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Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 October 2017

Marianne Bradford, Julia B. Earp and Paul F. Williams

The purpose of this paper is to determine what types of sustainability activities companies are reporting and whether persons external to the companies understand how those…

7773

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine what types of sustainability activities companies are reporting and whether persons external to the companies understand how those reported activities correspond to the companies’ narratives about sustainability. That is to ascertain how people interpret the meaning of the activities included in the sustainability reports.

Design/methodology/approach

From a sample of sustainability reports prepared by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, the authors identified the distinct activities reported. The authors prepared a survey comprised of these activities and asked a sample of people knowledgeable about business and investing to evaluate each activity on the extent to which they are relevant to sustainability performance. The responses were then factor analyzed to identify the most important dimensions of sustainability these persons employed to relate the activities to sustainability.

Findings

The dimensions employed by the subjects differed in some significant ways from those dimensions used to construct the GRI format. Subjects evaluated sustainability efforts as primarily efforts of being a good citizen with sustainability an end in itself rather than as constraint to be respected in achieving profitability goals.

Research limitations/implications

The study is a first attempt so results are preliminary, i.e. suggestive but not definitive. Though preliminary an intriguing implication is that closure on a sustainability reporting structure would be premature. More effort needs to be devoted to provide more clarity on the concept of corporate sustainability and what its implications are for corporate behavior.

Practical implications

Given the results that sustainability be regarded as a corporate end, what is the role of the corporation in society seems still to be disputatious. Sustainability may not be something achievable without changes in corporate law.

Originality/value

The study is an early attempt to assess the potential alternative narratives about corporate sustainability. Its value lies in providing insights into the age-old question of what should be the role of the corporation in a free society.

Details

Journal of Capital Markets Studies, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-4774

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 November 2024

Fanny Vainionpää, Ville Aalto and Marianne Kinnula

There are increasing expectations for educators to include sustainability as part of higher education Information and Communication Technology (ICT) curricula, but we still lack…

427

Abstract

Purpose

There are increasing expectations for educators to include sustainability as part of higher education Information and Communication Technology (ICT) curricula, but we still lack concrete ways how to integrate it into teaching. To be able to create meaningful learning experiences we need to understand how our students approach sustainability and what they base their thinking on.

Design/methodology/approach

We asked our students to consider technology development linked with the European Green Deal targets in their essays and utilized nexus analysis to focus on discourses in place, interaction order and the historical body revealed in the essays.

Findings

Learning about sustainability could be approached in the ICT courses in a structured way as a question of four intersecting elements: individuals, societal systems, current and emerging technologies, and relevancy of the topic, all of these linked with the agency of ICT professionals.

Originality/value

This study contributes toward sustainable ICT research and design of effective ICT education (1) by providing an understanding of how future ICT professionals approach sustainability and digital technology development, (2) by proposing a way to raise students’ consciousness of their own role as future professionals in developing more sustainable digital solutions and (3) generally helping students to see the big picture of sustainability through setting the scene with the wider targets.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 37 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 March 2018

Marianne Jahre, Joakim Kembro, Anicet Adjahossou and Nezih Altay

An unprecedented scale of human migration has lead humanitarians to view camps as long-term settlements rather than temporary holding facilities. The purpose of this paper is to…

16948

Abstract

Purpose

An unprecedented scale of human migration has lead humanitarians to view camps as long-term settlements rather than temporary holding facilities. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of and identify challenges with this proposed new approach to camp design.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the camp design literature, the authors developed an interview guide and checklist for data collection. A multi-site case study and within- and cross-case analysis was then conducted.

Findings

The findings suggest that the proposed new approach is implemented only to a limited extent, and mostly in a stepwise manner. As camps mature, there is a shift toward the new approach, but most camps are established using the traditional top-down, temporary, and isolated approach.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are based on four camps in four different countries and do not provide an exhaustive global coverage.

Practical implications

The insights the authors derived and the challenges identified from the empirical evidence can be used to better plan future camps.

Social implications

The results can support improvements in camp design, thus alleviating suffering for both refugees and host communities, particularly in developing countries. In particular, the trade-off between a permanent solution and the temporary must be accounted for.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the literature by developing and proposing a conceptual framework to camp design. The cross-case analysis provides an initial understanding and categorization of challenges with implementing the new approach. It also suggests an evolutionary perspective of camp design.

Details

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6747

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 September 2021

Christian Gadolin, Maria Skyvell Nilsson, Axel Ros and Marianne Törner

The purpose of this paper is to inductively explore the context-specific preconditions for nurses' perceived organizational support (POS) in healthcare organizations.

2354

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to inductively explore the context-specific preconditions for nurses' perceived organizational support (POS) in healthcare organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative interview study was performed, based on the critical incident technique (CIT), with 24 registered nurses in different specialities of hospital care.

Findings

The nurses perceived three actors as essential for their POS: the first-line manager, the overarching organization and their college. The preconditions affecting the nurses’ perceptions of organizational support were supportive structuring and structures at work, as well as individual recognition and professional acknowledgement.

Originality/value

Previous studies of POS have mostly had a quantitative outset. In this paper, context-specific preconditions for nurses' POS are described in depth, enabled by the qualitative approach of the study. The findings may be used to guide healthcare organizations and managers aiming to foster nurses' POS, and thereby, benefit nurses' well-being and retention, as well as healthcare quality and efficiency.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 35 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 21 May 2024

Abstract

Details

Talent Management in Higher Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-688-9

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 February 2024

Anne-Charlott Callerstig, Marta Lindvert, Elisabet Carine Ljunggren, Marit Breivik-Meyer, Gry Agnete Alsos and Dag Balkmar

In order to address the gender divide in technology entrepreneurship, we explore how different national contexts impact policies and policy implementation. We investigate how…

1208

Abstract

Purpose

In order to address the gender divide in technology entrepreneurship, we explore how different national contexts impact policies and policy implementation. We investigate how transnational concerns (macro level) about women’s low participation in (technology) entrepreneurship are translated and implemented amongst actors at the meso level (technology incubators) and understood at the micro level (women tech entrepreneurs).

Design/methodology/approach

We adopt gender institutionalism as a theoretical lens to understand what happens in the implementation of gender equality goals in technology entrepreneurship policy. We apply Gains and Lowndes’ (2014) conceptual framework to investigate the gendered character and effects of institutional formation. Four countries represent different levels of gender equality: high (Norway and Sweden), medium (Ireland) and low (Israel). An initial policy document analysis provides the macro level understanding (Heilbrunn et al., 2020). At the meso level, managers of technology business incubators (n = 3–5) in each country were interviewed. At the micro level, 10 female technology entrepreneurs in each country were interviewed. We use an inductive research approach, combined with thematic analysis.

Findings

Policies differ across the four countries, ranging from women-centred approaches to gender mainstreaming. Macro level policies are interpreted and implemented in different ways amongst actors at the meso level, who tend to act in line with given national policies. Actors at the micro level often understand gender equality in ways that reflect their national policies. However, women in all four countries share similar struggles with work-life balance and gendered expectations in relation to family responsibilities.

Originality/value

The contribution of our paper is to (1) entrepreneurship theory by applying gendered institutionalism theory to (tech) entrepreneurship, and (2) our findings clearly show that the gendered context matters for policy implementation.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 30 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 May 2021

Hanna Almlöf and Hans Sjögren

This study sheds light on a hitherto understudied group in family business literature: widows. We explore the roles a widow may take following the unexpected death of her…

2245

Abstract

Purpose

This study sheds light on a hitherto understudied group in family business literature: widows. We explore the roles a widow may take following the unexpected death of her owner-manager spouse when she had no salient role in the business prior to the death.

Design/methodology/approach

We used a qualitative approach to research, to study inductively the roles considered and taken by three widows who unexpectedly succeeded as owners of Swedish privately held family firms. We conducted semi-structured interviews with widows and children in top management.

Findings

We construct a typology of four main roles a widow can take and analyse the underlying dimensions that they represent. We also analyse to which extent the choice of role widow can be explained by psychological ownership and double-loss theory. The typology can be used as a tool for family business owners and their advisors as the basis of an open and non-prejudiced discussion of the choices available to a widow.

Originality/value

We have investigated the factors that influence a widow's decision whether to take over the business or not, as suggested in previous research by, for example, Martinez et al. (2009). We explore the roles a widow can consider and adopt. The study advances our understanding of how businesses can remain as family firms also in the event of the unexpected death of an owner-manager (De Massis et al., 2008). We hereby contribute to the literature on sudden successions and on women in family businesses.

Details

Journal of Family Business Management, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-6238

Keywords

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