Jan Alpenberg, Tomasz Wnuk-Pel, Philip Adamsson and Johannes Petersson
The purpose of this paper is to examine why and how municipal managers and CEOs for municipally owned companies use the environmental performance indicators.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine why and how municipal managers and CEOs for municipally owned companies use the environmental performance indicators.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach as a research design was used. In total, 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted among managers for administrative departments and municipal company CEOs.
Findings
This study found that the environmental performance indicators are used by department managers mainly for resource allocation, control and for teaching the employees. The CEOs of the municipal companies use the environmental indicators for communicating with external stakeholders and see the indicators primarily as marketing tools. The main reason why the environmental performance indicators are used in the municipality can be the strong demand from the local politicians to push the “green agenda,” and therefore the managers have to comply.
Research limitations/implications
As in any case study, generalizations from the research should be made with care, but since this is only one municipality, further research is needed to find additional evidence.
Practical implications
The findings of this study have a number of implications for future practice, and it is worth mentioning that clear guidelines for how the information could be made more useful for managers at the managerial level in Växjö municipality (VM) are requested for both the municipal managers and the CEOs.
Social implications
Overall, this study strengthens the idea that environmental performance indicators could be used to a larger extent for communicating with external stakeholders both for municipal departments and companies.
Originality/value
The research adds to the literature by examining different patterns of using environmental performance indicators in a unique setting – in VM, which is called “the greenest city in Europe” and is one of the “pioneers” in environmental work and extensively uses performance indicators.
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The purpose of this paper is to illustrate discourses on globalisation and world society and to disclose the commonalities and differences of both scientific debates. In…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate discourses on globalisation and world society and to disclose the commonalities and differences of both scientific debates. In particular, it draws attention to theoretical concepts of globalisation and world society. This is considered fruitful for comprehending the complex mechanisms of sociological theory-building in a globalised world.
Design/methodology/approach
The article first contextualises the multi-dimensionality and ambiguity of globalisation. It then reflects on the consequences of globalisation for socio-scientific considerations. The third part of the paper highlights scientific discourses on world society and globalisation, especially illustrating the commonalities and differences of both debates. In the concluding remarks of the article, discourses on world society are presented as a seismograph of contemporary socio-scientific debates encountering processes of globalisation.
Findings
The paper does not simply present scientific discourses as isolated from a globalised world, but discloses the challenges of socio-scientific disciplines facing the global frame of reference for research. To balance the research analyses of scientific discourses, those on globalisation and world society are illustrated.
Originality/value
The interplay between discourses on globalisation and those on world society is rarely reflected upon in publications. This paper provides insights into how, on the one hand, scientific debates on globalisation and on world society act together as part and parcel of the overall global frame of reference for research, yet it also shows, on the other hand, how different the discourses are. Furthermore, it highlights the prospective role of socio-scientific disciplines in a globalised world.
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Linda Hoel and Erik Christensen
Although workplace learning is an important part of professional learning, little is known about the unethical aspects of workplace learning. This study aims to describe students’…
Abstract
Purpose
Although workplace learning is an important part of professional learning, little is known about the unethical aspects of workplace learning. This study aims to describe students’ learning experiences from in-field training in the police. This paper aims to examine how workplace learning can challenge proper ethical professional development and thus become a question of ethical concern.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on open-ended questions in a questionnaire among Norwegian police students (N = 277) who had ended their one year’s in-field training and had returned to campus for the third and final year of police education. The data are analysed by means of a qualitative content analysis.
Findings
The paper presents two findings. First, the students learn best from assignments that push them beyond their comfort zone. Second, students struggle with their own expectations of themselves as police officers. The findings suggest that workplace learning leaves students aspiring to demonstrate their capability to be a police officer, rather than focusing on learning to be a police officer.
Practical implications
The study can provide organisations such as educations, public services and businesses with better understanding on how to enrich learning in their on-the-job training manuals and programmes to evolve ethical professional behaviour. Ethical considerations can help leadership to improve efficiency and performance at the workplace.
Originality/value
How the potentially unethical aspects of workplace learning can influence the profession’s ethical attitude is an understudied topic in studies on learning to become a professional.