “structural” pressures; and (4) as a way to describe intelligible human actions. We find that in none of these cases the notion of “agency” adds anything of analytical or explanatory value. These different uses have one thing in common, however: they all tend to use the term “agency” in a strongly normative sense to mark the actions the authors approve of. We conclude that “agency” seems to serve the purpose of registering the authors' moral or political preferences under the guise of a seemingly analytical concept.
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Although the literature on modern slavery (MS) is continually increasing, there remains a paucity of theory-driven research. Hence, this study aims to develop a multitheoretical…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the literature on modern slavery (MS) is continually increasing, there remains a paucity of theory-driven research. Hence, this study aims to develop a multitheoretical framework and research agenda for MS.
Design/methodology/approach
This study comprised two steps. First, it reviews the literature on supply chain (SC) social sustainability to identify the typically used theories. Six of them were selected for this study: institutional, stakeholder, resource-based, resource dependence, principal agent and transaction cost economics theories. Second, it conducts a systematic literature review using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines to analyze relevant literature on social issues in SCs, and thematically synthesizes the findings. The six theoretical perspectives and key themes that emerged from the literature were used to develop future research directions (RDs) for MS.
Findings
This study develops a multitheoretical framework and research agenda comprising 20 theory-driven RDs for MS, focusing on the environmental, firm and transaction levels.
Research limitations/implications
This study provides a reference for future MS research. Although the study used only six theories, future studies can develop further research agendas for MS based on diverse theories.
Practical implications
Practitioners can use this framework to understand MS from varied perspectives and identify and mitigate MS risks in SCs.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study presents the first comprehensive and theoretically grounded research agenda that positions MS research onto a stronger theoretical foundation.
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Qing Huang, Xiaoling Li and Dianwen Wang
Previous studies on social influence and virtual product adoption have mainly taken users’ purchase behavior as a dichotomous variable (i.e. purchasing or not). Given the…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous studies on social influence and virtual product adoption have mainly taken users’ purchase behavior as a dichotomous variable (i.e. purchasing or not). Given the prevalence of competing versions (basic vs upgraded) of a virtual product in online communities, this paper investigated the differences in the effect of social influence on users’ adoption of basic and upgraded choices of a virtual product. It also examined how the effect varies with users’ social status and user-level network density.
Design/methodology/approach
A natural experiment was conducted in an online game community. Two competing versions (basic vs upgraded) of a virtual product were provided for in-game purchase while a random set of users selected from 897,765 players received the notification of their friends’ adoption information. A competing-risk model was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Social influence exerts a stronger positive effect on users’ adoption of the upgraded virtual product than of the basic virtual product. Middle-status users have the greatest (least) susceptibility to social influence in adopting the upgraded (basic) virtual product than low- and high-status users. User’s network density enhances the effect of social influence on adoption of both virtual products, even more for the upgraded one.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the social influence and product adoption literature by disentangling the different effects of social influence on basic and upgraded versions of a virtual product. It also identifies the boundary conditions that social influence works for each version of the virtual product.
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Jocelyn S. Wikle, Ashley Forbush and Alexander C. Jensen
This study evaluates parental time investments in adolescents with disabilities relative to their siblings and to nondisabled youth in other families. Parents with several…
Abstract
This study evaluates parental time investments in adolescents with disabilities relative to their siblings and to nondisabled youth in other families. Parents with several children must allocate time and attention to each, which may not be equal due to the challenges that arise from child disabilities, possibly reinforcing preexisting differences between siblings. In contrast, parents may seek to compensate for health deficiencies by allocating more parental time to a child with disabilities. Using the nationally representative American Time Use Survey (ATUS) (2008–2019) and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to make across-family comparisons of parental time with disabled children relative to families in which no children had disabilities (N = 18,140), the study further focused on families with a disabled child and used fixed effects regression to evaluate within-family sibling comparisons of parental time investments (N = 648). Results indicate for families with a child with a disability, and parents spend the most one-on-one time with children who have disabilities and less one-on-one time with their other children. One-on-one time with children with disabilities is also higher than one-on-one time in families without children with disabilities. Differences were most pronounced in households in which a child had both cognitive and physical disabilities and in households in which no parent had a bachelor’s degree. Additional parental time for youth with disabilities aligns with theories of compensation and likely promotes development for these youth. Parental time investments may also be a plausible mechanism for explaining some difficulties experienced by siblings of disabled youth.
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Sustainable facilities management (SFM) research necessitates a sociotechnical system perspective as core organizations and facilities management (FM) suppliers are subject to…
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainable facilities management (SFM) research necessitates a sociotechnical system perspective as core organizations and facilities management (FM) suppliers are subject to multiple pressures while participating in buildings’ use, operation, and maintenance. The purpose of this study is to examine the SFM literature and improve understanding of factors that influence SFM practices using a sociotechnical transitions approach.
Design/methodology/approach
This study, first, examines facility management and sociotechnical system approaches to develop a framework that conceptualizes pressures and management processes that may impact the transition of FM practices to more sustainable ones. In a second step, the framework is combined with a systematic literature review of studies published between 2000 and 2023 to examine pressures applied to FM firms, explore responses and management processes and the evolution of FM practices, and identify research gaps.
Findings
The review findings indicate that the factors proposed by a sociotechnical system framework are examined in the SFM literature and that FM regimes acknowledged the applied pressures and responded by adapting their strategies, updating technical knowledge and capabilities, establishing new governance mechanisms, and modifying the industry identity and mindset.
Research limitations/implications
The review is limited to SFM literature between 2000 and 2023. An evolutionary sociotechnical system perspective of SFM practices necessitates context-specific research.
Originality/value
The study responds to the call for a sociotechnical system view of SFM and adds a sociotechnical transitions perspective to the development and evolution of SFM research. It organizes the current SFM literature, points to the need for context-specific research, and allows for the identification of future SFM research directions.
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Rhetoric has long had a bad reputation, as synonymous with “false and empty speech”. In the last century, rhetoric has undergone an important reappraisal, which has seen it…
Abstract
Rhetoric has long had a bad reputation, as synonymous with “false and empty speech”. In the last century, rhetoric has undergone an important reappraisal, which has seen it applied also to corporate communication, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and, most recently, sustainability communication. However, the bad reputation that rhetoric has accumulated over the years continues to weigh on the legacy of the discipline, creating theoretical and methodological bias. This research represents a work that aims to map and systematize the academic literature related to rhetorical analysis in the context of CSR and sustainability communication. After a systematic literature review, a state-of-art literature mapping was carried out in order to create typological clusters of current approaches within traditional rhetoric theory, holding firm the assumption that the rhetorical discipline should be considered as a set of reasoned and structured techniques useful for corporate discourse and its persuasive effectiveness. The analysis has enlightened wide academic research regarding the study of rhetoric in corporate communications studies clustered in six typologies of topic endorsed by a specific goal that rhetoric would have in the studies.
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Jie Jin and Leping You
As less is known about how internal communication can influence employees’ whistleblowing intention, this study aims to explore how participatory communication, organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
As less is known about how internal communication can influence employees’ whistleblowing intention, this study aims to explore how participatory communication, organizational listening and organizational responsiveness influence employees’ external whistleblowing intention.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was conducted with 657 employees across various industries in the United States.
Findings
The results revealed that participatory communication, organizational listening and organizational responsiveness can fulfill the organization’s relational contract with their employees. As a communication-charged outcome, the fulfillment of employees’ relational psychological contract is associated with a lower intention to blow the whistle externally.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to examine internal communication strategies, namely, participatory communication, organizational listening and organizational responsiveness, as the antecedents of employees’ relational psychological contract and external whistleblowing intention.
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David Murphy, Lauren Boniface, Freya Walker and Josephine Broyd
The link between sleep disturbance and aggression among forensic psychiatric patients is well established. However, the relationship between subjective experience of sleep quality…
Abstract
Purpose
The link between sleep disturbance and aggression among forensic psychiatric patients is well established. However, the relationship between subjective experience of sleep quality and sleep hygiene, reported head injury, age, neuropsychological functioning and risk within these populations remains poorly understood. A study is described examining the relationships between these factors in a sample of individuals deemed a “grave and immediate” risk toothers. The aim of this study is to explore these relationships in more detail.
Design/methodology/approach
A service evaluation project examining the prevalence of self-reported sleep dysfunction, age and the relationship with neuropsychological functioning, reported head injury and dynamic risk appraisals of a UK high secure psychiatric patient sample is described (n = 84).
Findings
Self-reported poor sleep quality and poor sleep hygiene is present among 65% of patients, especially those in admission and high dependency wards. Whilst there are no differences between those with a self-reported head injury history in sleep quality, there is in sleep hygiene. Older patients also report more sleep hygiene problems. The combination of poor sleep quality, poor sleep hygiene and performance within selective aspects of executive functioning tasks has some relationship with dynamic risk.
Practical implications
The importance of sleep management and cognitive remediation is discussed, as is the need for more robust research and inclusion of an assessment of sleep within forensic neuropsychological and psychiatric evaluations.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship of sleep disturbance, neuropsychological functioning and head injuries and risk within a high secure psychiatric patient sample.
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Lauren Slingluff and Elizabeth Dill
Trauma-informed care as a concept came out of social service and mental health practice in 2009. Since then, it has been working into librarianship and library practice, first as…
Abstract
Trauma-informed care as a concept came out of social service and mental health practice in 2009. Since then, it has been working into librarianship and library practice, first as an approach for public libraries to apply social work principles to their outreach and support of community members. Then it was applied to a broader array of libraries such as academic institutions as they worked to improve their services and offerings for members of their community. What has not yet been addressed broadly within the field of librarianship is trauma-informed leadership as a means of supporting library staff as they grapple with burnout, low morale, and vocational awe.
Academic libraries as workplaces have multiple attributes that contribute to toxicity or low psychological safety. Organizations with a lack of transparency and trust may result in library workers experiencing burnout and a lack of engagement. Creating and supporting healthy organizational cultures with open communication, collaboration, and mutuality is the ethical responsibility of managers. In institutions where there is inherited toxicity, library leaders can practice trauma-informed leadership to support individuals and build a healthier workplace culture.
While toxicity is not unique to academic libraries, large bureaucratic and hierarchical systems can be rife with issues that undermine psychological safety and engagement. This book chapter will examine trauma-informed leadership practices as applied by two leaders in their roles at various organizations and steps for leaders to transform their environments into high functioning, productive workplaces.
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Sang Ho Kim and Yohan An
This paper aims to examine the effects of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on accounting conservatism in Korean firms. An increase in EPU could widen information asymmetry…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the effects of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on accounting conservatism in Korean firms. An increase in EPU could widen information asymmetry between insiders and outsiders, to the detriment of a firm’s investment decisions, stock price and cost of capital. This paper hypothesizes that Korean firms are likely to decrease accounting conservatism during high EPU due to inefficient institutional structure and weak corporate governance, together with the vulnerability of the Korean economy to exogenous shocks.
Design/methodology/approach
This study measures a firm’s level of conservatism using three accrual-based models proposed by Ball and Shivakumar (2006): 1) the cash flow model (CF model), 2) the Dechow and Dichev model (DD model) and 3) the Jones model. As a robustness test, this paper uses C-score model as an alternative measure of accounting conservatism. The data set used in this study is a total of 23,109 firm-year observations during the sample period from 2000 to 2018.
Findings
The test results show that an increase in EPU adversely affects Korean firms’ accounting conservatism, and that this adverse impact is more pronounced in financially distressed and non-manufacturing firms. This study’s findings highlight the importance of institutional structure during a period of high EPU, which can create incentives for either improving or deteriorating reporting quality.
Originality/value
This study adds new evidence to extant literature on the effects of EPU on managers’ choice of accounting policies and demonstrates that managers in emerging markets may have different incentives to cope with country-specific EPU fluctuations.