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1 – 10 of 32The overarching question of this paper is, “What are the advantages of being an upwardly mobile academic?” The extant academic research on working-class academics has usually…
Abstract
Purpose
The overarching question of this paper is, “What are the advantages of being an upwardly mobile academic?” The extant academic research on working-class academics has usually emphasized various kinds of “deficits” of working-class academics. In this paper, the author demonstrates that although class positions can constitute a formidable burden, they can translate into specific advantages in academia.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on the narrative, phenomenological approach, which has been applied in working-class studies and higher-education research. The empirical material comprises the collection of 25 narrative interviews conducted and analyzed according to the biographical narrative interpretive method (BNIM).
Findings
This paper looks at the experience of working-class academics from a holistic perspective, including both the downsides and upsides of being an “outsider within,” or “insider without.” It uncovers four assets of a working-class background – referred to as “navigational capital,” “revolutionary potential,” “wisdom” and a distinct “working-class pedagogy.”
Practical implications
The working-class pedagogy can be turned into support programs for working-class individuals. Their navigational capital can foster evolutionary changes and small improvements for the benefit of the entire academic community. Their revolutionary dispositions can trigger major reforms, and their unique experiences can be utilized as case studies in teaching.
Originality/value
This paper engages with the literature on the cultural mismatch and cleft habitus in the academic context. It analyzes the positive but rarely discussed aspects of being an upwardly mobile academic with a working-class background. By recognizing these unique assets, it engages with the literature on inclusive universities and can help make higher education more inclusive and sustainable.
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Lindsay Redpath, Deborah Hurst and Kay Devine
The purpose of this paper is to compare knowledge employees' perceptions of contingent work with their managers' perceptions, highlighting potential differences in their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare knowledge employees' perceptions of contingent work with their managers' perceptions, highlighting potential differences in their respective psychological contracts which might produce dissonance in the employment relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Original research using interviews and scalar data of both contingent knowledge workers and their managers are reported. The study sample consists of 32 contingent knowledge workers and 33 managers in five industries in Canada: two public sector and three private sector.
Findings
The results of this study indicate that differences exist between contingent knowledge workers and their managers with how contingent work affects career goals, promotion opportunities, and training and development opportunities. Additionally, differences occur in the constructs that mirror the traditional empirical measurements of the psychological contract. Two major themes are revealed: coping with uncertainty and integration with the organization on the part of contingent workers and managers.
Originality/value
This study contributes to research on contingent employment as it compares manager and contingent knowledge worker responses in terms of the psychological contracts formed by each.
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Shelley L. MacDougall and Deborah Hurst
The use of contingent knowledge workers may be an efficient means of investing in an organization's intellectual capital. However, exposing contingent workers to private, key…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of contingent knowledge workers may be an efficient means of investing in an organization's intellectual capital. However, exposing contingent workers to private, key competitive knowledge is considered risky. A study was undertaken to collect the costs, benefits and losses experienced by organizations that had contracted contingent knowledge workers to develop intellectual capital.
Design/methodology/approach
A purposive cross‐section of senior managers of knowledge‐intensive organizations were interviewed regarding the tangible benefits, costs, perceived risks, and experienced losses from contingent knowledge worker arrangements. The constant comparison method of analysis was used.
Findings
The data revealed perceived increases in flexibility, expertise, creative stimuli, and knowledge bank development. These benefits were believed to have bottom‐line impact through product and process improvements and innovations, and operational efficiencies. The managers did not perceive much risk or experience material losses as a result of the contingent knowledge worker arrangements.
Research limitations/implications
These findings are based on interviews with a small group of organizations. Although not generalizable, they present an interesting contrast to previous researchers’ conclusions regarding the use of contingent knowledge workers. Further empirical work is needed to test the degree to which this study's findings can be generalized.
Practical implications
Contrary to recent literature, this study suggests that contracting contingent knowledge workers to develop in‐house intellectual capital is worth the risk.
Originality/value
The study presents a divergent viewpoint on the contracting of contingent knowledge workers. It also initiates research on rational evaluation of investments in intellectual capital, which constitutes an important contribution to the area of knowledge management. It also contributes to the ongoing research on intellectual capital valuation.
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Deborah Hurst, Shelley MacDougall and Chris Pelham
While there is no definitive profile of the successful entrepreneur or prescribed pathway for success, research suggests that individuals who proactively accommodate factors that…
Abstract
Purpose
While there is no definitive profile of the successful entrepreneur or prescribed pathway for success, research suggests that individuals who proactively accommodate factors that push and pull them into entrepreneurship, align their personal and entrepreneurial visions, and to some extent, build emotional intelligence (EQ), are more likely to succeed. This paper aims to describe an entrepreneur counseling process developed and used by the Acadia Centre for Social and Business Entrepreneurship (ACSBE), located in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors propose an entrepreneur's success, negotiation of push and pull factors, and EQ are all linked, and the ACSBE counseling model draws on these. The case study method was used. ACSBE staffs were interviewed regarding the entrepreneur counseling process, counselor‐training sessions were observed and documents were reviewed. Two ACSBE clients, who together started a successful fair‐trade business, were interviewed for their insights regarding the ACSBE counseling model and their own experiences starting their business.
Findings
The responses of the ACSBE clients illustrate a successful application of the ACSBE Entrepreneurial Decision Making Cycle©. Their personal values, business strategies and performance were linked to promote success personally and for society. Both entrepreneurs were authentic, self‐aware and empathetic individuals who were able to hone their EQ and develop sound business acumen with assistance of the ACSBE counseling model.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis of the ACSBE counseling model and its success in this case leads to the question of whether the application of the ACSBE Entrepreneurial Decision Making Cycle can predict those more likely to succeed in an entrepreneurial venture. In order to address this, further research of the ACSBE decision tool is recommended.
Originality/value
The ACSBE Entrepreneurial Decision Making Cycle is unique. It should be of interest to entrepreneur counselors and researchers of entrepreneurship.
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This chapter argues that the near-universal exclusion from the academy of the Shakespeare Authorship Question (or SAQ) represents a significant but little-understood example of an…
Abstract
This chapter argues that the near-universal exclusion from the academy of the Shakespeare Authorship Question (or SAQ) represents a significant but little-understood example of an internal threat to academic freedom. Using an epistemological lens, this chapter examines and critiques the invidious and marginalizing rhetoric used to suppress such research by demonstrating the extent to which it constitutes a pattern of epistemic vice: that, by calling skeptics “conspiracy theorists” and comparing them to Holocaust deniers rather than addressing the substance of their claims, orthodox Shakespeare academics risk committing acts of epistemic vice, injustice and oppression, as well as foreclosing potentially productive lines of inquiry in their discipline. To better understand this phenomenon and its implications, the chapter subjects selected statements to external criteria in the form of the Association of College and Research Libraries’ 2015 Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, which provides a set of robust normative dispositions and knowledge practices for understanding the nature of the scholarly enterprise. The analysis reveals that the proscription against the SAQ constitutes an unwarranted infringement on the academic freedom not only of those targeted by this rhetoric, but – by extension – of all Shakespeare scholars as well.
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Yolander G. Hurst, M. Joan McDermott and Deborah L. Thomas
Recent research suggests that there is not widespread support for the police among juveniles. Unfortunately, this research typically involves either examining the attitudes of…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent research suggests that there is not widespread support for the police among juveniles. Unfortunately, this research typically involves either examining the attitudes of boys toward the criminal justice system, or includes gender as one of many factors that explains attitudes. The present study, using survey responses from 431 females, examines the differences in the attitudes and experiences of girls as related to the police.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this study were collected using self‐administered surveys distributed to 9th through 12th grade public high school students in the greater Cincinnati (Ohio) area.
Findings
The findings suggest that overall attitudes of black and white girls toward the police are significantly different from one another. Moreover, when a regression equation was estimated, race continued to be a significant predictor of less positive attitudes. However, seeing and hearing about police misconduct aimed at a third party (vicarious experiences of misconduct) was a stronger predictor of girls' attitudes toward the police.
Research limitations/implications
This study was limited to juveniles residing in and around a metropolitan area. Future research should explore the experiences of teenagers in rural areas with the police, and how these experiences may impact on their attitudes toward law enforcement.
Originality/value
Highlights the different attitudes of black and white girls towards the police.
Deborah A. O’Neil, Margaret E. Brooks and Margaret M. Hopkins
The purpose of this paper is to better understand women’s working relationships and career support behaviors, by investigating expectations women have of other women regarding…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to better understand women’s working relationships and career support behaviors, by investigating expectations women have of other women regarding senior women’s roles in (and motivations for) helping junior women succeed, and junior women’s engagement in their own career advancement behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors surveyed self- and other-reports of senior women’s engagement in career assistance behaviors on behalf of junior women colleagues, and junior women’s engagement in their own career advancement behaviors. One sample of respondents indicated to what extent they believed senior women did engage in career assistance toward junior women, and to what extent they believed junior women did engage in career advancement. Another sample indicated to what extent they believed senior women should engage in career assistance, and to what extent they believed junior women should engage in their own career advancement.
Findings
Results suggest a disconnect between the expectations and perceptions junior and senior women have of each other. Junior women expect senior women to engage in career assistance behaviors to a greater degree than they believe senior women are engaging in such behaviors, and junior women think they are doing more to advance their careers than senior women are expecting them to do. The authors examine individual and organizational implications of these unmet expectations and perception mismatches.
Originality/value
Women-to-women working relationships are under-studied, and typically viewed in either/or terms – good or bad. The findings provide a more nuanced understanding of women’s perceptions and expectations and offer suggestions for how women can influence female career advancement.
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Jessica L. Hurst and Linda S. Niehm
This study aims to focus on the unique challenges of retail service delivery in rural tourism markets. This paper specifically seeks to address: factors attracting individuals to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to focus on the unique challenges of retail service delivery in rural tourism markets. This paper specifically seeks to address: factors attracting individuals to a rural tourism community; factors motivating resident and tourist customers to engage in tourism shopping; satisfaction of resident and tourist customers with local retailers; and strategies to assist retailers in successful service delivery.
Design/methodology/approach
Using Dillman's survey techniques, data were collected from two different groups: resident customers and tourist customers in a rural Iowa tourism community. Given the study's exploratory focus, a case study methodology was selected.
Findings
Shopping experiences were much less satisfying for resident customers than for tourist customers in this study. Tourism retailers may not be effectively differentiating their customer service and providing adequate attention during the shopping experience, particularly to resident customers.
Research limitations/implications
One limitation is that the study represents an initial test of self‐designed and/or modified scales to capture the variables of interest in a single rural tourism community in Iowa. Therefore findings may only be generalizable to the unique nature of an established tourist population in Midwestern regions of the USA.
Practical implications
An important implication from this study is rural tourism retailers need to develop a comprehensive customer relationship management strategy to encourage repeat shopping and sustained patronage behavior.
Originality/value
This study provides valuable strategic implications for rural tourism entrepreneurs, business consultants and economic development professionals in rural tourism communities, and fills a void in the tourism and patronage literature.
Liz Lee‐Kelley, Deborah A. Blackman and Jeffrey Peter Hurst
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate a relationship between learning organisation theory and the potential to retain knowledge workers. It emphasises that human resource…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate a relationship between learning organisation theory and the potential to retain knowledge workers. It emphasises that human resource (HR) managers must recognise specific relationships between learning organisation elements, job satisfaction facets and turnover intent as they emerge for their knowledge workers.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was undertaken sampling knowledge workers in the information technology (IT) industry. Measured on a Likert scale, the instrument was designed to explore the impact of learning organisation disciplines upon job satisfaction and the importance of job satisfaction in determining turnover intent.
Findings
Analysis of the survey showed evidence of a relationship between learning organisation disciplines and turnover intent. All the learning organisation disciplines discussed in the paper correlated to at least one of the six job satisfaction dimensions, of which reward and challenge exerted the most significant influence upon turnover intent.
Practical implications
The results suggest that three initial strategies should be implemented by HR managers in order to reduce possible staff turnover. The strategies identified are first, linking shared vision, challenge and systems thinking together via personal mastery; second, being more critical of which mental models are developed and shared within the organisation; and finally, developing team learning systems throughout the organisation.
Originality/value
This study emphasises that HR managers should recognise specific career needs for their knowledge workers and that adopting appropriate strategies will increase retention.
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