With a grant from the Department of Industry, Bedfordshire County Library has made microcomputers available for public use in ten of their larger libraries. Practical information…
Abstract
With a grant from the Department of Industry, Bedfordshire County Library has made microcomputers available for public use in ten of their larger libraries. Practical information about the planning, implementation and organisation of the project is given and some of the problems encountered are discussed.
Selma Ebrahim, Angela Glascott, Heidi Mayer and Elodie Gair
Recovery Colleges are education-based mental health resources, utilising practitioner and lived experience expertise, promoting skills to enhance student independence. The purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
Recovery Colleges are education-based mental health resources, utilising practitioner and lived experience expertise, promoting skills to enhance student independence. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of engagement with a Recovery College in Northern England on student wellbeing.
Design/methodology/approach
Feedback questionnaires were analysed from 89 students attending the Recovery College. Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMBS) and “Empower Flower” (a measure of personal resources) data for 56 students were compared pre- and post-attendance at courses.
Findings
The SWEMBS and Empower Flower indicated improvements in wellbeing and personal resources pre- to post-attendance at Recovery College courses. Satisfaction with the service was high. Students saw the service as unique, accepting and enabling. Students noted they developed a sense of hope, confidence and aspirations. They related this to practical changes, e.g. increasing work-related activity and decreasing service use.
Research limitations/implications
This research suggests that there is a need for further evaluation of the unique contribution that Recovery Colleges can make to mental wellbeing, and the mechanisms involved in promoting the process of recovery.
Practical implications
The Recovery College may be a cost-effective way to provide a supportive recovery-orientated environment which promotes students’ ability to build self-confidence and skills, enabling them to connect with others and progress towards independence and valued goals. This complements more traditional mental health services.
Originality/value
This paper reports on an area of mental health development where there is very limited research, adding valuable data to the literature.
Details
Keywords
Responding to recent pleas both to critically analyze and to conceptually advance social entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the political “unconscious”…
Abstract
Purpose
Responding to recent pleas both to critically analyze and to conceptually advance social entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the political “unconscious” operates in the narration of social entrepreneurship and how it poses a limit to alternative forms of thinking and talking.
Design/methodology/approach
To move the field beyond a predominantly monological way of narrating, various genres of narrating social entrepreneurship are identified, critically discussed and illustrated against the backdrop of development aid.
Findings
The paper identifies and distinguishes between a grand narrative that incorporates a messianistic script of harmonious social change, counter‐narratives that render visible the intertextual relations that interpellate the grand narration of social entrepreneurship and little narratives that probe novel territories by investigating the paradoxes and ambivalences of the social.
Practical implications
The paper suggests a minor understanding and non‐heroic practice of social entrepreneurship guided by the idea of “messianism without a messiah.”
Originality/value
The paper suggests critical reflexivity as a way to analyze and multiply the circulating narrations of social entrepreneurship.
Details
Keywords
This case focuses on organizational development, leadership and HR management questions.
Abstract
Subject area
This case focuses on organizational development, leadership and HR management questions.
Study level/applicability
This case is mainly aimed at students specialized in leadership, organizational development and HR, or in MBA and executive education. However, undergraduate students can benefit from it as well and learn about key terms related to organizational development and HR.
Case overview
Loxon Solutions is a Hungarian technology startup founded in 2000 that develops various software solutions for the banking industry to improve processes such as retail and corporate landing, collateral management and monitoring, among others. The company grew significantly since being founded, and from a small IT company it became a significant player in the banking software industry all around the world. However, with rapid extension comes a drastic internal transformation as well: Loxon now employs 252 people, has 5 physical offices in 2 different countries and is trying to balance an effective organizational structure and a friendly startup environment. It is clear that the company needs to adapt its previously informal structure to fit the now middle-sized organization while maintaining the current benefits of their culture. Also, they require stability and maturity which the current team consisting of mostly junior employees and the significant fluctuation cannot provide. Tamas Erni, the CEO and Kristof Farkas, the founder of Loxon are now working on these pressing issues with the company’s HR department to rethink the company’s organizational structure and policies as well as their hiring and employer branding strategies.
Expected learning outcomes
Students should get familiar with typical organizational structure models, the meaning of Employee Value Proposition and main KPIs related to hiring and employee retention.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS 6: HR Management.