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1 – 10 of 47Carol Burrows, Frank Eves and Dudley Cooper
Pre‐adolescent children (51 girls, 23 boys) communicated their thoughts about leisure‐time physical activity within their own frame of reference. The question, “Is there anything…
Abstract
Pre‐adolescent children (51 girls, 23 boys) communicated their thoughts about leisure‐time physical activity within their own frame of reference. The question, “Is there anything you would like to write or draw about exercise?” was used to elicit children’s perceptions of “things that make you feel a bit out of breath, hot and sweaty”. Responses were coded for the presence of motivational factors and barriers to exercise participation. Results suggest boys and girls may hold different motivational constructions of physical activity. Motivational barriers, namely lack of energy and enjoyment were mentioned by boys and girls, suggesting negative perceptions of exercise were readily invoked. Discussion of these results considers the similarities with adult views of exercise. Implications for practice concern identification of children holding negative perceptions of physical activity, in order that effective physical activity promotion strategies can be operationalised.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore ways in which children and young people are being positioned as change agents for families through school health promotion initiatives in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore ways in which children and young people are being positioned as change agents for families through school health promotion initiatives in New Zealand.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper maps and describes the kinds of policies and initiatives that directly or indirectly regard children as conduits of healthy eating and exercise messages/practices for families. Drawing on post-structural theoretical frameworks, it explores what these resources suggest in terms of how healthy families should live.
Findings
Families are positioned as central to school health promotion initiatives in New Zealand, especially in relation to obesity prevention policies and strategies. Children are further positioned as agents of change for families in many of the resources/policies/initiatives reviewed. They are represented as key transmitters and translators of school-based health knowledge and as capable of, and responsible for, helping their families eat well and exercise more.
Social implications
While recognising children’s agency and capacity to translate health messages is a powerful and welcome message at one level, the author need to consider the implications of requiring children to convey health information, to judge their family practices and, at times, to be expected to change these. This may create anxiety, family division and expect too much of children.
Originality/value
The paper takes a novel post-structural perspective on a familiar health promotion issue. Given the proliferation of family-focussed health initiatives in New Zealand and elsewhere, this perspective may help us to explore, critique and understand more fully how children are expected to be engaged in these initiatives, and the potentially harmful implications of these expectations.
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Robert M. Davison and Carol Xiaojuan Ou
In China, online intermediaries have become increasingly influential in the last few years, notably in the business‐to‐business (B2B) domain. However, little research has…
Abstract
Purpose
In China, online intermediaries have become increasingly influential in the last few years, notably in the business‐to‐business (B2B) domain. However, little research has considered the impact of these intermediaries on either the tacit knowledge or the guanxi that are so central to Chinese business processes. In this paper, authors investigate this impact, as well as the consequent shifts that are taking place on B2B platforms, focusing on the case of Alibaba, China's largest online business intermediary.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory case‐study approach is employed in this paper. The authors have comprehensive investigated Alibaba's trading platforms and associated technologies. They have also engaged 15 Alibaba users (buyers and sellers) from seven different countries/territories in semi‐structured interviews and use the interview data to supplement the own findings.
Findings
Alibaba is effectively functioning as a substitute for traditional, offline social networks. In the process, it is leveraging and disseminating explicit knowledge critical to all aspects of the purchasing/procurement process, as well as changing the role of guanxi throughout the business purchasing/procurement process. Alibaba is thus engineering radical changes in the way business can be conducted in China.
Research limitations/implications
Experienced researchers of Chinese management have traditionally been wary of ignoring cultural norms, which, in this case, would highlight the importance of both guanxi and tacit knowledge. The shift from tacit to explicit knowledge representation, coupled with a modified role for guanxi, is thus rather unexpected and should lead researchers to query previous assumptions, as well as test new ones, specifically in the area of online B2B transactions, but potentially in other domains where online communications are involved.
Practical implications
Chinese business people are all too aware of the importance of tacit knowledge and guanxi. The potential for this tacit knowledge to be represented explicitly online, coupled with the shifting role that guanxi may play, should be of great interest to those who wish to explore the online marketspace. It may be particularly attractive to newcomers (notably non‐Chinese) to the Chinese market since their own tacit knowledge and guanxi may be less well developed and they may be in a better position to leverage the online platforms.
Originality/value
There is little prior work on Chinese B2B e‐commerce from a guanxi‐based or knowledge management (KM) perspective that builds on the experiences of online buyers and sellers. They chart this area and seek to integrate the two disparate streams of research on guanxi and KM in the context of B2B e‐commerce.
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Chestin T. Auzenne-Curl, Cheryl J. Craig and Gayle A. Curtis
As part of a larger study into the influence of a Writers in the Schools (WITS) professional development consultancy, this narrative inquiry began just as Hurricane Harvey, the…
Abstract
As part of a larger study into the influence of a Writers in the Schools (WITS) professional development consultancy, this narrative inquiry began just as Hurricane Harvey, the second most costly hurricane to hit the United States, devastated the Texas Gulf Coast in August 2017 and drew to a close in late 2020 during the COVID-19 global pandemic. This chapter explores the 2017–2018 school-year interactions between WITS Collaborative writer, Mary Austin (pseudonym), and six writing teachers with whom she worked at McKay High School (pseudonym) in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. With record flooding and widespread damage causing school-opening delays, teachers, students, and WITS consultants navigated a rip tide of emotions as they strived to balance educational/professional needs and duties with personal loss and unexpected financial burdens. This inquiry examines how WITS teacher professional development was carried out in the midst of these trying circumstances.
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The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources, research, and computer skills related…
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The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources, research, and computer skills related to retrieving, using, and evaluating information. This review, the twenty‐second to be published in Reference Services Review, includes items in English published in 1995. After 21 years, the title of this review of the literature has been changed from “Library Orientation and Instruction” to “Library Instruction and Information Literacy,” to indicate the growing trend of moving to information skills instruction.
The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources and research and computer skills…
Abstract
The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources and research and computer skills related to retrieving, using, and evaluating information. This review, the twenty‐first to be published in Reference Services Review, includes items in English published in 1994. A few are not annotated because the compiler could not obtain copies of them for this review.
Christopher Harkins, Lisa Garnham, Aileen Campbell and Carol Tannahill
Previous research emphasises the need for preventative interventions to reduce mental health problems among disadvantaged children and adolescents. There is however little…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research emphasises the need for preventative interventions to reduce mental health problems among disadvantaged children and adolescents. There is however little consensus concerning the delivery and impacts of such interventions particularly non-clinical, arts-based models delivered within community settings. The purpose of this paper is to begin to address this deficit through a qualitative assessment of the short- to medium-term impacts to participants’ mental and emotional wellbeing within Sistema Scotland’s Big Noise orchestral programme.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews, observation, participant drawing exercise, participatory filmmaking, focus group and analysis of programme engagement were undertaken to examine the mental and emotional wellbeing impacts of the programme which are observable at this early stage of programme delivery and participants’ lives.
Findings
The qualitative findings indicate that participation in the Big Noise programme enhances participant mental and emotional wellbeing in three ways; first, the happiness and enjoyment of taking part in the programme and orchestra, particularly from music making; second, the security, belonging and relationships fostered through participation; the quality of musician/participant relationship is important here as is programme design which enables support, routine and structure; and third, increased pride, confidence and self-esteem, as a result of acquiring difficult musical skills, receiving regular praise and having frequent opportunities to demonstrate these acquired skills through regular orchestral performances.
Originality/value
There is little evidence or understanding of community-based, preventative, arts interventions like Big Noise: their delivery, their life-course impacts and their potential contribution to mental health and to addressing social and health inequalities. The causal pathways in the field are under-theorised. These early findings are important as they serve as an important basis from which to consider the programme’s wider and longer term impacts, which will be assessed through an on-going longitudinal, mixed method summative evaluation.
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Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and…
Abstract
Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and shows that these are in many, differing, areas across management research from: retail finance; precarious jobs and decisions; methodological lessons from feminism; call centre experience and disability discrimination. These and all points east and west are covered and laid out in a simple, abstract style, including, where applicable, references, endnotes and bibliography in an easy‐to‐follow manner. Summarizes each paper and also gives conclusions where needed, in a comfortable modern format.
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Reports on the first and biggest unitary authority in the UK toachieve the Investors in People standard, Solihull Council, and the waysin which the standard was achieved…
Abstract
Reports on the first and biggest unitary authority in the UK to achieve the Investors in People standard, Solihull Council, and the ways in which the standard was achieved. Discusses the processes and vision, and the role of managers and teams in communicating via appraisals and team briefings. Provides an evaluation of the procedures and results, and concludes that, although the standard has been achieved, Solihull Council still sees room for improvement.
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