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This paper seeks to study the impact of adopting quality orientation as a business operations philosophy to enhance a firm's performance. Specifically, it aims to identify various indicators that make up a quality orientation philosophy, and to research their role in improving business performance in the banking sector of the service industry.

The paper surveyed retail banking firms for this study, and used path analysis and structure equation modeling (SEM) to develop the study model. This model was tested to develop the process by which quality orientation philosophy, if adopted, can impact a business's performance.

Results indicate that specific indicators of quality orientation, when operationalized as a business philosophy, can enhance a banking firm's performance. This study also provides an insight for managers as to the process of adopting quality orientation philosophy in their businesses.

Research was conducted on a specific sector of service industry: the banking sector. The relatively small size of the study sample may impact the outcome of research applicability in some large businesses. However, the research does provide valuable insights as to how other businesses can adopt quality orientation in their operations.

This paper examines the process by which operational activities should be designed to effect a service firm's performance by placing emphasis on the quality aspect of each indicator that comprises quality orientation. This differs from other studies in the sense that it first operationalizes quality orientation as a set of indicators, and then shows how individual indicators influence business performance.

This paper examines actors and discourses shaping new Canadian legislation designed to advance diversity in corporate governance.

This paper performs a stakeholder and discourse analysis drawing on texts of parliamentary debates.

The paper illuminates tensions regarding definitions of diversity, its importance for boards of directors and the mechanisms favoured for implementation. Official discourses examined show that, unlike for other political issues, opposition was largely muted, and most stakeholders engaged in the process supported legislation advancing diversity. Nonetheless areas of debate and positioning by actors and suggest important differences, with outcomes linked to non-traditional power bases.

This study provides insights into the discursive environments of organizations and processes relating to promoting diversity and equality in the political decision-making domain, a critical venue for understanding advancement of equity, often neglected in organizational studies.

By understanding the complex and competing discourses surrounding diversity and inclusion at the macro level this paper provides a context for understanding organizational (meso) and individual (micro) beliefs and behaviours.

This study shows how advocacy shapes how policy and legislation are framed and the ways mainstream organizations, including women's groups, may advance gender equality without regard to other dimensions of diversity or intersectionality.

This study maps the political discourse around recent Canadian legislation designed to improve diversity on boards that must, in the Canadian context, address more than gender.

This study aims to develop immersive scenarios (immersive videos) to foster generalization of learning while addressing social cognition, a factor associated to violence in schizophrenia. The authors sought to develop immersive videos that generate a sense of presence; are socially realistic; and can be misinterpreted and, if so, lead to anger.

A multiphase mixed method was used to develop and validate the immersive scenarios. The development phase consisted of preliminary interviews and co-design workshops with patients (n = 7) and mental health practitioners (n = 7). The validation phase was conducted with patients (n = 7) and individuals without mental disorders (n = 7).

The development phase led to the creation of five scenarios (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5); they included social cues which could lead to self-referential and intentional biases. Results of the validation phase showed that all scenarios generated a sense of presence and were considered highly realistic. Three scenarios elicited biases and, consequently, moderate levels of anger (annoyance).

Immersive videos represent a relevant and accessible technological solution to address social-cognitive domains such as self-reference bias.

No intervention using immersive technologies had been developed or studied yet for individuals with schizophrenia at risk of violence in secure settings. This project demonstrated the feasibility of creating immersive videos which have relevant attributes to foster generalization of learning in the remediation of social-cognitive deficits.