Stephen Bok, James Shum, Jason Harvie and Maria Lee
During the early SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated masks “may not protect the wearer, but it may keep the wearer…
Abstract
Purpose
During the early SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated masks “may not protect the wearer, but it may keep the wearer from spreading the virus to others”. Health officials revised mask guidelines to include both the wearer and others, but contradiction became a focal point for online debate and credibility. While revised policies eventually became adopted by the public, there was loss time and lives during this critical stage. This study investigates collectivist messaging on public policy support.
Design/methodology/approach
COVID-19 public policy hypocrisy was defined as the gap between supporting community policies while rejecting policies more likely to impact the individual. United States participants (N = 1,605) completed questionnaires. Moderated mediation analysis was conducted using SPSS PROCESS.
Findings
Those high on collectivism and high on global personal impact associated with lower COVID-19 public policy hypocrisy. These individuals indicated consistent support for community and individual policies, likely requiring personal sacrifices. Indirect conditional effects of lower conscientiousness associated with higher hypocrisy among those collectivistic.
Originality/value
Participants evaluated preference to original public safety ads, representative of basic societal and individual benefits. Those higher on collectivism preferred societal “we” versus individual “me” public safety ads. Implications discuss benefits of personal and communal public health messaging in an individualistic society so businesses can reopen. Entrepreneurs experienced major economic setbacks that effective public health policies could have mitigated.
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Sebastian Desmidt and Anita A. Prinzie
The increasing complexity and dynamicity of their environment compels health care managers to search relentlessly for effective management instruments. One strategic tool that…
Abstract
The increasing complexity and dynamicity of their environment compels health care managers to search relentlessly for effective management instruments. One strategic tool that both academics and practitioners have deemed critical to the success of any health care organization is the development of a meaningful mission statement. However, despite the seemingly omnipresence of the concept, studies indicate that creating an effective mission statement seems to be extremely difficult, if not downright frustrating for a lot of health care managers. This inability to create an effective mission statement roots for the greater part in the fact that the previous literature has provided little practical guidance on how health care administrators should formulate and deploy mission statements. Given the increasing pressure on health care organizations to develop an effective mission statement, this chapter (1) provides a detailed analysis of the mission statement concept based on a thorough literature analysis and (b) offers empirically based recommendations on how to successfully formulate and implement a mission statement within a health care organization based on a systematic analysis of relevant empirical research. These analyses and the derived evidence-based recommendations will help health care managers to revive their mission statement and make it more than a piece of paper.
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Charles Thorpe and Brynna Jacobson
Drawing upon Alfred Sohn-Rethel's work, we argue that, just as capitalism produces abstract labor, it coproduces both abstract mind and abstract life. Abstract mind is the split…
Abstract
Drawing upon Alfred Sohn-Rethel's work, we argue that, just as capitalism produces abstract labor, it coproduces both abstract mind and abstract life. Abstract mind is the split between mind and nature and between subject/observer and observed object that characterizes scientific epistemology. Abstract mind reflects an abstracted objectified world of nature as a means to be exploited. Biological life is rendered as abstract life by capitalist exploitation and by the reification and technologization of organisms by contemporary technoscience. What Alberto Toscano has called “the culture of abstraction” imposes market rationality onto nature and the living world, disrupting biotic communities and transforming organisms into what Finn Bowring calls “functional bio-machines.”
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George Cheney, Matt Noyes, Emi Do, Marcelo Vieta, Joseba Azkarraga and Charlie Michel
This study aims to investigate the uptake and usage patterns of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by women small business owners (SBOs).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the uptake and usage patterns of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by women small business owners (SBOs).
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 women SBOs who were recruited through purposeful sampling methods. Interview data on communication technologies participants used were broken down into six main categories: internet search, internet advertising, online transactions, telephone, email and fax. Participants were also asked questions regarding proximity between them and different business contacts, and whether technology influenced how they communicated with these individuals.
Findings
All participants had moved up from having a basic website to transacting goods and services online. ICTs were used to acquire tangible and intangible resources as well as for informal learning. Geographical distance between SBOs and individuals within their business and convenience of ICT failed to affect participants’ preference for face-to-face communication with key business contacts.
Research limitations/implications
This study has limitations that tend to be commonly found in exploratory studies, such as a small sample size. However, the findings lay the groundwork for future quantitative studies that examine the potential influence of other factors, such as gender and culture, on adoption of ICT by SBOs.
Originality/value
This study responds to a call for research that develops a more nuanced understanding of how women SBOs use ICTs in their business. The findings can be used by policymakers and development agencies in their teaching and training interventions.