Anne M. Clarke, Carrie H.S. Ruxton, Lesley Hetherington, Sharon O'Neil and Brian McMillan
Fruit and vegetable (F&V) intakes amongst Scottish schoolchildren are lower than recommended. The purpose of this paper is to describe an intervention which combined F&V with…
Abstract
Purpose
Fruit and vegetable (F&V) intakes amongst Scottish schoolchildren are lower than recommended. The purpose of this paper is to describe an intervention which combined F&V with peer‐modelling and rewards to influence consumption of F&V.
Design/methodology/approach
A school‐based initiative was implemented in 19 primary schools. The evaluation of 8 schools (n = 1,477 pupils aged 4.5‐12 years) is reported. The three‐week intervention included free F&V (80 g portions), a peer‐modelling video and a series of small rewards followed by a four to six week maintenance phase during which time free F&V continued. Questionnaires were completed at baseline (T1) and up to two months after the end of the maintenance phase (T2) to assess changes in F&V consumption.
Findings
At T2, children in years 1 and 2 consumed F&V at school more often compared with T1, and ate a greater number of portions each time. There were no significant differences in home consumption. The picture was similar for children in years 3‐7 with no change in the reported number of portions.
Originality/value
Few behavioural interventions have been carried out in the public health arena to increase F&V consumption. This paper shows that a peer‐modelling intervention significantly increased consumption of F&V at school, while home consumption remained stable.
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Carrie H.S. Ruxton and Brian McMillan
Research has shown that mycoprotein, a vegetable protein ingredient, can lower blood cholesterol. This paper aims to test this in a consumer setting.
Abstract
Purpose
Research has shown that mycoprotein, a vegetable protein ingredient, can lower blood cholesterol. This paper aims to test this in a consumer setting.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 21 healthy, free‐living adults, who were not usually mycoprotein consumers, were asked to eat mycoprotein, as Quorn™ products, daily for six weeks. Ten control group participants followed their habitual diets. Fasting lipids, blood pressure, blood glucose, weight, body mass index and waist circumference were measured at baseline and after six weeks.
Findings
A significant reducing effect of the intervention on total cholesterol levels was found among those participants with higher baseline blood cholesterol level. No significant differences were seen between the intervention and control groups for the sample as a whole, although there were compliance issues in the control group that may have reduced its validity. Good compliance with the mycoprotein‐rich diet also appeared to have a significant lowering effect on total blood cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. The findings confirm that mycoprotein may be a useful food ingredient for helping to manage blood cholesterol levels.
Research limitations/implications
There was no randomisation or blinding, which may have influenced compliance with a habitual diet in the control group. The sample size was small and so further work in a larger population is warranted, particularly to determine optimal mycoprotein intakes and likely mechanisms of action.
Originality/value
The paper focuses on a trial that used commercially available products in a free‐living sample.
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To find out, from the perspective of the authors of a well‐known textbook on strategic management, in what ways they think the field is changing.
Abstract
Purpose
To find out, from the perspective of the authors of a well‐known textbook on strategic management, in what ways they think the field is changing.
Design/methodology/approach
Strategy & Leadership interviewed Arthur A. Thompson, Jr, A.J. Strickland III and John E. Gamble, the authors of the widely used textbook Crafting and Executing Strategy: Text and Readings, 15th edition (McGraw‐Hill/Irwin, 2006), to learn how they adapted the book to keep up with developments in the field.
Findings
Changes include:new analytical tools and ways of looking at strategy issues; new concepts and terms appear in the literature; companies encounter new or different kinds of strategic issues; and each new edition has to include the latest and best examples of “strategy in action.”
Practical implications
Sample practical suggestions: “A case can be made that a disproportionate amount of the research being published in today's “top tier” journals makes little difference to the practice of strategic management.” “To restore relevancy, business‐school deans and faculty must begin to place far higher scholarly value on research that truly advances the practice of management.” “I think we are now seeing a new trend, where more and more of the younger faculty lack training in the case method and are uncomfortable using it.”
Originality/value
The authors have watched strategic management literature develop and have a unique perspective on how the teaching of strategy has evolved.
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Xin Chen, En Xie, Mike W. Peng and Brian C. Pinkham
The purpose of this paper is to examine an important yet underexplored research question in the literature: What determines the length of contract governing buyer–supplier…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine an important yet underexplored research question in the literature: What determines the length of contract governing buyer–supplier relationships during market transitions? The length of contract is a solid indicator of the comprehensiveness of a contract. By integrating transaction costs economics, the embeddedness perspective and the institution-based view, the paper develops a model that incorporates specific investments and perceived opportunism, strategies to select suppliers and buyer firms’ confidence in the institutional environment. It further posits how buyer firms’ dependence on suppliers moderates these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected nationwide via face-to-face interviews with 328 executives in 164 Chinese firms who shared information pertaining to 774 buyer–supplier contracts. A fine-grained mixed-empirical method was designed to test the proposed hypotheses, to confirm the reliability and to generalize the research findings.
Findings
All the proposed factors significantly influence the length of the contract. Results obtained through a moderated mediating model suggest that buyers with supplier-specific investments and that choose market-based selection relative to a relationship-based tend to perceive more opportunism in buyer–supplier relationships, which will lead to shortening the length of the contract. However, the buyer’s perception of opportunism will decrease when buyers perceive higher levels of confidence in their legal institutions.
Practical implications
The study discusses several practical implications for B2B managers who typically involve in interfirm exchanges as well as for emerging economies’ institutions.
Originality/value
Leveraging theoretical insights from transaction cost economics, the institution-based view and buyer–supplier relationships literature, this empirical study adds unique contributions to B2B research in general and emerging economies’ institutional literature in particular.
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Alexandra L. Ferrentino, Meghan L. Maliga, Richard A. Bernardi and Susan M. Bosco
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in…
Abstract
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in business-ethics and accounting’s top-40 journals this study considers research in eight accounting-ethics and public-interest journals, as well as, 34 business-ethics journals. We analyzed the contents of our 42 journals for the 25-year period between 1991 through 2015. This research documents the continued growth (Bernardi & Bean, 2007) of accounting-ethics research in both accounting-ethics and business-ethics journals. We provide data on the top-10 ethics authors in each doctoral year group, the top-50 ethics authors over the most recent 10, 20, and 25 years, and a distribution among ethics scholars for these periods. For the 25-year timeframe, our data indicate that only 665 (274) of the 5,125 accounting PhDs/DBAs (13.0% and 5.4% respectively) in Canada and the United States had authored or co-authored one (more than one) ethics article.
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Andrew Creed, Ambika Zutshi and Brian L. Connelly
What leadership lessons in sustainability can be learned from historical clan survival stories that include elders' responses to survival events? We provide in this chapter…
Abstract
What leadership lessons in sustainability can be learned from historical clan survival stories that include elders' responses to survival events? We provide in this chapter analysis of stories of survival in which elders as leaders and advisers convey meanings and morals which serve as educative tools for their clans. The findings relate to current leadership style theories and align with principles of social, economic and environmental sustainability. By observations through an original framework and tabulation, the chapter concisely presents distilled wisdom for the management of current and future crisis events which may threaten supply chains and, consequently, short- and long-term sustainability. The findings are useful to several audiences, such as, organizational leaders, volunteers and community managers who are involved in crisis management and addressing its impact on employees and the broader community. The research also opens the pathway for academics to explore some new areas in survival management. Ultimately, we acknowledge the endeavours and achievements of our elders whose descendants we hope will appreciate the reflection of their contributions. It is the spirit of collaboration, sharing diverse experiences, as we all must do in a crisis, which we hope to learn from and share in the solutions moving forward to future events.
In this chapter, the author outlines the link between organization design and competitive strategy, focusing on rivalry. A firm’s organization design choices can affect its…
Abstract
In this chapter, the author outlines the link between organization design and competitive strategy, focusing on rivalry. A firm’s organization design choices can affect its competitive advantage as well as the strategic decisions of its rivals. Therefore, organization design can influence the nature and intensity of competitive interactions between firms. To illustrate this effect, the author focuses on the literature on divisionalization and offers a set of propositions as examples. Taken together, the author makes three main observations: (1) a firm’s competitive position and objectives are reflected in its organizational choices; (2) heterogeneity in competitive position and objectives lead to heterogeneity in organization design choices across firms; and (3) organization design and competitive strategy are interdependent processes. The author concludes by discussing the implications for strategy and management research and pointing out some opportunities for future research.