A new managing director for Rohm and Haas (UK) Ltd. has been appointed to succeed Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick, who has been elected a vice president of the Philadelphia‐based Rohm and…
Abstract
A new managing director for Rohm and Haas (UK) Ltd. has been appointed to succeed Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick, who has been elected a vice president of the Philadelphia‐based Rohm and Haas Company and named as its new director of research.
Michael Fitzpatrick and Andrzej Huczynski
Employee absence costs British industry £5 billion per year;200 million working days are lost annually. The average shopfloor workertakes eleven days off each year. In their book…
Abstract
Employee absence costs British industry £5 billion per year; 200 million working days are lost annually. The average shopfloor worker takes eleven days off each year. In their book, Managing Employee Absence for a Competitive Edge, the authors recommend a systematic seven‐step approach to absence control called ALIEDIM. The framework stands for Assess, Locate, Identify, Evaluate, Design, Implement and Monitor the company′s absence control procedure. The first step of assessing an organisation′s absence problem is examined. How big is it compared with similar firms in the industry? The benchmarking approach can indicate whether an expensive and time‐consuming programme of absence reduction will be cost‐effective. Internal and external benchmarking approaches are described in turn with examples, and the advantages and disadvantages of each are summarised.
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Andrzej Huczynski and Michael Fitzpatrick
The very practical issue of calculating the costs to the company ofemployee absence is discussed. The article is based on the researchcarried out by the authors of their recently…
Abstract
The very practical issue of calculating the costs to the company of employee absence is discussed. The article is based on the research carried out by the authors of their recently published book, Managing Employee Absence for a Competitive Edge, an acronym for the seven‐step approach to controlling absence in the organisation. The “A” stands for the assessment and costing of absence, the topic of this article. The remaining steps of the ALIEDIM approach are also described to set the article in context.
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Anita Zehrer and Gabriela Leiß
This paper aims to explore the pertinent issues, barriers and pitfalls of intergenerational communication in business families during their leadership succession period.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the pertinent issues, barriers and pitfalls of intergenerational communication in business families during their leadership succession period.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on relational leadership theory, the paper makes use of an action research approach using a qualitative single case study to investigate communication barriers and pitfalls in business transition.
Findings
Through action research, interventions were taken in the underlying case, which increased the consciousness, as well as the personal and social competencies of the business family. Thus, business families stuck in ambivalent entanglement understand their underlying motives and needs within the change process, get into closer contact with their emotional barriers and communication hindrances, which is a prerequisite for any change, and break the succession iceberg phenomenon.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should undertake multiple case studies to validate and/or modify the qualitative methods used in this action research to increase the validity and generalizability of the findings.
Practical implications
Given the large number of business families in transition, our study shows the beneficial effects action research might have on business families’ communication behavior along a change process. The findings might help other business families to understand the value of action research for such underlying challenges and decrease communication barriers.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies to have addressed intergenerational communication of business families using an action research approach.
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The purpose of this paper is to reveal insights into the relationship between migrant communities and the hospitality industry by examining the case study of Irish migrants into…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reveal insights into the relationship between migrant communities and the hospitality industry by examining the case study of Irish migrants into nineteenth century Victoria in Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides examples of the pattern of engagement with the hospitality industry as well as individual and family stories that highlight how hotel‐keeping and the service of alcohol in Melbourne and regional Victoria in the mid‐to‐late 1800s, was a key element in social improvement and mobility of Irish migrants at that time.
Findings
Although the relationship between the English and the Irish in the nineteenth century could be classified as difficult, the tensions that characterised Anglo‐Irish relations in a European context were remarkably absent in colonial Australia. This paper describes how conditions in the colonies when the majority of Irish migrants arrived allowed them to use the hospitality industry to improve their social standing and to consolidate their position in Australian society.
Research limitations/implications
Migration presents an interesting interface between host communities and guest migrants, which go to the heart of hospitality. In addition, this case study suggests there are some interesting avenues to be followed by exploring cases of other migrant communities both in their relationships with hosts, but also in the opportunities offered by the hospitality industry for opportunities denied to migrants in wider community.
Practical implications
The opportunities offered to migrants in the hospitality industry can provide a useful means of engagement for migrants into host communities through employment, and more importantly through the cultural interface allowed through hospitality enterprises whereby the migrant as guest acts as host to host community members in hospitality entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
The paper has value to both practitioners and academics because it provides an example of migrant experiences and the opportunities presented by the hospitality industry for employment, entrepreneurship and ultimately community integration.
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Patricia Mannix McNamara, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Sarah MacCurtain and Michael O’Brien
The purpose of this paper is to report the experiences of redress seeking and organisational responses for targets of bullying.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report the experiences of redress seeking and organisational responses for targets of bullying.
Design/methodology/approach
A phenomenological research design was adopted. In total, 22 primary teachers (seven males, 15 females) in Ireland were self-selected for interview, following an advertisement detailing the study in a national teacher union magazine. Data were analysed utilising an interpretative phenomenological analysis framework.
Findings
All those interviewed had made official complaints as per available procedures for addressing workplace bullying in their schools. All participants had engaged in Stages 1 and 2 of the official complaints procedures including uptake of recommended counselling. Three participants ceased engagement at Stage 2. In total, 18 participants had engaged in Stage 3 with 12 ceasing engagement at this stage. Seven participants had proceeded to Stage 4. It is noteworthy that no participant articulated satisfaction with the outcome, but conversely all had articulated further upset and acceptance of the reality that redress would not be forthcoming. These participants who had exercised agency in attempting to seek redress were met with power abuses and cultures of collusion.
Research limitations/implications
This is a small-scale study with self-selecting teachers. The data point to some problematic assumptions underpinning anti-bullying policies in small organisations.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to discourses of power/agency in workplace bullying. It challenges researchers and policy makers to elucidate more carefully the issues surrounding seeking redress for bullying.
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Carles Alsinet is Professor of Social Psychology in the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology at the University of Lleida, Spain. His primary research interests are on children's…
Abstract
Carles Alsinet is Professor of Social Psychology in the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology at the University of Lleida, Spain. His primary research interests are on children's rights and children's well-being.Loretta E. Bass is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma. She focuses her research on children and stratification issues, and completes research in West Africa and the U.S. She recently completed a book, Child Labor in Sub-Saharan Africa, (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004) which offers a window on the lives of Africa's child workers drawing on research and demographic data from 43 countries. Dr. Bass’ research has appeared in Population Research and Policy Review, Political Behavior, Anthropology of Work Review, and the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy.Michael F. C. Bourdillon was born in Africa and has spent most of his life in Zimbabwe. He is a social anthropologist, who has taught for over 25 years in the Department of Sociology, University of Zimbabwe. He has researched and published extensively on African religion. In recent years, his focus has turned to disadvantaged children in Zimbabwe. Apart from his academic work, he has long worked with an organization supporting street children in Harare. He has also cooperated with Save the Children Alliance, facilitating the establishment of a movement of working children in that country.Doris Bühler-Niederberger is Professor in Sociology at the University of Wuppertal, Germany. Several of her recent research projects have concerned childhood as a domain of professional, moral and political interest and images of childhood and children in public and professional debates. Her teaching and research interests are mainly focused on the sociology of private life and on private strategies of production and reproduction of social status and social order.Suellen Butler is currently the College Program Head of Urban Education (URBCC) and soon will be the coordinator of the Elementary Education in Multicultural Settings (ELEDM) program at Penn State Delaware County. Dr. Butler's contribution to this volume explores the activities and practices of the National School and Community Corp (NSCC), an AMERICORP school-based mentoring program in Philadelphia. Dr. Butler examines in what ways these school-based mentoring programs impact the childhood experiences of children and their schools.Steve Carlton-Ford is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Cincinnati, and an affiliate with the Department of Sociology's Kunz Center for the Study of Work and Family. His research examines both the impact of war on children's life chances and the effect of chronic childhood illness (particularly epilepsy) on family relationships and children's well being. He currently edits Sociological Focus, the journal of the North Central Sociological Association.Ferran Casas is Senior Professor of Social Psychology in the Faculty of Education and Psychology at the University of Girona, Spain. He is Director of the Research Institute on Quality of Life. He is author of many books and articles on children's rights. His main topics of research are well-being and quality of life, children's rights and intergenerational relationships.Verna Chow has training in neuropsychology and is a researcher at the University of Calgary. Verna Chow's and Dr. Hiller's contribution to this volume stems from a mutual interest in second-generation immigrants and their adaptation to Canadian Society, which officially proclaims itself as multicultural.Laura Daniel received a FAPESP Award as a student at Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) – Marilia, for researching “Toys and Games: Childhood in the Parque das Nações Favela,” which was supervised by Dr. Ethel Volfzon Kosminsky. She is currently a Social Sciences Master's degree student at the same university in Brazil, researching children and gender.Fabio Ferrucci is an Associate Professor of Sociology of Culture and Sociology of Education at the Faculty of Human Sciences of the University of Molise (Italy). His research focuses on the family, social policy and non-profit sector. He is the author of several articles on childhood and family policies in Italy.Cristina Figuer holds a Master's in Psychology and is currently a doctoral student in the Psychology and Quality of Life Program and researcher of the Institute on Quality of Life at the University of Girona, Spain.Kevin M. Fitzpatrick is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama. His primary research focus is on health-compromising behavior among children and adolescents. In addition, he continues his work examining the role of environments and their impact on the mental health and well-being of homeless, youth, and other high-risk populations.Mònica González holds a Master's in Psychology and is currently a doctoral student in the Psychology and Quality of Life Program and researcher of the Institute on Quality of Life at the University of Girona, Spain.Daniela Grignoli is a Researcher at the Department of Economics, Management and Social Sciences of the University of Molise (Italy). She teaches Sociological Methodology and conducts research on children and new technologies.Mireia Gusó holds a Master's in Economics and is currently a researcher of the Institute on Quality of Life at the University of Girona, Spain.Patrick Heuveline is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago, and Research Associate at the Population Research Center, NORC and the University of Chicago. His research centers on the family as an adaptive institution and its key role in linking macro-level changes and individual behaviors. He is currently studying the consequences of mortality change in Cambodia and in high HIV-prevalence populations in Southern Africa. In addition, he is launching an international study of the effects of the relationship between the family and the State on youth well being across Western countries.Harry H. Hiller is Professor of Sociology at the University of Calgary. His specialization is dealing with macro-level questions about Canadian Society and he is the author of Canadian Society: A Macro Analysis (Prentice-Hall, numerous editions). Dr. Hiller's and Verna Chow's contribution to this volume stems from a mutual interest in second-generation immigrants and their adaptation to Canadian Society, which officially proclaims itself as multicultural.David A. Kinney received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Indiana University-Bloomington and did post-doctoral work at the University of Chicago. He is currently Associate Professor of Sociology at Central Michigan University and an affiliate faculty member at the Center for the Ethnography of Everyday Life at the University of Michigan. In addition to being the current Co-Series Editor of the Sociological Studies of Children and Youth with Katherine Brown Rosier, his publications have appeared in Sociology of Education, Youth and Society, Personal Relationships During Adolescence (Sage), and New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development (Jossey-Bass). He is currently conducting ethnographic research with children and their parents in a study of how families manage work, home life, and children's activity involvement in a fast-paced society.Ethel Volfzon Kosminsky, Professor of Sociology at Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) – Marilia, has been a recipient of research grants from the Brazilian organization CNPq and was a Fulbright grantee in the U.S. in 1995. Chair of the Graduate Program of Social Sciences at UNESP-Marilia from 2000 to 2004, she currently leads the Center of Studies of Children and Adolescents at UNESP-Marilia, and the Network for the Study of Latin American Children and Youth.Madeleine Leonard is a Reader in Sociology at the School of Sociology and Social Policy, Queen's University, Belfast. Her research interests fall within the broad remit of the “new sociology” of childhood and she has conducted research with children on a wide range of topics including their experiences of poverty, their experiences of paid employment and their participation in domestic labor within the household. Her current research concerns Protestant and Catholic children growing up along one of the most contentious peace-lines in Belfast and the research examines children's roles as political actors in Northern Irish society.Antonio Mancini is a Junior Researcher at the Department of Economics, Management and Social Sciences of the University of Molise (Italy). He is the author of several articles on children's rights. He has also co-edited a book about the rights of the children.Hyunjoon Park is a Doctoral Candidate in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on the process of transition to adulthood, particularly among young people in East Asia, across several dimensions including educational and occupational attainment. Currently, he is working on a dissertation project that compares the effects of family and school on educational achievement among 15-year olds in 30 countries using the PISA data. Recent publications include “Age and Self-Rated Health in Korea: A Research Note” (Social Forces, forthcoming) and “Racial/Ethnic Differences in Voluntary and Involuntary Job Mobility among Young Men” (with Gary Sandefur, Social Science Research, 2003).Bettina F. Piko, M.D., Ph.D., graduated from medical school in 1991, then started her career in the field of public health. In the meantime, she earned an M.A. degree in sociology and a Ph.D. in health psychology and behavioral sciences. Currently she is an associate professor of behavioral sciences at the University of Szeged Hungary, and her research activities embrace research topics from psychosocial youth development, substance use and problem behavior, up to psychosocial work environment, social support and societal stress.Samantha Punch is a Lecturer in Sociology in the Department of Applied Social Science at Stirling University. She recently completed a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship during which time she conducted a study of children's experiences of sibling relationships and birth order in the U.K. Prior to this, she worked with Roger Fuller, Christine Hallett and Cathy Murray on the project “Young People and Welfare: Negotiating Pathways” which explored Scottish children's problems and their coping strategies, as part of the ESRC's Children 5–16 Programme. Her doctoral research included two years of ethnographic fieldwork on rural childhoods in Bolivia where she investigated the ways in which children and young people negotiate their autonomy at home, school, work and play.Marina Rago is a Junior Researcher at the Department of Economics, Management and Social Sciences of the University of Molise (Italy). She is currently involved in research projects on the implementation of children's rights.Katherine Brown Rosier is currently Associate Professor of Sociology at Central Michigan University. She published Mothering Inner-City Children in 2000 with Rutgers University Press and is currently the Co-Series Editor of the Sociological Studies of Children and Youth with David Kinney. Other publications have appeared in The Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Human Development, The Journal of Comparative Family Studies, and several other journals and edited volumes. While continuing to write on experiences of low-income African-American children and families, she is also conducting research and writing a book with colleague Scott L. Feld on Louisiana's Covenant Marriage.Carles Rostan is Professor of Developmental Psychology in the Faculty of Education and Psychology at the University of Girona, Spain and researcher of the Institute on Quality of Life. His primary research interests are on children's development and children's rights.Marta Sadurní is Professor of Developmental Psychology in the Faculty of Education and Psychology at the University of Girona, Spain. She is researcher of the Institute on Quality of Life. Her primary research interests are on children's development and children's rights.Gary D. Sandefur is Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His publications include Growing Up with a Single Parent (Harvard University Press, 1994) with Sara McLanahan, “What Happens after the High School Years among Young Persons with Disabilities,” Social Forces, 82 (2003), 803–832 with Thomas Wells and Dennis Hogan, and “Off to a Good Start? Postsecondary Education and Early Adult Life,” in Richard Settersten, Frank Furstenberg, and Ruben Rumbaut (Eds), On the Frontier of Adulthood: Theory, Research, and Public Policy, University of Chicago Press, forthcoming with Jennifer Eggerling-Boeck and Hyunjoon Park. He is currently working on quantitative and qualitative analyses of the transition to adulthood in the United States and other countries.Angelo Saporiti is Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Molise (Italy). Dr. Saporiti also teaches Social Ethics, and is the author of books and articles on children's rights. Angelo Saporiti is involved in various research international networks on childhood sociology and children's rights.Jeffrey M. Timberlake is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Research Associate at the Kunz Center for the Study of Work and Family at the University of Cincinnati. He primarily studies the causes and consequences of urban inequality, particularly race-ethnic residential segregation. Current projects include analyzing data from the 1970 to 2001 Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the 1970 to 2000 U.S. Censuses to estimate racial inequality in children's neighborhood socioeconomic status. In addition to his work with Patrick Heuveline on comparative family demography, he is also conducting several studies of race-ethnic attitudes in America.Darlene Romania Wright is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Birmingham-Southern College. Her primary research interests pertain to adolescent health-compromising behavior. Her current research is on the effects of social capital on violent behavior among secondary school students.
Matthew Allen-Coghlan and Kieran Michael McQuinn
This paper aims to examine the implications for the Irish housing market of the economic slowdown due to the Covid-19 virus.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the implications for the Irish housing market of the economic slowdown due to the Covid-19 virus.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, an inverted demand function for housing is augmented to include a residential market activity variable and estimate the impact on house prices of the decline in economic activity due to the virus-related measures. The likely future path of house prices based on two different recovery scenarios is also examined. Under both scenarios house prices are forecast to decline in the near term.
Findings
The scenario analysis presented here indicates that Irish house prices are set to fall over the next 18 months as a result of the Covid-19 downturn. This contraction in prices is due to the decline in household disposable income and the sharp fall-off in mortgage market activity, which will inevitably result from the administrative closedown implemented by the Irish authorities.
Originality/value
As such the approach builds on several studies which have examined both house price movements in general and the relationship between house prices and mortgage credit availability. The paper also draws on the latest analysis of the implications for the Irish economy of Covid-19 and the related administrative closure methods introduced by the public authorities.