Brenda Abu and Wilna Oldewage-Theron
Food insecurity is an evolving nutrition issue affecting both developed and underdeveloped college campuses. The purpose of this paper is to assess food insecurity and related…
Abstract
Purpose
Food insecurity is an evolving nutrition issue affecting both developed and underdeveloped college campuses. The purpose of this paper is to assess food insecurity and related coping strategies among Texas Tech University students.
Design/methodology/approach
This was a cross-sectional online survey in Lubbock, Texas, among college students (n=173). The outcome measures, socio-demographic factors, household food insecurity access) and dietary diversity were assessed using validated tools. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software. Socio-demographic differences in food security status were examined using χ2, and means testing. Risks of student food insecurity were assessed using odds ratios (ORs).
Findings
Respondents were mostly female (70 percent), non-Hispanic white (58 percent) and young adults’ (median age: 22.0 (20.0, 27.0)), with a median monthly income of $1,000 (0.0, 1,500) and spent about a fifth of their income on food. More students were food insecure (59.5 percent) compared to those who experienced food security (40.5 percent) (p<0.001). Some of the severe food insecure students (16.7 percent) reported going to bed without food (6.9 percent) in the prior 30 days. Students with monthly food budgets of ⩽ $200 were 3.2 times more likely to be food insecure (OR=3.231: CI: 1.353–7.714; p=0.010) compared to those with higher food budgets. A students’ choice of priority monthly expenses was significantly associated with food security status; however, further risk assessment of dichotomous “prioritized food” and “prioritized other expenses” was not statistically significant.
Originality/value
Student’s food budget of $200 was the strongest determinant of food insecurity. Individual training on money management and meal planning are recommended. University policies should recognize and develop academic support policies addressing competing expenses with food.
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Olebogeng Glad Dibetso, Margaret Mary Sutherland and Caren Brenda Scheepers
The purpose of this study is to empirically quantify the factors that are perceived to drive or inhibit performance of information technology (IT) outsourced employees from a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to empirically quantify the factors that are perceived to drive or inhibit performance of information technology (IT) outsourced employees from a range of information technology outsourcing (ITO) stakeholders in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The first phase was a qualitative study on 19 stakeholders focussed on the development of the constructs. The second phase was quantitative, with a sample of 116 ITO stakeholders of the largest IT company in South Africa.
Findings
The study revealed that the ITO stakeholders had misaligned perceptions on inhibitors and somewhat congruent perceptions with regards to drivers of performance. Managers and poor performers’ perceptions of inhibiting factors of performance were significantly different. The empirical evidence showed that the key drivers of performance were intrinsic factors and leadership, whilst the inhibiting factors were mainly related to poor leadership.
Research limitations/implications
The major limitation was that the population was represented by one large organisation in the South African IT industry and its clients, thereby excluding the rest of the IT industry participants, specifically the medium and small IT companies. The quota sample resulted in a non-probability study, and thus, the results of this study may not necessarily be generalised to other populations. This study’s findings on differences between good and poor performers must be investigated in other industries.
Practical implications
For outsourced employees to perform optimally, some key intrinsic factors must be fulfilled. Passion and pride, aligned to a meaningful job role, will unleash outstanding performance. Organisations need to ensure that there is regular feedback to managers on their performance and subsequent leadership development. Alignment of managers and poor performers’ perceptions on drivers and inhibitors could improve performance.
Social implications
These findings demonstrate the large gap in perceptions about the key drivers and inhibiters of performance.
Originality/value
The study reveals that top performers tend to have higher order and intrinsic motivators, compared to poor performers, who have a mixture of extrinsic and intrinsic needs, and managers have a misaligned expectation of extrinsic motivators.
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In recent years, the issue of human trafficking has become a key component of a growing number of corporate social responsibility initiatives, in which multinational corporations…
Abstract
In recent years, the issue of human trafficking has become a key component of a growing number of corporate social responsibility initiatives, in which multinational corporations have furthered the pursuit of “market based solutions” to contemporary social concerns. This essay draws upon in-depth interviews with and ethnographic observations of corporate actors involved in contemporary anti-trafficking campaigns to describe a new domain of sexual politics that feminist social theorists have barely begun to consider. Using trafficking as a case study, I argue that these new forms of sexual politics have served to bind together unlikely sets of social actors – including secular feminists, evangelical Christians, bipartisan state officials, and multinational corporations – who have historically subscribed to very different ideals about the beneficence of markets, criminal justice, and the role of the state.
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Museum visits provide opportunities for students to learn content in engaging and interactive ways. In social studies, museums may be spaces where students can increase their…
Abstract
Museum visits provide opportunities for students to learn content in engaging and interactive ways. In social studies, museums may be spaces where students can increase their historical and civic understanding through exposure to artifacts and narratives unavailable in classrooms. Yet, research suggests teachers are insufficiently prepared to integrate museum visits into classroom curriculum effectively. In this project, the instructors of the two secondary social studies methods course sections organized a visit to a natural history museum. The instructors modeled pre- and post-visit lesson activities during class and provided a guide for pre-service teachers to complete during their museum visit. While pre-service teachers reported they better understood the importance of connecting museum visits to classroom curriculum, they also raised questions about how methods course faculty might introduce pre-service teachers to museum visits. This article discusses what was learned during the project, as well as approaches social studies methods course instructors might reflect upon when considering museum visits as a component of social studies teacher education.
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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the contributions that critical realist ethnographies can make to an understanding of the multinational corporation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the contributions that critical realist ethnographies can make to an understanding of the multinational corporation.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on a discussion of methodological challenges in researching the multinational corporation and the ways in which critical realist ethnographies can respond to these challenges. The example of research on the transfer of management practices is used to illustrate this.
Findings
Taking the example of researching the transfer of management practices within the multinational, the paper argues that the potential of critical realist ethnography including critical realist global ethnography to contribute to the field of International Business and International Management remains relatively untapped.
Research limitations/implications
Adopting the sociological imagination of the critical realist ethnographer has implications for the kinds of questions that are asked by the researcher and the ways in which we seek to address these methodologically. Researching from a critical standpoint fruitful empirical themes for further research relate to the experience of change for example in business systems, internationalization of organizations and “globalization”.
Practical implications
The critical realist ethnographer can contribute insights into the complex social and political processes within the multinational and provide insights into how social structures are both impacting on and impacted by individuals and groups. Ethnographic research located within a critical realist framework has the potential to address questions of how stability and change take place within specific structural, cultural and power relations.
Originality/value
At the methodological level, this paper highlights the potential of critical realist ethnography in researching the multinational, in addressing significant questions facing the critical researcher and in gaining a privileged insight into the lived experience of globalization.
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Feminist perspectives from women of color did not emerge solely as a result from racism in the white feminist movements; such an assumption negates the agency of feminists of…
Abstract
Feminist perspectives from women of color did not emerge solely as a result from racism in the white feminist movements; such an assumption negates the agency of feminists of color (Roth, 2004). Instead, feminist perspectives by women of color emerged from historical and sociopolitical dynamics within their own communities of origin, as well as in relationship to each other, including in opposition to, and at times in concert with, the white feminist movements. This chapter explores the development, complexities, and unique contributions of Womanist, Black Feminist Thought, hip-hop, Chicana, Native American, global, Asian American, Arab American and ecofeminism. These feminist perspectives include overarching themes, such as the intersectionality of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, ability, age, religion, nationality, and other important identities and issues. Each contemporary feminist theory also explores the interstices of issues such as education, health, economics, reproduction, sociopolitical, historical, organizational, technological, and myriad interrelated dynamics.
Khaula Alkaabi and Kashif Mehmood
This study aims to examine success factors for food truck businesses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), focusing on customer convenience, government support, cultural…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine success factors for food truck businesses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), focusing on customer convenience, government support, cultural infrastructure and location decisions. Given the unique cultural and economic context of the UAE, this research aims to fill a notable gap in the existing literature.
Design/methodology/approach
Using SmartPLS and partial least squares structural equation modeling, data from 250 food truck owners are analyzed to identify significant relationships between success factors and business performance.
Findings
The findings reveal significant relationships (p < 0.05) between success factors and the performance of food truck businesses. Customer convenience indirectly affects success through location suitability. Additionally, cultural infrastructure, government support and strategic location decisions have a direct impact on business performance. However, some indirect effects, such as customer convenience through location selection, were found to be statistically insignificant (p = 0.061).
Practical implications
The study offers practical guidance for policymakers and entrepreneurs, highlighting the importance of strategic location selection, cultural infrastructure and customer convenience for business success. Establishing designated food truck zones based on suitability will ensure optimal operational environments, particularly in high-traffic tourist areas.
Originality/value
This study contributes new insights into the food truck industry in the UAE, using advanced statistical techniques to identify specific success factors relevant to the region’s unique dynamics.
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Ontology and Linked Data (LD) are the two prominent web technologies that have emerged in the recent past. Both of them are at the center of Semantic Web and its applications…
Abstract
Purpose
Ontology and Linked Data (LD) are the two prominent web technologies that have emerged in the recent past. Both of them are at the center of Semantic Web and its applications. Researchers and developers from both academia and business are actively working in these areas. The increasing interest in these technologies promoted the growth of LD sets and ontologies on the web. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possible relationships between them. The effort is to investigate the possible roles that ontologies may play in further empowering the LD. In a similar fashion, the author also studies the possible roles that LD may play to empower ontologies.
Design/methodology/approach
The work is mainly carried out by exploring the ontology- and LD-based real-world systems, and by reviewing the existing literature.
Findings
The current work reveals, in general, that both the technologies are interdependent and have lots to offer to each other for their faster growth and meaningful development. Specifically, anything that we can do with LD, we can do more by adding an ontology to it.
Practical implications
The author envisions that the current work, in the one hand, will help in boosting the successful implementation and the delivery of semantic applications; on the other hand, it will also become a food for the future researchers in further investigating the relationships between the ontologies and LD.
Originality/value
So far, as per the author’s knowledge, there are very little works that have attempted in exploring the relationships between the ontologies and LD. In this work, the author illustrates the real-world systems that are based on ontology and LD, discusses the issues and challenges and finally illustrates their interdependency discussing some of the ongoing research works.
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Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence…
Abstract
Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence down into manageable chunks, covering: age discrimination in the workplace; discrimination against African‐Americans; sex discrimination in the workplace; same sex sexual harassment; how to investigate and prove disability discrimination; sexual harassment in the military; when the main US job‐discrimination law applies to small companies; how to investigate and prove racial discrimination; developments concerning race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; developments concerning discrimination against workers with HIV or AIDS; developments concerning discrimination based on refusal of family care leave; developments concerning discrimination against gay or lesbian employees; developments concerning discrimination based on colour; how to investigate and prove discrimination concerning based on colour; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; using statistics in employment discrimination cases; race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning gender discrimination in the workplace; discrimination in Japanese organizations in America; discrimination in the entertainment industry; discrimination in the utility industry; understanding and effectively managing national origin discrimination; how to investigate and prove hiring discrimination based on colour; and, finally, how to investigate sexual harassment in the workplace.