Daphna Motro, Andrea Pittarello, Kevin P. Nolan, Comila Shahani-Denning and Janet A. Lenaghan
To determine how different voluntary leaves of absence (parental vs. community service) affect individuals’ preferences for working with either male or female supervisors. Drawing…
Abstract
Purpose
To determine how different voluntary leaves of absence (parental vs. community service) affect individuals’ preferences for working with either male or female supervisors. Drawing on role congruity theory, the authors examined whether individuals would least prefer supervisors who took voluntary leave that violated role expectations.
Design/methodology/approach
In Study 1, participants (n = 372) evaluated supervisors who took different forms of leave (none vs. parental vs. community service). In Study 2 (n = 202), the authors tested an intervention to reduce negative bias toward males taking community service leave. In both studies the authors examined the sex of the supervisor (male vs. female) on perceptions of typicality and supervisor preference.
Findings
Males who took community service leave were perceived as most atypical and were least preferred as supervisors. However, providing relevant research-based information about typicality reduced this bias.
Practical implications
The results show that people respond negatively toward males who take community service leave. Managers can help reduce this bias by providing relevant research-based information regarding community service leave.
Originality/value
This work is among the first to explore the consequences of community service leave and how it interacts with supervisor sex. The authors also identify a simple way to reduce bias against males who take community service leave.
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Abstract
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Leanne Weber, Jarrett Blaustein, Kathryn Benier, Rebecca Wickes and Diana Johns
Tim Harries, Ruth Rettie, Matthew Studley, Kevin Burchell and Simon Chambers
The purpose of this paper is to present details of a large-scale experiment that evaluated the impact of communicating two types of feedback to householders regarding their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present details of a large-scale experiment that evaluated the impact of communicating two types of feedback to householders regarding their domestic electricity consumption: feedback on their own consumption and feedback of both their own consumption and that of others in their locality.
Design/methodology/approach
Digital technologies were used to automatically measure and communicate the electricity consumption of 316 UK residents for a period of 16 weeks. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: one involving no feedback; one involving feedback about a household's own usage, and one involving a household's own usage plus social norms feedback (the average consumption of others in the locality). At the end of the study, a selection of participants took part in interviews or focus groups.
Findings
Both types of feedback (individual and individual-plus-social-norms) led to reductions in consumption of about 3 per cent. Those receiving social norms feedback were significantly more likely to engage with the information provided. However, the social norms information had no additional impact on consumption. Survey and interview data confirmed that participants from both conditions had been encouraged to adopt new energy-saving practices. The study concludes that near real-time individual feedback can be sufficient for usage reduction if it is provided in a historical format. It also suggests that the impact of social norms information may previously have been confounded with that of individual feedback.
Originality/value
This is the first time that a controlled experiment in the field of domestic electricity consumption has compared the impact of real-time social norm information with that of information that only contains individual household usage.
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David Basterfield, Thomas Bundt and Kevin Nordt
The purpose of this paper is to explore risk management models applied to electric power markets. Several Value‐at‐Risk (VaR) models are applied to day‐ahead forward contract…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore risk management models applied to electric power markets. Several Value‐at‐Risk (VaR) models are applied to day‐ahead forward contract electric power price data to see which, if any, could be best used in practice.
Design/methodology/approach
A time‐varying parameter estimation procedure is used which gives all models the ability to track volatility clustering.
Findings
The RiskMetrics model outperforms the GARCH model for 95 per cent VaR, whereas the GARCH model outperforms RiskMetrics for 99 per cent VaR. Both these models are better at handling volatility clustering than the Stable model. However, the Stable model was more accurate in detecting the numbers of daily returns beyond the VaR limits. The fact that the parsimonious RiskMetrics model performed well suggests that efforts to specify the model dynamics may be unnecessary in practice.
Research limitations/implications
The present study provides a starting point for further research and suggests models that could be applied to electricity markets.
Originality/value
Electricity markets are a challenge to risk modelers, as they typically exhibit non‐Normal return distributions with time‐varying volatility. Previous academic research in this area is rather scarce.
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Requests for tests and measuring instruments for use in class assignments and faculty and student research are both familiar and frustrating to most academic librarians. In…
Abstract
Requests for tests and measuring instruments for use in class assignments and faculty and student research are both familiar and frustrating to most academic librarians. In typical scenarios, an education student wants to measure aggression in children or a nursing student needs a test for patient mobility. Even the faculty member who may know the name of a scale may not know its author or how to obtain a copy. All are looking for a measure applicable to a specific situation and each has come to the library in hopes of walking away with a copy of the measure that day. Those familiar with measurement literature know that accessing measures can be time consuming, circuitous, and sometimes impossible. The standard test reference books, such as the Mental Measurements Yearbook and Tests in Print (both of which are published by the Buros Institute, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska), are of limited use. These books typically do not include actual instruments or noncommercial tests from the journal and report literature. While these standard reference books are essential to a test literature collection, sole use of them would mean bypassing large numbers of instruments developed and published only in articles, reports, papers, and dissertations. Sources are available to locate additional measurements, tests, and instruments, but they are widely dispersed in the print and electronic literature.
Lawrence T. Nichols, James J. Nolan and Corey J. Colyer
The paper addresses the issue of contrasting constructions of social problems. Using “hate crime” as an example, we focus on portraits of the problem in the Federal Bureau of…
Abstract
The paper addresses the issue of contrasting constructions of social problems. Using “hate crime” as an example, we focus on portraits of the problem in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Uniform Crime Reports and in the New York Times. The analysis illumines how fundamental contrasts in representations of hate arise from differences in the underlying, and institutionalized, sense-making practices of scorekeeping and storytelling. We conclude by discussing the larger implications of the findings for further development of the theoretical model of “dialogical constructionism.”
Gillian Hogg, Kevin Moloney, David Miller and W.D.E. Mallinson
Communication, like quality or professionalism, is one of those words that is constantly bandied around without ever being properly considered; they are universally considered to…
Abstract
Communication, like quality or professionalism, is one of those words that is constantly bandied around without ever being properly considered; they are universally considered to be a ‘good thing’, the motherhood and apple pie concepts of modern management. By the same token any publication that is designed to help managers, especially managers of NHS Trusts to improve their communication skills must also be considered to be a good idea and of benefit to managers. Whether this slim guide, however, is the best way to achieve better communications for NHS Trusts is debatable. The stated aim of the publication is to provide a ‘short but comprehensive overview of modern communications principles and practice and to show how these can be applied to NHS Trust management’. It would be more accurate to say that this is a short guide to the different terms used to describe communications. This booklet does not provide any real practical guidance on how to apply these techniques in the NHS, or perhaps more importantly, any strategic direction for Trusts which want to improve their communications.