Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in…
Abstract
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.
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Marcella Barbosa Miranda Teixeira, Laila Lidiane da Costa Galvão, Carolina Maria Mota-Santos and Luana Jéssica Oliveira Carmo
This article aims to present aspects related to women’s personal life and work illustrated in the TV series Most Beautiful Thing (Coisa Mais Linda, in Portuguese).
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to present aspects related to women’s personal life and work illustrated in the TV series Most Beautiful Thing (Coisa Mais Linda, in Portuguese).
Design/methodology/approach
To this end, a film analysis was carried out considering the first season of the TV series Most Beautiful Thing, and to analyze the data, qualitative content analysis was used according to Bardin (2006).
Findings
The analysis showed that women’s struggles were and are distinct. While white women are fighting for the right to work - concomitantly reconciling their roles as mother, wife and housewife -, black and poor women fight for survival and dignity. As result, the film analysis showed that women’s search for a different social position is related to an inherent cultural aspect. It is relevant to mention herein that this struggle remains up to the present; such struggle is characterized by the occultation of the social role played by women.
Research limitations/implications
As a limitation, there are few studies that address the theme of white and black women during the period reported in the series.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this article is the use of a filming product that portrays the 1950s, but bringing current discussions on the role of women in society, especially regarding the labor market, the patriarchal domination of men, prejudice, racial, and class discrimination.
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Thiago Aguiar Jesuino, Mariana Camelier-Mascarenhas, Thaiane Santos Ferreira, Júlia Barreto de Farias, Leticia de Oliveira Lima and Ivete Maria Santos Oliveira
Physicians worldwide need to be able to identify and assess suicide risk or behavior in their consults. The proper training of medical staff is an important form of suicide…
Abstract
Purpose
Physicians worldwide need to be able to identify and assess suicide risk or behavior in their consults. The proper training of medical staff is an important form of suicide prevention, especially because 80% of the patients who died by suicide were in contact with a health-care service in the year of their death. The purpose of this study is to verify if some of the most important Brazilian medical schools includes discussions regarding suicide in their curricula, and describe them.
Design/methodology/approach
The study performed a documentary analysis of all Brazilian federal higher education institutions. The analysis involved selecting the institutions that approached the topic of suicide in their curricula, and sorting it by keywords. The curricula that contained such keywords were then entirely read, analyzed and all components found were described regarding course period, workload and approach.
Findings
Within the 68 analyzed institutions, 19 (28%) included suicide in their curricula with a total of 31 components approaching suicide among them. Those components belonged to different stages of the course and had different workloads and approaches. A total of seven different approaches were identified: Clinical (54.8%); Emergency (16.1%); Medical Psychology (9.7%); Ethics (6.5%); Social (6.5%); Occupational (3.2%) and Forensic (3.2%).
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is the first to address medical education regarding suicide in a large number of Brazilian institutions. It is also one of the few studies worldwide to quantify suicide discussion on a large number of institutions using documentary analysis.
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Maarten B. Eppinga, Jenny Lozano-Cosme, Tobia de Scisciolo, Patrick Arens, Maria J. Santos and Eric N. Mijts
Despite increasing efforts to incorporate sustainability in curricula and practices of institutions of higher education, effective implementation remains challenging. The purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite increasing efforts to incorporate sustainability in curricula and practices of institutions of higher education, effective implementation remains challenging. The purpose of this study is to present an approach to incorporate sustainability into a practice-oriented research skills course, which was implemented at a small island state university in the Caribbean.
Design/methodology/approach
First-year university students followed a four-week course module, starting with the introduction of the sustainable development goals, and culminating in a symposium in which the students present the findings of their research projects to the campus community. Pre-course module and post-course module surveys measured the students’ knowledge and perceptions regarding sustainability. These survey results were also compared with the result of a similar survey held for the university’s employees.
Findings
The survey results suggested that following the course module increased students’ knowledge about sustainable development, as well as their support for the university campus and its community putting more emphasis on teaching, practicing and encouraging sustainability. Interestingly, university employees scored significantly higher on the latter component than students, suggesting that in this case a lack of interest of the staff is not a barrier toward a sustainable campus.
Originality/value
The presented course module offers a novel and low-cost approach to introducing sustainability into a broad range of academic curricula, specifically tailored to the needs of institutes of higher education in small island states. The survey results suggest that this type of education may not only ensure reaching academic goals but also increase students’ interest in sustainable development within their local environment.
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António Marques-Mendes and Maria João Santos
Based on an extensive review of the literature, the purpose of this paper is to propose an analytical model that enables the study of the corporate social responsibility (CSR)’s…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on an extensive review of the literature, the purpose of this paper is to propose an analytical model that enables the study of the corporate social responsibility (CSR)’s strategic orientation of companies through the analysis of: the different types of CSR integration into company strategies; the different levels of CSR strategic maturity; and the path necessary to be followed for a company to achieve its full development and correspondingly forecasting which initiatives hold the greatest contribution toward this end.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper sets out a conceptual framework, which was drafted building on an extensive critical review of the literature seeking to incorporate the diverse contributions made by the existing CSR models and classifications.
Findings
The analytical framework here proposed enables a wide reaching approach to analyzing strategic CSR, their underlying motivations and its core factors. It also extends to considering the different phases of maturity enabling the evaluation of the distinctive levels of CSR integration into the company strategy and the stage at which the company currently stands at on its determined path.
Practical implications
From a practical perspective, the suggested framework enables practitioners to access a practical tool that specifically measures their companies’ CSR maturity and strategic profile and which may serve as well as a means of diagnosis, improvement or of adaptation.
Originality/value
This model of analysis generates the identification of the factors explaining the different levels of CSR integration into the company strategy and evaluating the level of maturity prevailing.
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Primitiva Pascual-Fernández, María Leticia Santos-Vijande and José Ángel López-Sánchez
This study aims to examine the interplay among three key drivers of service innovation success in the hospitality industry. Specifically, how internal marketing practices in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the interplay among three key drivers of service innovation success in the hospitality industry. Specifically, how internal marketing practices in hotels influence frontline employee involvement, training and empowerment for the new service provision (frontline employee ITE) and new service advantage. The study also analyzes how success factors affect new service internal and external performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data collected from managers of 256 hotels located in Spain, the model is tested through structural equation modeling data analysis.
Findings
Internal marketing practices have a positive and direct effect on frontline employee ITE, which, in turn, strengthens new service advantage. Frontline employee ITE also has a positive effect on the employees’ satisfaction and motivation (new service employee outcomes). New service employee outcomes and new service advantage reinforce the new service customer outcomes in terms of customer’s loyalty, improved hotel image and perceived leadership. Both new service employee and customer outcomes benefit new service market outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are obtained from a cross-sectional study. Hotel managers must pay particular attention to internal marketing practices, as they foster key drivers of new service success that ultimately improve new service internal and external performance.
Originality/value
This study extends the literature on service innovation success providing for the first time a study of the interrelationships among organizational and project-level new service success factors in the hospitality context.
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Małgorzata Pink, Barbara Kiełbasa, Vojtěch Tamáš, Fernanda Maria Dos Santos Maria Pereira, Juan C. Santamarta, Noelia Cruz Pérez, Joselin S. Rodríguez-Alcántara and Lidia Luty
This study aims to diagnose the perception, knowledge, awareness and position of the bioeconomy in university education and research.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to diagnose the perception, knowledge, awareness and position of the bioeconomy in university education and research.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on a questionnaire survey conducted at universities in Poland, the Czech Republic, Spain and Portugal (n = 464). The questionnaire consisted of open-ended, dichotomous and Likert-type questions. Variable frequency distribution methods and the non-parametric chi-square test were used to test the independence of the characteristics. The Cramer’s V contingency coefficient was used to determine the degree of dependence between the variables.
Findings
The researched academic community is dominated by a traditional approach to the bioeconomy, which relates to agriculture and ecological aspects. Respondents believe in the positive environmental impacts of the bioeconomy, while less often being aware of its importance from a socio-economic perspective. Insufficient teaching and research in the field of the bioeconomy can be widely observed. The presumed link between the existence of a bioeconomy strategy at national level and awareness of the bioeconomy was not confirmed.
Research limitations/implications
The limited sample, the narrow geographical scope of the study does not allow for a comprehensive analysis of the topic. Another limitation is the lack of representativeness of the results in relation to all university representatives in the countries studied and the uneven composition of the samples.
Originality/value
This study fills the knowledge gap about the status of the bioeconomy in European academic communities by analysing its perception among both teachers and students of social, natural and applied sciences.
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Evelyn Lopez, Jose A. Flecha-Ortiz, Maria Santos-Corrada and Virgin Dones
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected service small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), increasing the importance of understanding how these businesses can become…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected service small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), increasing the importance of understanding how these businesses can become more resilient and how service innovation can be an effective strategy to increase their adaptive capacity and survival. This study aims to examine the role of dynamic capabilities in service innovation as a factor explaining the resilience of SMEs in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic during the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on service innovation. Additionally, the authors assess whether service innovation has a significant impact on value cocreation in these businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a quantitative method by surveying 118 SME owners in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The data were analyzed using partial least-squares structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results reflect important theoretical contributions by analyzing resilience from an innovation perspective instead of a retrospective approach, which is an area that has not been analyzed in the literature. Additionally, theoretical contributions to marketing services in SMEs are discussed, which is an underresearched topic. The results advance by discussing the role of service innovation through the reconfiguration of resources and how this can be an effective strategy to increase value cocreation with customers during crises.
Originality/value
This study is original in that it analyzes resilience from the perspective of innovation, and not from a retrospective approach. It offers a vision in response to the need for studies that provide a clearer conceptualization of resilience in small businesses. This highlights the importance of considering regional differences and service innovation as effective strategies to enhance resilience and value cocreation with customers.
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Virgin Dones, Jose Flecha-Ortiz, Maria Santos-Corrada and Evelyn Lopez
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing measures and diffuse communication by media led to consumers’ uncontrolled product purchases worldwide. This phenomenon…
Abstract
Purpose
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing measures and diffuse communication by media led to consumers’ uncontrolled product purchases worldwide. This phenomenon was described as a psychological effect experienced by fictitious scarcity, anxiety and herd mentality exacerbated by the media. This exploratory study aims to analyze the impact of risk communication on the perceived risk from the psychological dimension of consumer behavior amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory study was conducted through an electronic survey one week after implementing social distancing measures in Puerto Rico. With a sample of 353 participants, the data analysis was carried out by PLS-SEM, partial least squares structural equations (PLS-MGA), multi group test (MGA) and hierarchical component models to answer the research hypotheses.
Findings
The results revealed that risk communication activates the perceived psychological risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the way in which the consumer faces the psychological risk is explained by the perceptions of scarcity and the bandwagon effect.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is a pioneer in presenting relationships between risk communication and perceived risk in consumer behavior, a topic that needs to be addressed in the academic literature. The research makes significant contributions to the study of consumer behavior by empirically validating the three phases of the Conchar model – risk framing, risk assessment and risk evaluation – where risk communication offers an excellent delineation to understand the consumer’s behavior during a pandemic.
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Arturo Molina-Collado, María Leticia Santos-Vijande, Mar Gómez-Rico and Juan M. Madera
The purpose of this study is to examine the scientific research related to sustainability in hospitality and tourism from 1994 to 2020 by conducting bibliometric and science…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the scientific research related to sustainability in hospitality and tourism from 1994 to 2020 by conducting bibliometric and science mapping analyses and to discuss the implications for prospective research opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
Keyword co-occurrences with 2,980 published papers collected from the Web of Science (Social Science Citation Index and Emerging Sources Citation Index) were used for the bibliometric-based analysis. The authors use SciMAT software which offers relevant outputs, such as research themes and graphical outputs (strategic diagrams, cluster networks and science mapping representing the temporal evolution of the themes).
Findings
The findings show that biodiversity conservation, sustainable attitudes, climate change, protected areas, satisfaction and environmental management were the focal motor-themes in the studied periods. Additionally, four areas for future investigation are identified and discussed: sustainable behavior and environmental sustainability; consumption, demand and economic growth; tourism development and strategies; and rural tourism, poverty, ethics and education.
Research limitations/implications
This analysis shows insightful results processing a high number of published documents. However, the authors recommend further research focused on qualitative literature review for each critical topic.
Originality/value
The authors are unaware of analogous, completed and recent work about sustainability in hospitality and tourism. The authors believe this article is of great value to academics and practitioners because it synthesizes and disseminates the research topic while providing an outstanding basis for identifying research opportunities.