The purpose of this paper is to describe five key lessons learned from a decade of studying how scientists and science communicators think about communication strategy.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe five key lessons learned from a decade of studying how scientists and science communicators think about communication strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on the experience of the researcher and the underlying literatures on strategic communication and science communication.
Findings
The key argument is that the scientific community needs to put more priority into enabling organizations to plan and implement strategic communication efforts on behalf of science. At present, there is too much reliance on individual communicators.
Originality/value
The value of this paper is in the degree to which it argues for a more strategic, organization-focused approach to science communication that emphasizes the setting of clear behavioral goals, followed by discussion about what communication objectives might help achieve those goals and the communication tactics needed to achieve the prioritized objectives.
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Alisa P. Lertpratchya, John C. Besley, Adam Zwickle, Bruno Takahashi and Cameron Thomas Whitley
The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of higher education institution as a sustainability communication channel. The theory of planned behavior was used to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of higher education institution as a sustainability communication channel. The theory of planned behavior was used to examine the degree to which a student’s tenure at a large university with active and visible sustainability initiatives is associated with changes in views about sustainability and changes in reported sustainability behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
This study involved a campus-wide online survey on undergraduate students at a large mid-western university. A direct measurement approach to the theory of planned behavior was used to measure changes in attitudes, normative beliefs, perceived behavioral controls and self-reported behaviors on five different environmental sustainability behaviors.
Findings
Overall findings support the notion that higher education institutions can be effective communication channels for sustainability issues, as students who have been in college for a longer period of time reported somewhat more positive attitudes, normative and efficacy beliefs and more sustainable behaviors.
Practical implications
By measuring specific components of the theory of planned behavior, this study provides insights on specific areas in which campaigns targeting college students in different college years could become more effective.
Originality/value
Few studies have assessed college as an effective sustainability communication channel despite the fact that it is potentially a powerful channel to reach a large population at their critical age. This study also measures specific components to sustainability behaviors by using the theory of planned behavior as a guiding framework.
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Charles M. Cameron, John M. de Figueiredo and David E. Lewis
We examine personnel policies and careers in public agencies, particularly how wages and promotion standards can partially offset a fundamental contracting problem: the inability…
Abstract
We examine personnel policies and careers in public agencies, particularly how wages and promotion standards can partially offset a fundamental contracting problem: the inability of public-sector workers to contract on performance, and the inability of political masters to contract on forbearance from meddling. Despite the dual contracting problem, properly constructed personnel policies can encourage intrinsically motivated public-sector employees to invest in expertise, seek promotion, remain in the public sector, and work hard. To do so requires internal personnel policies that sort “slackers” from “zealots.” Personnel policies that accomplish this task are quite different in agencies where acquired expertise has little value in the private sector, and agencies where acquired expertise commands a premium in the private sector. Even with well-designed personnel policies, an inescapable trade-off between political control and expertise acquisition remains.
It is now common for finance textbooks to discuss the concepts of the CAPM, diversification benefit, and systematic risk, as measured by beta. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
It is now common for finance textbooks to discuss the concepts of the CAPM, diversification benefit, and systematic risk, as measured by beta. The purpose of this paper is to clarify aspects of these concepts and make the textbooks readers aware of them. In particular, this paper seeks to: (1) clarify the notion that “diversification reduces risk,” (2) provide geometric expositions and algebraic expressions of portfolio benefits in the context of both total risk and market risk, and (3) improve the interpretation of beta.
Ziade Hailu, Isaac N. Nkote and John C. Munene
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test whether enforceability mediates the relationship between property rights and investment in housing, using data from land…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test whether enforceability mediates the relationship between property rights and investment in housing, using data from land formalization project in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was cross-sectional in design; data were collected from a sample of 210 households that benefited from the recent Addis Ababa city land and buildings formalization project. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the goodness-of-fit of the latent structures underlying the constructs. Mediation was tested using the Baron and Kenny steps, combined with bootstrapping technique. Robustness of results was checked.
Findings
The results indicate statistically significant mediation effect of contract enforcement. However, the mediation is partial, there is still a substantial direct effect of security of property rights on investment.
Practical implications
Any initiative to land formalization projects needs to consider contract enforcement environment, as presence and size of property rights effects largely depend on whether those rights are properly enforced.
Originality/value
This is the first study that conceptualizes the mediating effect of contract enforcement on the relationship between property rights and investment from an African country perspective.
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George Okello Candiya Bongomin, John C. Munene, Joseph Mpeera Ntayi and Charles Akol Malinga
The purpose of this paper is to report the findings on the mediating effect of social network in the relationship between institutional framework and financial inclusion in rural…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report the findings on the mediating effect of social network in the relationship between institutional framework and financial inclusion in rural Uganda.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs a cross-sectional research design to collect data used to test for mediation under this study. Structural equation model (SEM) through use of bootstrap in the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) was adopted to establish the existence and type of mediation by social network in the relationship between institutional framework and financial inclusion.
Findings
Social network had a partial mediating effect in the relationship between institutional framework and financial inclusion. In addition, institutional framework through its regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive pillars also exhibited a significant direct effect on financial inclusion. Besides, social network had a positive and significant effect on financial inclusion. This suggest that there exist both a direct effect of institutional framework on financial inclusion and an indirect effect of institutional framework through social network on financial inclusion.
Research limitations/implications
While the sample for this study was big enough, it limited itself to only poor households in rural Uganda. Besides, the current study adopted cross-sectional design, thus, leaving out longitudinal design to investigate the characteristics in the sample over time.
Practical implications
The study makes significant empirical contribution and implications to financial inclusion policy makers on evidence of the critical role played by social network in indirectly enhancing the relationship between institutional framework and financial inclusion of the poor who are vulnerable to exclusion by main stream financial services’ providers.
Originality/value
The study recommends that social network, which acts as a conduit through which useful information flow and can be shared, plays a critical role in mediating the relationship between institutional framework and financial inclusion in rural Uganda. Therefore, the study contributes to existing body of literature by highlighting the mediating influence of social network in the relationship between institutional framework and financial inclusion, especially in rural Uganda.
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Daniel R. Clark and Jeffrey G. Covin
The literature on international entrepreneurship offers two competing views on why new ventures internationalize: (a) the nature of the opportunity pulls them international or (b…
Abstract
The literature on international entrepreneurship offers two competing views on why new ventures internationalize: (a) the nature of the opportunity pulls them international or (b) the founder pushes the firm international. While these two internationalization drivers are not independent, they do represent unique causal mechanisms. Previously, the tools available to understand the entrepreneur’s disposition toward internationalization were limited. The present study uses the theoretical foundation of the international entrepreneurial orientation construct and from it develops and tests an attitudinally-based individual-level measure of disposition toward internationalization. To ensure the validity and reliability of the new measure, termed International Entrepreneurial Orientation Disposition, studies were conducted to: develop new scale items, examine their psychometric properties and construct validity, and demonstrate criterion validity. A strong measurement model is developed using structural equation modeling (CFI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.07), and the measure is shown to be useful as a predictor of perceived international venture attractiveness.