Maria T. Grasso and Marco Giugni
An important wave of anti-austerity protests has swept across Western Europe in recent years. We can thus distinguish between three different types of protest occurring in Western…
Abstract
An important wave of anti-austerity protests has swept across Western Europe in recent years. We can thus distinguish between three different types of protest occurring in Western Europe recently: “old” issue protests, relating to the trade union and labor movement; “new” issue protests, relating to culture and identity issues; anti-austerity protests, emerging directly in reaction to austerity measures and cuts enacted in the current period. Following previous literature, we hypothesize that anti-austerity protests have attracted a new constituency to the streets and that they will be different from both “old” and “new” protests in terms of their social composition, value orientations, and action repertoires. We expect anti-austerity protesters to be on the whole younger, and in more precarious working conditions, to be more concerned with economic over social issues, but also to be considerably less institutionalized and embedded in organizational networks, and to have fewer experiences of previous extra-institutional participation. We test these hypotheses by analyzing a unique and novel dataset containing data from over 10,000 protestors from 72 demonstrations (2009–2013). Our results lend broad support to our hypotheses with the exception of the idea that “precarity” forms a new social base for anti-austerity protests.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyse museums and theme parks as a tourist package and how the proximity of airports to the city and public transport influence the development…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse museums and theme parks as a tourist package and how the proximity of airports to the city and public transport influence the development of this tourist package to stimulate tourism demand in cities.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative and quantitative indicators have been applied in our methodology to measure the most visited European theme parks and museums from 2012 to 2022. Moreover, the localisation of airports has allowed us to address the importance of theme parks and museums in cities and their regional economies.
Findings
The results suggest that the location of the city, entertainment complementary activity, airport proximity, intermodal passenger transport, air and train accessibility, tourism demand and supply, and a high concentration of population in cities have a high influence on the development of a tourist package that includes museums and theme parks to stimulate the tourism demand in European urban cities. London and Paris are two of the most visited cities in the world, and these are the most attractive European cities for tourists in terms of efficiency because tourists can optimize much better their space and time to visit the city’s tourist attractions during their holidays. Another important finding is that the public transport service plays an important role in museums and theme parks’ visits and the optimization of space-time for tourists when they are visiting a city and its tourist attractions on holidays, especially subways, trains and buses. Although time-space measures of accessibility in public transport in cities must be improved to optimize the time of the native population and tourists.
Originality/value
This research shows the complementary role of museums and theme parks as an attractive tourist package and an entertainment, cultural and educational activity to improve the quality of tourism supply and redistribute tourist flows in European countries. Moreover, there are limited studies that tackle the theme of parks and museums in a tourism context.
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The purpose of this study was to explore issues related to the food environment from a systems perspective using a quick response disaster research methodology in New Bern, North…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore issues related to the food environment from a systems perspective using a quick response disaster research methodology in New Bern, North Carolina during the immediate response to Hurricane Florence in 2018.
Design/methodology/approach
A four person reconnaissance team arrived six days after Hurricane Florence made landfall to observe community food and meal provision, interview individuals working in food related response, assess the price, quality and availability of food, and interview individuals affected by the storm during the immediate response period to Hurricane Florence in New Bern, North Carolina.
Findings
Multiple issues emerged that are important for the understanding of food in a disaster recovery context including food access issues for households with flooding damage as well as those with minor impacts like electricity loss or evacuation without damage, disruption to farming and retail food business, and changes in food availability.
Practical implications
When examining food access and food security, many community members were affected that did not experience housing disruption and there were shifts in community food availability after Hurricane Florence. Understanding these disruptions is critical for evaluating food-related response and assistance following disaster to ensure unmet needs are addressed. Further, addressing community food needs is an important lever for bolstering disaster recovery.
Originality/value
This is the first study in the USA to examine the food system following disruption from an environmental disaster and to identify issues in the post-disaster food environment.
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Outlines the international travels of Clement Allan Tisdell in the period 1965‐1996 and an Australian journey made to Adelaide in 1962 for academic reasons and indicates the…
Abstract
Outlines the international travels of Clement Allan Tisdell in the period 1965‐1996 and an Australian journey made to Adelaide in 1962 for academic reasons and indicates the influence of these journeys on his publications, outlook and intellectual evolution. Emphasises how varied the life of an economist can be and the importance of international social contacts for academic development. Because of the extent of his travels, descriptions and analysis of most of his journeys are brief. Consequently, a longer story still remains untold.
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We have from time to time suggested that librarians should pool experiences in regard to annual estimates, but there seems to be no enthusiasm for the suggestion. If library work…
Abstract
We have from time to time suggested that librarians should pool experiences in regard to annual estimates, but there seems to be no enthusiasm for the suggestion. If library work is to develop it must be by gently progressive finance, and nothing helps one librarian more than to be able to point to another who is progressing. We all tend to wait upon one another. In such a matter as salaries, a librarian circulates his colleagues to learn what they are getting; and library authorities almost invariably ask, “What is paid at So and So ?” This is a vicious circle which cannot be broken unless librarians in consultation can reach a Standard. Perhaps the active London and Home Counties Branch of the L.A. will give a lead since the L.A. itself is too busy to do so.
Cristiano Busco and Robert W. Scapens
The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature, roles and dynamics of change of management accounting systems (MAS), in processes of continuous organisational learning and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature, roles and dynamics of change of management accounting systems (MAS), in processes of continuous organisational learning and transformation. By studying the interaction between the accounting (and finance) function and the implementation of a Six‐sigma initiative, as the engine for organisational change, the authors seek to uncover the potential of measurement‐based systems of management for aligning business processes with corporate strategies. Such systems sustain continuous processes of transformation by infusing organisational culture with financial and non‐financial metrics of accountability.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on a longitudinal case study in which one of the authors had the opportunity to exercise what Schein called the clinical perspective; i.e. combining the role of researcher with that of helper‐consultant. There is mutual interdependence in the relationship between the authors' theoretical framework and the authors' longitudinal case study. While, on the one hand, the case research contributed to the search for an institutional explanation of the evidence experienced and collected, on the other hand, the empirical data are illuminated by the theoretical insights gained from that framework.
Findings
After first discussing cultural change, the authors rely both on the “clinical” position of one of the authors as researcher/helper‐consultant and on the insights provided by Schein's work on organisational culture and Giddens' structuration theory to develop an institutional framework for interpreting the ways in which routinised systems of accountability bind the ongoing processes of cultural transformation across time and space.
Research limitations/implications
Possible limitations are: the conceptualisation of organisational culture as a shared and institutional phenomenon does not take account of wider anthropological aspects (such as the influence of national culture); the role of helper‐consultant as well as researcher may have influenced some of the authors' interpretations; the authors' analysis does not consider macro‐economic variables; and only a small percentage of shop‐floor workers were interviewed.
Originality/value
The paper sheds light on the role of management accounting within organisational processes of transformation far beyond their mere visible enactment. As a result, the authors develop an institutional framework to interpret the linkages between the cognitive dynamics which characterise organisational culture (viewed as shared cognitive schemas) and the behavioural and structural modalities through which they are drawn upon and reproduced by organisational members.
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Robert C. Ford and David D. Van Fleet
The purpose of this paper is to examine the management innovations developed and implemented by the Harvey House restaurants with specific attention to those human resource…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the management innovations developed and implemented by the Harvey House restaurants with specific attention to those human resource policies and procedures that were created to use what many believe to be the first large-scale use of single women working away from home, the famous Harvey Girls. A second purpose of this paper is to use bricolage theory to frame the innovations that Harvey pioneered to illustrate how the theory pertains to this entrepreneur who civilized dining in the “Wild West.”
Design/methodology/approach
This paper relies on secondary and archival sources to inform its points and rationale.
Findings
Fred Harvey applied his experience-gained knowledge to invent a system that would provide meals to railroad travelers along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad that were not only consistently excellent and reasonably priced but also could be served within the tight time limits of train stops for fuel and water. The precision of his service standards was innovative and required trained and disciplined servers. To deliver the quality of service for which his company became known across the “Wild West.” Harvey invented his famous Harvey Girls.
Originality/value
Fred Harvey’s invention of the Harvey Girls represents the first large-scale employment of women and required the invention of human resource management policies, procedures and processes. This is the story of how this management innovator successfully applied entrepreneurial bricolage to bring civilized dining to the “Wild West.”
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Fabian Groven, Gaby Odekerken-Schröder, Sandra Zwakhalen and Jan Hamers
This paper aims to explore how tensions and alignments between different actors’ needs in a transformative services network affect balanced centricity, which is an indicator of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how tensions and alignments between different actors’ needs in a transformative services network affect balanced centricity, which is an indicator of well-being. Balanced centricity describes a situation in which all network actors’ interests and needs are fulfilled simultaneously. In such cases, all actors are better off, which increases both individual actors’ and overall actor-network well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical study takes place in nursing homes in which in-bed baths represent co-created service encounters that affect the well-being of focal actors (i.e. patients), frontline service employees (i.e. nurses) and transformative service mediators (i.e. family members), who have potentially competing needs. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, the study inductively explores and deductively categorizes actors’ personal experiences to gain deep, holistic insights into the service network and its complex web of actor interdependencies.
Findings
The resulting conceptual model of balanced centricity identifies actors’ lower-order needs as different manifestations of the psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. If actors’ needs are aligned, their psychological needs can be satisfied, which facilitates balanced centricity. If actors exhibit competing needs though, balanced centricity is impeded.
Practical implications
This study establishes actors’ psychological needs as the origin of tensions/alignments in multi-actor networks that impede/contribute to balanced centricity. Transformative service providers should try to address all actors’ psychological needs when co-creating services to achieve network well-being.
Originality/value
This study adopts a novel, multi-actor perspective and thereby presents a conceptual model that contributes to the understanding of balanced centricity. Future research could test this model in other transformative service settings.
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Mary McMurran, Juan Delport, Katherine Wood, Serenna Jenkins, Mie Wall and Florence Day
Randomised controlled trial (RCT) methodology is viewed as the gold standard in evaluating the impact of interventions. Recruitment problems present one threat to the validity of…
Abstract
Purpose
Randomised controlled trial (RCT) methodology is viewed as the gold standard in evaluating the impact of interventions. Recruitment problems present one threat to the validity of RCTs, yet the barriers to recruitment are poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to identify obstacles to recruitment in a personality disorder (PD) treatment trial, with a view to suggesting ways of overcoming these obstacles.
Design/methodology/approach
A discussion group of 13 staff involved in the trial was held to identify barriers to recruitment. The information was subject to thematic analysis.
Findings
Eight themes were identified, and three overarching themes: reluctance to diagnose and preference for treating symptoms; increasing the burden and jeopardising other services; and lack of confidence in treatment and in treatment as usual.
Practical implications
Suggestions for minimising recruitment obstacles include careful site selection and protocol negotiation; education and training about PD; continued promotion of both research in general and the specific trial; and assurances about good research practice.
Originality/value
Recruitment is a common problem in RCTs, and the paper addresses this issue, not only in identifying obstacles to recruitment but also in offering suggestions to other trialists for minimising the obstacles.