This paper aims to examine the cycle of labour protests in Sweden, comparing the contentious actions of trade unions in public and private sectors over 40 years. Prior studies…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the cycle of labour protests in Sweden, comparing the contentious actions of trade unions in public and private sectors over 40 years. Prior studies have focused on industrial conflicts or labour protests, but a long-term perspective on the broad protest repertoire across sectors is lacking. The goal is to test the argument of diversification of action repertoire and differences between the public and private sectors.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors apply the grievance and political opportunity theories of social movement research for explaining the cycles of labour protests and differences between sectors in Sweden over 40 years (1980–2020). The unique protest event data are combined with the official strike statistics. The research period includes the globalisation of the economy and two economic crises.
Findings
Although unions in both sectors have decreased protest mobilisation over time, private sector unions have resigned the most, whereas public sector unions continue to mobilise a diverse set of protest actions. Swedish unions have not replaced strikes with other protest repertoires. The open opportunities have allowed them to use various protests as part of “routine” operations.
Research limitations/implications
Protest event data are derived from newspapers, leading to an over-representation of large events in the urban areas. Future studies should combine data from newspapers with data about online protests.
Originality/value
By thoroughly examining all protest events mobilised by all trade unions in different sectors over 40 years (1980–2020), the paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the cycles of labour protest. The findings should interest industrial relations and social movement scholars.
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Huan Chen, Eric Haley and Audrey Deterding
The chapter examined the consumer meanings of product placements embedded in social games in different cultural contexts.
Abstract
Purpose
The chapter examined the consumer meanings of product placements embedded in social games in different cultural contexts.
Methodology/approach
The theoretical perspective guiding the study is phenomenology, and the essay assignment and in-depth interviews were used to collect data.
Findings
The chapter was based on two qualitative research projects. Findings revealed that consumers in both countries appreciated certain characteristics of product placement in the context of social game, such as subtleness (naturalness) and unobtrusiveness (users’ freedom of choice and proactive choice); consumers’ real-world consumption in both countries seems to be more or less influenced by the product placement in social games; and while the young American consumers didn’t construct specific meanings for Facebook, the Chinese white-collar consumers actively created meanings for the Chinese social-network site.
Social implications
The chapter offered some thick descriptions and in-depth analyses of product placements in social games in different cultural contexts from consumers’ experiential perspectives to enrich our theoretical understanding of product placement in the new media environment as well as to add valuable insights to the research literature on new advertising formats in general.
Originality/value
No study to date has been conducted to explore the product placement in social games in different cultural contexts. The study fills the research gap by exploring US college-aged consumers’ and Chinese white-collar consumers’ interpretations of product placements in the context of social games.
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This paper sets out to explore the relationship between gender, New Public Management (NPM), citizenship and professional and user group identities and relationships within child…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper sets out to explore the relationship between gender, New Public Management (NPM), citizenship and professional and user group identities and relationships within child care social work practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper utilises findings from a major comparative survey undertaken in Denmark and the UK as part of Doctoral research. In addition the paper draws upon more recent empirical research carried out by the author in Sweden.
Findings
Paradigms imported from the private sector have led to the adoption of NPM, fiscal austerity and the reorganisation of childcare social work throughout Europe. This paper illustrates the connectivities between NPM, gender, citizenship and the contested terrains within which professional and user group relationships and identities are being forged. The paper offers a unique insight into the operationalisation of NPM and gender within childcare professional social work practice in different European settings.
Research limitations/implications
The paper's findings may be used to contribute to existing theoretical and empirical knowledge within the field of professional childcare social work and practice.
Originality/value
The paper offers a unique insight into the operationalisation of gender equality as a normative ideal premised on the development of organisational and legal settings which embrace an awareness of the duality of public and private spheres and the impact of different European welfare settings on the articulations of notions of gender and citizenship, which in turn operationalise processes of inclusion and exclusion of women as citizens, workers and parents.
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Koraljka Golub and Daniel Ocic Ihrmark
Many end users turn to Google Books and social tagging services to identify books of interest. How successful they are will depend on subject indexing applied in these services…
Abstract
Purpose
Many end users turn to Google Books and social tagging services to identify books of interest. How successful they are will depend on subject indexing applied in these services (among other factors). The study aimed to determine: (1) to what degree are Queerlit books identified as LGBTQ+ books in widely used information services, in particular Google Books, LibraryThing and Goodreads; and, (2) whether metadata in these information services could be considered of value for the Queerlit database and complement its highly extensive and highly specific indexing.
Design/methodology/approach
The study compared keywords (subject index terms, tags) assigned to works of Swedish LGBTQ+ fiction across three commercial services: Google Books, Goodreads and LibraryThing, against the curated database, Queerlit.
Findings
Of the 1320 LGBTQ+ works in Queerlit, only a small portion was found in the three web services: 8.26% on Google Books (n = 109), 13.26% on Goodreads (n = 175), while about half on LibraryThing (55.3%, n = 730). This underrepresentation of Swedish LGBTQ+ works in the three international commercial information services makes them hardly of value to the readers. This is exacerbated by the fact that only a minority of Queerlit books found in the three services are categorised as LGBTQ+. The Queerlit database might benefit from consulting social tagging services when indexing both LGBTQ+ specific and general themes.
Originality/value
No earlier study compared in a systematic manner four different information retrieval systems and identified challenges as well as potential benefits in relation to finding LGBTQ+ fiction.
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Linda Johanna Jansson and Hilpi Kangas
This study aims to widen the understanding of how remote work shapes the feedback environment by examining the perceptions of leaders and subordinates of daily, dyadic feedback…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to widen the understanding of how remote work shapes the feedback environment by examining the perceptions of leaders and subordinates of daily, dyadic feedback interactions. The emphasis is on understanding how reciprocity within leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships manifests and how it influences the feedback dynamics.
Design/methodology/approach
Template analysis of a qualitative data set consisting of 81 semi-structured interviews with leaders (n = 29) and remote working subordinates (n = 52) was performed.
Findings
Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of the feedback environment and the leader-member exchange, the findings demonstrate the imbalance between the efforts of leaders and subordinates in building and maintaining a favourable feedback environment in the remote work context. The results of this study highlight the importance of the dyadic nature of feedback interactions, calling for a more proactive role from subordinates.
Practical implications
Given the estimation that the COVID-19 pandemic has permanently changed the way organizations work, leaders, subordinates and HR practitioners will benefit from advancing their understanding of the characteristics of dyadic, daily feedback interaction in remote work.
Originality/value
Qualitative research on feedback and leader-member exchange interactions in remote work that combines the perceptions of leaders and subordinates is sparse.
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Keywords
Huan Chen and Audrey Deterding
The purpose of the study is to explore how college‐aged consumers perceive and interpret product placement in the context of social games.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to explore how college‐aged consumers perceive and interpret product placement in the context of social games.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical perspective guiding the study is phenomenology, and the essay assignment and in‐depth interviews were used to collect data.
Findings
The themes emerged from the current data regarding the participants' interpretations of product placement in social games are: freedom of choice; subtleness and unobtrusiveness; and connection to real world consumption.
Originality/value
No study to date has been designed to explore the product placement in social network sites (SNSs), especially in the context of social gaming. The study fills the research gap by exploring college‐aged consumers' interpretation of product placement in the context of social games.
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Sven-Olof Yrjö Collin, Jenny Ahlberg, Karin Berg, Pernilla Broberg and Amelie Karlsson
The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a concept of auditor as consigliere in family firms, that captures additional functions to monitoring, those of advice, mediating…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a concept of auditor as consigliere in family firms, that captures additional functions to monitoring, those of advice, mediating, and conveying.
Design/methodology/approach
The concept is tested through a survey conducted on 309 Swedish auditors.
Findings
The data indicate that the consigliere role is generally not emphasized, indicating that auditors primarily perform the monitoring role of the audit. However, the authors do find indications of the auditor performing the consigliere role, through performing the advisory and mediating functions and, to a smaller degree, the conveying function.
Research limitations/implications
The survey is limited in response rate and in separating governance situations from consigliere functions.
Practical implications
With reservation for professional independence, the auditor as consigliere could be part of the governance of the family firm, but should be trained for this activity.
Social implications
Regulators should pay attention to the consigliere role when, for example, stipulating compulsory rotation of auditors.
Originality/value
The paper shows that the auditor is more than a monitor in family firms. The consigliere role, even if not at all dominating, has to be considered, at least in family firms.
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This paper aims to examine how a social entrepreneurial organisation in Sweden collectively learned to adapt itself to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how a social entrepreneurial organisation in Sweden collectively learned to adapt itself to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an abductive approach, this study conducted single case fieldwork on a social entrepreneurial organisation called SFE. The following research questions were asked: What are the changes in collective learning conditions that SFE has to face during the pandemic? What are the outcomes of collective learning during the pandemic in SFE?
Findings
This study results indicate that collective learning conditions were changed by restructuring the organisation’s design and teamwork during the pandemic, which facilitated sharing of knowledge and experiences. This collective learning helped the organisation develop new virtual projects during the pandemic. Another result of this collective learning was the members’ new shared understanding of the organisation’s vision.
Research limitations/implications
This study hopes to broaden the understanding of the relationship between collective learning in organisations and organisational adaptation in times of crisis.
Practical implications
This study can help leaders of social entrepreneurial organisations understand what changes are necessary to create a team that collectively learns.
Originality/value
The data had the advantage of being gathered as a real-time process, and the researcher witnessed how the organisation achieved adaptation as it happened and not just through its members’ reflection of it as a past phenomenon.
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Julie MacInnes, Jenny Billings, Alexandra Lelia Dima, Chris Farmer and Giel Nijpels
The purpose of this paper is to identify the range, type and outcomes of technological innovations aimed at supporting older people to maintain their independence within the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the range, type and outcomes of technological innovations aimed at supporting older people to maintain their independence within the context of integrated care at home. We also discuss key emergent themes relevant to the use of person-centred technology for older people in integrated care and propose recommendations for policy and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
An integrative review methodology was used to identify and describe recent scientific publications in four stages: problem identification, literature search, data evaluation and data analysis.
Findings
Twelve studies were included in the review. Three studies described remote consultations, particularly telemedicine; five studies described tools to support self-management; three studies described the use of healthcare management tools, and one study described both remote consultation and self-care management. Emergent themes were: acceptability, accessibility and use of digital technologies; co-ordination and integration of services; the implementation of digital technologies; and safety and governance. Several recommendations are proposed relevant to integrated care teams, technology developers and researchers.
Originality/value
This review uniquely considers the extent to which novel digital technologies used in integrated care for older people are person-centred.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore cargo theft risk and security for different product types at different locations along a transport chain.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore cargo theft risk and security for different product types at different locations along a transport chain.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on a system-theoretical approach. The research method is deductive, as the analysis is based on secondary data and results from a questionnaire. The results are analysed based on supply chain risk management (SCRM) theories.
Findings
Due to substantial interaction effects, the type of product and transport chain location must be considered to determine the correct level of security. Specifically, the product type is more significant, since the general cargo theft risk is higher. Furthermore, the transport industry has three perspectives on security responses to cargo theft, namely, demanded, needed and actual security, which differ depending on the product type and transport chain location.
Research limitations/implications
This database is structured according to the global Transported Asset Protection Association organisational structure, which implies that there are three main databases: Europe, Middle East and Africa, Americas, and Asia-Pacific.
Practical implications
This study has both research and practical implications, as it examines security within freight transport from three perspectives, linked to general cargo theft risk and goods owners’ requirements.
Originality/value
This study addresses the contemporary SCRM problem of cargo theft using actual crime statistics and the industry understanding of required generic security levels.