Librarians and corporate information center managers operate in worlds where speaking the language of finance is one of the requisites for the key to the executive washroom. But…
Abstract
Librarians and corporate information center managers operate in worlds where speaking the language of finance is one of the requisites for the key to the executive washroom. But too few of us know how the basic documents of financial decision making are assembled or how to interpret them to determine the operating health of our organizations. This is not a failure we alone experience; most managers begin in nonfinancial positions. Much of the bewilderment of the world of fiscal nuances can be dispensed with when we understand some fiscal basics, like how to read a balance sheet.
Caitlin Cavanagh, Erica Dalzell, Alyssa LaBerge and Elizabeth Cauffman
Greater parental monitoring is commonly associated with reduced delinquent behavior in adolescents, yet less is known about the extent to which parental monitoring behavior…
Abstract
Greater parental monitoring is commonly associated with reduced delinquent behavior in adolescents, yet less is known about the extent to which parental monitoring behavior changes after a child is arrested for the first time. The present study examines the extent to which mothers’ monitoring behaviors (i.e., parental monitoring knowledge and effort) change in association with juvenile recidivism after their sons’ first arrest, operationalized through both youth-reported recidivism and official re-arrest records. Mother–son dyads (total N = 634) across three states were interviewed in two waves over 30 months following the youth’s first arrest. Mothers who reported both more monitoring knowledge and effort at Wave 1 had sons who self-reported less recidivism and were less likely to be re-arrested at Wave 2. Repeated sons’ re-arrests were associated with a change in mothers’ monitoring behavior, as both parental knowledge and parental effort significantly increased from Wave 1 to Wave 2 when youth have been re-arrested more than once, relative to youth who had never been re-arrested. No change in monitoring behaviors were observed in association with youth-reported recidivism, and mothers who stated an intention to change their monitoring habits at Wave 1 did not necessarily do so by Wave 2. The findings point to the ability of parents to modulate their monitoring behavior to respond to chronic juvenile offending. This provide an opportunity for practitioners to work with parents to improve their monitoring skills, to ensure rehabilitative gains that result from justice system intervention are maintained in the home via parental monitoring.
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Abiola Farinde-Wu, Ayana Allen-Handy, Bettie Ray Butler and Chance W. Lewis
Prior to Brown v. Board of Education 1954, Black female educators played a significant and vital role in segregated schools. Despite Black female teachers’ historic presence in…
Abstract
Prior to Brown v. Board of Education 1954, Black female educators played a significant and vital role in segregated schools. Despite Black female teachers’ historic presence in the field of education, presently Black female teachers are disproportionately under-represented in the US teacher workforce. Acknowledging the shortage of Black female teachers in K-12 classrooms, the purpose of this qualitative study is to explore why Black female educators teach in under-resourced, urban schools. By examining Black female educators’ initial draw to urban schools in what we conceptualized as the urban factor, we hope to reframe the implicit biases surrounding under-resourced, urban schools as less desirable workplaces and unearth reasons why those Black female teachers who enter teaching gravitate more toward urban schools. Three themes emerged about Black female teachers’ thoughts on and preference for urban schools with an unexpected finding about Black female teachers’ perceptions of student behavior. Concluding, recommendations are offered for policy and practice.
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Yan Chang, Suzanne Wilkinson, Regan Potangaroa and Erica Seville
The purpose of this paper is to provide a basis for the construction professionals and stakeholders to understand the critical factors influencing resource availability in a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a basis for the construction professionals and stakeholders to understand the critical factors influencing resource availability in a post‐disaster situation. The study reported in this paper is part of ongoing research concerned with developing a methodology to improve the outcomes of resource availability for projects in post‐disaster environments. This study attempts to address the following questions: what factors impinge upon the availability of resources in a disaster recovery project and what are the common resource availability determinants across different recovery environments?
Design/methodology/approach
The method of analysis in this investigation is a comparative case study. The researchers took part in disaster field trips to Indonesia, China and Australia during their recovery from natural disasters. By using case studies and a triangulation method, critical factors that affected resource availability in the three examined countries were identified and compared.
Findings
A comparative analysis shows that specific cultural elements, the socio‐economic environment and the political agenda in the three countries influenced their resourcing problems and the solutions they adopted. Despite different resourcing approaches in the three cases, competence of construction professionals, and government response and intervention were identified as common determinants to resourcing disaster recovery projects.
Research limitations/implications
The research findings contribute to the project management methodology to post‐disaster reconstruction.
Practical implications
From this research, decision makers and construction practitioners can have a clearer direction for improving their resourcing effort in a post‐disaster situation. This study provides a basis for the construction professionals and stakeholders to understand the critical factors influencing resource availability in a post‐disaster situation, with a view to enhancing their capability of managing disaster recovery projects.
Social implications
A comparative analysis of three cases provides a multi‐perspective view of the resourcing issues in a post‐disaster situation. As many problems are faced in disaster recovery projects, resource availability intrinsically links to chronic conditions of vulnerability in existence in the broader social system prior to a disaster. The five aspects of resourcing discussed in the paper show the key areas of recovery planning in relation to resource availability.
Originality/value
In large and complex disaster recovery operations, the availability of resources is bound to be limited. Identified resourcing problems are likely to be universal and can be anticipated and pre‐planned for, irrespective of the environment when a disaster happens. The paper provides a basis for the construction professionals and stakeholders to understand the critical factors influencing resource availability in a post‐disaster situation.
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Yan Chang, Suzanne Wilkinson, Erica Seville and Regan Potangaroa
The purpose of this paper is to understand the resourcing issues that concern the provision of resources required for reconstruction projects after a disaster and to enable them…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the resourcing issues that concern the provision of resources required for reconstruction projects after a disaster and to enable them to be integrated into a holistic planning process.
Design/methodology/approach
Triangulation methodology is adopted in this paper including both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative approach, namely statistic analysis with the aid of questionnaires and SPSS is employed to identify the key factors affecting resource availability in post‐disaster reconstruction situations. The qualitative semi‐structured interviews and desk reviews of government and media documents are conducted to further interpret outcomes in the questionnaire session.
Findings
Based on empirical research, the major finding of the paper is that in order to arrive at a resilient and sustainable built environment after a disaster, resourcing efforts should be made around four components – resourcing facilitator: legislation and policy; resourcing implementer: construction industry; resourcing platform: construction market; and resourcing access: transportation system.
Originality/value
The original part of this paper is in raising the importance of resourcing for achieving a resilient post‐disaster built environment, and in presenting a thorough overhaul of the resourcing components. The paper also offers a vision of comprehensive planning and preparedness to facilitate resourcing operations in post‐disaster reconstruction; pinpoints possible constraints inherent in post‐disaster resourcing environment; and provides a direction‐setting framework to achieve the vision with built environment resilience considerations incorporated.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide a reflection on the growth in qualifications available through work, over the 50 years of Education + Training.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a reflection on the growth in qualifications available through work, over the 50 years of Education + Training.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach adopted is that of providing a viewpoint, reflecting back on the availability of qualifications today compared with the 1950s.
Findings
The growth in the availability of qualifications has meant that a greater proportion of the workforce now hold qualifications, and particularly that people outside traditional trades can gain work‐related qualifications. The changes have advantaged those in service industries and jobs previously not regarded as skilled. They have especially assisted women and have paralleled the increased participation of women in the workforce. However the current favourable situation has some fragility.
Originality/value
This paper is one of a series commissioned by the journal on its 50th anniversary. Its originality stems from the discussion of the significance of the growth of qualifications, particularly for women.
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Linda Charmaraman, Catherine Grevet Delcourt, Sidrah Durrani, Jyontika Kapoor, Amanda M. Richer and Le Fan Xiao
This study aims to introduce the concept of communities of social media practice where more experienced users provide guidance to female novice users, enacting a form of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to introduce the concept of communities of social media practice where more experienced users provide guidance to female novice users, enacting a form of legitimate peripheral participation to “onboard” newcomers.
Design/methodology/approach
Through surveys with 968 early adolescents (average age was 13), the authors quantitatively explored sources and types of guidance for young social media users, popularity of conversation themes related to this guidance and how these conversations are associated with positive social media engagement. The authors qualitatively documented a case study of how a summer workshop of 17 students promotes positive social media use through a community of practice.
Findings
Although early adolescent girls reported that they more frequently talked to their parents about a wider range of social media topics, same-age peers and younger family members (e.g., siblings, cousins) were also frequent sources. Surprisingly, the authors also found that the source most strongly associated with positive social media use was the peer group. This case study of an intentional community of practice demonstrated how peers go from “peripheral” to “centered” in socializing each other for more positive social media use.
Originality/value
Unlike most prior scholarship on mediating social technology use, this study focuses on a critical developmental period (e.g. early adolescents), sources of guidance other than exclusively parents, explore the specific conversation topics that offer guidance and document an informal community of practice for girls that provides the training ground for peers and adult facilitators to codesign more positive social media spaces.
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Yan Chang‐Richards, Suzanne Wilkinson, Regan Potangaroa and Erica Seville
The purpose of this paper is to identify resourcing challenges that face housing rebuild following the 2009 Victorian “Black Saturday” bushfires in Australia and to examine the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify resourcing challenges that face housing rebuild following the 2009 Victorian “Black Saturday” bushfires in Australia and to examine the impacts of resource shortages on longer term community recovery.
Design/methodology/approach
The research methodology included a longitudinal study which consists of a questionnaire survey, field‐based interviews and observations to track trends evident in the survey.
Findings
A total of 28 months after the bushfires, reconstruction in the worst‐affected area, the Shire of Murrindindi, was proceeding slowly despite the institutions and procedures set up for recovery. This slow reconstruction was due to the unavailability of building resources. Changed Building Standards, increased building markets outside the bushfire zone, lack of economic incentives, combined with home owners’ socio‐economic vulnerabilities, created a chain of impacts on households’ ability to get resources.
Research limitations/implications
The evidence in this paper points to emergent resource issues that impeded recovery progress in the bushfire zone. These issues primarily come from technical decisions on building controls, economic conditions, and risk perceptions of construction professionals. Findings from this longitudinal study will inform the recovery planning of government agencies in future events.
Originality/value
This paper makes the case for a new approach to looking at resourcing problems following a major disaster. This study demonstrates that recovery planning needs to include a resource perspective which explains both impacts of recovery polices on resource availability and impacts of resourcing dynamics on the wider recovery environment.
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Kate Hutchings, Erica French and Tim Hatcher
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between gender and the individual and social aspects of expatriate work, emphasising how issues external to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between gender and the individual and social aspects of expatriate work, emphasising how issues external to the organisation impact on the experience of female expatriates.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 102 male respondents and 44 female respondents were surveyed in order to test the perceived organisational support, career satisfaction, and expatriate social support.
Findings
Significant gender‐related differences were identified in all three areas with notable contradiction in the perception and practice of how multinational corporations (MNCs) manage their expatriates. While earlier research suggested that organisations perceived their treatment of female expatriates to be equivalent to that of men, the results indicate that female international managers do not perceive equal treatment on international assignments.
Research limitations/implications
Although based on a smaller sample than other international studies, the gender breakdown was sufficient for moderated regression testing.
Practical implications
As the expatriate social support construct is largely exploratory in nature, future research could examine the effect of perceived expatriate social support on other related workplace behaviours, both domestically and internationally, including work‐life balance and diversity management.
Originality/value
While other studies have provided a rich descriptive picture of the gendered nature of expatriation, little research has attempted to quantify the reasons behind the phenomenon. This paper addresses this gap in the literature through exploration of the issues, which impact upon the experience of female expatriates in foreign MNCs in China.