Alan C. McKinnon, Iain Stirling and Justin Kirkhope
Concern about increasing fuel prices and levels of environmentalpollution is forcing firms to improve the fuel efficiency of theirtransport operations. Assesses the extent to…
Abstract
Concern about increasing fuel prices and levels of environmental pollution is forcing firms to improve the fuel efficiency of their transport operations. Assesses the extent to which British road hauliers have implemented a range of fuel‐saving measures and examines their general attitudes to fuel utilization. Good vehicle maintenance and driver training are believed to offer the greatest potential, with improved aerodynamics and vehicle replacement policy also considered important. Operators are sceptical, however, about the value of speed limiters and driver incentive schemes. Outlines the experience of a distribution contractor who has implemented a broadly‐based fuel conservation programme. Overall, the research highlights the importance of managerial initiatives, particularly in the areas of driver monitoring and training, and the need to develop a well co‐ordinated package of fuel efficiency measures.
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Bonnie McBain, Liam Phelan, Anna Ferguson, Paul Brown, Valerie Brown, Iain Hay, Richard Horsfield, Ros Taplin and Daniella Tilbury
The aim of this paper is to outline the collaborative approach used to craft national learning standards for tertiary programs in the field of environment and sustainability in…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to outline the collaborative approach used to craft national learning standards for tertiary programs in the field of environment and sustainability in Australia. The field of environment and sustainability is broad and constituted by diverse stakeholders. As such, articulating a common set of learning standards presents challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors developed and used a staged collaborative curriculum design methodology to engage more than 250 stakeholders in tertiary environmental education, including discipline scholars, students, professional associations and employers and other environmental educators. The approach was adaptive, to ensure underrepresented stakeholders’ perspectives were welcomed and recognised. The project was commissioned by the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (ACEDD) and funded by the Federal Government’s Office for Learning and Teaching.
Findings
The collaborative approach developed and used for this work facilitated an inclusive process that valued diversity of perspectives, rather than marginalise diversity in favour of a perspective representing a minimum level of agreement. This is reflected in the standards themselves, and is evidenced by participant feedback, piloting of the standards and their subsequent application at multiple universities. Achieving this required careful planning and facilitation, to ensure a democratisation of the stakeholder consultation process, and to build consensus in support of the standards. Endorsement by ACEDD formalised the standards’ status.
Originality/value
Collaborative curriculum design offered the opportunity to foster a shared sense of common purpose amongst diverse environmental education stakeholders. This approach to curriculum design is intensive and generative but uncommon and may be usefully adapted and applied in other contexts. The authors note one subsequent instance where the approach has been further developed and applied in transforming a generalist science program, suggesting the methodology used in this case may be applied across other contexts, albeit with appropriate adjustments: the authors offer it here in the spirit of supporting others in their own complex curriculum design challenges.
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The purpose of this paper is to conduct a UK-based assessment of oral history technology and to identify the most important features that should be available in any oral history…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a UK-based assessment of oral history technology and to identify the most important features that should be available in any oral history search system.
Design/methodology/approach
A co-design approach involving interviews and focus groups was adopted. The framework approach with elements of grounded theory was used to analyse transcripts to identify themes.
Findings
The analysis found that “ethics, consent and control”, “accessibility and engagement”, “publicity and awareness”, and “innovative technologies” were the four major themes identified. It was also established that there is limited understanding of oral history in the digital age, numerous interests, ethical concerns, lack of publicity and several key attributes that those designing an oral history search system or archive should strive for. The findings also identified that further exploration into sampling selected technologies on different user groups is required in order to develop software that would benefit the field.
Research limitations/implications
Participants were all recruited from one geographic region. The qualitative methodology utilised could be deemed to have elements of subjectivity.
Practical implications
This study has identified important features of any oral history search system and offered design recommendations for any developer of an oral history search systems.
Originality/value
This research has validated some previous findings for oral history search systems from more limited user studies. New issues for consideration including usability, software development and marketing have also been identified.
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Polytechnics were looked upon with some sceptism by the academic establishment when they first appeared ten years ago. But, far from being the Cinderellas of further education…
Abstract
Polytechnics were looked upon with some sceptism by the academic establishment when they first appeared ten years ago. But, far from being the Cinderellas of further education, the polys are proving themselves as a sought‐after training ground for tomorrow's managers. Report by Iain Mackenzie.
Catherine Nixon, Kirsty Deacon, Andrew James, Ciara Waugh, Zodie and Sarah McGarrol
The Children's Hearings System is a Scottish welfare-based tribunal-based system in which decisions are made about the care and protection of children in conflict with the law…
Abstract
The Children's Hearings System is a Scottish welfare-based tribunal-based system in which decisions are made about the care and protection of children in conflict with the law and/or in need of additional care and protection. The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the rapid implementation of a virtual Children's Hearings System. This system, which operated as the sole mechanism through which decisions were made between March and July 2020, continued to be used alongside in-person and hybrid Hearing formats for the duration of the pandemic. Early research into the use of virtual Hearings identified that their use presented significant barriers to participation, particularly in relation to the impacts of digital literacy and digital poverty. However, much of this research focused upon the experiences of adult participants in Hearings and failed to capture the experiences of children. In this chapter, we present findings from a qualitative study designed to explore the impact of virtual Hearings upon the participation and rights of children. In doing so, we demonstrate that virtual Hearings acted as both a barrier and facilitator of children's participation.
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Iain McPhee, Barry Sheridan, Andrew Horne, Steph Keenan and Fiona Houston
This study aims to provide data on substance use amongst young people in Scotland to inform policy and practice for an age group who generally do not access specialist alcohol and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to provide data on substance use amongst young people in Scotland to inform policy and practice for an age group who generally do not access specialist alcohol and drug services. The main objectives of the study were to assess the problem severity scores of items from a modified version of the DAST-10 brief screening instrument among respondents; examine correlations between a range of variables in relation to DAST-10 problem severity scores; and explore respondent knowledge of how and where to seek help.
Design/methodology/approach
A fixed quantitative design methodology recruited a non-probability sample of 4,501 respondents from an online survey made available by “We are With you” Scotland.
The survey was ethically approved by the School of Education and Social Sciences, University of the West of Scotland. It consisted of 32 questions exploring substances used within the past 12 months, and 12 weeks, and included the DAST-10. We further explored help seeking, and knowledge of support available to respondents.
Findings
Substance use patterns were markedly different from people currently known to specialist alcohol and drug services. Over half of respondents were under 25, and 62% report being employed. The most commonly used substances were cannabis and cocaine. One third of respondents recorded substantial or severe problem severity scores and reside in Scottish Local Authorities with high concentrations of socio-economic inequality.
Secure accommodation, stable relationships and being employed are protective factors in relation to reported negative health consequences associated with problem substance use.
Just under one third (27%) of respondents report knowing where to seek help for substance use problems; however, they are unwilling to attend existing specialist alcohol and drug services.
Research limitations/implications
A non-probability sample of the Scottish population has a potential for response bias due to how and what way the survey was made available to respondents. It is acknowledged that while useful as a method of generating drug use data, there are limitations in how recently the substance use occurred, and in relation to the types of substances reported (cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy).
Practical implications
The study provides data to inform wider public health measures in relation to accessing support and addressing societal discrimination associated with the use of substances. The study provides data on service design for young people who do not access specialist alcohol and drug services.
Social implications
The study informs substance use policy in the Scottish context in relation to a population of young people who use licit and illicit substances. Data contributes to evidence supporting correlations between problematic substance use and socio-economic inequality. Data indicates that existing specialist services require redesign.
Originality/value
The study is the first to be conducted within a Scottish context.
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Iain Davies, Caroline J. Oates, Caroline Tynan, Marylyn Carrigan, Katherine Casey, Teresa Heath, Claudia E. Henninger, Maria Lichrou, Pierre McDonagh, Seonaidh McDonald, Sally McKechnie, Fraser McLeay, Lisa O'Malley and Victoria Wells
Seeking ways towards a sustainable future is the most dominant socio-political challenge of our time. Marketing should have a crucial role to play in leading research and impact…
Abstract
Purpose
Seeking ways towards a sustainable future is the most dominant socio-political challenge of our time. Marketing should have a crucial role to play in leading research and impact in sustainability, yet it is limited by relying on cognitive behavioural theories rooted in the 1970s, which have proved to have little bearing on actual behaviour. This paper aims to interrogate why marketing is failing to address the challenge of sustainability and identify alternative approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
The constraint in theoretical development contextualises the problem, followed by a focus on four key themes to promote theory development: developing sustainable people; models of alternative consumption; building towards sustainable marketplaces; and theoretical domains for the future. These themes were developed and refined during the 2018 Academy of Marketing workshop on seeking sustainable futures. MacInnis’s (2011) framework for conceptual contributions in marketing provides the narrative thread and structure.
Findings
The current state of play is explicated, combining the four themes and MacInnis’s framework to identify the failures and gaps in extant approaches to the field.
Research limitations/implications
This paper sets a new research agenda for the marketing discipline in quest for sustainable futures in marketing and consumer research.
Practical implications
Approaches are proposed which will allow the transformation of the dominant socio-economic systems towards a model capable of promoting a sustainable future.
Originality/value
The paper provides thought leadership in marketing and sustainability as befits the special issue, by moving beyond the description of the problem to making a conceptual contribution and setting a research agenda for the future.
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Victor J. Hanby and Michael P. Jackson
The growing awareness in the past few years of the increasingly acute nature of unemployment levels throughout industrial society has been reflected in the adoption by a variety…
Abstract
The growing awareness in the past few years of the increasingly acute nature of unemployment levels throughout industrial society has been reflected in the adoption by a variety of countries of a number of special work creation schemes for social groups experiencing particular difficulties in finding and sustaining employment. While cynical commentators in individual countries have dismissed in varying degrees such programmes as being essentially synonymous with the special employment measures of the Great Depression, there seems little obvious justification or merit in identifying, for example, Job Creation in Britain with the former Public Works Programme; the Neighbourhood Youth Corps, Emergency Employment Act and the more recent Comprehensive Employment and Training Act in the US with the New Deal Public Relief Acts or the “ArbeitsBeschaffungsMassnahmen” in Germany with the ReichsArbeitDienst. While the new schemes may at their weakest moments reflect a superficial similarity with aspects of such older programmes, there is little doubt that, in the main, job creation measures of whatever type, which have been introduced since the early 1970s, differ in scope, orientation and intention from their traditional public works predecessors. Such an interpretation seems not only to be supported by the fact that countries which introduced such schemes some years ago, are continually updating, revising and refining the structure and conditions of their programme and evaluating their performance in meeting the needs of the client groups but that such early experiences and their subsequent restructurings constitute examples of particular manpower policy initiatives which continue to be followed as operating models for countries newly embarking on programmes of a similar type.