Mônica Cavalcanti Sá Abreu and Claire Barlow
This paper aims to compare the CSR strategy, stakeholder engagement and overseas approaches of six leading companies that have large potential environmental and social impacts…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to compare the CSR strategy, stakeholder engagement and overseas approaches of six leading companies that have large potential environmental and social impacts, influential stakeholders and notable CSR actions.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an exploratory survey based on interviews with senior executives from British and Brazilian companies operating in the steel, petroleum and retail sectors, that makes comparisons between and within them.
Findings
The British companies interviewed are more rule-based, adopt an implicit CSR approach, react to stakeholders' demands based on moral motives, and focus on environmental issues. The Brazilian companies reviewed in this study adopt an explicit CSR approach, have relational motives to engage with stakeholders, and are more concerned with building a responsible image and narrowing social gaps.
Research limitations/implications
The survey is based on the perceptions of the senior executives interviewed, which may or may not correspond to actual practices. The sample size restricts generalisation of the results, and the specific firms interviewed may not represent the prevailing CSR business strategy in their respective countries.
Practical implications
British companies can learn from the Brazilian experience how to become more innovative in a broader approach to CSR. Brazil should reinforce its legal framework to provide a more systematic and rule-based approach to CSR, close to the UK experience.
Originality/value
The way CSR is conceived and implemented depends on the ethical, socioeconomic, legal and institutional environment of the country in which the firm operates.
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Carolyn Summerbell, Helen Moore and Claire O’Malley
– The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence base for effective public health interventions which aim to improve the diet of children aged zero to three years.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence base for effective public health interventions which aim to improve the diet of children aged zero to three years.
Design/methodology/approach
General review.
Findings
Key approaches and components of effective interventions include: repeated tasting, parental modelling, use of rewards, moderate restriction of “unhealthy” foods alongside an increase in portion sizes of fruits and vegetables, culturally appropriate messages, culturally acceptable health care provider, sufficient intensity of intervention, and an intervention which targets parental self-efficacy and modelling. Interventions which provide home visits (rather than require visits to a GP surgery or local community centre) financial incentives and/or mobile phone reminders may increase retention, particularly for some individuals. Recruiting mothers into programmes whilst they are pregnant may improve recruitment and retention rates.
Originality/value
Allows for key public health interventions, approaches and components to be explored and identified. This will ensure that there is guidance to inform the development of new interventions for this age group and more importantly recommend that those components which are most successful be incorporated in policy and practice.
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Wail El Hilali, Abdellah El Manouar and Mohammed Abdou Janati Idrissi
In a world where big data have become crucial to guarantee the success of companies, digital transformation came to help companies transition towards a digital business and accept…
Abstract
Purpose
In a world where big data have become crucial to guarantee the success of companies, digital transformation came to help companies transition towards a digital business and accept the changes in the organizational structure as well as the market. Nonetheless, even with the ever-growing importance shed on it, few articles and studies have linked it to the sustainability paradigm. Empirical studies that have linked between the factors of digital transformation and a more sustainable business are still scant. Many efforts are still needed to reduce the knowledge gap between these two concepts. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by examining (empirically) the effect of digital transformation on sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
The study validates five different hypotheses highlighted by the literature using structural equation model (SEM) analysis from partial least square (PLS) approach. It uses a new conceptual framework using a survey data, answered by 41 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Morocco from different industries.
Findings
Using PLS-SEM modeling, the results show that customers, data and innovation, which are drivers that companies should work on during a digital transformation, have a significant impact on companies’ quest to reach sustainability. However, and in contrast to the existing literature, authors find that competition did not play a significant role in enhancing the companies’ commitment to sustainability.
Practical implications
Authors’ findings encourage firms to seize the opportunity of digital transformation to embrace sustainability, because the implementation of these two concepts requires radical changes at the business model level. Authors suggest that the road to achieve sustainability in a digital era should focus on three main axes, enhancing the customer experience and adopting customer centricity, building data analytics capabilities and shifting innovation to the business model level.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first research papers that explain how to reach sustainability during a digital transformation. The originality of this paper lies in the fact that it focuses on SMEs as they remain the backbone of the Moroccan economy. This study is also novel for showing with empirical evidences that working on the axes of customers, data and innovation, during a digital transformation journey, will improve sustainable practices within businesses.
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Graeme Lockwood, Claire Henderson and Stephen Stansfeld
This study aims to examine workplace stress in a random sample of litigated cases heard in UK courts. The majority of claims related to clinical depression. The alleged causes of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine workplace stress in a random sample of litigated cases heard in UK courts. The majority of claims related to clinical depression. The alleged causes of workplace stress most commonly cited in the litigation included excessive workload, followed by poor management practices; organisational, economic or technical changes; aggressive management style; and bullying by co-workers.
Design/methodology/approach
The term claimant is used to refer to the worker who made the original complaint of workplace stress, and the term defendant refers to the employing organisation defending the claim. In an attempt to establish the number and type of claims brought forward, the population of individual case records relating to workplace stress was accessed electronically from a variety of legal databases.
Findings
The presence of effective workplace stress management policies were important interventions that played a particularly significant role in avoiding legal action and reducing employees’ detrimental experiences. A significant finding was that 94 per cent of the cases were found in favour of the employer as the defendant, and the implications of this for managerial practice are suggested. This analysis of 75 cases between 1992-2014 will shed valuable light on the nature of workplace stress claims heard in the courts and the likelihood of the claimant employee’s success in such cases.
Research limitations/implications
Further work could be undertaken to examine the extent to which the legal framework could be regarded as encouraging a compensation culture and placing excessive burdens on employing organisations. This paper assesses the scope of liability for workplace stress through an analysis of some of the legal claims made and evaluates whether these sorts of fears are justified.
Practical implications
These court cases are real scenarios in which various organisations faced civil action arising from workplace stress claims. The main contribution that this research makes to the existing body of literature on the subject is to discern the different contexts that led to litigation in these cases.
Social implications
Researchers have reported on the negative consequences associated with workplace stress, both for individuals and organisations (Cooper and Marshall, 1976). It has been recognised that employers have a duty, which is in many cases enforceable by law, to ensure that employees do not become ill (Michie, 2002). The aim of this paper is to analyse the legal record on litigation since 1992 and discuss how the findings inform the wider literature.
Originality/value
Workplace stress claims have been described as the “next growth area” in claims for psychiatric illness (Mullany and Handford, 1997; Elvin, 2008; Horsey and Rackley, 2009). Hugh Collins stated “owing to the limitations of the statutory compensatory scheme in the UK […] private law has been used to expand the range of protection against illness […] in the workplace” (Collins, 2003). To understand how court decisions are changing, the development of this body of law needs to be traced (Ivancevich et al., 1985).
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The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential use of creative, arts-based methods to address child sexual exploitation (CSE) through connecting with and supporting young…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential use of creative, arts-based methods to address child sexual exploitation (CSE) through connecting with and supporting young people affected by CSE; and engaging the wider community through awareness-raising and education to help keep young people safe. The use of the arts in building understanding, promoting agency, educating and countering negative portrayals of those affected by CSE are also explored.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review identified that there is currently a limited evidence-base surrounding the use of arts in addressing the negative outcomes for young people affected by CSE and promoting the inclusion and safety of young people in the community. To explore the potential use of the arts in engaging young people and the communities they inhabit, this paper draws from research with other “hard to engage” and stigmatised groups, and learning from efforts to tackle other sensitive and challenging issues that impact on communities.
Findings
The paper suggests that despite the relatively young evidence base concerning the role of creative, arts-based methods to tackle CSE, there is relevant transferable learning that suggests that there is potential in utilising the arts to help prevent CSE and promote community safety.
Research limitations/implications
There is a clear need to consider the ethical implications of this work and to further examine how the arts may be utilised to tackle CSE and bring about positive outcomes for both individuals and for the wider community.
Originality/value
The paper brings together bodies of literature from other fields to explore the potential use of creative arts-based methods to tackle a significant contemporary issue of community safety.
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Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some…
Abstract
Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.
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This chapter draws on feminist theorizing on rape culture and victim blaming, and proposes a concept, racialized victim blaming, as a useful tool for understanding discourse on…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter draws on feminist theorizing on rape culture and victim blaming, and proposes a concept, racialized victim blaming, as a useful tool for understanding discourse on state violence.
Methodology/approach
The concept of racialized victim blaming is applied to historically analyze the genesis of the carceral state, and deconstruct public debates on police shootings and immigration crises.
Findings
This chapter argues that racialized victim blaming is used as a discursive tool to legitimize and mystify state violence projects. Officials and the media use racialized logics and narratives to blame the victims of state violence for their own suffering, justifying continued or increased state violence.
Originality/value
The concept of victim blaming is most often associated with violence against women. Here I demonstrate that victim blaming is also a useful tool for understanding state violence, particularly when attention is given to the place of racializing narratives.
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Vincent C.S. Heung and Terry Lam
The area of customer complaint behaviour has received considerable attention from hotel managers as dissatisfied customers engage in a variety of complaint actions that could ruin…
Abstract
The area of customer complaint behaviour has received considerable attention from hotel managers as dissatisfied customers engage in a variety of complaint actions that could ruin the reputation of a hotel. This study examined Chinese customer complaint behaviour towards Hong Kong hotel restaurant services. The main objectives were to identify complaint patterns and the relationships between customers’ demographic backgrounds such as age, gender and education levels; and their complaint behaviours. Based on a survey of 220 hotel restaurant diners, complainers and non‐complainers were identified. The research findings suggested that at most customers are likely to engage in private complaint behaviours such as word‐of‐mouth communication and ceasing to patronize the restaurant. It highlights that the complaint intentions of Chinese diners were quite low and they were passive about communicating dissatisfaction to restaurateurs. Restaurateurs can make use of these findings to improve their existing customer feedback systems and complaint handling strategies.
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Reports on CCL′s product development technique, using a productchampion, who should have a market‐led view and a commitment to take theproject through from development to peak of…
Abstract
Reports on CCL′s product development technique, using a product champion, who should have a market‐led view and a commitment to take the project through from development to peak of production. Suggests that early trial has an influence on the success of a new product and details the various steps needed to achieve this. Presents a case study of a new development by an international company undertaken in collaboration with CCL, using a product champion.
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Jenny Carryer, Fiona Doolan-Noble, Robin Gauld and Claire Budge
Care coordination for patients with chronic conditions is one aim of an integrated health care delivery system. The purpose of this paper is to compare findings from two separate…
Abstract
Purpose
Care coordination for patients with chronic conditions is one aim of an integrated health care delivery system. The purpose of this paper is to compare findings from two separate New Zealand studies and discusses the implications of the results.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper describes and discusses the use of Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care Measure in two different geographic areas of New Zealand and at different times.
Findings
The studies suggest that, despite the time that has elapsed since government investment in care coordination for long-term conditions, there has been little change in the nature of service delivery from the patient perspective.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the shortcomings of simply providing additional funding for care coordination, without built in accountabilities, no planned evaluation and no concerted focus on what the model of care should look like.