Thomas Falkenberg and Gary Babiuk
The purpose of this paper is to establish the status of education for sustainability in the teacher education programmes in the province of Manitoba in Canada and to identify…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish the status of education for sustainability in the teacher education programmes in the province of Manitoba in Canada and to identify challenges and obstacles for mainstreaming education for sustainability in those programmes.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a multi-unit case study design, online programme information and data from interviews with faculty administrators and a convenience sample of faculty members from all five faculties of education in Manitoba were collected and analysed.
Findings
There is no systematic and focused preparation of teachers for education for sustainability in any of the Manitoba teacher education programmes. Three challenges for mainstreaming of education for sustainability are identified: lack of leadership, an unfavourable view of the role of education for sustainability and the silo-ing within faculties of education.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited by its focus on the programme-based implementation of education for sustainability in faculties of education, which did not include any course-based implementation by individual instructors.
Practical implications
To address the challenges and obstacles for mainstreaming, the authors argue for joint leadership across the relevant institutional levels (government, university and faculty), and for establishing education for sustainability as a framework for responding to the purpose question of school education.
Originality/value
The study provides empirical evidence for some of the major challenges for mainstreaming education for sustainability in faculties in education and, by generalisation, all university faculties.
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Susan Parker, Gary F. Peters and Howard F. Turetsky
When making going concern assessments, Statement on Auditing Standards No. 59 (Auditing Standards Board 1988) directs auditors to consider the nature of management's plans and…
Abstract
When making going concern assessments, Statement on Auditing Standards No. 59 (Auditing Standards Board 1988) directs auditors to consider the nature of management's plans and ability to mitigate periods of financial distress successfully. Corporate governance factors reflect attributes of control, oversight, and/or support of management's plans and actions intended to overcome financial distress. Correspondingly, this study investigates the impact of certain corporate governance factors on the likelihood of a going concern modification. Using survival analysis techniques, we examine a sample of 161 financially distressed firms for the time period 1988–1996. We find that auditors are twice as likely to issue a going concern modification when the CEO is replaced. We also find that going concern modifications are inversely associated with blockholder ownership. We also confirm Carcello and Neal's (2000) findings with respect to the association between an independent audit committee and an increased likelihood of modification. In a repeated events setting, we find that insider ownership and board independence are inversely associated with repeated going concern modifications. Our study concludes by proposing implications for the current financial reporting environment (including the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002) and future research avenues.
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Patti Cybinski and Carolyn Windsor
Conflicting results have emerged from several past studies as to whether bankruptcy prediction models are able to forecast corporate failure more accurately than auditors’…
Abstract
Conflicting results have emerged from several past studies as to whether bankruptcy prediction models are able to forecast corporate failure more accurately than auditors’ going‐concern opinions. Nevertheless, the last decade has seen improved modelling of the path‐to‐failure of financially distressed firms over earlier static models of bankruptcy. In the light of the current crisis facing the auditing profession, this study evaluates the efficacy of auditors’ going‐concern opinions in comparison to two bankruptcy prediction models. Bankrupt firms in the U.S. service and trade industry sectors were used to compare model predictions against the auditors’ going‐concern opinion for two years prior to firm failure. The two models are the well‐known Altman (1968) Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA) model that includes only financial ratio variables in its formulation and the newer, temporal logit model of Cybinski (2000, 2003) that includes explicit factors of the business cycles in addition to variables internal to the firm. The results show overall better bankruptcy classification rates for the temporal model than for the Altman model or audit opinion.
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Marcelo Biagio Laquimia and Gabriel Eweje
This study investigates how organizations in Brazil address sustainability concerns through collaborative governance efforts with strategic stakeholders. Organizations from New…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates how organizations in Brazil address sustainability concerns through collaborative governance efforts with strategic stakeholders. Organizations from New Zealand were considered as benchmarks for comparison.
Methodology/approach
This study is based on a qualitative exploratory research, supported by semistructured interviews. Ten organizations are interviewed, five from each country. Thematic analysis is used to analyze the interview data. Central management practices adopted by organizations are presented, and the goals, benefits, and limitations associated with collaborative initiatives are investigated.
Findings and practical implications
The findings reveal that organizations in Brazil and in New Zealand are employing similar management and sustainability practices. Companies in both countries observe that collaborative efforts with strategic stakeholders improve their ability to meet market demands and jointly develop innovative solutions toward sustainability goals while exchanging knowledge and enhancing their operational effectiveness. Organizations perceive a number of tangible and nontangible value creation outcomes from sustainability practices, such as brand and reputational gains, improved supply chain management, and risk management attainments. The results also present limitations, such as internal limitations of organizations concerning how their executives and general staff incorporate sustainability issues into their organizations’ strategic planning and operational decisions.
Originality/value of paper
Market pressures toward greener and more responsible operations equally affected organizations in both countries, without differentiation in operation between an emerging country such as Brazil and a developed country such as New Zealand. Directions for future research are presented. These are based on how organizations measure sustainability outcomes of management practices and collaborative alliances, and how organizations map upcoming market demands and opportunities to deliver more value to society as the sustainable development debate continues to evolve.
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Sexual violence’s alarming prevalence demands action to challenge the gendered and generational relations that sustain injustice. This chapter introduces a nuanced model of…
Abstract
Sexual violence’s alarming prevalence demands action to challenge the gendered and generational relations that sustain injustice. This chapter introduces a nuanced model of consent that, if utilised to inform adults’ everyday practices with children, could empower children to identify and engage in healthy relationships and manage sexual victimisation. Inadequate sex education in adolescence engenders harmful beliefs about consent, which hinder young people’s abilities to navigate sexual relationships and limit the extent to which sexual assault survivors can understand their trauma. Accordingly, effective consent education is critical to protect and empower all human beings. Drawing on decades of childhood studies research that exemplifies the ways in which children learn through experience, this chapter argues that, by practising consent with children, adults can facilitate children’s knowledge of this moral concept. To equip adults with the thorough understanding of consent necessary to engage in truly consensual relationships, this chapter presents a theoretical explanation of children’s agency, recognising that structure, personal elements, and relationships collectively influence, and are shaped by, children’s participation. Based on a recognition of parents’ distinct role in children’s education, this model is examined in the context of children’s experiences in the home. Specifically, this analysis considers the ethics of corporal punishment and explores parental practices that could better facilitate children’s learning. The themes in this chapter emphasise the dangers of assumptions and raise fundamental questions about the ways in which society approaches human dignity and justice.
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Zulkaif Ahmed Saqib, Qingyu Zhang, Jin Ou, Khubaib Ahmad Saqib, Salman Majeed and Amar Razzaq
This study aims to determine the current state of implementation and effectiveness of education for sustainable development (ESD) in Pakistani higher education institutions (HEIs…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to determine the current state of implementation and effectiveness of education for sustainable development (ESD) in Pakistani higher education institutions (HEIs) using students’ and teachers’ perceptions of sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey on teachers and students was conducted in public and private universities in Punjab, Pakistan. Data from 1,915 students and 120 teachers were collected through semi-structured questionnaires implemented during face-to-face interviews. Students were asked to rank social, environmental and economic indicators of sustainability consciousness (SC) on a five-point Likert scale. Structural equation model and regression model are used to analyze the data. The perceptions of students and teachers were assessed from their knowledge of sustainability.
Findings
The occurrence of ESD in Pakistani HEIs is low and teachers have inadequate knowledge of sustainability. The holistic approach to ESD has a more pronounced effect on students’ SC as compared to the pluralistic approach to ESD. Also, there is a correlation between the students’ grades/class and the effectiveness of ESD. There is a need to pay more attention to implement ESD for undergraduate students in Pakistani HEIs.
Originality/value
The study stands out for using cross-sectional data from public and private universities of Pakistan. Furthermore, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in Pakistan which attempts to investigate the effectiveness of ESD in terms of students’ SC.
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This chapter analyzes a specific form of contemporary art, the one that is created and exhibited in the community, conceived and visualized outside of the art market and…
Abstract
This chapter analyzes a specific form of contemporary art, the one that is created and exhibited in the community, conceived and visualized outside of the art market and independent of the agenda of creative industries and art galleries. The motivation, purpose and meaning of such art practices, for both the artists and the community, are discussed and examples of community art projects are analyzed in order to understand how art became, in this first quarter of the twenty-first century, such a valued collective asset, so accessible and present in the daily life of the common man. Two Portuguese case studies have been chosen as illustrations: the first one is a funding programme of projects focussed on artistic practices for inclusion (the PARTIS programme, by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation) and the second is a self-financed and self-curated artistic collective, Pescada nº 5.
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N. Jayaweera and P. Webb
This paper aims to describe the development and testing of a system for the automated assembly of aircraft fuselage panels.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe the development and testing of a system for the automated assembly of aircraft fuselage panels.
Design/methodology/approach
The system described in this paper uses a low‐cost industrial robot and laser stripe sensor to assemble stringers on to a fuselage panel prior to riveting. The method uses a combination of measurement and best fit placement algorithms to optimally locate parts relative to existing features.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that with a combination of metrology and mathematical processing standard industrial robots can be used to assemble aero‐structure subassemblies. The paper also demonstrates that the system can work within the tolerances required within the aerospace industry.
Originality/value
The paper introduces techniques for compensating for the inherent distortion that occurs in airframe components during manufacture. This is an enabling technology that will significantly increase the number of possible applications for industrial robots in the assembly of aero‐structures.
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Choeu Tshepisho Makabate, Innocent Musonda, Chioma Sylvia Okoro and Nicholas Chileshe
Building information modelling (BIM) has had a significant impact on the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector in the past several years. However, not much is…
Abstract
Purpose
Building information modelling (BIM) has had a significant impact on the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector in the past several years. However, not much is published concerning small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopting BIM in the construction industry. To address this knowledge gap, a complete and in-depth literature review of the adoption of BIM by SMEs in the AEC sector is conducted in this study. The paper also provides a comprehensive review of the mainstream studies of adoption of BIM in the AEC organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a five-stage literature review, 54 articles on the adoption of BIM by SMEs from the period 2009 to 2019 were critically analysed from the following three perspectives: (1) the number of articles produced; (2) the research focus and (3) the author's contributions. The techniques of the visualisation of similarities (VOSviewer) software were used to analyse the citation networks of the 54 articles as identified.
Findings
From the analysis, it was established that the number of studies on BIM adoption by SMEs in the reviewed journals has not been increasing and not many articles are available. The finding makes the argument that BIM adoption by SMEs is not a focus point but rather the adoption and implementation of BIM is generalised in the AEC sector. In addition, the results revealed that most of the published articles come from the United Kingdom (UK). However, this finding is hardly surprising due to the requirements in the UK, which have made the adoption of BIM mandatory on all publicly funded projects and are at level 2 BIM. The other highly ranked countries by origins of studies on the adoption of BIM by SMEs were found to be Australia and the United States of America (USA), all of which are developed nations or economies. Some key BIM in SME research trends (adoption, enforcement, benefits, strategies, skills gap, awareness, education and training, and technology) were identified and evaluated.
Research limitations/implications
The results presented in this journal are only applicable to SMEs in the AEC sector. As a result of little available literature on the adoption of BIM in developing countries, the articles have been drawn from developed countries. The dataset was mainly extracted from the Scopus database for the analysis.
Originality/value
An accomplished series content analysis of the implementation and adoption of BIM by SMEs from international construction journals were reported. The study makes significant and emergent contribution by building on the foundation of BIM research in SMEs as well as providing a reference point for the interpretation of findings, as well as directions for future research.
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Leila C. Kabigting, Maria Claret M. Ruane and Kristina C. Sayama
During the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns were implemented to achieve two goals: (1) to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases and (2) to reduce the number of COVID-19 deaths. In this…
Abstract
Purpose
During the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns were implemented to achieve two goals: (1) to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases and (2) to reduce the number of COVID-19 deaths. In this paper, the authors aim to look at empirical evidence on how effectively lockdowns achieved these goals among small island developing states (SIDS) and for one specific SIDS economy, Guam.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors reviewed existing studies to form two hypotheses: that lockdowns reduced cases, and that lockdowns reduced deaths. Defining a lockdown as a positive value for Oxford COVID-19 government response tracker, OxCGRT's stringency index, the authors tested the above hypotheses on 185 countries, 27 SIDS economies and Guam using correlation and regression analyses, and using different measures of the strictness, duration and timing of the lockdown.
Findings
The authors found no evidence to support the hypothesis that lockdowns reduced the number of cases based on data for all 185 countries and 27 SIDS economies. While the authors found evidence to support the hypothesis in the case of Guam, the result required an unrealistically and implausibly long time lag of 365 days. As to the second hypothesis that lockdowns reduced the number of deaths, the authors found no evidence to support it for 185 countries, 27 SIDS economies as well as Guam.
Originality/value
From the review of the existing literature, the authors are the first to conduct this type of study among SIDS economies as a group and on Guam.