Colin Paton and David McMenemy
This research investigates the presence of communitarian philosophy within contemporary Scottish public library strategy, exploring links between philosophy, politics and practice.
Abstract
Purpose
This research investigates the presence of communitarian philosophy within contemporary Scottish public library strategy, exploring links between philosophy, politics and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper follows a qualitative research approach, combining content analysis and discourse analysis methodologies for the analysis of a corpus of Scottish public library trust documentation according to a thematic framework of communitarian values.
Findings
The analysis revealed strong links between trust strategy and communitarian values but also highlighted contradictions within this form of communitarianism which belied a deeper neoliberal philosophical foundation. The research therefore identified a communitarian strategic service shift which introduced benefits of social inclusion, community autonomy and common good but also brought concerns of an inherently weakened communal foundation and the survival of a neoliberal status quo.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis is focused on strategy in Scotland only and thus can only claim to be representative of that country. However, the growth in communitarian strategies in the public sector is informed from the analysis undertaken.
Practical implications
The paper provides a novel analysis of public library strategy and thus contributes to the understanding of public library practice in the modern era.
Social implications
The impacts of communitarian philosophy in the public sphere are under-researched and how these changes impact the mission of libraries needs to be better understood.
Originality/value
This is the first analysis to consider public library strategy from a communitarian point of view. As such, it provides novel insights into a growing area of public service development.
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Morrison Handley‐Schachler, Linda Juleff and Colin Paton
The purpose of this paper is to overview the goals of corporate governance in the financial services sector from a theoretical perspective. This sector has experienced some high…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to overview the goals of corporate governance in the financial services sector from a theoretical perspective. This sector has experienced some high profile corporate scandals, including BCCI, Barings Bank, and Equitable Life. Yet the UK's Combined Code on Corporate Governance does not give any special prominence to the corporate governance issues involved in this important and idiosyncratic business area.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the broad parameters of corporate governance are discussed, from a theoretical perspective. From this particular characteristics are derived applicable to the financial services sector. These issues are examined and the extent to which they have been addressed by contemporary academic or policy‐related studies is considered, and also how they are related to the activities of the main bodies responsible for external oversight.
Findings
The main attention of this paper is banks and a key issue arising is that the typical structure of their balance‐sheets – high leverage, and a mismatch in their assets and liabilities, mean that it is imperative that they keep lenders' confidence, and imply a wider duty of care for bank directors. External regulators (FSA) and auditors have vital oversight functions, which should encourage sound governance practices. One avenue of future research would be to assess the effectiveness of compliance in the UK, given that financial companies have obligations concerning both FSA requirements and Combined Code provisions.
Originality/value
Some key issues pertaining to corporate governance in financial services are addressed, highlighting their significance, to encourage further investigation by academics and practitioners in the field.
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To understand the factors encouraging growth in two social enterprises involved in recycling based in London, UK, and how these can be interpreted and understood in terms of…
Abstract
Purpose
To understand the factors encouraging growth in two social enterprises involved in recycling based in London, UK, and how these can be interpreted and understood in terms of “managerialist” concepts.
Design/methodology/approach
The study aimed to understand how particular aspects of social enterprise literature relate to practice on the ground, and to gain a clearer picture of the diversity, complexity and contested ideas that coexist within the social enterprise sector. Focuses on the experience of two social enterprises based in London: ReBoot, a project set up by Bootstrap Enterprises, a social enterprise based in Hackney for the recycling of computers donated from individuals and organizations; and Green‐Works, a social enterprise for preventing large volumes of office furniture from going to landfill. Explains that the research comprised two parts: an extensive literature review to provide background theory and context; and the use of semi‐structured interviews with the selected organizations to gain qualitative data for comparison.
Findings
The results provided broad indications relating to the ideas and conflicts existing within and between social enterprises across such broad themes as “growth”, public and private origins, market orientation and long‐term sustainability. Concludes that the research highlights the diversity of social enterprises in terms of their objectives, structures, operations and long‐term visions, while demonstrating the great differences between the two enterprises despite their seeming similarity on the surface.
Originality/value
Challenges the frequently over‐simplified generalizations and assumptions that are applied to social enterprises.
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Keith Munro, Ian Ruthven and Perla Innocenti
This paper investigates the information behaviour of creative DJs, a group previously not considered from the perspective of information studies. The practice of DJing is a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the information behaviour of creative DJs, a group previously not considered from the perspective of information studies. The practice of DJing is a musically creative process, where a performance can draw on a vast range of music to create a unique listening and dancing experience. The authors study what are the information behaviour processes involved in creative DJing and what roles embodied information play in DJing practice.
Design/methodology/approach
From a set of semi-structured interviews with 12 experienced DJs in Scotland, UK, that were subjected to inductive thematic analysis, the authors present a model of how DJs undergo the process of planning, performing and evaluating a DJ performance.
Findings
From this study, a model of creative DJs’ information behaviour is presented. This three-stage model describes the information behaviours and critical factors that influence DJs’ planning, decision-making and verification during the pre-performance, performance and post-performance stages, with particular emphasis on DJs’ performances as a rich site of embodied information interactions.
Originality/value
This research provides insight into a new activity in information behaviour, particularly in the use of embodied information, and presents a model for the information behaviour of creative DJs. This opens the way for future studies to consider minorities within the activity, the audience as opposed to the performer, as well as other creative activities where physicality and performance are central.
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– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of serious teacher misbehaviour (TMB) in schools from the perspective of headteachers, a largely un-researched area.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of serious teacher misbehaviour (TMB) in schools from the perspective of headteachers, a largely un-researched area.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected via the documentary analysis of misconduct cases from the Teaching Agency and semi-structured interviews with five headteachers who had managed serious cases.
Findings
The research suggests four primary impacts of serious TMB, affecting other teachers, students, the reputation of the school and headteachers themselves. The paper concludes by suggesting a fifth impact affecting public trust in the teaching profession.
Practical implications
Although rare, serious TMB can be highly damaging. Furthermore, the findings suggest that it is almost impossible to predict and so this paper suggests a “map” of the impacts helping headteachers to manage and contain it when/if the worst does happen.
Originality/value
Empirical studies of the impacts of serious organisational behaviour are scarce; empirical studies of serious organisational behaviour in schools are non-existent and so this paper addresses that gap.
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Simon James Ford, Michèle J. Routley, Rob Phaal and David R. Probert
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate how supply and demand interact during industrial emergence.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how supply and demand interact during industrial emergence.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper builds on previous theorising about co-evolutionary dynamics, exploring the interaction between supply and demand in a study of the industrial emergence of the commercial inkjet cluster in Cambridge, UK. Data are collected through 13 interviews with professionals working in the industry.
Findings
The paper shows that as new industries emerge, asynchronies between technology supply and market demand create opportunities for entrepreneurial activity. In attempting to match innovative technologies to particular applications, entrepreneurs adapt to the system conditions and shape the environment to their own advantage. Firms that successfully operate in emerging industries demonstrate the functionality of new technologies, reducing uncertainty and increasing customer receptiveness.
Research limitations/implications
The research is geographically bounded to the Cambridge commercial inkjet cluster. Further studies could consider commercial inkjet from a global perspective or test the applicability of the findings in other industries.
Practical implications
Technology-based firms are often innovating during periods of industrial emergence. The insights developed in this paper help such firms recognise the emerging context in which they operate and the challenges that need to overcome.
Originality/value
As an in depth study of a single industry, this research responds to calls for studies into industrial emergence, providing insights into how supply and demand interact during this phase of the industry lifecycle.
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Sets out a three‐role model for training in the strategic changeprocess: adaptive change, focusing on skills and knowledge; adoptive change, stressing attitudinal and behavioural…
Abstract
Sets out a three‐role model for training in the strategic change process: adaptive change, focusing on skills and knowledge; adoptive change, stressing attitudinal and behavioural change; and innovative change, using training as a bottom‐up initiator and shaper of change. Based on the author′s experience and illustrated by case‐study material, shows how the last role can be used to create additional “value‐added” in training interventions.
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Mark Stover and Steven D. Zink
The World Wide Web (WWW) has become the most visible application of the Internet. Newspapers and popular magazines publish stories on a regular basis about Web sites. The most…
Abstract
The World Wide Web (WWW) has become the most visible application of the Internet. Newspapers and popular magazines publish stories on a regular basis about Web sites. The most ubiquitous symbols of the World Wide Web, its Uniform Resource Locator (URL) addresses, are even becoming commonplace on many television commercials. Over the past few years the World Wide Web (along with client applications like Netscape to assist in navigating the Web) has literally brought the Internet to life and to the attention of the general public.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss a vibrant social service culture in British and Indian higher education institutions in the period 1905-1919. The paper explores the many…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss a vibrant social service culture in British and Indian higher education institutions in the period 1905-1919. The paper explores the many reciprocal influences between India and Britain, which lay behind the student social service movement. Developments in metropole and colony were so influenced by transnational movements of people and ideas that the common approaches and shared ideals which emerged cannot be fully understood by study of either setting in isolation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on a rich vein of college magazines and social service league publications as well as the writings of a range of enthusiasts for social service. The rapid spread of social service ideas across India and Britain relied on the exchange of ideas through English-language magazines and journals and the outreach work of leading social servants who addressed numerous student groups and meetings.
Findings
Developments in Indian and British student service were shaped by and shaped in turn a wider social movement in the early twentieth century. Indian and western educationalists spread ideas about student social service through lectures, publications and international exchanges. Student social servants in both metropole and colony shared a set of core values which made up an “ideal of service”. Students in both metropole and colony were enjoined to view their education as a period of preparation for greater service to the nation after graduation. Student service leagues were involved in reworking patriotic idiom to link social service with nation building.
Originality/value
The paper builds on recent work on social service and education to develop knowledge and understanding of transnational networks of educationalists, particular movements of people and ideas between colonial India and metropolitan Britain. Taking social service in higher education as a case study, the paper argues for the need to study developments in both metropole and colony in order to better understand reciprocal impacts.
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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.