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This study used phenomenological narrative methodology to get insights into lived experiences of 10 Asian immigrant woman scholars in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in US institutions of higher learning. A feminist research approach overall guided the study. The concepts and theories of intersectionality, cultures of the academy, mindset, and mind tools framed the examination of the impacts of gender and work–family–community environments on the career pipeline of this group of women. The data were from two sources: (1) 48 documents on the participants and their institutions and (2) in-depth semi-structured interviews with these 10 participants. The findings show that gender and environment impacted the Asian women scholars’ career pipeline and advancement differently. On the negative side, barriers separately or jointly rooted in gender-based, racial, and hierarchical biases at stages of their career pipeline, from professional education to faculty appointment and leadership, challenged them. On the positive side, other gender-based and environmental agents and interventions supported them to overcome obstacles to their upward career mobility. This chapter has implications for how higher education institutions can improve their gender-based and environmental policies and praxis and facilitate the advancement of Asian immigrant women in STEM. It also has implications for how Asian women can prepare themselves to be successful in academic STEM careers.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse cost as a barrier to the uptake of antenatal care (ANC) in rural Nepal amidst a variety of barriers and facilitators.

A qualitative study with face-to-face interviews were conducted with 50 ANC users and non-users participants. The setting is rural Nepal, some 20 kilometres outside the capital Kathmandu. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and translated into English and results were presented thematically.

Cost was sometimes a barrier to seeking ANC for poor rural women. It included transport costs, opportunity costs of not being able to work in the household and service-related costs (such as blood or urine tests). The effect of cost as a barrier varied between women of different socio-economic status. Cost was a barrier to accessing ANC partly due to the women's lack of control over household resources.

It is important to consider cost in the wider socio-economic context of rural people's lives as financial costs alone do not explain the level of uptake of ANC.

This study provides an original insight of women's experiences on financial issues relating to the use of ANC services in Nepal. Another important aspect of this study was approached with the multiple respondents (i.e. women, their husbands and their mothers-in-law) regarding the use of ANC and financial impact in the use of services. The findings of this study have important implications in health policy formation by providing clear picture of women's financial situation in access to ANC.

This research aims to provide a new perspective on the evolving linkages between LAs and FSAs in the context of the technology-based manufacturing industry. Firm-level competitive strengths in an international context build upon the combination of (largely) exogenous location advantages (LAs) and endogenous firm-specific advantages (FSAs). The authors focus especially on the decay of LAs over time, which has been observed in many highly developed countries during the past decades. The authors show how the strengthening of FSAs can substitute for decaying LAs, thereby safeguarding against the demise of entire industrial regions.

The authors examine the technology-based manufacturing industry in Belgium, building upon an analysis of survey responses by 66 firms including a subgroup of 26 multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries. The professional association representing this industry in Belgium (Agoria) viewed the firms included in the survey as representative for Belgian technology-based manufacturing in terms of the LAs they presently build upon (or location disadvantages they face) and the internal strengths they command relative to (foreign) rivals. The investigation uncovered the decay of critical LAs in Belgium and in parallel, the rise of ‘compensating’ FSAs of Belgian operations relative to foreign firms, including, especially, MNE sister subsidiaries in other countries. The authors also conducted 23 in-depth interviews with senior level managers (CEOs and senior vice presidents) of technology-based firms, including 10 subsidiaries of foreign-owned MNEs, which validated our analysis of the interplay between LAs and FSAs.

The findings reveal that since inception, Belgian manufacturing operations experienced an overall decay in their critical LAs by 23% on average. Despite this, several Belgian subsidiaries of foreign MNEs consider themselves as commanding a resource-base superior to that of the next-best-in-class subsidiaries. Furthermore, when assessing the dynamic interplay between LAs and FSAs, there is some evidence that the decay of LAs fueled the quest for – and firm-level journey toward – stronger FSAs.

The originality of this study is the alternative perspective to the conventionally assumed “positive-positive” relationship between LAs and FSAs. Prior management research has not examined the impact of decaying LAs on new FSA-creation in the realm of technology-based manufacturing.

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.

An explanatory study approach was adopted to investigate the envisaged linkage between the study variables from a socio-psychological perspective.

The results of the study establish that perceived leadership integrity significantly influences variations in commitment among organisational employees.

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.

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.

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).

This study examined sexual minority status on perceived sense of belonging and compared sexual minority students and exclusively heterosexual students as a function of participating in work-integrated learning (WIL).

A cross-sectional, quantitative design was used with participants grouped by sexual minority status and participation in WIL.

Sexual minority students (WIL and non-WIL) reported lower sense of belonging than exclusively heterosexual students (in WIL and non-WIL). Sexual minority students in WIL also reported significantly weaker sense of belonging compared to non-WIL sexual minority students suggesting that WIL presents some barriers to establishing a strong sense of belonging for sexual minority students.

The findings provide evidence for developing programs to ensure all students are in a safe environment where they can develop and strengthen their sense of belonging regardless of minority status. This is important given that a sense of belonging impacts mental health and overall well-being.

The case introduces students to aspects of operations management (OM) and management theory and provides examples of the real-world challenges facing a practitioner. It requires students to think about the operational manager’s responsibilities and how organisational context influences choices and possibly even fit within an organisation.

In this case, a factory lead protagonist presents her OM challenges and choices within a for-purpose, rather than for-profit, a social enterprise in South Africa. The context presented unusual constraints that required thoughtful adaptation and judicious choices. The case introduces students to aspects of OM and management theory and provides examples of the real-world challenges facing a practitioner. It requires students to think about the operational manager’s responsibilities and how organisational context influences choices and possibly even fit within an organisation.

The case is aimed at postgraduate business students studying OM.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

This article aims to investigate how country location, as a source of country‐specific advantage (CSA), and product innovation, as a source of firm‐specific advantage (FSA), influence the international expansion of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and their growth to become multinational enterprises (MNEs). It also aims to confirm internalization theory by testing the applicability of an extant concept, the FSA/CSA framework for the international expansion of SMEs. Developed and empirically validated largely in the context of the MNE, this paper seeks to show how the framework can be applied in the context of SMEs that develop into MNEs.

A qualitative approach is employed within a single industry setting using multiple cases. Propositions are formulated to explain the theorized relationships between innovation and the growth of SMEs in a sector which depends heavily on specific CSAs. Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews and archival data, and are analyzed in data displays, tables and matrices.

The article finds that location of the industry cases as a source of CSAs, and product innovation as a source of FSAs, are highly relevant for growing New Zealand SMEs into MNEs. The study applies internalization theory to the growth strategies of SMEs.

This research combines extant theory and a specific context in order to analyze phenomena through a distinct conceptual lens. It confirms the CSA/FSA framework by applying it in a new empirical context. It can inform decision‐makers in growing SMEs on the strategic and international implications of firm and location advantages.

This paper examines the effect of financial self-efficacy and financial behaviour on financial well-being and ascertains whether financial well-being affects an individual's level of happiness in life. The authors also show the mediating role of financial behaviour in the relationship between self-efficacy and financial well-being.

The survey method of research was adopted using questionnaires as the principal means of data collection. The hypotheses of the study were tested on a rich data set from a sample of 210 parliamentarians in Ghana using the structural equation modelling technique.

The results show that individuals with high level of financial self-efficacy practise responsible financial behaviour and find financial behaviour to be a good predictor of financial well-being. The authors also find financial behaviour to mediate between financial self-efficacy and financial well-being and conclude that well-being impacts positively on happiness.

Findings of this study demonstrate that the financial well-being of an individual has important implications on the quality of life and an important way of improving well-being is to promote responsible financial behaviour.

This study employs the subjective measure of financial well-being in its analysis and also examines an outcome of financial well-being.

If they are looking for a battle ground Women's Lib could do worse than launch an attack on further education. It is here, rather than in the higher or lower reaches of the educational system, that the emancipation of women has furthest to go.