Jeremy Northcote and Tarryn Phillips
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of peer researchers in participant observation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of peer researchers in participant observation.
Design/methodology/approach
The research involved interviews with 11 fieldworkers aged 18–25 years.
Findings
The method improves access to settings and provides useful context information on participants.
Research limitations/implications
It is a useful method in situations where normal access to participants and settings is problematic.
Originality/value
The paper is the first ever evaluation of supervised peer research (as opposed to peer-led research).
Details
Keywords
Abel Duarte Alonso and Jeremy Northcote
Multifunctional agriculture, including value-added agriculture, has drawn the attention of different stakeholders (government, farmers) interested in maximising the potential of…
Abstract
Purpose
Multifunctional agriculture, including value-added agriculture, has drawn the attention of different stakeholders (government, farmers) interested in maximising the potential of farming operations and strengthening rural communities. This preliminary study aims to investigate value-added agriculture, including the extent to which food growers consider, or are involved in, this aspect of multifunctional agriculture, from the perspective of orchard operators located in different Australian states.
Design/methodology/approach
Orchard operators were contacted through regional growers' associations and by mail. A total of 80, the large majority of whom are small orchardists, participated in the study, completing a questionnaire designed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data.
Findings
Overall, there is moderate interest among the participating orchard operators in adding value to food production. Respondents also indicate barriers in the form of added expenses, lack of time, knowledge, and markets, to sell value-added products.
Research limitations/implications
This study has only provided preliminary data from a limited number of participants; future research could broaden the scope to gather the insights of more orchard operators or even study other rural food-growing sectors.
Practical implications
With increasing pressures on the farmland, the findings have several implications, in particular, the need to understand the cost-benefits involved in value adding activities and potential cost-savings strategies.
Originality/value
In the case of Australian agriculture, little has been discussed about the extent to which value-added food production is being considered among food growers, for instance, using commercial kitchens to process foods that do not sell as “premium.” The present study examines this unexplored dimension and seeks to provide useful preliminary information.
Details
Keywords
Jeremy Northcote and Jim Macbeth
The purpose of this paper is to examine a model for conceptualizing the impacts of environmental management strategies on travel and recreation choice making behavior that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine a model for conceptualizing the impacts of environmental management strategies on travel and recreation choice making behavior that considers tolerance thresholds in visitor responses to destination change.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey involving a sample of 347 regular campers and fishers in the Ningaloo Marine Park, Australia, is analyzed to discern the effect of tolerance thresholds.
Findings
Despite widespread dissatisfaction with enlarged sanctuary zones and negative impacts on recreational activities, visitors indicated a high level of satisfaction with their stay. This apparent contradiction is, it is argued, best explained by the threshold of tolerability concept.
Research limitations/implications
It is argued that recreational users, planning authorities and other stakeholders have a threshold of tolerability in terms of decision‐making concerning management changes. These thresholds mean that changes in management policies, modes of activity and destination travel choices are rarely predictable in their effect, but are bounded by minimal and ideal expectations of destination appeal.
Originality/value
The paper introduces an important concept for tourism research that will aid tourism planning and management authorities in the face of growing environmental pressures caused by overpopulation and climate change.
Details
Keywords
Abel Duarte Alonso and Jeremy Northcote
Wine is an integral part of so‐called “Old World” nations, amalgamating with the local history and landscape, and providing a powerful “origin branding”. To date, however, these…
Abstract
Purpose
Wine is an integral part of so‐called “Old World” nations, amalgamating with the local history and landscape, and providing a powerful “origin branding”. To date, however, these dimensions have been discussed to a very limited extent in emerging “New World” wine regions, where the lack of a traditional heritage of wine making presents special challenges in terms of origin branding. The focus of most previous research has been on the viewpoints of consumers, not those of producers. This study seeks to explore these dimensions among small wine growers.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a qualitative approach, 42 interviews with winery operators from several emerging Western Australian wine regions were conducted.
Findings
In the absence of historical wine pioneers and traditions, winery operators in emerging wine‐producing regions use alternative means for “origin branding” that emphasise heritage and landscape characteristics centring on the wider “rural idyll”. These associations serve to forge a “vintage” identity for their industry, which essentially masks its youth for their region.
Research limitations/implications
In view of the more than 200 small wineries operating in Western Australia the number of respondents in the study may not allow for making generalisations of the state's wine industry.
Practical implications
The current growth in the number of wineries in the regions studied and the increasingly acknowledged quality of their wine product may help towards the establishment of their history and identity, thus contributing to origin branding over time.
Originality/value
The study explores the importance of history and landscape among winery operators in promoting their wineries and their wine products in the context of emerging wine regions, an area for the most part ignored in contemporary research.
Details
Keywords
Ann Martin-Sardesai, James Guthrie and Basil P. Tucker
This paper explores the impact of contemporary calculative practices, termed “accountingisation”, on Australian accounting academics' values. Also, it seeks to understand the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the impact of contemporary calculative practices, termed “accountingisation”, on Australian accounting academics' values. Also, it seeks to understand the rationale underlying the development of various university performance measurement systems (PMSs), and their implementation and evaluation.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach uses accounting academics' responses to an online survey and also semi-structured interviews with senior research-related leaders in a group of Australian universities. This is supplemented by document analysis. A narrative story-telling approach explores and presents the combined data observations, over the period 2010–2018, of two characters: a “typical” accounting academic and a “typical” vice-chancellor.
Findings
The study contributes to the literature on PMSs in understanding “accountingisation”, the rationale behind the development, implementation and evaluation of performance metrics by senior management and its impact on accounting academics. It juxtaposes and unpacks the complexities and nuances of PMSs and provides empirical evidence by highlighting the perceptions of both the Australian accounting academics and senior university management. The findings demonstrate a level of discontent among accounting academics in reconciling the expectations of increased “accountingisation” within university PMSs. These are juxtaposed against the views of senior university leaders who are influential in determining PMSs.
Originality/value
This paper is novel in considering the implications of “accountingisation” in a contemporary setting, focusing on accounting academics, values and individual PMSs within business schools.