Diane M. Holtzman, Ellen M. Kraft and Emmanuel Small
The purpose of the study was to determine if representatives of small and large businesses in New Jersey believe portfolios would be valuable for evaluating applicants as part of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study was to determine if representatives of small and large businesses in New Jersey believe portfolios would be valuable for evaluating applicants as part of the hiring process and whether portfolios would help applicants in the hiring process.
Design/methodology/approach
Representatives from 109 small and 71 large businesses in New Jersey were surveyed about using portfolios in the hiring process.
Findings
Representatives from both small and large businesses believe that the submission of a portfolio of exemplary work may help the applicant and the employer in the hiring process.
Research limitations/implications
The study limitations are that the respondents had different definitions of ePortfolio, it was a convenience survey, and the researchers used two sets of data. For future research, conducting a study in a major region of the world would be a significant contribution to learning about the views of business representatives globally regarding the use of ePortfolios in the hiring decision process.
Practical implications
The authors recommend that educational institutions encourage students to create portfolios as part of their career preparation to gain an edge as applicants in the job market. EPortfolios are an emerging tool to help employers in the hiring decision process.
Social implications
EPortfolios would provide evidence of the employee's fit to the position, thus eliminating a mismatch of the employee's skill set and qualifications to the job. The ePortfolio aids the employer in seeing the candidate's skills for the position.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the limited research about the emergence of ePortfolios having a role in human resource decision making.
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Friederike Kittelmann, Patricia Kraft and Ellen Schmid
Based on the necessity for universities through the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic to switch to online teaching from one day to the other, this study aims to show how a…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on the necessity for universities through the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic to switch to online teaching from one day to the other, this study aims to show how a combination of different online teaching approaches makes it possible to activate reflection as an enabler of intercultural competency development even though real experience, interaction and exchange elements could not be implemented as usual.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on insights on experiential learning using intercultural competence development through the mechanism of reflection in combination with findings from on- and offline learning settings and informal learning processes. Adapting Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning cycle, this study presents an online course design for an undergraduate course in intercultural competencies. This study delineates an assessment of the course based on student evaluation results and excerpts of student essays.
Findings
This study demonstrates how the acquisition of important future skills such as reflection skills can be successfully mastered by combining different online teaching approaches. This study also shows that Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning cycle continues to yield critical benefits when adapted it to the “new reality.”
Originality/value
This study provides a case study on how business schools can deal with special challenges in courses where competencies are taught, which are usually developed through real experiences or informal learning. An application to other types of experiential learning activities is considered valuable. It is useful to further adopt elements in a post-COVID-19 teaching environment. Especially using apps as described can contribute to make learning more tailored to each student. As such, this paper contributes to the body of research on the importance of reflection skills in an educational and virtual context.
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Diane A. Lawong, Gerald R. Ferris, Wayne A. Hochwarter and John N. Harris
Work environments, which are widely acknowledged to exert strong influences on employee attitudes and behavior, have been studied since the initiation of formal work entities…
Abstract
Work environments, which are widely acknowledged to exert strong influences on employee attitudes and behavior, have been studied since the initiation of formal work entities. Over this time, scholars have identified myriad impactful internal and external factors. Absent though are investigations examining economic downturns despite their acknowledged pervasiveness and destructive effects on worker performance and well-being. To address this theoretical gap, a multistage model acknowledging the impact of recessions on workplace responses, response effects, and environmental considerations is proposed. Inherent in this discussion is the role of economic decline on reactive change processes, the nature of work, and the structure and design of organizations. These significant changes affect employee attitudes and behaviors in ways that increase the political nature of these work environments. Organizational factors and employee responses to heightened recession-driven politics are discussed. Additionally, theoretically relevant intervening variables capable of influencing work outcomes are described. The chapter is concluded by discussing the implications of this theoretical framework as well as directions for future research.
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Thomas Walker, Dieter Gramlich and Adele Dumont-Bergeron
In 2017, global plastic production reached 348 million tonnes. Despite growing concerns about the environmental challenges associated with both plastic production and plastic…
Abstract
In 2017, global plastic production reached 348 million tonnes. Despite growing concerns about the environmental challenges associated with both plastic production and plastic waste, recent estimates suggest that plastic production and subsequent waste is expected to double by the year 2035 (European Commission, 2018). To help reduce the amount of plastic waste that litters the oceans and damages the environment, the European Union has recently commissioned a study about the feasibility of levying a tax on plastic products (New Economic Foundation for the Rethink Plastic Alliance, 2018). However, very few academic articles currently exist that critically examine the arguments for or against a plastic tax and thereby enlighten government and regulators on the subject. This chapter investigates whether plastic taxes can be used as an economic disincentive for plastic products and explores its advantages and disadvantages within a circular economy. It explores whether a plastic tax is the right economic instrument to limit the use of plastics, generate design and technical innovations for bio-based materials and degradable/recyclable plastics, create other economic incentives to optimize the value of plastic and its waste collection, and increase public awareness and responsibility. We find that a plastic tax may be a suitable solution as it is likely to influence the design, production, consumption, and waste sectors if designed properly. Yet, the tax should be carefully implemented and combined with other instruments to obtain the desired outcomes and reduce the occurrence of unfavorable side effects.
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C. Alty and S. Cameron
The first question to be addressed on this issue is what is open adoption? What follows in this article is a survey of definitions in the literature which reveals a broad spectrum…
Abstract
The first question to be addressed on this issue is what is open adoption? What follows in this article is a survey of definitions in the literature which reveals a broad spectrum of definitions of openness. Most of the definitions which follow are based on the range of practices which researchers have come across during their interviews with families who have been involved in an open adoption. Essentially, open adoption is a term which describes the continued contact between an adopted child and his/her birth parent(s) after adoption. Open adoption has also been referred to as the adoption triangle as there are three parties involved in the adoption rather than the traditional two.
Laura-Yi Lévesque, Emmanuel Raufflet and Linda Rouleau
Blanc de Gris (BDG) is producing oyster mushrooms from organic waste (coffee grounds and spent grains) in Downtown Montreal. This project brought the two co-founders of this…
Abstract
Blanc de Gris (BDG) is producing oyster mushrooms from organic waste (coffee grounds and spent grains) in Downtown Montreal. This project brought the two co-founders of this circular enterprise into a challenging journey. Based on an ethnographic account of BDG, including observations, interviews, and a four-month internship into the business, this chapter highlights the difficulties of creating an industrial symbiosis. From gaining legitimacy among their peers and bankers to facing operational problems, this chapter outlines the network’s resilience behind this story. This chapter ends by discussing the case in regard to the challenges related to the emergence of circular business models, identified by a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
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This paper aims to reveal the marshalling of an emotion – loneliness – over time for the construction of relationships between advertisers and consumers between 1909 and 1934…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to reveal the marshalling of an emotion – loneliness – over time for the construction of relationships between advertisers and consumers between 1909 and 1934, paying attention to the shifting contexts in which these relationships were built, maintained and extended. It also draws attention to the ways in which advertising and marketing work in society, and advances the understanding of the development of consumer culture in Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses textual analysis of letters from readers and editorial content published in the magazine over a 25-year period, supplemented by material from newspapers and memoirs.
Findings
The paper reveals how a women’s magazine marshalled the loneliness of Australian women, especially rural Australian women, to attach them to the magazine and its advertisers. Over 25 years, the magazine editors built a reservoir of trust between readers and the magazine. When the economy turned, this reservoir could be drawn upon to maintain reader attachment and maximise sales.
Research limitations/implications
This paper examines the use of emotion in just one magazine. A comparative study would be beneficial to see whether this exploitation of emotion was widespread.
Practical implications
The paper suggests the importance of emotion as a tool for attaching consumers to brands and for maintaining that attachment through financial difficulties.
Originality/value
This paper supports the turn to the study of emotion in history and, specifically, in the development of consumer culture.
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Steen Koekebakker and Fridthjof Ollmar
The forward curve dynamics in the Nordic electricity market is examined. Six years of price data on futures and forward contracts traded in the Nordic electricity market are…
Abstract
The forward curve dynamics in the Nordic electricity market is examined. Six years of price data on futures and forward contracts traded in the Nordic electricity market are analysed. For the forward price function of electricity, we specify a multi‐factor term structure models in a Heath‐Jarrow‐Morton framework. Principal component analysis is used to reveal the volatility structure in the market. A two‐factor model explains 75 per cent of the price variation in our data, compared to approximately 95 per cent in most other markets. Further investigations show that correlation between short‐ and long‐term forward prices is lower than in other markets. We briefly discuss possible reasons why these special properties occur, and some consequences for hedging exposures in this market.