Jane Ireland and John Beaumont
Expert evidence is a contentious area with a number of high profile cases highlighting unreliable “scientific” expert evidence, leading to appeals and acquittals. The purpose of…
Abstract
Purpose
Expert evidence is a contentious area with a number of high profile cases highlighting unreliable “scientific” expert evidence, leading to appeals and acquittals. The purpose of this paper is to argue for improvement in the assessment of expert evidence reliability to avoid such difficulties.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of the area focused on the history of developing legal criteria for admitting “scientific” evidence. It examined the benefits and difficulties of approaches, and proposes an amendment to criteria for increased transparency and evidenced decision making.
Findings
The review indicated a range of difficulties with “expert” evidence admissibility, including inconsistency, an over-focus on narrow elements of evidence, difficulties in interpretation, and the potential to unfairly restrict evidence. An alternative to current approaches is proposed. This takes the form of a two-stage approach to consider whether or not to admit expert evidence. It comprises a preparation and an examination stage. The former seeks to critically review the evidence and define its nature. The latter applies two sets of criteria; a Daubert application for generally accepted physical sciences, and proposes an Abridged-Daubert for novel and social/behavioural sciences. Also proposed is increased involvement by experts in critically reviewing their own evidence and in providing statements of limitations.
Practical implications
The paper concludes by outlining the importance of developing such an approach for the UK legal system. It focuses on the application of specific criterion which could assist both Courts and witnesses to evaluate the quality of evidence prior to submission by accounting for the nature of the opinion evidence provided.
Originality/value
The paper outlines a practical approach to examining evidence which has benefit to practitioners and advocates when opinion evidence is outlined.
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Entrepreneurial education in higher education has emphasized following the prospect of entrepreneurship as one of the determinants of countries' economic growth. Therefore, it is…
Abstract
Entrepreneurial education in higher education has emphasized following the prospect of entrepreneurship as one of the determinants of countries' economic growth. Therefore, it is considered necessary to assess how the current education system and learning orientation improve student's motivation to become entrepreneurs. This study evaluates all indicators included in the variables of entrepreneurial education, learning orientation, and entrepreneurship intention. While the curriculum represents entrepreneurial education, teaching method, educator competencies, and university support system, learning orientation consists of learning commitment, knowledge sharing capability, critical thinking, and vision sharing, and entrepreneurship intention are measured by abilities in writing a business plan, generating business ideas, identifying business opportunities, and innovation and business startup. The data was harvested from questionnaires completed by 123 entrepreneurship program students and was processed using PLS. This study finds that (1) curriculum significantly influences student's learning commitment and business plan writing ability, (2) teaching method influences individual knowledge sharing and business idea generation ability, (3) educator competencies do not significantly affect students critical thinking and ability to identify a business opportunity, but critical thinking influences their skill in identifying business opportunities, (4) university support system does not significantly influence student intention to innovate and start new businesses, but it significantly affects their ability to share their visions, and the ability significantly influences their intention to innovate and start new businesses.
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The nonconsensual taking or sharing of nude or sexual images, also known as “image-based sexual abuse,” is a major social and legal problem in the digital age. In this chapter, we…
Abstract
The nonconsensual taking or sharing of nude or sexual images, also known as “image-based sexual abuse,” is a major social and legal problem in the digital age. In this chapter, we examine the problem of image-based sexual abuse in the context of digital platform governance. Specifically, we focus on two key governance issues: first, the governance of platforms, including the regulatory frameworks that apply to technology companies; and second, the governance by platforms, focusing on their policies, tools, and practices for responding to image-based sexual abuse. After analyzing the policies and practices of a range of digital platforms, we identify four overarching shortcomings: (1) inconsistent, reductionist, and ambiguous language; (2) a stark gap between the policy and practice of content regulation, including transparency deficits; (3) imperfect technology for detecting abuse; and (4) the responsibilization of users to report and prevent abuse. Drawing on a model of corporate social responsibility (CSR), we argue that until platforms better address these problems, they risk failing victim-survivors of image-based sexual abuse and are implicated in the perpetration of such abuse. We conclude by calling for reasonable and proportionate state-based regulation that can help to better align governance by platforms with CSR-initiatives.
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David Obstfeld, Stephen P. Borgatti and Jason Davis
We argue for a broadened approach to brokerage by distinguishing between brokerage emphasizing a particular structural pattern in which two otherwise disconnected alters are…
Abstract
We argue for a broadened approach to brokerage by distinguishing between brokerage emphasizing a particular structural pattern in which two otherwise disconnected alters are connected through a third party (“brokerage structure”) and the social behavior of third parties (“brokerage process”). We explore a processual view of brokerage by examining three fundamental strategic orientations toward brokerage: conduit, tertius gaudens, and tertius iungens that occur in many different forms and combinations. This processual view is especially relevant in increasingly complex and dynamic environments where brokerage behavior is highly varied, intense, and purposeful, and has theoretical implications for studying multiplexity, heterogeneity, and brokerage intensity.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of mobile phones on the micro‐trading activities of traders in Ghana. The study aims to develop a conceptual model analyzing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of mobile phones on the micro‐trading activities of traders in Ghana. The study aims to develop a conceptual model analyzing the impact of mobile phones on pre‐trade, during‐trade and post‐trade activities.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed methods approach consisting of a descriptive survey of 136 traders and a case study of two traders was adopted.
Findings
The findings suggest that traders primarily use mobile phones to monitor goods and pricing strategies, scheduling deliveries, and addressing inquiries and complaints in during‐trade activities. Traders, including those with no formal education, also use mobile phones as calculators in post‐trade activities. This innovative use of mobile phones is a function of their pre‐knowledge which may have been developed through formal education and/or social networks. Improving information management through mobile phones directly or indirectly contributes to the economic empowerment of the trader.
Research limitations/implications
The paper proposes a conceptual framework that extends the transaction cost theory to consider transaction benefits and effects in micro‐trading. The study develops four propositions which can guide future research.
Practical implications
The study provides practitioners with a “theoretically‐inspired” framework which goes beyond examining design and adoption to identify needs and assess impact in mobiles for development initiatives.
Originality/value
The conceptual framework extends the work on transaction cost theory in information systems and may inform future research in mobile phones and micro‐trading activities.
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Women and marketing have had a complicated relationship for a considerable time. They have often been involved with marketing‐type practices for longer than we have appreciated to…
Abstract
Purpose
Women and marketing have had a complicated relationship for a considerable time. They have often been involved with marketing‐type practices for longer than we have appreciated to date. Against considerable odds, some have carved out careers in academia and practice that have to be admired. The purpose of this paper is to explore the work of two pioneer contributors to marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper engages in a close reading of the work of two female contributors. Their writing is placed in historical context which helps reveal the obstacles they had to overcome to succeed.
Findings
Female teachers, lecturers and practitioners had an important role to play in theorising consumer practice and helping people to successfully negotiate a complex marketplace replete with new challenges, difficulties and sometimes mendacious marketers seeking to profit from the limited knowledge consumers possessed.
Originality/value
This paper explores the writings of a practitioner and scholar respectively whose work has merited only limited attention previously. More than this, it links the arguments that are made to the papers that appear in the rest of the special issue.
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One of the primary responsibilities of a board of directors is to assess management practices and to make sure that the organization is being run in a fashion that is consistent…
Abstract
One of the primary responsibilities of a board of directors is to assess management practices and to make sure that the organization is being run in a fashion that is consistent with the interests of shareholders. This responsibility becomes especially important when the firm is performing suboptimally. The current paper integrates corporate governance theory with attribution theory to examine the processes by which board members attribute poor firm performance to either external or internal causes. A framework is presented that suggests that inside directors and outside directors differ significantly in the constraints they face and in the ultimate attributions they make. Facing primarily social constraints, such as loyalty to the CEO and fear of retaliation, inside directors are more likely to consistently attribute poor performance to industry or environmental factors, as opposed to top management. Facing primarily cognitive constraints, outside directors will use specific informational cues to attribute poor performance either to industry/environmental factors or to top management. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.