Robert J. Manthei and Alison Gilmore
Owing to the increasing debt students are accumulating to finance their tertiary study, many are having to work during term time. The aim of this study is to explore the impact of…
Abstract
Purpose
Owing to the increasing debt students are accumulating to finance their tertiary study, many are having to work during term time. The aim of this study is to explore the impact of this paid employment on their study time and other aspects of their lives.
Design/methodology approach
Eighty three undergraduates completed a questionnaire about their academic workload, their paid employment commitments during term time, their earnings and expenditure, and their recreational and cultural activities.
Findings
Results indicated that 81 per cent of the students held at least one job during term time for an average of 14 hours per week. The money earned was typically spent on essential living expenses. Working left less time than desired for social activities, study and recreation.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are limited by the relatively small sample size of self‐selected students: mainly young, female and enrolled in Arts courses.
Practical implications
The results suggest that working is not always detrimental to students' academic efforts, particularly if the hours worked are manageable given their course load. Lecturers should be more aware of the busy lives students lead and try to structure assignments and course requirements to recognise this, including the scheduling of class times and the offering of study support services.
Originality/value
The study adds to the growing body of international data that reports on the effects of a user‐pays approach in tertiary education. There is no similar data in New Zealand.
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This chapter offers five poems that aim to provide an affective and embodied engagement with the question why women stay silent after experiencing sexual violence. It aims to…
Abstract
This chapter offers five poems that aim to provide an affective and embodied engagement with the question why women stay silent after experiencing sexual violence. It aims to trouble the idea that coming forward as a victim or survivor is a one-time action or ‘event’. Instead it seeks to make felt how both staying silent and speaking out need continuous negotiation and effort. The poems provide a personal account of the difficulties inherent in navigating systemic power structures such as misogyny and rape culture that produce victims as shameful, guilty and broken. The writing speaks to both ongoing discussions in organisation studies regarding #MeToo (e.g. Ozkazanc Pan, 2018; Pullen & Vacchani, 2019) and efforts that aim to resist norms of academic writing, grouped under the heading ‘writing differently’ (e.g. Fotaki, Metcalfe, & Harding, 2014; Gilmore, Harding, Helin, & Pullen 2019; Grey & Sinclair 2006; Meier & Wegener 2017; Phillips, Pullen, & Rhodes 2014). More specifically, it uses poetic inquiry (cf. Prendergast, Leggo, & Sameshima 2009; van Amsterdam & van Eck, 2019) as the starting point of a feminist ethic of care in order to capture affect, embodiment and tacit knowledge, provide resonance and make an impact on the reader that goes beyond rational understanding.
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Alison Henderson and Rachel Bowley
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to emerging theory about the role of authenticity in social media use through discussion of a not‐for‐profit organisation's experiences…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to emerging theory about the role of authenticity in social media use through discussion of a not‐for‐profit organisation's experiences of using social networking to communicate with potential stakeholders during a recruitment campaign.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses critical discourse analysis of semi‐structured interviews with organisational spokespersons to examine the use of social media by this not‐for‐profit organisation.
Findings
The organisation attempted to re‐position its identity to appear “authentic” to potential young stakeholders, and to use social media to build a dialogue that would attract new recruits to the industry. The paper discusses the challenges and opportunities experienced by the not‐for‐profit organisation in this recruitment campaign.
Practical implications
Organisations contemplating the use of social networking sites to engage new audiences can reflect on the problems encountered in the implementation of this campaign, and plan to avoid similar pitfalls.
Originality/value
The study presents original empirical data in relation to social networking by a not‐for‐profit organisation. It demonstrates the importance of audience perceptions of authenticity and raises important questions about organisational “control”, and the expectations of employees carrying out “authenticity work”.
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Studies on call centres suggest that there is a focus on efficiency at the expense of effectiveness, where effectiveness is indicated by characteristics such as customer…
Abstract
Studies on call centres suggest that there is a focus on efficiency at the expense of effectiveness, where effectiveness is indicated by characteristics such as customer orientation, service priorities and quality. It therefore appears that customers will expect and experience low levels of service quality from call centres, with possible implications for their loyalty to the providing organisation. These issues are the focus of this study. A mail survey was conducted of recent clients of two call centres in Australia. The respondents were individual consumers in an insurance company (n = 284, 14 per cent) or business customers of a bank (n = 325, 16 per cent). Key findings are similar for the two samples. Both perceptions of quality and customer orientation of the call centre were related to loyalty to the providing organisation, and perceptions of quality partially mediated the customer orientation to loyalty relationship. The discussion includes managerial implications and potential future research.
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The purpose of this paper is to define the construct authenticity and its dimensions and to propose an index to measure levels of authenticity in organisational messages and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to define the construct authenticity and its dimensions and to propose an index to measure levels of authenticity in organisational messages and actions, as well as perceived authenticity from the stakeholders' perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes the form of a comprehensive literature review.
Findings
The construct authenticity and its dimensions are defined from a multidisciplinary perspective, including literature from advertising, communication studies, marketing, and public relations.
Research limitations/implications
Items for an authenticity index are proposed. Such a scale could be used to measure the effectiveness of public relations efforts and techniques and, therefore, the perceived authenticity of organisations, including its actions, operations, product, services, and spokespeople in the mind of stakeholders.
Practical implications
The consistency between authentic claims, offerings, and promises and the management philosophy and behaviour of organisations would determine the effectiveness of public relations efforts assessed by measuring the responses, actions, and behaviours of stakeholders.
Social implications
The evenness between the genuine nature of organisational offerings and their communication is crucial to overcome the eroding confidence in major social institutions. Authenticity claims must capture the experiences, aspirations, and expectations of the involved segment of society that organisations aim to engage; otherwise, a clash of values may occur.
Originality/value
The paper provides ideas for measuring authenticity in organisational messages and actions as a guide to best ethical practices and support for teaching the value of the studied construct.
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Maria Grafström and Anna Jonsson
In this chapter, we explore genre-blurring writing, where fiction meets theory, following the argument that texts in management and organisation studies suffer from the ‘textbook…
Abstract
In this chapter, we explore genre-blurring writing, where fiction meets theory, following the argument that texts in management and organisation studies suffer from the ‘textbook syndrome’. The stories that we tell through textbooks not only influence, but also set boundaries for, the way understandings are developed through the eyes of the reader. Often textbooks are written in a way that lead the reader into an idealised linear understanding of an organisation – far from the problems, dilemmas and messy everyday life that managers experience. Our discussion builds on previous literature on writing differently and our own experiences of writing a textbook by involving a professional novelist. Engaging in genre-blurring writing opens up how we think not only about writing, fiction and facts but also in our role as scientists. By situating ourselves, as researchers, at the intersection of fiction and the scientific work, not only new ways of writing, but also of thinking emerge. We discuss three aspects through which fiction challenge and develop our writing and thinking, namely to write with voice, resonance and an open end. Through genre-blurring writing, we create opportunities both to learn and to engage students in learning.
Jayde Cahir, Margot McNeill, Agnes Bosanquet and Christa Jacenyik-Trawöger
Many universities are in the process of changing their learning management systems to Moodle yet there is limited empirical research available on the impact of this change. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Many universities are in the process of changing their learning management systems to Moodle yet there is limited empirical research available on the impact of this change. The purpose of this paper is to explore the results of an initial pilot, which was conducted as the first stage of implementing Moodle at an Australian university.
Design/methodology/approach
The pilot study involved an online survey and a focus group with unit convenors teaching Open University Australia (OUA) units in Moodle.
Findings
The aim was to essentially test Moodle and eliminate any technological issues prior to the university-wide roll-out the following year. It was envisaged that this pilot would contribute to building capability and knowledge amongst staff members; however, it was unanticipated that this would be jeopardised by a wider and ongoing issue in higher education; namely, the casualisation of the academic workforce. The paper maps the accumulated knowledge of these unit convenors and how this knowledge is “walking out the door”.
Originality/value
The paper argues that an environment of insecure employment is a barrier to change management.