Mark Hart, Seamus McGuinness, Maureen O’Reilly and Graham Gudgin
Recent research has demonstrated that small firm performance in Northern Ireland has benefited from the availability of a comprehensive and well‐funded programme of selective…
Abstract
Recent research has demonstrated that small firm performance in Northern Ireland has benefited from the availability of a comprehensive and well‐funded programme of selective financial assistance provided by the Local Enterprise Development Unit (LEDU), the small business agency for the region. Such assistance to small firms was seen to overcome many of the constraints of doing business in a peripheral location such as Northern Ireland. However, one question remains unanswered by that research and that is the precise way in which LEDU financial assistance impacts upon business performance. One interpretation of the research to date could be that the relatively better performance of LEDU‐assisted small firms is due to the fact that they are more likely to be faster growing businesses in the first instance, because either they are self‐selecting in presenting themselves for LEDU assistance or else the LEDU engages in a “creaming” process, which results in the granting of assistance to the more successful firms in Northern Ireland. In order to probe further into the impact of LEDU assistance, it is necessary to examine the differential impact on growth of the wide range of support programmes and initiatives for small firms operated by the small business agency in Northern Ireland. This paper will report the results of the first stage of such an analysis by analysing the business performance of two broad groups of LEDU‐assisted clients who have received different levels of assistance in the 1990s – “Growth” and “Established” clients. The analysis is based on information drawn from a specially created database of approximately 1,600 small firms who were in receipt of LEDU financial assistance in the period 1991‐97. The analysis of the employment and turnover performance of LEDU‐assisted firms revealed that Growth clients grew faster than Established clients in the 1991‐97 period and provides tentative evidence that a more intense and directed package of assistance is clearly associated with faster business growth. The age of Growth firms was much older than Established LEDU clients and, therefore, this differential growth performance cannot be related to a simple life‐cycle explanation. The shift in LEDU policy in the 1990s towards a greater concentration of effort on firms with growth potential would appear to have been successful.
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Maureen L. Ambrose, Regina Taylor and Ronald L. Hess Jr
In this chapter, we examine employee prosocial rule breaking as a response to organizations’ unfair treatment of customers. Drawing on the deontic perspective and research on…
Abstract
In this chapter, we examine employee prosocial rule breaking as a response to organizations’ unfair treatment of customers. Drawing on the deontic perspective and research on third-party reactions to unfairness, we suggest employees engage in customer-directed prosocial rule breaking when they believe their organizations’ policies treat customers unfairly. Additionally, we consider employee, customer, and situational characteristics that enhance or inhibit the relationship between employees’ perceptions of organizational policy unfairness and customer-directed prosocial rule breaking.
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Stephanie Anne Shelton and Maureen A. Flint
Transcription is an integral component to qualitative research, and as such, the ways that researchers discuss transcription in the literature matter. Scholarly discussions on the…
Abstract
Purpose
Transcription is an integral component to qualitative research, and as such, the ways that researchers discuss transcription in the literature matter. Scholarly discussions on the “how” and “why” of transcription not only shape discourse within interview data-based fields; they inform the ways that researchers understand the roles and ramifications of transcribing. This study aims to provide a comprehensive literature review of articles on transcription published in qualitative methods journals over the past 25 years, offering implications for research practice and pedagogy.
Design/methodology/approach
The literature review asked: How do qualitative researchers discuss transcription/transcribing? The authors first reviewed how transcription was discussed in the literature in qualitative studies in the social sciences broadly. Based on the findings, the authors then conducted a comprehensive literature review in 14 qualitative methods journals.
Findings
The authors found that overall, authors discussed transcription either as a technical tool or as a complex, researcher-constructed process. Specifically, utilitarian discussions of transcription emphasized transcription accuracy and efficiency, while theoretical discussions of transcription emphasized a continuously analytic and researcher-constructed process.
Originality/value
This study offers a comprehensive overview of the past 25 years of articles published on transcription. The authors conclude with a discussion of articles that bridge the theoretical and utilitarian discussions, as well as considerations for using transcription as a pedagogical tool for teaching qualitative research methods.
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Laurence Dessart and Maureen Duclou
This paper aims to determine the impact of online community participation on attitudes and product-related behaviour in the health and fitness sector.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to determine the impact of online community participation on attitudes and product-related behaviour in the health and fitness sector.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data are collected from 221 users of the social medium Instagram, members of the self-proclaimed health and fitness community (#fitfam). Data are analysed with structural equation modelling.
Findings
The study shows that online community identification and engagement significantly increase health environment sensitivity, resulting in heightened engagement in physical fitness and healthy product choices.
Social implications
Given the difficulty to remain engaged in pro-health behaviour and the growing impact of social media on young adults’ lives, these findings are encouraging. They show that online health and fitness communities provide a supportive environment in which consumers can identify and freely engage and a fertile ground to the development of health sensitivity and product-related behaviour.
Originality/value
The study advances knowledge on the role of social media and online communities in promoting health and fitness product behaviours and attitudes.
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Corporate culture is a spirit formed by the shared values of the individuals in the organization that has potential to make the library more than the sum of its parts, both…
Abstract
Corporate culture is a spirit formed by the shared values of the individuals in the organization that has potential to make the library more than the sum of its parts, both positively and negatively. It is the vehicle by which the organization defines itself, for both itself and the clientele, with the purpose of providing the best service possible by sharing a vision of the organization as an organic whole. It operates through the power of peer influence rather than direct vertical authority. This paper takes a holistic approach to a concept that is more complex than it first appears; it addresses the molding of corporate culture, not as a management function, but as a complex and deep system, being in effect the soul of the organization, which resides in the motivation of each individual and which, therefore, requires a special kind of leadership.
– The aim of this article is to explore how, and to what extent, American advertising and its consumerist messages infiltrated Irish society in the period 1922-1960.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this article is to explore how, and to what extent, American advertising and its consumerist messages infiltrated Irish society in the period 1922-1960.
Design/methodology/approach
The article is based on an analysis of primary and secondary sources.
Findings
The article argues that American advertising practices and messages influenced the advertising industry in Ireland. It also contributed to the technical, style and content of Irish advertising and informed the Irish woman's view of American consumerism. Finally, it suggests that Irish society was more open to external influences, which challenges the narrative of Ireland as a closed society before 1960.
Originality/value
The article is based on extensive original research and opens up a number of new areas of research relating to the history of consumerism and advertising in Ireland.
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The discovery of internet technologies which is one of the most important developments of the twenty-first century has enabled individuals and institutions to overcome…
Abstract
The discovery of internet technologies which is one of the most important developments of the twenty-first century has enabled individuals and institutions to overcome geographical and time constraints creating fundamental changes in communication. As a result, online communities have enabled people to meet the internet for various reasons such as seeking and sharing information, discuss community issues and ask questions; and online communities have also enabled businesses and consumers to connect with each other at any time. Especially the emergence of Internet-based social media technologies such as blogs, virtual communities, wikis, social networks, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram provides tourists to share their travel experiences. Information shared on social media sites is considered to be an important source of information that can help tourists’ travel plan and may even influence the travel decisions of potential tourists. In this context, the concept of social media in tourism businesses has been examined in the research. Within the framework of the research, it has been observed that social media has influenced the tourists’ behavior regarding travel motivations in the context of various motivations (having information about destinations, hotels, services of hotels, wondering about consumers’ experiences who were in touristic consumption before, etc.). It is also among other findings that social media has increased the overtourism crisis.
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Sudi Nangoli, Benon Muhumuza, Maureen Tweyongyere, Gideon Nkurunziza, Rehema Namono, Muhammed Ngoma and Grace Nalweyiso
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which perceived leadership integrity influences changes in organisational commitment. The premise of the study is the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which perceived leadership integrity influences changes in organisational commitment. The premise of the study is the argument that non-financial rewards alleviate the challenges associated with low levels of commitment in economies that are riddled with incessant situations of economic scarcity.
Design/methodology/approach
An explanatory study approach was adopted to investigate the envisaged linkage between the study variables from a socio-psychological perspective.
Findings
The results of the study establish that perceived leadership integrity significantly influences variations in commitment among organisational employees.
Research limitations/implications
The study results provide a reason for firms to invest more resources towards promoting honesty among organisational leaders. The findings of the study support the idea that perceived integrity of an organisation's leadership generates a sustainable win–win position not only between the organisation and employees, but also among the leaders and subordinates.
Practical implications
Organisations must regularly consider the drivers of organisational commitment and pay sufficient attention to non-financial drivers. As advanced by this study, a very important yet economical way of effecting such a strategy is through instituting measures that sustainably create a perception among employees that organisational leaders execute their duties with the utmost integrity.
Originality/value
This article has both empirical and theoretical value. Empirically, this work is the first of its kind aimed at investigating the effect of perceived leadership integrity on organisational commitment within Uganda's hospitality setting. Theoretically, the study extends the versatility of the hierarchy of needs theory by clarifying that higher-level needs offer a basis for explaining the effect of psychological processes (in this case, perceived leadership integrity) on behavioural changes (in this case, organisational commitment).