The case of the Canadian Forest Round Table on Sustainable Development provides evidence of diverse stakeholder representatives managing their conflict through dialogue, informal…
Abstract
The case of the Canadian Forest Round Table on Sustainable Development provides evidence of diverse stakeholder representatives managing their conflict through dialogue, informal exchange, and field trips. This case study reveals new insights on factors which facilitate constructive conflict management and collaboration in a multistakeholder context. The findings indicate the value of dialogue, common evidence, and shared experience. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Brad S. Long and Cathy Driscoll
Based on themes the authors observed in workplace spirituality texts, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the historicity of these texts and induce a model to help them…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on themes the authors observed in workplace spirituality texts, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the historicity of these texts and induce a model to help them understand how this discourse of workplace spirituality came into being.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors perform intertextual analysis to show how authors draw upon concepts available in the broader discursive context, from which the authors produced a textscape of the workplace spirituality discourse to depict these layers of discursive interconnections.
Findings
The expressed novelty and recency of workplace spirituality as a form of management knowledge, the authors argue, is made ambiguous by its heavy borrowing from other discourses. The authors show how existent spiritual, organizational and societal-level discourses create the conditions of possibility for the discourse of workplace spirituality to emerge. Most of the authors within the corpus engaged the same theories in organizational studies that created the kind of workplaces they now seek to change.
Practical implications
The power of the workplace spirituality discourse to improve the state of workers and work and achieve the expressed desire for change may be diminished through the discursive practices of its authors.
Originality/value
The authors offer a visual “textscape” in which the findings are framed and hence operationalize this idea in a novel manner that contributes to the methods of discourse analysis. The findings also call for more critical reflection into whether workplace spirituality represents a solution to organizational problems when neither the workers nor work it constructs are particularly new.
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Cathy Atkinson and Rebekah Hyde
Considerable attention has been given to the vulnerability of young people leaving care in the UK in their transition to adulthood. To date, however, there has been limited focus…
Abstract
Purpose
Considerable attention has been given to the vulnerability of young people leaving care in the UK in their transition to adulthood. To date, however, there has been limited focus on the perceptions of care leavers about what factors enable and inhibit effective practice. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This systematic literature review sought to elicit the views of UK care leavers in identifying barriers and facilitators to the process of transition to adulthood. Qualitative studies in the care-leaving field were identified, of which seven met inclusion criteria and were included in the final synthesis.
Findings
The findings yielded a range of facilitators, including authentic and consistent relationships with those acting in the role of corporate parent; and flexible systems, which accommodated personal readiness for leaving care. Barriers included insufficient recognition of, and a lack of support for, the psychological dimensions of transition, exacerbated by insufficient support networks.
Research limitations/implications
This literature search yielded seven qualitative papers, some with small sample sizes, meaning that the findings may not be representative of a wider population or directly relevant to international contexts.
Practical implications
Suggestions for enhancing the transition process are posited. In particular, the potential usefulness of an “interdependence” transition approach for UK care leavers is proposed.
Originality/value
This study analyses qualitative data, thus constituting a response to policy calls for care leaver views to be central to transition processes.
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This paper aims to highlight blind spots in the discourse of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stretch the boundaries of existent CSR frameworks within the particular…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to highlight blind spots in the discourse of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stretch the boundaries of existent CSR frameworks within the particular context of resource extraction and with regard to the particular stakeholder group of Indigenous peoples in Canada. This context is important in light of the recommendations from the recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), as they relate to initiatives that businesses may take towards reconciliation with Indigenous people.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper brings together a disparate body of literature on CSR, Indigenous spiritual values and experiences of extractive practices on Indigenous ancestral lands. Suggestions are offered for empirical research and projects that may advance the project of reconciliation.
Findings
CSR may not be an appropriate framework for reconciliation without alteration to its managerial biases and ideological assumptions. The CSR discourse needs to accommodate the “free prior and informed consent” of Indigenous peoples and their spiritual values and knowledge vis-à-vis the land for resource extractive practices to edge towards being socially responsible when they occur on Canadian ancestral territories.
Originality/value
Canadian society exists in a post-TRC world, which demands that we reconcile with our past of denying Indigenous values and suppressing the cultures of Indigenous peoples from flourishing. This paper aspires to respond to the TRC’s recommendation for how businesses in the resource extractive industries may engage meaningfully and authentically with Indigenous people in Canada as a step towards reconciliation.
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Most of the research on children’s consumer behavior focuses on pre-purchase processes, with brand choice typically being the last stage investigated. This paper aims to examine…
Abstract
Purpose
Most of the research on children’s consumer behavior focuses on pre-purchase processes, with brand choice typically being the last stage investigated. This paper aims to examine the outcome of children’s purchase decisions, with an emphasis on dissatisfaction and outcome resolution. Of particular interest was the comprehension level of the corporate communication and the extent to which clear, understandable communication influenced children’s ultimate satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
Eighty-seven children wrote authentic letters of complaint to manufacturers about a recent product purchase. The study examined what happened after the children complained – i.e. how companies responded to children, and how satisfied children were with the resolution and the overall complaint handling process. Two widely regarded readability formulas were used to measure the complexity of the written correspondence.
Findings
The present study suggests that child complainants are the most concerned with the bottom-line results of their communication efforts. Like adults, they want the problem corrected. Unfortunately, the majority of children did not feel fully satisfied with the corporate complaint handling process. Over one-third of the companies in the sample did not even bother to respond to children’s legitimate complaints, despite the fact that each child specifically asked the company to write back. Those firms which did were more likely to respond with a letter only than with a letter plus add-on. And the corporate letters, by and large, were written at an educational level which would preclude full understanding by the child.
Research limitations/implications
Because consumer complaint behavior is not randomly distributed in the population, the use of probability sampling was precluded. Published studies which have used consumer complaint letters as the data collection method have relied primarily on convenience sampling. In the present study, judgmental sampling was used to select children participants. Three criteria were applied. Children had to be aged between 10 and 13 years. Children had to have experienced dissatisfaction with a product purchase made over the previous six months. Children could not have taken any public action to resolve their dissatisfaction. But they had to be willing to write a letter of complaint at this point. It was considered of utmost importance that the letters used in this study be authentic. They had to be composed and penned by the children themselves. This criterion, coupled with the fact that the complaints were legitimate, avoided the obvious ethical dilemma associated with the use of fabricated letters.
Practical implications
It seems ironic that in the present era of consumer consciousness, corporations do not place greater emphasis on truly communicating with their customers, where communication is viewed as a process of establishing shared meaning. How can there be shared meaning when the message sender fails to consider the characteristics of the receiver – characteristics such as age and cognitive development? Businesses may argue that their corporate communication policies and practices are based on a concern for cost efficiency. This argument carries little merit, unfortunately. Even the federal government, through the Plain Writing Act of 2010, acknowledges the importance of using common, everyday words and plain English in all written documents.
Social implications
On the surface, American businesses state that they welcome customer feedback. The comments of children are more sought after now than ever before, particularly in the area of advertising and new product development. But the results of this study show that companies have a long way to go before they can claim to be truly receiver-oriented in their managerial communication policies. Perhaps this is why consumers – certainly child consumers – are only beginning to believe that when kids complain, companies will respond.
Originality/value
The vast body of complaint research focuses almost exclusively on adults. Despite their sophistication and marketing literacy, children are not miniature adults. It is not known whether the same models and findings with respect to adult complaint behavior apply to children. Unfortunately, there are very few studies of children’s complaint behavior and corporate responses.
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The classics will circulate wrote a public librarian several years ago. She found that new, attractive, prominently displayed editions of literary classics would indeed find a…
Abstract
The classics will circulate wrote a public librarian several years ago. She found that new, attractive, prominently displayed editions of literary classics would indeed find a substantial audience among public library patrons.