Raúl Aparicio-Arias and Jenny Moreno
This paper aims to explore public procurement frameworks during disasters in Chile and New Zealand, identifying the factors that affect government procurement performance in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore public procurement frameworks during disasters in Chile and New Zealand, identifying the factors that affect government procurement performance in disaster response.
Design/methodology/approach
This research adopted a case study methodology following a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with government officers from Chile and New Zealand who had practice-relevant knowledge of public procurement and disaster management. Data was complemented by document reviews, including government reports and the records of disaster management organizations.
Findings
This paper finds public procurement to be negatively affected by several factors during disasters, including celerity and flexibility of response; market and supplier restrictions; pressures over procurement teams; centralism of procurement structures; lack of technical knowledge; competition and crossover of agreements; corruption; and price variations.
Practical implications
This paper includes policy recommendations on how to increase the effectiveness of disaster management and public procurement systems in countries at high risk of earthquakes and other disasters.
Social implications
This paper can help public procurement officers to provide a better response during disasters, supplying the goods and services required to the affected population in a timely and effective manner.
Originality/value
This paper addresses a gap in research by identifying factors which negatively impact government procurement and response during a disaster.
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Phebian L. Davis, Amy M. Donnelly and Robin R. Radtke
The importance of auditors blowing the whistle when they encounter a situation of perceived wrongdoing cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, however, the initial report of…
Abstract
The importance of auditors blowing the whistle when they encounter a situation of perceived wrongdoing cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, however, the initial report of wrongdoing is often insufficient to remedy the situation. Thus, this chapter investigates auditors’ whistleblowing persistence, measured as the number of times an auditor is willing to repeatedly report the wrongdoing, if he/she is not satisfied with the initial and/or subsequent responses received. Specifically, this chapter examines auditors’ persistence when reporting the wrongdoing of a peer auditor on the same audit team. Results show communication medium utilized within the audit team (instant message vs video) and client importance (high vs low) influence persistence in a 2 × 2 experiment. The manipulation for communication medium uses actual prerecorded videos and instant messages. Results related to one of our four hypotheses show that whistleblowing persistence is affected by client importance; that is, auditors are more likely to persist in reporting when working on a less important client. Furthermore, the findings suggest that client importance and communication medium interact such that communication medium affects persistence on more important clients, but not less important clients. Specifically, when working on a more important client, auditors are more likely to persist in reporting when interacting with their peers via video compared to via instant message. Given that whistleblowing persistence is often necessary to obtain a satisfactory resolution to the issue at hand, our results suggest avenues to encourage whistleblowing persistence should be further explored.
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Louise Gillies and Helen M. Burrows
Families conduct their affairs through processes that are built upon those of previous generations and also social capacities such as culture, class, oppression and poverty. The…
Abstract
Families conduct their affairs through processes that are built upon those of previous generations and also social capacities such as culture, class, oppression and poverty. The media has played a part in stereotyping the lower classes through their portrayal on the television programmes such as Benefits Street and Jeremy Kyle and tabloid newspaper stories. This chapter is a case study of two families who are at the opposing ends of the social scale, the Horrobin/Carter and Aldridge families. The two families were chosen due to them being linked by marriage in the younger generation. Through the use of genograms, we explore how the families differ in their attitudes towards relationships within their individual families, and also how they relate to each other as separate family groups. Despite the many differences, there are also a number of key similarities, particularly regarding the key females in the families, in terms of family background and snobbery. We also show that there is little family loyalty in the more privileged family and a power differential between the two families (oppressors vs. oppressed) in terms of the crimes committed.
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This work presents a review of the state of the art of the present century on academic and scientific production in Latin America related to the concept of Social Innovation. The…
Abstract
This work presents a review of the state of the art of the present century on academic and scientific production in Latin America related to the concept of Social Innovation. The analysis is based on articles published in indexed journals, which makes it possible to understand the existing asymmetry between the conceptual and theoretical veins, of the case studies, as well as of good social innovation practices that have been published in recent years. These debates have in some cases transcended public policies, as well as business and social realities where social innovation is a mechanism and strategy for personal, social, and territorial development. Finally, a Latin American community of researchers and academics around social innovation must be consolidated, who choose to continue building theoretical-empirical bodies following the Latin American reality.
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Throughout human history and around the world, co-sleeping was the context for human evolutionary development. Currently, most of the world’s peoples continue to practice…
Abstract
Throughout human history and around the world, co-sleeping was the context for human evolutionary development. Currently, most of the world’s peoples continue to practice co-sleeping with infants, but there is increasing pressure on families in the West not to co-sleep. Research from anthropology, family studies, medicine, pediatrics, psychology, and public health is reviewed through the lens of a developmental theory to place co-sleeping within a developmental, theoretical context for understanding it. Viewing co-sleeping as a family choice and a normative, human developmental context changes how experts may provide advice and support to families choosing co-sleeping, especially in families making the transition to parenthood. During this transition, many decisions are made by parents “intuitively” (Ball, Hooker, & Kelly, 1999), making understanding the developmental consequences of some of those choices even more important. In Western culture, families are making “intuitive” decisions that research has shown to be beneficial, but families are not receiving complete messages about benefits and risks of co-sleeping. Co-sleeping can be an important choice for families as they make the life-changing transition to parenthood, if individualized messages about safe infant sleep practices (directed toward their individual family circumstances) are shared with them.
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Jinkyung Jenny Kim, Nancy Grace Baah, Seongseop (Sam) Kim, Heesup Han, Bo Meng and Xiaoting Chi
This study aims to determine the distinctive attributes of pet-friendly hotels, examine the importance versus the performance of each attribute, and test the effect of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to determine the distinctive attributes of pet-friendly hotels, examine the importance versus the performance of each attribute, and test the effect of the performance of attributes on customer behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
This research applied qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the unique attributes of pet-friendly hotels. The importance-performance analysis was used to investigate how customers perceive the importance and the performance of each attribute, and regression analysis was used to examine how the performance of attributes influences customer behavior.
Findings
This study identified six distinctive attributes of pet-friendly hotels. Furthermore, the findings underlined the significance of pet-related activity support for pet-friendly hotel selections, and addressed an urgent need for the improvement of pet-friendly safety measures. Last, results showed the salient effect of pet-related activity support on visit and word-of-mouth intentions, and the strong influence of pet-centric facilities and services on willingness to pay premiums for pet-friendly hotels.
Practical implications
The findings provided useful insights into how hotel companies could effectively position themselves as pet-friendly from customers’ perspectives.
Originality/value
This research is among the first to determine distinctive attributes and adopt importance-performance analysis in pet-friendly hotel context.
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This chapter presents a theoretical reflection on the possible impact of politicians' positive Word of Mouth (pWOM) on the tourists' risk perception and destination image of…
Abstract
This chapter presents a theoretical reflection on the possible impact of politicians' positive Word of Mouth (pWOM) on the tourists' risk perception and destination image of Portugal in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The reflection is based on the collection of remarks or comments made by international politicians collected using Google as the search engine and subsequent manual textual content analysis. The results show five recurring themes in the politicians' pWOM: general praise, pandemic numbers, politician positioning, health care and population attitude. The discussion includes a reflection on the outputs of the channels used for the dissemination of the messages and the importance of the politicians' countries of origin to a market strategy that highlights Portugal as a tourism destination.
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Marcus Grace, Kathryn Woods‐Townsend, Janice Griffiths, Keith Godfrey, Mark Hanson, Ian Galloway, Marta Cristina Azaola, Kerry Harman, Jenny Byrne and Hazel Inskip
The purpose of this paper is to report the outcome of a city‐wide survey of teenagers’ views on their health, and compare this with the outcomes of a science‐oriented health…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report the outcome of a city‐wide survey of teenagers’ views on their health, and compare this with the outcomes of a science‐oriented health intervention called LifeLab, a hospital‐based classroom aimed at developing teenagers’ attitudes towards their health and that of their future children.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey of 597 14‐year olds across the city of Southampton was conducted to gauge their views and behaviour in relation to their own health. The views of 37 students who took part in innovative, hospital‐based, hands‐on LifeLab activities were compared with those of their peers six months after the intervention to analyse long‐term impacts of the experience. Interviews were carried out with ten LifeLab students to gain further insights.
Findings
The intervention created a wider appreciation among students that food they eat now could affect their long‐term health and the health of their future children. Students became significantly more interested in studying science beyond compulsory schooling, and in considering science and healthcare career options.
Research limitations/implications
Although results were statistically significant, the intervention sample was quite small, and further data collection is ongoing. The city‐wide student response rate of 29 per cent was fairly low.
Social implications
This study has shown that a carefully structured hospital‐based classroom visit, and associated science lessons can have a marked effect on student engagement with health‐related issues, and an impact on their consideration of their career choices.
Originality/value
The hospital‐based classroom is an innovative approach to improving teenagers’ knowledge and attitudes towards their health. The paper's findings should be of interest to a range of educational stakeholders including teachers, local education authorities and local politicians concerned with health education matters.