Catherine Le Roux and Marius Pretorius
This paper aims to explore the nexus between integrated reporting and sustainability embeddedness. It seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the nexus by obtaining…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the nexus between integrated reporting and sustainability embeddedness. It seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the nexus by obtaining in-depth insight from the sensemaking of those in practice.
Design/methodology/approach
A single exploratory case study design strategy was applied to a leading stock exchange listed company in the property industry in South Africa. Rich qualitative data were gathered by applying multiple data gathering techniques to a diverse group of employees within the case company.
Findings
This empirical study contributes a metaphor of a cog and chain and nine themes that elucidate employee sensemaking at the nexus. Integrated reporting was found to drive sustainability embeddedness and foster changes within the organisation. The themes offer in-depth insight into how employees made sense of integrated reporting as a driver for sustainability embeddedness.
Research limitations/implications
The findings emerged from a single case study that operated in a mandatory disclosure context and are therefore not generalisable. The findings reflect the intended outcomes of integrated reporting and further research to explore the unintended outcomes and challenges associated with integrated reporting is suggested.
Practical implications
The study contributes to a growing practice based agenda by offering a better understanding of how integrated reporting and sustainability are conceptualised and adopted in practice.
Social implications
The findings offer organisations’ guidance on integrated reporting and sustainability embeddedness adoption which can have vast implications for society and the environment.
Originality/value
The study responds to gaps in the literature and calls for studies to explore the intersection between integrated reporting and sustainability embeddedness by engaging those in practice.
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Discuss in detail the uses which might legitimately be made of the following passage by the writer of a profound study of economic life and thought in France at the end of the…
Abstract
Discuss in detail the uses which might legitimately be made of the following passage by the writer of a profound study of economic life and thought in France at the end of the reign of Louis XIV. In answering the question make full use of your knowledge of (a) historical criticism; (b) French economic and general history.
Francine Richer and Louis Jacques Filion
Shortly before the Second World War, a woman who had never accepted her orphan status, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, nicknamed ‘Little Coco’ by her father and known as ‘Coco’ to her…
Abstract
Shortly before the Second World War, a woman who had never accepted her orphan status, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, nicknamed ‘Little Coco’ by her father and known as ‘Coco’ to her relatives, became the first women in history to build a world-class industrial empire. By 1935, Coco, a fashion designer and industry captain, was employing more than 4,000 workers and had sold more than 28,000 dresses, tailored jackets and women's suits. Born into a poor family and raised in an orphanage, she enjoyed an intense social life in Paris in the 1920s, rubbing shoulders with artists, creators and the rising stars of her time.
Thanks to her entrepreneurial skills, she was able to innovate in her methods and in her trendsetting approach to fashion design and promotion. Coco Chanel was committed and creative, had the soul of an entrepreneur and went on to become a world leader in a brand new sector combining fashion, accessories and perfumes that she would help shape. By the end of her life, she had redefined French elegance and revolutionized the way people dressed.
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Catherine Hasted and Brett Bligh
Higher education research is replete with discussion of boundaries imagined as structural constraints in need of removal or circumvention. But, while foregrounding…
Abstract
Higher education research is replete with discussion of boundaries imagined as structural constraints in need of removal or circumvention. But, while foregrounding national–transnational frameworks, leadership strategising and institutional structures, the scholarship is subdued about how boundaries are actually dealt with at ground level. How do practitioners come together, day by day, across higher education boundaries; and what is required for desirable practices to be nurtured? It is on this issue, and in particular the theorisation of this issue, that this chapter will focus.
This chapter presents and develops a relational working framework, based on the work of Anne Edwards. We highlight three core concepts (common knowledge, relational expertise and relational agency), disaggregating each into constituent features. We then apply the framework to reinterpret previously published empirical studies, to demonstrate its broad applicability. We argue that the framework usefully conceptualises how practitioners work with others across boundaries; that it helps us to notice how many boundaries are, in fact, routinely permeated; and that it usefully highlights important aspects of local practices that are easily obscured.
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Iro Konstantinou and Elizabeth Miller
The paper draws upon autoethnographic accounts from two academic staff in a private higher education institution (HEI) in London, UK who try to make sense of their teaching and…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper draws upon autoethnographic accounts from two academic staff in a private higher education institution (HEI) in London, UK who try to make sense of their teaching and learning practices during the pandemic. Even though studies have looked into the impact of Covid-19 on teaching and learning and on students, this paper reflects on the experience of lecturers with a focus on their emotional labour and stressors during remote teaching and working.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a small case study of two colleagues from a small private institution in London, UK, which is based on autoethnography. The authors draw on personal notes, emails and other written artefacts alongside our memories of our lived experiences of the pandemic.
Findings
The authors’ reflections focus on the need for institutional collegiality as avenues to network and collaborate beyond institutions which have been limited (despite the increased interactions online) and the need to acknowledge emotional labour while providing spaces for staff to discuss their everyday experiences. The authors argue for a renewed importance for creating a sense of community during times of uncertainty and beyond. If these structures are put into place, the conditions to support teaching and learning will also strengthened.
Originality/value
There is a dearth in research which discusses emotional labour and the importance of community and collegiality on campuses and in the new way of working remotely. This paper adds to the empirical basis of such research and hopes to encourage others to share their experiences of emotional labour in the academy.
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Eric Fimbel, Anne-Sophie Binninger and Catherine Karyotis
The purpose of this article is to analyze the symbolic and practical impacts of demateriality in two areas that are emblematic of the way the modern world operates. Firstly…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to analyze the symbolic and practical impacts of demateriality in two areas that are emblematic of the way the modern world operates. Firstly, finance via currency, and secondly, trade via the relationship between trading firms and their customers. The article also addresses the current role played by so-called “information” technologies, exploring the double embedding of society within trade and trade within finance.
Design/methodology/approach
A multidisciplinary approach which mobilizes available knowledge in finance, technology, marketing and sociology.
Findings
The overall social power of the state of demateriality is that it reinforces the double-embedding.
Originality/value
A multidisciplinary approach which mobilizes available knowledge in finance, technology, marketing and sociology to comprehend the role of a state, beyond the process creating that state.
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Hannele Kauppinen-Räisänen, Johanna Gummerus, Catharina von Koskull and Helene Cristini
The purpose of this study was to explore what luxury represents to contemporary consumers in their own life contexts.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore what luxury represents to contemporary consumers in their own life contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-methods qualitative approach was adopted that comprised individual, personal interviews and focused interviews with small groups.
Findings
The study contributes to the field of luxury research by highlighting consumers’ interpretations of luxury as highly subjective, relative and contextual; showing that according to consumers, luxury relates to both consumption and non-consumption contexts; illustrating the value of luxury as a multidimensional construct in both contexts; and demonstrating how luxury may relate to a consumer’s desire to be meaningful and genuine, thereby generating prudential value. In these cases, luxury is closely linked to consumers’ perceptions of meaningfulness and well-being.
Practical implications
For marketing managers, the findings suggest that the wave of new luxury – seeking meaningfulness – may serve as a novel means of branding.
Originality/value
This study demonstrates that the significance of the concept of luxury transcends commercial settings and offerings, i.e. the brand, product or service. The findings show that luxury may also be generated in non-commercial contexts and specific activities (e.g. running, gardening). Based on these findings, it is proposed that luxury in non-commercial settings is characteristic of the new wave of luxury, and that in such settings, luxury may contribute to personal well-being, thereby generating prudential value.
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Sihem Dekhili, Mohamed Akli Achabou and Fatmah Alharbi
This paper aims to examine the extent to which sustainability information unfavorably impacts consumers’ behavior in the case of luxury. In particular, it explores the effect of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the extent to which sustainability information unfavorably impacts consumers’ behavior in the case of luxury. In particular, it explores the effect of social and environmental attributes on the perceived quality.
Design/methodology/approach
A between-subject experimental design involving 973 French and Saudi consumers has been conducted.
Findings
The results indicate that sustainability information negatively impacts the perceived quality of luxury products. However, this result varies regarding the consumers’ country of origin. While no significant effect was observed in the case of French respondents, Saudi consumers lower the evaluation of quality when social information is provided. In addition, the negative effect of sustainability information is moderated by the consumers’ degree of liking of luxury and by the brand corporate social responsibility image.
Research limitations/implications
This research fills a gap occurred in the previous literature. In effect, limited studies examined perceptions of the association between luxury and sustainability. In addition, it enriches the limited literature on sustainable consumption in the context of developing countries. However, further studies should focus on specific dimensions of quality and examine different sustainable practices and luxury goods.
Practical implications
From a practical point of view, this study suggests new applications with respect to the link between luxury and sustainability.
Originality/value
No study to date, as per the authors’ knowledge, has investigated empirically the impact of sustainability information on the perceived quality of luxury products. Contrary to the literature indicating a positive effect of sustainable attributes on consumers’ behavior, this study confirms the incompatibility between luxury and sustainability.