Kay Shannon and Birgit Jurgenhake
The purpose of this paper is to discuss Dutch innovative care environments for older people, including those living with dementia, from the perspectives or an architect and aâŠ
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss Dutch innovative care environments for older people, including those living with dementia, from the perspectives or an architect and a social gerontologist.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors visited three care environments for older people, each offering an innovative approach to living housing older people, including people with dementia. The settings are discussed from two disciplinary perspectives, facilitating an understanding of the influence of the built environment on daily life for residents.
Findings
The three facilities were all architecturally varied and resembled ârealâ homes to varying degrees. Additionally, each entrance offered a different welcome to the external community, ranging from full accessibility to a closed and fortified appearance. Within each facility, the built environment afforded residents opportunities to participate in valued activities, including interacting with members of the wider community.
Originality/value
The inclusion of two disciplinary perspectives offers a richer discussion of the physical and social aspects of the care environments that would be offered by one perspective alone.
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Introduces the special issue on environmental sustainability initiatives in higher education. Highlights the work accomplished by students on college and university campusesâŠ
Abstract
Introduces the special issue on environmental sustainability initiatives in higher education. Highlights the work accomplished by students on college and university campuses around the world. Notes that the papers illustrate the challenges and success students have encountered while working toward sustainability.
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Interest rates on CDs are down. Interest rates on government securities are down. Interest rates on savings accounts are miniscule. As your library's investor, you probably hadâŠ
Abstract
Interest rates on CDs are down. Interest rates on government securities are down. Interest rates on savings accounts are miniscule. As your library's investor, you probably had included earned interest on the income side of your budget â and most likely you're not quite making the dollar figure you had planned. One alternative means to equal your projections is to enter the very popular mutual fund market.
The purpose of this study is to ascertain how corporate social responsibility (CSR) managers are justifying the adoption of automation technologies in India, which isâŠ
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to ascertain how corporate social responsibility (CSR) managers are justifying the adoption of automation technologies in India, which is simultaneously creating job loss.
Design/methodology/approach
Indian firms to become and maintain superior levels of competitiveness in the marketplace had initiated the adoption, as well as usage of automation technologies such as robotics, additive manufacturing, machine learning and others. Such firm initiatives led to job loss in communities where the firm had a presence with its plants and offices. CSR managers primarily engaged with communities to undertake firm CSR initiatives. Job creation and its continuance have been a sacred component in this narrative. The adoption of automation technologies had altered this point of conversation. CSR managers had to justify both organizational actions from a firm perspective and reconcile the same to the community leaders. In this research, an exploratory study was conducted with a semi-structured open-ended questionnaire with 28 CSR experts. Data was collected through personal interviews and the data was content analysed based upon thematic content analysis.
Findings
The results indicated that CSR managers rationalized the adoption of automation technologies from a push-pull-mooring (PPM) perspective from a firm centric point of view. While for justification from a community (social) centric perspective, dominantly system thinking with fair market ideology than normative justification, utilitarian rather than deontological thinking (DT) and organizational economic egoism (OEE) rather than reputational egoism was applied.
Research limitations/implications
The study applies the theories of the PPM perspective from a firm centric point of view. While for community-based theoretical justification â system thinking with fair market ideology than normative justification, utilitarian rather than DT and OEE rather than reputational egoism was used.
Practical implications
This study finding would help CSR managers to undertake community activities while their firms are adopting and implementing automation technologies that are creating job loss in the very community their firms are serving. Mangers would get insights regarding the steps they should undertake to create harmony.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies that delve regarding how CSR managers are justifying the adoption of automation technologies in India, which is simultaneously creating job loss. Theoretically, this study is novel because the study question is answered based upon the adoption of automation technologies from a PPM perspective from a firm centric point of view. While, for justification from a community (social) centric perspective, dominantly system thinking with fair market ideology than normative justification, utilitarian rather than DT and OEE rather than reputational egoism was applied.
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Lisa Pike, Tim Shannon, Kay Lawrimore, April McGee, Martin Taylor and Gary Lamoreaux
Instructors at Francis Marion University developed a recycling course in an attempt to satisfy the studentsâ goals of increasing campus awareness about sustainability andâŠ
Abstract
Instructors at Francis Marion University developed a recycling course in an attempt to satisfy the studentsâ goals of increasing campus awareness about sustainability and recycling, and the teachersâ goals of using problemâbased learning approaches in class. Students enrolled in the course designed their own experiment, completed the experiment and presented the results at several national meetings. The focal point of the experiment was student apartments, where some students were provided with recycling bins, some were not, and some were provided with both bins and education about the importance of recycling. Results show that students living in campus apartments significantly reduced their waste stream when given recycling bins and some education about recycling. Although ANOVA tests showed that while the presence of recycling education did not result in significantly more recycling, students who received bins (opportunity) recycled more as time went on. Positive student feedback indicated the success of using projectâbased learning to teach sustainability.
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To reconstruct the way in which the difference of analog vs digital was introduced in the 1940s and to investigate why this difference was so fundamental to the whole cyberneticâŠ
Abstract
Purpose
To reconstruct the way in which the difference of analog vs digital was introduced in the 1940s and to investigate why this difference was so fundamental to the whole cybernetic epistemology.
Design/methodology/approach
A close reading of the discussions about the terms âanalogâ and âdigitalâ at the MacyâConferences (held during 1946â1953) reveals how cybernetic discourse is founded on a suppression of the ârealâ (i.e. the physical, continuous, material, analog) by the âsymbolicâ (i.e. the artificial, discrete, logical, digital).
Findings
First, the difference between âanalogâ and âdigitalâ resembles the Kantian difference of âsensesâ and âreasonâ. Together they form the âillusionaryâ function, which a digitalâoriented cybernetics tries to abandon. Second, the attempt to get rid of this illusion produces itself a âcybernetic illusionâ, that replaces the anthropological illusion established (according to Michel Foucault) in late 18th century.
Originality/value
Showing that Heinz von Foerster's work could be seen as an attempt to establish a balance of power between analog and digital, and to respect the illusionary function of cybernetic knowledge.
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Lisa H. Rosen, Shannon R. Scott, Darian Poe, Roshni Shukla, Michelle Honargohar and Shazia Ahmed
Working mothers experienced dramatic changes to their daily routines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many began to work from home as they simultaneously tried to balance workâŠ
Abstract
Purpose
Working mothers experienced dramatic changes to their daily routines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many began to work from home as they simultaneously tried to balance work demands with tending to their children. The purpose of the current study was to examine working mothersâ experiences during the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to examine working mothersâ experiences of telework during the pandemic, we conducted a focus group study. 45 working mothers participated, and they answered questions about their experiences.
Findings
Three themes emerged from the focus groups: (1) motivation shifts amongst working mothers; (2) difficulty balancing roles as mother and employee; and (3) workplace expectations and support. Many mothers reported that their overall motivation as employees had decreased and that they experienced difficulty in fully attending to their work and their child(ren)âs needs. As mothers navigated the stress of working during the pandemic, they reported varying levels of workplace support and many credited working with other parents as a primary contributor to feeling supported.
Originality/value
The findings from the current study add to the growing body of literature documenting the dark side of teleworking for mothers who struggled immensely with workâlife balance. This study builds on past research by allowing mothers to share their experiences in their own words and offering suggestions for how organizations can support mothers in navigating these ongoing challenges as teleworking continues to remain prevalent. The narratives collected hold important implications for practices and policies to best support the needs of mothers as they continue to work and care for their children within the home.
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Andrew MacFarlane, Sondess Missaoui, Stephann Makri and Marisela Gutierrez Lopez
Belkin and Robertson (1976a) reflected on the ethical implications of theoretical research in information science and warned that there was potential for abuse of knowledge gainedâŠ
Abstract
Purpose
Belkin and Robertson (1976a) reflected on the ethical implications of theoretical research in information science and warned that there was potential for abuse of knowledge gained by undertaking such research and applying it to information systems. In particular, they identified the domains of advertising and political propaganda that posed particular problems. The purpose of this literature review is to revisit these ideas in the light of recent events in global information systems that demonstrate that their fears were justified.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors revisit the theory in information science that Belkin and Robertson used to build their argument, together with the discussion on ethics that resulted from this work in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The authors then review recent literature in the field of information systems, specifically information retrieval, social media and recommendation systems that highlight the problems identified by Belkin and Robertson.
Findings
Information science theories have been used in conjunction with empirical evidence gathered from user interactions that have been detrimental to both individuals and society. It is argued in the paper that the information science and systems communities should find ways to return control to the user wherever possible, and the ways to achieve this are considered.
Research limitations/implications
The ethical issues identified require a multidisciplinary approach with research in information science, computer science, information systems, business, sociology, psychology, journalism, government and politics, etc. required. This is too large a scope to deal with in a literature review, and we focus only on the design and implementation of information systems (Zimmer, 2008a) through an information science and information systems perspective.
Practical implications
The authors argue that information systems such as search technologies, social media applications and recommendation systems should be designed with the recipient of the information in mind (Paisley and Parker, 1965), not the sender of that information.
Social implications
Information systems designed ethically and with users in mind will go some way to addressing the ill effects typified by the problems for individuals and society evident in global information systems.
Originality/value
The authors synthesize the evidence from the literature to provide potential technological solutions to the ethical issues identified, with a set of recommendations to information systems designers and implementers.
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Suzanne T. Bell and Shanique G. Brown
Teams are best positioned for success when certain enabling conditions are in place such as the right mix of individuals. Effective team staffing considers team membersââŠ
Abstract
Teams are best positioned for success when certain enabling conditions are in place such as the right mix of individuals. Effective team staffing considers team membersâ knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) as well as the configuration of team member KSAOs and their relations, called team composition. In practice, however, how to integrate team composition considerations into team staffing to facilitate outcomes such as team cohesion can seem nebulous. The purpose of this chapter is to describe how team member KSAOs and their configurations and relations affect team cohesion, and suggest how this information can inform team staffing. We frame team cohesion as an aspect of team human capital to understand when it may be an important consideration for staffing. We describe multilevel considerations in staffing cohesive teams. We summarize theories that link team composition to team cohesion via interpersonal attraction, a shared team identity, and team task commitment. Finally, we propose a six-step approach for staffing cohesive teams, and describe a few areas for future research.