Pantea Foroudi, Charles Dennis, Dimitris Stylidis and T.C. Melewar
Abyshey Nhedzi and Caroline Muyaluka Azionya
This study answers the call for research and theorising exploring ethical communication and brand risk from the African continent. The study's purpose was to identify the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study answers the call for research and theorising exploring ethical communication and brand risk from the African continent. The study's purpose was to identify the challenges that strategic communication practitioners face in enacting ethical crisis communication in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers conducted ten in-depth interviews with South African strategic communication professionals.
Findings
The dominant theme emerging from the study is the marginalisation and exclusion of the communication function in decision-making during crisis situations. Communicators were viewed as implementers, technicians and not strategic counsel. The protection of organisational reputation was done at the expense of the ethics and moral conscience of practitioners. Practitioners were viewed and deployed as spin doctors and tools to face unwanted media interactions.
Originality/value
The article sheds light on the concepts of ethical communication and decision-making in a multicultural African context using the moral theory of Ubuntu and strategic communication. It demonstrates the tension professionals experience as they toggle between unethical capitalist approaches and African values. The practitioner's role as organisational moral conscience is hindered, suppressed and undermined by organisational leadership's directives to use opaque, complex communication, selective transparency and misrepresentation of facts.
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Caroline Shulman, Rafi Rogans-Watson, Natasha Palipane, Dan Lewer, Michelle Yeung and Briony F. Hudson
This study aims to co-develop a Frailty, Health and Care Needs Assessment (FHCNA) questionnaire for people experiencing homelessness and explore the feasibility of its use by…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to co-develop a Frailty, Health and Care Needs Assessment (FHCNA) questionnaire for people experiencing homelessness and explore the feasibility of its use by non-clinical staff in homeless hostels.
Design/methodology/approach
The FHCNA, aimed at identifying frailty and other health and care priorities for people experiencing homelessness, was co-designed in workshops (online and in person) with homelessness and inclusion health staff. Its feasibility was tested by staff and their clients in two hostels, with pre- and post-study focus groups held with hostel staff to gain input and feedback.
Findings
The FHCNA was co-developed and then used to collect 74 pairs of resident and key worker inputted data (62% of eligible hostel residents). The mean age of clients was 48 years (range 22–82 years). High levels of unmet need were identified. Over half (53%) were identified as frail. Common concerns included difficulty walking (46%), frequent falls (43%), chronic pain (36%), mental health issues (57%) and dental concerns (50%). In total, 59% of clients reported difficulty in performing at least one basic activity of daily living, while only 14% had undergone a Care Act Assessment. Hostel staff found using the FHCNA to be feasible, acceptable and potentially useful in facilitating explorations of met and unmet health and social care needs of hostel clients. By identifying unmet needs, the FHCNA has the potential to support staff to advocate for access to health and social care support.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to co-develop and feasibility test a questionnaire for use by non-clinically trained staff to identify frailty and other health and care needs of people experiencing homelessness in a hostel setting.
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This study aims to investigate the research question: how do women leaders in the professional business services (PBS) sector develop and approach workplace (in)authenticity?
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the research question: how do women leaders in the professional business services (PBS) sector develop and approach workplace (in)authenticity?
Design/methodology/approach
Ten senior women leaders in the Midlands region of the UK were purposefully selected and interviewed. A semi-structured approach meant that the author adopted a social constructionist paradigm and feminist interpretation. Questions were designed to elicit rich descriptions from the participants. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted to address the study’s purpose.
Findings
Four themes were important to women when they developed and approached workplace (in)authenticity: (1) Power Structures, (2) Fit to Belong, (3) Influential Femininity and (4) Through Her Evolution. Women described masculine-majority organisations exerting power. They were pressured into altering their behaviours to “fit” into workplaces. When women had the latitude to be themselves, their leadership excelled. Women’s authenticity developed through increased self-knowledge, helping them to overcome workplace challenges. The study concluded that women face complexities when developing and approaching their constructions of authenticity, namely in the barriers and ramifications they face.
Practical implications
The study suggests several implications for practice and theory concerning enablers and barriers to women leaders' workplace authenticity. The link between authenticity and workplace gender equity needs to be investigated.
Originality/value
The study provides evidence that women are challenged when becoming authentic, therefore, altering their careers irrecoverably in some cases.
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Daniela Rohrbach-Schmidt, Caroline Wehner, Sabine Krueger and Christian Ebner
This article aims to examine whether specific job tasks measured at the individual level or personality traits are associated with wages and whether the relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to examine whether specific job tasks measured at the individual level or personality traits are associated with wages and whether the relationship between personality traits and wages differs depending on the job tasks that individuals perform.
Design/methodology/approach
This study analyzes the association between job tasks and personality traits, and their interaction, with regard to wages using German employee data from 2017/2018.
Findings
Results suggest that nonroutine manual, interactive or analytic tasks are associated with significantly higher wages compared to routine manual tasks, and while extraversion and emotional stability are related to higher wages, agreeableness and openness tend to be associated with lower wages also within occupations. Moreover, the association between personality traits and wages varies depending on the job task requirements at the workplace. A high degree of extraversion in particular is associated with higher wages when the employee performs nonroutine manual, interactive or analytic tasks.
Originality/value
To date, especially the interaction between individual job tasks and personality traits on wages has not been extensively studied because data on both job tasks and personality at the employee level are scarce. This study contributes to the understanding of wage differences among employees.