Thibault Weigelt and Erica Sharma
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the budget of the Indian family planning programme from a human rights perspective. Family planning services play an important role in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the budget of the Indian family planning programme from a human rights perspective. Family planning services play an important role in the realisation of the reproductive rights of women. In India, the family planning programme is one of the largest in the world with thousands of patients, mostly women, accessing services every year. Although the Indian legal system guarantees the right to health, Indian women from marginalised sections of society still battle inadequate services and the absence of health care that respects their right to reproductive autonomy and choice. Therefore, the question is: in the presence of a strong legal framework, what are the factors that contribute to this phenomenon?
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have gathered data from the project implementation plans at the state level comparing year-wise expenditure for family planning against overall expenditure for reproductive, maternal and child health expenditure. The data are then compared to the number of women using sterilisation to suggest a relationship between both. Finally, the article relies on desk research to review scholarship on the Indian family planning programme and applicable human rights obligations.
Findings
The paper finds that social-economic rights such as the right to health are applicable to government spending and budgeting. It also finds current spending in the NHM is insufficient to guarantee women’s reproductive rights as the vast majority of resources are spend on sterilisation, thus limiting women’s ability to choose the number and spacing of children.
Research limitations/implications
The data used in this research bears one limitation: the propensity of the government to change the guidelines as to how States should present their budgets in the project implementation plans. The authors have adjusted the data so that it remains comparable. However, the adjustment was not possible for all expenditure data, which is why the current study is limited to the family planning programme alone.
Practical implications
The paper argues that to be human rights compliant, health budgets of the NHM need to be geared towards the specific needs of women in terms of family planning. Finally, the article briefly outlines the role played by human rights and human rights litigation in impacting government budgets.
Originality/value
India’s family planning programme has been examined from a performance and medical standpoint, focussing on medical indicators such as total fertility rate, unmet needs for family planning, amongst others. Academic scholarship has investigated through statistical analysis patterns of contraceptive use and contraceptive mix. What is absent, however, is an assessment of the programme from a right-based perspective by looking at the human rights obligations of India and their normative implications for the Indian family programme.
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Shelly Rampal, Sue Erica Smith and Anna Soter
In this paper we seek to provide insight as to how wisdom is, or might be, perceived and enacted in Higher Education contexts. Selected constructs of wisdom derived from the…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper we seek to provide insight as to how wisdom is, or might be, perceived and enacted in Higher Education contexts. Selected constructs of wisdom derived from the Bhagavad Gita provided a platform from which seven invited College of Education faculty participants considered their own framings of wisdom in the contexts of their own professional and personal lives.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study has drawn upon constructs of wisdom proffered by key Indian scholars who share this epistemological stance. A three-stage process was deployed, comprised of an introductory close-ended survey, an open-ended questionnaire to determine personalised insights and semi-structured interviews to clarify and member-check the data.
Findings
The participant academics' reflections offered a convergence on rich potential to pursue wisdom in Education and promote ethics, integrity, skilful action and inclusion. Furthermore, a general concern among the group of seven faculty who participated, was a perceived lack of humility in academia.
Research limitations/implications
A sample of seven participants precludes generalizable findings. Some ambiguities of constructs like “Love of God”, “Duty” and “Inner peace” provided space for participants to interrogate their own understandings.
Originality/value
“Wisdom” in Higher Education has not been an explicit topic of research until relatively recently. Based on the present study, which entailed in-depth written responses to questions that asked faculty respondents about their perceptions of the place and role of “wisdom” in Higher Education settings, we can however, suggest possible directions for wisdom-focused research in pluricultural Higher Education contexts.
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Laxmi Dutt Bhatta, Erica Udas, Babar Khan, Anila Ajmal, Roheela Amir and Sunita Ranabhat
The purpose of this paper is to understand local perceptions on climate change and its impacts on biodiversity, rangeland, agriculture and human health.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand local perceptions on climate change and its impacts on biodiversity, rangeland, agriculture and human health.
Design/methodology/approach
A household survey with 300 interviewees and focus group discussions with key stakeholders were conducted and validated at two steps, using the climate data from the nearest weather stations and reviewing literatures, to correlate the local perceptions on climate change and its impacts.
Findings
Majority of the respondents reported an increase in temperature and change in the precipitation pattern with increased hazardous incidences such as floods, avalanches and landslides. Climate change directly impacted plant distribution, species composition, disease and pest infestation, forage availability, agricultural productivity and human health risks related to infectious vector-borne diseases.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the remoteness and difficult terrain, there are insufficient local weather stations in the mountains providing inadequate scientific data, thus requiring extrapolation from nearest stations for long-term climate data monitoring.
Practical implications
The research findings recommend taking immediate actions to develop local climate change adaptation strategies through a participatory approach that would enable local communities to strengthen their adaptive capacity and resilience.
Social implications
Local knowledge-based perceptions on climate change and its impacts on social, ecological and economic sectors could help scientists, practitioners and policymakers to understand the ground reality and respond accordingly through effective planning and implementing adaptive measures including policy formulation.
Originality/value
This research focuses on combining local knowledge-based perceptions and climate science to elaborate the impacts of climate change in a localised context in Rakaposhi Valley in Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan.
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Saroja Kumari Wanigasekara, Muhammad Ali and Erica French
Networking behaviours are important for a range of work outcomes. Little empirical evidence of how internal vs external networking behaviours influence job commitment and job…
Abstract
Purpose
Networking behaviours are important for a range of work outcomes. Little empirical evidence of how internal vs external networking behaviours influence job commitment and job performance exists and whether political skills moderate these relationships. Using theories of social capital and personal initiative, this study examines the effect of internal and external networking behaviours on job commitment and job performance in the context of political skills.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a sequential mixed-method research design with a four-month time lag, Study 1 data on networking behaviours, political skills and work outcomes were collected via a survey of middle managers and their supervisors from ten private sector organisations operating in Sri Lanka. Study 2 data were collected via interviews of a set of middle managers and their supervisors.
Findings
Study 1 findings indicate a positive relationship between internal networking behaviours and both job commitment and job performance. The authors also found a moderating effect of political skills on internal networking behaviours and job commitment. Study 2 findings explained, strengthened and extended results of Study 1.
Practical implications
Middle managers can use these research findings to understand how internal networking behaviours improve their job commitment and job performance. These managers can use their political skills and internal networking behaviours to improve their job commitment. They can also advance their career through improved job commitment and job performance. Senior managers and human resource managers should facilitate and encourage internal networking behaviours. Training and development managers should develop middle managers' networking behaviours and political skills.
Originality/value
This study provides pioneering evidence of how internal networking behaviours impact middle managers' job performance and job commitment, and how internal networking behaviours improve job commitment for middle managers with high political skills.
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Joshua Keller, Erica Wen Chen and Angela K.-Y. Leung
The purpose of this paper is to examine how national culture influences individuals’ subjective experience of tension when confronting paradoxical demands that arise during their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how national culture influences individuals’ subjective experience of tension when confronting paradoxical demands that arise during their day-to-day organizational experience. The paper further explores two types of paradoxical demands (task oriented and relational oriented) and two mediating mechanisms (tolerance for contradictions and harmony enhancement concerns) that exhibit contrary cultural effects.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing from a sample of white-collar workers in China and the USA, the authors first inductively generated scenarios with task-oriented and relational-oriented paradoxical demands and then conducted three studies where participants rated the perceived tension from the scenarios. In Study 1, they examined cross-cultural differences in perceived tension and the mediating role of tolerance for contradictions. In Study 2, they primed Americans with proverbs that promoted tolerance for contradictions. In Study 3, they examined the indirect effects of harmony enhancement concerns in China in relational-oriented paradoxical demands.
Findings
The results found that for task-oriented paradoxical demands, Chinese participants were less likely than American participants to experience tension and the effects were mediated by a higher tolerance for contradictions. Americans exposed to proverbs that promoted tolerance for contradictions also experienced less tension. For relational-oriented paradoxical demands, on the other hand, the authors found no cross-cultural differences, as the indirect effects of a tolerance for contradictions were mitigated by negative indirect effects of greater harmony enhancement concerns.
Originality/value
This paper demonstrates that culture can influence the tension that individuals subjectively experience when they confront paradoxical conditions, suggesting that individuals learn implicitly how to cope with tensions associated with paradoxes from their broader cultural environment. However, the authors also found different cultural effects within different paradoxical conditions, suggesting that the knowledge that individuals acquire from their broader cultural environment is multifaceted.
Jose Luis Rivas, Erica Salvaj and Miguel Cordova
The purpose of this study is to analyze interlocking directorate (ID) networks of family and nonfamily firms (FFs) in Chile, Mexico and Peru.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyze interlocking directorate (ID) networks of family and nonfamily firms (FFs) in Chile, Mexico and Peru.
Design/methodology/approach
Social network analysis methodology allowed us to analyze the position of FFs within the structure of IDs at the local and transnational levels.
Findings
FFs tend to have a higher proportion of board interlocks to other firms, especially FFs. In addition, FFs are more likely to occupy a brokerage position in national IDs structures. Finally, they also have a higher proportion of interlocks to other domestic firms in and nearby geographic areas. Thus, they create transnational networks.
Originality/value
This paper finds evidence that supports three of the premises of interorganizational familiness literature (Lester and Cannella, 2006). FFs are part of national as well as international corporate networks more than other types of firms, through interlocking directorships.
Proposito
Analizar redes de consejeros de empresas familiares y no familiares en Chile, México y Perú.
Metodologia
El análisis de redes sociales nos permitió analizar la posición de empresas familiares dentro de la estructura de redes a nivel local y transnacional.
Hallazgos
Las empresas familiares tienen un nivel más alto de entrecruzamientos con otras empresas, especialmente con las familiares. Además, las empresas familiares son mas propensas a ocupar posiciones de intermediación en las estructuras nacionales de redes. Finalmente, también tienen más entrecruzamientos con otras empresas nacionales y en regiones geográficas cercanas por lo que crean redes transnacionales.
Originalidad
Encontramos evidencia que apoya los tres pilares de la literatura de familiaridad interorganizacional (Lester y Cannella 2006). Las empresas familiares son parte de una red nacional e internacional más que otros tipos de empresas a través de las interconexiones de posiciones en consejos.
Objetivo
Analisar redes de diretores de empresas familiares e não familiares no Chile, México e Peru.
Metodologia
A análise das redes sociais permitiu analisar a posição das empresas familiares na estrutura das redes a nível local e transnacional.
Resultados
As empresas familiares têm um nível mais elevado de ligações cruzadas com outras empresas, especialmente as empresas familiares. Além disso, é mais provável que as empresas familiares ocupem posições intermediárias nas estruturas das redes nacionais. Por último, têm também mais referências cruzadas com outras empresas nacionais e em regiões geográficas próximas, pelo que criam redes transnacionais.
Originalidade
Encontramos evidências que sustentam os três pilares da literatura sobre familiaridade interorganizacional (Lester e Cannella 2006). As empresas familiares fazem parte de uma rede nacional e internacional mais do que outros tipos de empresas através do interconexões de cargos nos conselhos de administração.
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We know how to structure violence. The military industrial complex and its auxiliary institutions, such as the private weapons and securities industries, are prime examples. When…
Abstract
We know how to structure violence. The military industrial complex and its auxiliary institutions, such as the private weapons and securities industries, are prime examples. When we use the Galtungian lens and add ecoviolence to Johan Galtung’s classic direct–structural–cultural violence triangle, we get a violence diamond, or perhaps more accurately, a web of violence (see Turpin & Kurtz, 1996). To what we often think of as violence (which is direct), we must add the institutions structured to harm individuals, groups, cultures, and the ecosphere itself. We could, however, build sustainable development with direct, structural, cultural, and ecological nonviolence. We already have institutions that structure nonviolence – or often both violence and nonviolence in contradictory simultaneous ways: families, faith and cultural institutions, and friendship networks. We also have numerous peaceful societies, economies, and cultures that provide models such as Bhutan’s Happiness and Well-being paradigm. Jennifer Turpin and I wrote about the Web of Violence in 1996, which we collectively weave from micro to macro levels of life, but we also need to attend to and weave a Web of Nonviolence. This chapter investigates how we can be more intentional and systematic in weaving a nonviolent web, following a three-step Gandhian process: research, analyse, and mobilise.
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Gerard Jan Hutte, Kevin Markwell and Erica Wilson
This study explores (1) the impacts of COVID-19 on the environmental sustainability of Australian events; (2) the measures undertaken to minimise the impacts of COVID-19 on…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores (1) the impacts of COVID-19 on the environmental sustainability of Australian events; (2) the measures undertaken to minimise the impacts of COVID-19 on environmental sustainability; (3) the key impediments to incorporating COVID-Safe measures in an environmentally sustainable way; and (4) the expected long-term impact of the COVID-19 situation on the development of the environmental sustainability of the Australian events industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The study follows a qualitative approach by undertaking semi-structured interviews with (N = 23) event industry professionals. The data collection phase took place between November 2020 and May 2021 and the study was completed in February 2022.
Findings
Adverse environmental impacts included increased waste output and the stagnation of planned or existing environmental practices. The study reveals positive effects such as reduced carbon emission outputs and increased environmental awareness of event participants. Financial costs, time pressure, uncertainty and sourcing issues are significant impediments to organising events in an environmentally sustainable manner during a global pandemic situation.
Practical implications
Understanding how COVID-19 impacts the environmental sustainability of events will help the industry to preserve previous progress made, overcome similar obstacles during future crises, and capitalise on opportunities for positive environmental change.
Originality/value
This is the first study to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environmental sustainability practices of Australian events.
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Erica Varese, Maria Chiara Cesarani, Bartłomiej Kabaja, Mariusz Sołtysik and Magdalena Wojnarowska
The purpose of this paper is to investigate, through a quantitative research, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online food delivery in Italy and Poland, as well as to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate, through a quantitative research, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online food delivery in Italy and Poland, as well as to ascertain whether or not, under a consumer perspective, respondents consider such method as impacting on the environment and on food waste.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical survey of consumers at Italian and Polish Universities was conducted using the online survey computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) method.
Findings
Results reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic has modified consumer habits in both Italy and Poland, though the researched sample does not have full knowledge of these changes. Moreover, the study has proved once again that online food delivery may impact negatively on the environment and the food waste issue.
Originality/value
This paper fills a gap in literature since, by the authors' knowledge, it is the first quantitative study analysing Italian and Polish young consumers as to online food delivery habits and their approach to sustainability aspects of this purchasing method.