Yasaman Sarabi, Matthew Smith, Heather McGregor and Dimitris Christopoulos
Corporate success depends partially on the quality of knowledge accessible to the executive board. One route of access to such knowledge is the appointment of directors who…
Abstract
Purpose
Corporate success depends partially on the quality of knowledge accessible to the executive board. One route of access to such knowledge is the appointment of directors who already hold directorships with prominent other corporate actors. Such director appointments provide interlocks to a corporate knowledge ecosystem (Haunschild and Beckman, 1998). The purpose of this paper is to examine how linkages between companies belonging to different sectors impact firm performance and to examine how linkages created by female directors, as opposed to male directors, shape performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper investigates the interlocks created between UK FTSE 350 companies from 2010 to 2018. It draws on network analysis to map the roles that male and female directors play in linking firms with varying sector classifications. The paper provides an examination of the impact of these roles on firm performance, through a panel data regression analysis.
Findings
This paper finds that there is an increase of inter-industry brokers over the period, and that men are still dominant in both the network and creating inter-industry ties amongst companies. However, the role of women in establishing these ties appears to be changing, and women are more important when it comes to create inter-industry ties among key economic sectors.
Originality/value
This paper provides a novel approach to examine the interplay between gendered inter (and intra) sectoral linkages and firm performance. It provides an original application of the two-mode brokerage analysis framework proposed in Jasny and Lubell (2015).
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Yasaman Sarabi, Matthew Smith, Heather McGregor and Dimitris Christopoulos
The relationship between interlocking directorates and firm performance has been increasingly debated, with a focus on whether firm's centrality in interlock networks is…
Abstract
Purpose
The relationship between interlocking directorates and firm performance has been increasingly debated, with a focus on whether firm's centrality in interlock networks is associated with performance. The purpose of this study is to examine not only how a firm's position in this network is associated with performance but also how the performance of network partners can impact a firm's performance. This study examines how firms effectively utilise the interlock network to achieve the goal of higher market capitalisation – termed market capitalisation rank (MCR).
Design/methodology/approach
The premise of the study is the UK FTSE 350 firms from 2014 to 2018. The paper makes use of a temporal network autocorrelation model to examine how firm characteristics, the structural position in the interlock network and the performance of network partners affect MCR over time.
Findings
The analysis indicates that firms with ties (via the interlock network) to firms with high market capitalisation are more likely to enhance their own MCR, highlighting network partners have the opportunity to play a critical role in a firm's dominance strategy to optimise firm value.
Originality/value
The value of this research is that it does not only look at the impact of a firm's position in the network on performance, but the impact of the performance of network partners on a firm's market performance as well.
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The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA) between the Inuit in the Nunavut Settlement Area (formerly part of the Northwest Territories) and the Crown of Canada, led to the creation…
Abstract
The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA) between the Inuit in the Nunavut Settlement Area (formerly part of the Northwest Territories) and the Crown of Canada, led to the creation of Nunavut in 1999. A public government in the Inuit homeland, Nunavut has the responsibility to put into effect the Inuit rights and benefits set out in the NLCA as well as provide a wide range of services tailored to the needs of all Nunavummiut of which 85% are Inuit. With a vast and largely untapped mineral, oil, and gas potential, Nunavut is now preparing to a private sector market economy open to global investors in natural resource exploration and exploitation. Certainly, Nunavut is a place where economic development and indigenous rights intersect crosscutting global, national, and territorial boundaries. This chapter looks at how indigenous peoples rights and the imperatives of a globalized/globalizing economy, are projected into and taken up by Nunavut Arctic College, Nunavut's sole postsecondary education institution. Integrating textual and contextual instances of analysis, this chapter highlights how the College translates seemingly conflicting policy messages, into all-encompassing education practices that weave into the omnipresent right to indigenous self-determination.
The purpose of this research is to report on the surveying of three vernacular thatched properties in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, all run as Youth Hostels.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to report on the surveying of three vernacular thatched properties in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, all run as Youth Hostels.
Design/methodology/approach
The case study buildings are compared with 42 Arnol, the blackhouse on North Lewis cared for by Historic Scotland. The paper compares plan form, roof structure, thatching material and securing methods using data collected during extensive field investigations in 2004.
Findings
The paper concludes that the more northerly property Garenin most closely resembles 42 Arnol and can be classified as “Hebridean” in structure, while Howmore to the south is typical of the “Skye” pattern. Berneray, the central of the three properties, exhibits construction techniques of both types, indicating that it defines the boundary between the two types.
Originality/value
The findings of this research will be useful to surveyors, owners and maintenance managers responsible for these unique vernacular structures.
Despite the fact that effective information skills are a prerequisite for young people in today's society, relatively little is known about how youngsters actually find…
Abstract
Despite the fact that effective information skills are a prerequisite for young people in today's society, relatively little is known about how youngsters actually find information. The existing knowledge base on the subject is scanty and piecemeal, and few efforts have been made to explore, as an entirety, studies of young people's information‐seeking and to isolate the methods, perspectives and strategies that researchers have adopted. Examination of these areas can alert prospective investigators to issues that they should explore and approaches that they might wish to take in their own work. Matters for consideration include the purposes of past studies, the specific focuses that have been under scrutiny, the techniques that have been employed for gathering and analysing data, and stances that have been taken with regard to the generalisablility/transferability of findings.
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Yasaman Sarabi and Matthew Smith
This paper aims to provide an exploratory analysis of male and female directors, comparing the case of UK FTSE 350 boards of directors for 2010–2018, with Norwegian boards from…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an exploratory analysis of male and female directors, comparing the case of UK FTSE 350 boards of directors for 2010–2018, with Norwegian boards from 2002 to 2018, to examine patterns of busy female directors. This paper considers the differences between the effects of interest groups’ actions and those of quotas on the emergence of busy female directors.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a longitudinal approach, providing an examination of both non-busy directors and busy directors sitting on the boards of UK and Norwegian firms, with a focus on female directors. Drawing on methods from social network analysis, several trends and patterns are mapped for the two corporate systems. The paper tests whether the proportion of busy male directors is significantly different from the proportion of busy female directors in the two institutional settings.
Findings
The results show there has been an increase in the proportion of busy female directors, whereas the level of busy male directors is slightly decreasing in the UK from 2010 to 2018. In Norway, following the introduction of gender quotas on corporate boards, there has been an increase in overboarded directors, especially female directors, along with the rise of so-called “golden skirt” directors. However, when compared to the UK case, the proportion of busy male and female directors is higher, suggesting that the emergence of the golden skirts in Norway is not a result of quotas alone.
Originality/value
The topic of busy directors has received increased attention in recent years, yet the gender of these directors is often neglected. This paper provides an overview of the characteristics of busy female directors for large UK and Norwegian firms, presenting avenues for future research.
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Heather Douglas, Buriata Eti-Tofinga and Gurmeet Singh
This paper aims to examine the contributions of hybrid organisations to wellbeing in small Pacific island countries.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the contributions of hybrid organisations to wellbeing in small Pacific island countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The concept and different forms of hybrid organisations are examined, and then the operation and contributions to wellbeing of three Fijian hybrid organisations are considered.
Findings
Hybrid organisations in this region operate with a commitment to the common good and an ethic of care. Fijian hybrid organisations improve social and economic wellbeing for individuals, families and communities by providing employment, schools and training facilities, financial and support services, sustainable agriculture projects and facilitating networking. These services improve individual and community social and economic wellbeing, build resilience, add to personal and family security, offer opportunities for the future, advance leadership skills and sustain the environment. Commercial activities that support these organisations in their wellbeing endeavours include product sales, service fees, project levies and investment income.
Research limitations/implications
Generalisability beyond the Pacific region is not assured, as this review only examines hybrid organisations in small Pacific island countries.
Practical implications
Hybrid organisations offer an alternative pathway to achieve a sustainable enterprise economy, an approach that is more culturally relevant for the Pacific region. Policies to nurture the development of these organisations, and research into the startup, operation, impact and effectiveness of different hybrid organisation models would help to improve wellbeing in this region. International charities and aid agencies could advance the wellbeing of people living in this region by supporting the development of hybrid organisations. External agencies seeking to support hybrid organisation development are advised to consider providing funding through a regional agency rather than engaging directly with national governments.
Social implications
Developing a robust hybrid organisation sector will improve social and economic wellbeing for people living in small island nations.
Originality/value
As one of the first studies to examine wellbeing and hybrid organisations, this review adds to hybrid business theory by its consideration of small Pacific island countries. The authors add to existing understandings of how hybrid organisations contribute to social and economic wellbeing for individuals, families and communities. The review identifies each form hybrid organisational form adopts. Each has a central commitment to generating social and economic value but different revenue sources. The review adds valuable new knowledge to the limited scholarship of this region by identifying the philosophical foundations and contributions to wellbeing of these hybrid organisations. A future research agenda and policy development process is proposed to improve wellbeing and advance hybrid organisations in the region.
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Tim Shaw, Deborah McGregor, Sue Sinclair, Robert Sutherland, Ana Munro and Jackie Ross
Cancer care is complex and an integrated cancer pathway involves many health professionals in a variety of care settings using many skills. The widely distributed and…
Abstract
Purpose
Cancer care is complex and an integrated cancer pathway involves many health professionals in a variety of care settings using many skills. The widely distributed and heterogeneous nature of the cancer workforce raises significant challenges with respect to professional development. Cancer Learning is a government-funded initiative designed to provide access to a wide range of quality online learning resources for all health care professionals involved in the care of cancer patients and their families. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-phase project, led by a consortium of national stakeholders in cancer care, informed the design, build, and deployment of Cancer Learning; an online, evidence based, information and learning portal to support professional development of health professionals across the continuum of cancer care in Australia. An action research approach allowed for an iterative process of ongoing dynamic evaluation and improvement of this workforce improvement resource.
Findings
The National Government Agency, Cancer Australia's Cancer Learning online hub has been supporting the professional development requirements of cancer care professionals since the site deployment in 2007. Since launch, site usage continues to grow and evaluations have been positive. Time constraints of health professionals continue to be a major barrier to sustained online learning participation.
Originality/value
This research recount of the development and implementation of an Australia first national online learning initiative highlights the rigorous approach undertaken for the delivery of a quality evidence-based resource for the professional development of all health professionals involved in the delivery of cancer care.
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Clean language is the foundation of coaching work delivered by Genius Within, a non-profit company that provides assessment, coaching, training and HR consultancy for…
Abstract
Chapter Summary
Clean language is the foundation of coaching work delivered by Genius Within, a non-profit company that provides assessment, coaching, training and HR consultancy for neurodifferent adults and their employers. Genius Within works with thousands of employed and unemployed clients each year as well as those who are incarcerated. Evaluation of clean language in coaching for neurodifferent clients has formed one doctoral thesis (Doyle, 2018) with a further study in progress. The method's utility in drawing out experiences of mastery is in line with self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1997) and has been demonstrated to be particularly successful with this minority population (Doyle, 2021; Doyle & McDowall, 2015). The staff of Genius Within apply clean language fluently in a range of contexts, across multiple research activities, training and awareness initiatives, as well as workplace intervention programmes. In this chapter, two Genius Within employees who are also involved in academic research describe the use of a clean language interviewing (CLI) approach to evaluate a psychometric tool used in recruitment. The authors were commissioned by the test designer to identify the prevalence of implicit biases within the tool, which might constitute hidden barriers for neurodifferent applicants. The chapter is introduced with a brief history of neurodifferences and a contextual frame for the study, followed by outlining our process and results. We will conclude with proposals for the utility of CLI more broadly within neurodiversity as a method of facilitating innovation and dismantling socially constructed norms.
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A clear theoretical understanding of the social production of unemployment is needed if the causal links between health and unemployment are to be illuminated. Such an approach is…
Abstract
A clear theoretical understanding of the social production of unemployment is needed if the causal links between health and unemployment are to be illuminated. Such an approach is outlined using a theoretical perspective of classical Marxism which views unemployment as centrally linked to the capitalist mode of production. The present extent of unemployment may lead to a general undermining of the health of the population, both unemployed and working, via the overall reduction of the real social wage, unemployment benefits and concomitant lower nutritional levels and the increase of psychological stress. These effects can be mediated by the actions of the state, whose social security, health and welfare systems need to be analysed in conjunction with the underlying economic mode of production. The unemployment category is made up of different sub‐groups, e.g. women, ethnic groups and the disabled. The causal links between unemployment and health in these groups will differ. Interaction effects on the health of the unemployed's family are noted. A more theoretically‐based approach to the question of health and unemployment is needed.