Gregory R. Carmichael, Adrian Sandu, Chul H. Song, Shan He, Mahesh J. Phadnis, Dacian Daescu, Valeriu Damian‐Iordache and Florian A. Potra
Discusses computational challenges in air quality modelling (as viewed by the authors). The focus of the paper will be on Di, the “current” state‐of‐affairs. Owing to limitation…
Abstract
Discusses computational challenges in air quality modelling (as viewed by the authors). The focus of the paper will be on Di, the “current” state‐of‐affairs. Owing to limitation of space the discussion will focus on only a few aspects of air quality modelling: i.e. chemical integration, sensitivity analysis and computational framework, with particular emphasis on aerosol issues.
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To explore the relationship between LGBTQIA+1
Abstract
Purpose
To explore the relationship between LGBTQIA+1
LGBTQIA+ = Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual/Ally, and others not defined within these terms.
LGBTQIA+ = Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual/Ally, and others not defined within these terms.
Methodology/approach
Framed around the Williams Institute report Public Attitudes toward Homosexuality and Gay Rights across Time and Countries (2014), and incorporating aspects of queer theory, this chapter will explore some of the literature discussing libraries and the LGBTQIA+ community. It will then detail some specific examples of activities libraries are engaging in to support LGBTQIA+ rights.
Findings
Many libraries around the globe appear to be offering special programs and services for LGBTQIA+ persons.
Research limitations/implications
This is not a systematic review of library services to the LGBTQIA+ community. The author relied on freely available information sources.
Originality/value
Highlights some of the excellent work libraries are doing in support of LGBTQIA+ human rights. The role of libraries are constantly changing, this chapter points to the potential for libraries to take a stronger role to enact social justice and support human rights.
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The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive…
Abstract
The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive advantage provided by BI capability is not well researched. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for successful BI deployment and empirically examines the association between BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage. Taking the telecommunications industry in Malaysia as a case example, the research particularly focuses on the influencing perceptions held by telecommunications decision makers and executives on factors that impact successful BI deployment. The research further investigates the relationship between successful BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage of the telecommunications organizations. Another important aim of this study is to determine the effect of moderating factors such as organization culture, business strategy, and use of BI tools on BI deployment and the sustainability of firm’s competitive advantage.
This research uses combination of resource-based theory and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory to examine BI success and its relationship with firm’s sustainability. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and a two-phase sequential mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. The chapter presents a qualitative field study to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. The study includes a survey study with sample of business analysts and decision makers in telecommunications firms and is analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling.
The findings reveal that some internal resources of the organizations such as BI governance and the perceptions of BI’s characteristics influence the successful deployment of BI. Organizations that practice good BI governance with strong moral and financial support from upper management have an opportunity to realize the dream of having successful BI initiatives in place. The scope of BI governance includes providing sufficient support and commitment in BI funding and implementation, laying out proper BI infrastructure and staffing and establishing a corporate-wide policy and procedures regarding BI. The perceptions about the characteristics of BI such as its relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and observability are also significant in ensuring BI success. The most important results of this study indicated that with BI successfully deployed, executives would use the knowledge provided for their necessary actions in sustaining the organizations’ competitive advantage in terms of economics, social, and environmental issues.
This study contributes significantly to the existing literature that will assist future BI researchers especially in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In particular, the model will help practitioners to consider the resources that they are likely to consider when deploying BI. Finally, the applications of this study can be extended through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.
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Mauricio Ferreira and Gonzalo Bravo
This study examined the determinants of attendance at the Chilean national soccer tournaments between 1990 and 2002. A multilevel model approach was taken to estimate the effects…
Abstract
This study examined the determinants of attendance at the Chilean national soccer tournaments between 1990 and 2002. A multilevel model approach was taken to estimate the effects of several factors, including unobserved sources, hypothesised to influence attendance in Chile. Results regarding team success, team division, population, stadium size and habitual persistence were found to influence professional soccer attendance; other factors such as admission price, age of team, international success, availability of soccer teams in the same vicinity and stadium ownership did not.
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Carol Atkinson, Fiona Carmichael and Jo Duberley
In this chapter, we discuss menopause transition in the workplace and its implications for workplace well-being. This is an important work-life interface topic, given the…
Abstract
In this chapter, we discuss menopause transition in the workplace and its implications for workplace well-being. This is an important work-life interface topic, given the increasing number of women who will work during transition. It is also a topic that we currently know relatively little about, particularly in relation to well-being. We present findings that demonstrate both that many women experience symptoms that are bothersome at work and that these frequently have negative effects for two elements of workplace well-being, job satisfaction and health well-being. We evidence that individual/job characteristics and workplace context can either improve or worsen experiences of transition symptoms and make recommendations on how organization and HR practice can be designed to support women in menopause transition. We argue that working with line managers to create a more supportive context is one of the most important strategies to implement. Our research is situated in the UK police service and has wider relevance across the Global North, where similar demographic patterns are experienced, and in other male-dominated organizations and sectors.
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The author of this chapter will explain how libraries define safe space through policies, procedures, and professional codes of ethics. The chapter will generate a history of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The author of this chapter will explain how libraries define safe space through policies, procedures, and professional codes of ethics. The chapter will generate a history of the concept of libraries as safe space, will explain how libraries attempt to create safe spaces in physical and online environments, and will show how library practices both help and harm patrons in need of safe space.
Methodology/approach
This chapter provides a review of the literature that illustrates how libraries provide safe space – or not – for their patrons. The author will deconstruct the ALA Code of Ethics and Bill of Rights to demonstrate how libraries remain heteronormative institutions that do not recognize the existence of diverse patrons or employees, and how this phenomenon manifests in libraries.
Findings
Libraries, either through their physical construction or through policies and procedures, have become spaces for illegal activities and discrimination. Populations who would be most likely to use libraries often report barriers to access.
Practical implications
Libraries should revisit their policies and procedures, as well as assess their physical and online spaces, to determine whether or not they truly provide safe space for their patrons. While libraries can become safer spaces, they should clearly communicate what types of safety they actually provide.
Originality/value
This chapter offers a critique of libraries as safe spaces, which will challenge popular opinions of libraries, and compel the profession to improve.
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Elvisa Drishti, Bresena Kopliku and Drini Imami
This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the effects of active political engagement in port-of-entry jobs and employment pathways for graduate students in a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the effects of active political engagement in port-of-entry jobs and employment pathways for graduate students in a post-communist context which is characterized by clientelism. The data are derived from a structured survey of a small local labour market where political clientelism is pronounced due to the strong network ties. Controlling for both demand and supply factors, the authors identify a profile for those who are more prone to engage politically in exchange for public sector jobs, which are in turn vulnerable to regime changes.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use data from a sample of 191 students that records month-to-month employment states for three consecutive years (2012–2014). The method attempts to replicate an experimental design with repeated measures before and after the June 2013 government elections. The data is analysed using sequence analysis with optimal matching and difference-in-difference methods.
Findings
The analysis provides evidence of links between political engagement and selection onto different employment pathways under conditions of political clientelism. The pathways themselves are also shown to be differentially impacted by the 2013 election (positively or negatively). Together, these results are supportive of claims that jobs in Albania, particularly those in the public sector, are linked to the short-term presence of vote-buying. This is shown to be the case even for this sample of educated members of the labour force (i.e. university graduates). The analysis also finds evidence of accumulative disadvantages over time, in relation to subjective perceptions of life satisfaction, migration intentions, employability and success in life, as a result of active political engagement.
Originality/value
The study uses a unique data set and a novel methodological approach, sequence analysis. Occupational history calendars were used to capture quantitative information recording detailed work histories. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this innovative method has not been used before to measure the temporal effects of political engagement on employment pathways.
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Elvisa Drishti and Fiona Carmichael
This study asks whether lower quality forms of employment lead to career transitions into higher quality forms of employment acting as steppingstones, or bridges or, whether…
Abstract
Purpose
This study asks whether lower quality forms of employment lead to career transitions into higher quality forms of employment acting as steppingstones, or bridges or, whether instead they lead to dead-ends, or traps, in which workers move between unstable jobs with low prospects for upward mobility and unemployment.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a unique longitudinal dataset recording monthly employment states over 3 years for 373 individuals in the Albanian city of Shkoder. The analysis uses sequence and regression analysis to investigate whether people employed in lower quality, more precarious jobs remain in these kinds of jobs or instead are able to transition into higher quality, permanent and full-time employment.
Findings
In line with previous evidence for the region, the analysis confirms the precarization of many working lives particularly for women, young people and those with lower educational attainment. This evidence is more supportive of the dead-end hypothesis than the idea that a lower quality job can be a steppingstone into a better job.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the limited knowledge of labour market functioning in developing post-socialist Western Balkans countries. Recent flexicurity policies have generated an increased prevalence of more precarious employment arrangements in Albania. This investigation addresses previous research limitations regarding point-in-time transitions and unobserved heterogeneity using retrospective longitudinal data and controlling for personality traits.