Carmen Winkel, Laura Strachan and Siddiqua Aamir
The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of Saudi Arabian university students returning home after having spent time away studying internationally. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of Saudi Arabian university students returning home after having spent time away studying internationally. The investigation focused exclusively on female students who for diverse reasons were unable to complete their studies abroad.
Design/methodology/approach
A thematic analysis was applied to analyze the seven in-depth interviews conducted by the authors. By using an open coding method analytic patterns across the entire data set were identified and then analyzed.
Findings
The findings suggest that the students experienced reverse culture shock reintegrating and assimilating into their former lives in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its conservative culture. This was especially surprising considering not one of the participants experienced culture shock when they first traveled to their host country – the USA, Canada or England.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to a small group of seven female undergraduates who are comparatively well educated and come from a middle and upper socioeconomic demographic. As a result, without additional research, the findings cannot be extended to groups outside of this demographic.
Practical implications
Students who have studied abroad need improved academic and social support networks when they return home, according to the findings. The authors want to raise awareness about the difficulties that students face upon their return. Teachers, counselors, and advisors need to be on the lookout for the symptomatology associated with these types of problems.
Social implications
Female Saudi students returning home after an extended period of study abroad face a variety of problems. They must fit into a restrictive, partriarchal culture in which they are not legally equal to men.
Originality/value
To date, there are no studies that shed light on reverse culture shock for students who returned to Saudi Arabia without a degree. Due to the large number of Saudi scholarship holders who study in English-speaking countries with government support, the study is the first attempt in this direction.
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Laura Gerard, Janice McMillan and Norma D’Annunzio-Green
Literature encompassing sustainable leadership and developing leaders sustainably are still in infancy (Lambert, 2011). Nevertheless indications identify leadership as a vital cog…
Abstract
Purpose
Literature encompassing sustainable leadership and developing leaders sustainably are still in infancy (Lambert, 2011). Nevertheless indications identify leadership as a vital cog in achieving sustainable organisations. Sustainable leadership can allow a fast, resilient response which is competitive and appealing to all stakeholders (Avery and Bergsteiner, 2011a, b). Arguably, organisations’ need to stop considering leadership as a control function (Casserley and Critchley, 2010; Crews, 2010) and instead focus on dialogue and mutual-interdependency between leaders and their followers (Barr and Dowding, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyse the concept of sustainable leadership to present a conceptual framework surrounding sustainable leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper will review the existing frameworks of sustainable leadership and present a conceptualisation of the frameworks. This conceptualisation synthesises frameworks and literature surrounding the concept of sustainable leadership which involves work from Casserley and Critchley (2010), Avery and Bergsteiner (2011a, b), Hargreaves and Fink (2006), Davies (2007) and Lambert (2011). Seminal themes from the synthesised frameworks are presented in order to attempt to unify the conceptualisation of sustainable leadership.
Findings
Within leadership literature, stakeholder approaches (Groves and LaRocca, 2011; Avery and Bergsteiner, 2011a); discourses underlining the importance of relationship between leaders and followers (Barr and Dowding, 2012); and discussions about the need to develop reflexive and participative leadership models (Kopp and Martinuzzi, 2013) have become prominent. Sustainable leadership embraces all of these new components. The concept advocates organisations should shift emphasis from a traditional singular focus on finances, to a view that organisations are contributors to wider environmental and social influences (Crews, 2010; Avery and Bergsteiner, 2011a).
Originality/value
This paper explores the theoretical frameworks which surround sustainable leadership and will synthesise and present commonly referenced facets of the concept within the internal and external factors influencing sustainable leadership.
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Anna Laura Pisello, Xiaoqi Xu, John E. Taylor and Franco Cotana
The development of strategies for energy efficiency optimization in buildings has become a fundamental way to reduce buildings’ environmental impact because the amount of energy…
Abstract
Purpose
The development of strategies for energy efficiency optimization in buildings has become a fundamental way to reduce buildings’ environmental impact because the amount of energy consumed by buildings is responsible for one‐third of total global energy consumption. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the performance of buildings in terms of their indoor operative temperature dynamics considering the impact of other neighbouring buildings. The goal of the paper is to verify whether close spatial relationships of buildings and urban morphology within a local network of buildings could cause a considerable effect on indoor thermal behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors simulated buildings in an existing city block in Albany, New York, USA. The block consisted of six single‐family houses.
Findings
The results demonstrate that buildings mutually impact the indoor thermal behaviour of other buildings in the network with indoor operative temperature differences of over 20 percent in summer and over 40 percent in winter for the test case examined. The research also compares this result with improvements in indoor operative temperature achieved through traditional envelope improvements. It was found that during the summer, certain envelope improvement strategies have nearly the same impact in terms of indoor thermal behaviour. During winter, the presence of neighbouring buildings causes a variation that is more than double the value of the effect caused by a typical envelope modification.
Originality/value
It is concluded that this mutual impact on indoor operative temperature across spatially proximal buildings should be included in dynamic analyses of buildings. Future research should examine the effect of these indoor operative temperature deviations on the energy performance predictions of buildings in urban and quasi‐urban settings.
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As our correspondent on another page suggests, the economic crisis may have reactions upon libraries. The most obvious one he mentions is the increased difficulty we shall…
Abstract
As our correspondent on another page suggests, the economic crisis may have reactions upon libraries. The most obvious one he mentions is the increased difficulty we shall experience in obtaining American books. Not all libraries, public or private, make any special collection of books published in the United States, although there has been an increasing tendency to buy more as the relations of the two countries have grown closer through their common struggle; in fact, we know libraries which have spent many hundreds of pounds in the course of the past year or two on the select lists of books which have been made for us by American librarians. It is most unfortunate that the manipulation of dollar currency should have brought about a situation in which even the exchange of ideas between the countries becomes more difficult. One suggestion might be made and that is that our American colleagues should continue to sift the literature of this time of famine for us, so that further select lists may be available in better days.
The purpose of this study is to investigate inclusion, perceived opportunities and discrimination between men and women, across career levels, in a professional service firm in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate inclusion, perceived opportunities and discrimination between men and women, across career levels, in a professional service firm in Norway.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional design with a survey was used. Employees across six different career levels in a large Norwegian professional service firm responded, resulting in a sample size of 912.
Findings
Men report higher levels of inclusion and more opportunities and less discrimination in the work place than women do. Patterns of differences between men and women vary across career levels. At early mid-career, men and women have the largest differences in opportunities and inclusion experiences.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation with this study is the cross-sectional design and data collected from one company. This could limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research should include longitudinal designs. The empirical data demonstrate that men and women continue to have dissimilar experiences in the professional services, with women facing more career obstacles than men.
Practical implications
Organizations can implement policies that foster inclusive environments and ensure career equality by providing development opportunities for both men and women. It is important that professional service firms recognize that at different career levels, perceptions of inclusiveness can vary.
Originality/value
This study provides empirical evidence that women continue to face different types of treatment in professional service firms, and offers suggestions for addressing these inequalities by introducing the concept of inclusiveness.