David M. Andrus, Edward Silver and Dallas E. Johnson
The study identifies major factors that contrast gift decisions for different status signature clothes. Gift buying represents a significant proportion of purchases in many…
Abstract
The study identifies major factors that contrast gift decisions for different status signature clothes. Gift buying represents a significant proportion of purchases in many product classes and is a pervasive retail consumption pattern. Specialty clothing retail sales surpassed the $9 billion figure in 1983. Factors that discriminate status brands for gift purchases can be used to develop market strategies to increase purchases. Strategies are provided for brand managers, fashion marketers, and store buyers to better meet consumer needs and wants in the gift‐buying process.
Katelyn K. Jetelina, Stephen A. Bishopp, Jared G. Wiegand and Jennifer M. Reingle Gonzalez
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate officer and civilian race/ethnicity disparities during ten years of officer-involved shootings (OIS).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate officer and civilian race/ethnicity disparities during ten years of officer-involved shootings (OIS).
Design/methodology/approach
Internal affairs, personnel and geospatial data were triangulated for 253 OIS at the Dallas Police Department from 2005 to 2015. Multinomial regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between civilian and officer race/ethnicity in OIS, controlling for officer, situational and neighborhood factors.
Findings
In total, 48 percent of unique OIS involved a non-Hispanic black civilian and most OIS occurred in Hispanic majority neighborhoods (48 percent). Officer age and number of shooters on scene were the only variables significantly associated with officer race/ethnicity. Most notably, officer race/ethnicity was not associated with the race/ethnicity of the civilian during OIS incidents.
Originality/value
There is limited scientific evidence on whether officers of certain races/ethnicities are disproportionately likely to engage in OIS with civilians of a particular race/ethnicity due to the relative rarity of such events.
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The CW’s long-running horror-drama series Supernatural (2005–) has been accused of undoing progressive advances for women made by Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1996–2003). While it’s…
Abstract
The CW’s long-running horror-drama series Supernatural (2005–) has been accused of undoing progressive advances for women made by Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1996–2003). While it’s hard to deny the truth in that claim, Supernatural also problematizes conventional gender roles from a very different approach, one that plays with perceptions of masculinity and social class.
Buffy Summers may initially seem to have more in common with Supernatural’s Sam Winchester, a chosen one with special powers who wants a normal life away from the supernatural. However, Buffy shares more in common with Dean Winchester. Embodying popular gendered stereotypes in their introductions, it’s gradually revealed that there is more complexity to each. Both form alliances with Others; both recognize elements of the Other in themselves. Both transgress conventional gender boundaries, complicating the notion of a binary gender system. Both series introduce the seemingly familiar only to alter it into the uncanny. See the little cute blonde virginal cheerleader? She can kick your ass. See the stupid cocky womanizing jock? All he wants is family and a home. This chapter explores the increasingly gender-blended, social-class-crossing behaviours of Supernatural’s Dean Winchester as an heir to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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Rodney McAdam, Shirley‐Ann Hazlett and Joan Henderson
Increasing competitive pressure from global markets and technological developments has resulted in the continual demand for business improvement philosophies and methodologies in…
Abstract
Increasing competitive pressure from global markets and technological developments has resulted in the continual demand for business improvement philosophies and methodologies in operations management to address this challenge. The Six Sigma approach to business improvement has emerged in both the practitioner and academic literature as having a significant role in this area. There are many documented case studies of organizational applications of Six Sigma, where large‐scale improvements in defect and process measures have been attributed to this approach, mainly in the mass‐manufacturing sector. Moreover, there are claims, less well documented, that Six Sigma can be used as a change management approach at a strategic level and thus it can be applied to other sectors such as service industries. It is contended that there is a paucity of critical reviews of the Six Sigma literature, beyond that of descriptive accounts. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to critically review the literature of Six Sigma in relation to its effect on organizations and those that work in them. A broad theoretical perspective is used to guide the review process. The paper structure is based on the dichotomies within the Six Sigma literature, namely, what is Six Sigma — strategic change or operational methods; is Six Sigma a TQM appendage, or something new; will workers in a Six Sigma environment have more empowerment or be more controlled and is Six Sigma applicable to the service sector or only for that of the manufacturing sector?
Justin L. Davis, R. Greg Bell, G. Tyge Payne and Patrick M. Kreiser
Organizational researchers have long recognized the important role that top managers play within entrepreneurial firms (Ireland, Hitt and Sirmon 2003). Utilizing Covin and…
Abstract
Organizational researchers have long recognized the important role that top managers play within entrepreneurial firms (Ireland, Hitt and Sirmon 2003). Utilizing Covin and Slevin’s (1989) conceptual framework, the current study explores three key entrepreneurial characteristics of top managers and the impact these characteristics have on firm performance. Specifically, we argue that top managers with a high tolerance of risk, those who favor innovative activities and those who display a high degree of proactiveness will positively impact firm performance. In addition, this study examines the influence of top managers’ prestige, structural and expert power on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. We conclude the study with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications of our findings and suggestions for future research in this area of study.
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Don Mankin, Susan Cohen and Stephen P. Fitzgerald
People have worked together since the beginnings of human time. Since then the forms of collaboration have barely changed. While a group of laborers building the pyramids of Egypt…
Abstract
People have worked together since the beginnings of human time. Since then the forms of collaboration have barely changed. While a group of laborers building the pyramids of Egypt might seem to bear little resemblance to a team of machine operators working in a plant, they actually have much in common. Both groups are made up of people of similar backgrounds with clear loyalties and interests, interacting face-to-face to perform relatively well-defined tasks in pursuit of a shared goal.
Megan Rauch Griffard, Diamond Ebanks and Jacob D. Skousen
This chapter discusses the role of school leadership in the face of climate disasters and environmental injustices. These disruptions to schooling are emblematic of an increasing…
Abstract
This chapter discusses the role of school leadership in the face of climate disasters and environmental injustices. These disruptions to schooling are emblematic of an increasing global uncertainty. School leaders play a pivotal role mitigating uncertainty following an environmental crisis or disaster through leadership activities that support their communities. However, preparing school leaders for unexpected disruptions to schooling has often been overlooked by preparation programs and professional development. The goal of this chapter is to equip school leaders with an essential understanding of both the influence of environmental injustice on schools and the tools to respond effectively to these events. First, the chapter contextualizes environmental injustice and inequality as a factor that influences school and student performance, especially for students living below the poverty line and students of color. Next, it synthesizes how school leaders have responded to prior instances of climate disasters and environmental injustices. Finally, it presents key considerations for school leaders confronting future occurrences.
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This paper explores the relationship between feminist theory and rising economic inequality. It shows how greater inequality reflects the valorization of the stereotypically male…
Abstract
This paper explores the relationship between feminist theory and rising economic inequality. It shows how greater inequality reflects the valorization of the stereotypically male qualities of competition and hierarchy, producing a greater concentration of wealth among a small number of men at the top, shortchanging men more than women through the rest of the economy, and altering the way that men and women match up to each other in the creation of families. By creating a framework for further research on the relationship between the norms of the top and the disadvantages of everyone else in more unequal societies, the paper provides a basis for feminists to develop a new theory of social power.
The paper demonstrates how the development of winner-take-all income hierarchies, the political devaluation of families and communities, and the terms of the family values debate diminish equality and community. The paper addresses how to understand these developments as they affect both the structure of society and the allocation of power within our families in ways that link to the historic concerns of feminist theory. It accordingly ends by asking the “woman question” in a new way: one that revisits the stereotypically masculine and feminine and asks how they connect to hierarchy, one that considers whether the inclusion of women changes institutional cultures in predictable ways, and one that wonders whether the values that today are associated with more women than men offer a basis for the reconstruction of society more generally.
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Xiaochen Hu, Beidi Dong and Nicholas Lovrich
Previous studies consistently indicate that police agencies tend to use social media to assist in criminal investigations, to improve police-community relations and to broadcast…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous studies consistently indicate that police agencies tend to use social media to assist in criminal investigations, to improve police-community relations and to broadcast both crime- and non-crime-related tips promotive of public safety. To date, little research has examined what content the police tended to post on their social media sites during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
By selecting the 14 most widely attended police agencies' Facebook accounts, the current study collects and analyzes a sample of 2,477 police Facebook postings between February 1 and May 31, 2020. By using a mix-method approach, the study addresses three research questions: 1) What kinds of messages did the police tend to post on their Facebook pages before and during this pandemic? 2) What types of COVID-related police Facebook postings were made? 3) How did the public react to COVID-19-related police Facebook postings?
Findings
The findings suggest that the police have come to believe that social media can be used as an effective police−public communicative tool in stressful times. The findings also suggest that social media platforms have become a routinized tool of police−public communications which can, to some appreciable extent, substitute for the in-person contacts traditionally relied upon in community policing.
Originality/value
This study of police use of social media explores the question of whether the use of these media can serve as an effective tool to connect the police with the public under circumstances where in-person contacts are greatly constrained. Some public policy implications emerging from the findings reported are discussed, along with implications for further research along these lines.
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On April 2, 1987, IBM unveiled a series of long‐awaited new hardware and software products. The new computer line, dubbed the Personal Systems 30, 50, 60, and 80, seems destined…
Abstract
On April 2, 1987, IBM unveiled a series of long‐awaited new hardware and software products. The new computer line, dubbed the Personal Systems 30, 50, 60, and 80, seems destined to replace the XT and AT models that are the mainstay of the firm's current personal computer offerings. The numerous changes in hardware and software, while representing improvements on previous IBM technology, will require users purchasing additional computers to make difficult choices as to which of the two IBM architectures to adopt.