Heather Short and Valerie Anne Anderson
The purpose of this study is to explore the implications of national and international standards for human resource development (HRD) practice. It focuses on the experiences…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the implications of national and international standards for human resource development (HRD) practice. It focuses on the experiences, perceptions and learning of those involved in the social construction of standards and standardisation processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is grounded in institutional and organisational excellence theories and adopts a qualitative approach based in social constructivism. Thematic analysis of the data obtained from 13 semi-structured interviews leads to a discussion of awareness of standards, standards adoption including constraints, and impact of standards.
Findings
The findings indicate that that there has been a disconnect between the potential impact of British Standards Institute (BSI) HR standards and what has occurred in practice with little awareness of the BSI standards among practitioners.
Research limitations/implications
This paper identifies an absence of institutional isomorphism in the HR arena and highlights the potential for a “standards-practice” gap where HR standards formation processes are perceived as detracting from flexibility and innovativeness in organisational practice.
Originality/value
This study contributes a new perspective of the implications of HR standards formation from the perspective of those involved and further contributes to the wider theorisation of standards in the HRD field.
Heather Loya started her custom designed wedding invitations business in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, when she was no longer comfortable commuting to…
Abstract
Heather Loya started her custom designed wedding invitations business in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, when she was no longer comfortable commuting to New York City from New Jersey for her corporate job. In the ensuing years, her business picked up to the extent that she was making a reasonable income from it. She was due to become a first time mother in July 2007. Her impending motherhood made her realize that she would not be able to work long hours in her one-person business after the birth of her child. She had started a webbased business that was set up to sell wedding invitation accessories (such as boxes, ribbons, etc.) procured from various vendors. This business was expected to take less of her time as compared to the custom business, but the custom business made better use of her creative talents. Heather now had to make a decision whether to emphasize the web-based business to compensate for the likely decrease in revenues from her custom business (because of motherhood) or to just continue her custom business in a scaled down form.
Ana Catarina de Paula Leite, Leandro Monteiro and Liliana Marques Pimentel
The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of cross-hedging strategies in the Iberian natural gas market by leveraging international benchmarks. These strategies aim to…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of cross-hedging strategies in the Iberian natural gas market by leveraging international benchmarks. These strategies aim to mitigate local price volatility amid significant market disruptions, including geopolitical events and fluctuating demand and supply dynamics.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses futures prices from the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) and the UK National Balancing Point (NBP) as proxies for cross-hedging strategies in the Iberian natural gas market. The hedging ratios are estimated using minimum variance, a specification proposed by Ederington and Salas (2008), and the BEKK model. Furthermore, a cross-hedging model is used to evaluate combinations of incumbent and alternative futures contracts.
Findings
TTF and NBP are effective in mitigating price volatility in the Iberian natural gas market. TTF is identified as the more robust option due to its high liquidity and integration within European markets. Both TTF and NBP demonstrate a strong influence on local spot prices, with Granger causality results.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study presents the first empirical evidence on the effectiveness of using TTF and NBP futures contracts as hedging tools in the Iberian natural gas market, a region characterized by lower liquidity and unique regional challenges. It addresses a gap in the existing literature by focusing on cross-hedging strategies in less mature European markets.
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Keywords
The case was motivated after listening to Dr Heather Westphal’s leadership journey as a President of State University of North State (SUNS), Somerville. Several subsequent…
Abstract
Research methodology
The case was motivated after listening to Dr Heather Westphal’s leadership journey as a President of State University of North State (SUNS), Somerville. Several subsequent interviews were conducted with Heather, and she also became the chief protagonist of the case. Heather provided multiple quotes and anecdotes. The protagonist Heather and the focal organization (SUNS, Somerville) are disguised. However, the material facts of the case are authentic. Data were collected from public sources and SUNS, Somerville administration. Some of the data have been jittered to maintain anonymity yet keep the authenticity of the lesson.
Case overview/synopsis
The case exposes students to a female leader of a higher education institution in the USA. Various aspects a high-level executive must consider when deciding on career moves have been explored. Furthermore, the case draws attention to some extra particulars women leaders must consider during career transitions. The case study then dives into how a leader sets goals, executes them and repeats the process to set new goals. Two types of situations are covered – the first is where planning is followed by execution and the other is a crisis where not much planning can be done. Students will also get a glimpse into how leaders remain fit physically and mentally, as they conduct their duties in high-stress situations. Exposure to mental fitness is especially pertinent in today’s day and age where mental fatigue and issues because of work-related strain are a significant concern. Finally, the case presents students with a decision the leader is facing regarding the direction of the institution – Should she keep it traditional, go nontraditional (online) or become a hybrid?
Complexity academic level
This case is designed to target undergraduate juniors or seniors in strategy and leadership courses. The course could also be suitable for strategy students of nonprofit and not-for-profit management. It could be taught in the latter half of the course after the basic concepts have been covered. Students will be able to apply the knowledge of the core courses of management and strategy in this case. Hence, this case can act as an integrative case that brings together multiple disciplines and focuses on the leadership of a large institution.
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This study looks at the development of critical literacy for three pre-service teacher participants, relevant support systems, and pedagogies. It considers how pre-service teacher…
Abstract
This study looks at the development of critical literacy for three pre-service teacher participants, relevant support systems, and pedagogies. It considers how pre-service teacher participants construct knowledge on critical literacy within the methods course. The participants started with their own literacy histories in order to began developing internalization and critical consciousness within the methods and field experience course. Throughout the course, the participants took social action by using some of the critical literacy approaches that were presented as instructional strategies in the methods course. However, the participants were still internalizing two essential components of critical pedagogy in their own teaching: problem posing and dialogue. They acknowledged the value of problem posing and dialogue in their own learning but had some difficulty using these methods in their own teaching. The implications from this study suggest that teacher educators and future teachers take a stance on critical education and push for structural changes in common teaching practices and school curriculum mandates.
Heather Dilks-Hopper, Chloe Jacobs, Catherine Sholl, Caroline Falconer and Nick Gore
The purpose of this paper is to present an update on the Ealing Intensive Therapeutic and Short Breaks Service (ITSBS).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an update on the Ealing Intensive Therapeutic and Short Breaks Service (ITSBS).
Design/methodology/approach
The challenges the service has faced are reviewed, including the service’s response to those challenges. Also provided is a more detailed analysis of the outcomes of the service.
Findings
The ITSBS continues to succeed in supporting young people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour to stay at home with their families.
Originality/value
Despite considerable challenges and adaptations to the model, the ITSBS is still achieving successful outcomes for vulnerable young people and is considered nationally to be a best-practice model. Few prior articles have provided an account of how innovative service models are maintained and evolve over time.
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Julia R. Daniels and Heather Hebard
Discourses of racism have always circulated within US classrooms and, in the current sociopolitical climate, they move with a renewed sense of legitimacy, entitlement and…
Abstract
Purpose
Discourses of racism have always circulated within US classrooms and, in the current sociopolitical climate, they move with a renewed sense of legitimacy, entitlement and violence. This paper aims to engage the consequences of these shifts for the ways that racism works in university-based classrooms and, more specifically, through the authors’ own teaching as White language and literacy educators.
Design/methodology/approach
This teacher narrative reconceptualizes moments of racialized violence in the courses, as constructed via circulating discourses of racism. The authors draw attention to the ways that we, as White educators, authorize and are complicit in this violence.
Findings
This paper explicates a praxis of questioning, developed through efforts to reflect on our complicity in and responsibility for racial violence in our classrooms. The authors offer this praxis of questioning to other White language and literacy teachers as a heuristic for sensemaking with regard to racism in classrooms.
Originality/value
The authors situate this paper within a broader struggle to engage themselves and other White educators in work for racial justice and invite others to take up this praxis of questioning as an initial step toward examining the authors’ complicity in – and authorization of – discourses of racism.
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Bruce L. Ahrendsen, Charles B. Dodson, Gianna Short, Ronald L. Rainey and Heather A. Snell
The purpose of this paper is to examine credit usage by beginning farmers and ranchers (BFR). BFR credit usage is stratified by location (state) and by socially disadvantaged…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine credit usage by beginning farmers and ranchers (BFR). BFR credit usage is stratified by location (state) and by socially disadvantaged farmer and rancher (SDFR, also known as historically underserved) status. SDFR groups are defined to include women; individuals with Hispanic, Latino or Spanish Origin; individuals who identify as American Indian or Alaskan Native, Black or African American, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. Non-SDFR is defined as individuals who identify as non-Hispanic, White men.
Design/methodology/approach
The US Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture, Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) is linked with Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan program administrative data to estimate shares of BFR operations using FSA credit. Census data provided information on population changes in total farms and BFR operations from 2012 to 2017 which are compared by SDFR status.
Findings
Results reveal differences among BFR operations active in agricultural credit markets by SDFR status and state. BFR were more common among SDFR groups as well as in regions where farms tend to be smaller, such as the Northeast, compared to a more highly agricultural upper Midwest. Among BFR, non-SDFR are more likely to utilize credit than SDFR, however, FSA appeared to be crucial in enabling BFR and especially beginning SDFR groups to access loans.
Originality/value
The results are timely and of keen interest to researchers, industry and policymakers and are expected to assist in developing and adjusting policies to effectively promote and improve BFR success in general and for beginning SDFR groups.