Peter M. Senge, Michelle Dow and Gavin Neath
The purpose of this research is to provide an overview of the learning that has emerged from two initiatives in which a multinational company, Unilever, and an international…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to provide an overview of the learning that has emerged from two initiatives in which a multinational company, Unilever, and an international non‐governmental organization, Oxfam have worked together: the Sustainable Food Laboratory Initiative, a project focusing on the global food production system, and “Exploring the Links”, a joint research project exploring the links between wealth creation and poverty reduction in one country, Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents an overview of learning as expressed by participants in the Sustainable Food Laboratory and a summary of the final report published by the joint research project, giving an overview of the process and highlighting the key lessons learned by both organizations.
Findings
The paper finds that the common success of both projects is a contribution to a better understanding of current global systems and local impacts, as well as an indication of the opportunities for systemic change that emerge when different organizations are willing to learn with and from each other. Oxfam and Unilever participants came to realize that, despite their very different missions and goals, they share a commitment to poverty reduction, healthy resource systems, and truly sustainable development. Although common ground may be found, such projects do not attempt to cover over differences. On the contrary, understanding differences can lead to more balanced and integrative pictures of complex problems, reveal limitations of what individual organizations can do, and identify areas where partnerships can have the greatest benefits for real and lasting change.
Research limitations/implications
The paper draws on personal learning from a limited number of participants in the three year pilot of the Sustainable Food Laboratory and solely on the research and findings published in the Indonesia project's final report.
Practical implications
This paper highlights the valuable learning that can emerge when different kinds of organization work together to explore and address common challenges. Understanding their differences in outlook and experience can lead to more balanced and integrative pictures of complex problems, reveal limitations of what individual organizations can do, and identify areas where partnerships can have the greatest benefits for real and lasting change.
Originality/value
This paper gives real examples of the kind of learning that can emerge from cross‐sector initiatives, and highlights lessons about how such learning can be achieved and why it is valuable.
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Ebony M. Duncan-Shippy, Sarah Caroline Murphy and Michelle A. Purdy
This chapter examines the framing of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement in mainstream media. An analytic sample of 4,303 articles collected from the Dow Jones Factiva database…
Abstract
This chapter examines the framing of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement in mainstream media. An analytic sample of 4,303 articles collected from the Dow Jones Factiva database reveals variation in depth, breadth, and intensity of BLM coverage in the following newspapers between 2012 and 2016: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Al Jazeera English. We review contemporary literature on racial inequality and employ Media Framing and Critical Race Theory to discuss the implications of our findings on public perceptions, future policy formation, and contemporary social protest worldwide.
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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
According to Alan Kay, inventing the future is the best way of predicting what is going to happen. However, the wise words of this eminent US computer scientist are not taken on board in every company. Such firms are skeptical towards innovation and accordingly cagey in their approach. There is no denying that innovation equals uncertainty and is clearly a risk‐laden pursuit at the best of times. Many organizations therefore play safe by confining their search for new knowledge to existing domains. This means that specific ways of thinking dominate and management is biased towards channels it is already familiar with. Some might argue that sticking to the tried and trusted makes sense. However, any reluctance to look further afield for solutions hardly maximizes the chances of success. And adopting a narrow focus raises the danger of complacency creeping into the equation. Why? Because some leaders suppose that familiarity with the research domain will make innovations easier to identify. In the long run, that can prove a costly assumption to make.
Practical implications
Organizations can enhance prospects of successful innovation by setting broader objectives and considering knowledge and information from a wide variety of sources. A funding bias towards projects with greater potential should be adopted.
Social implications
Exploring potential new energy sources and technological advancements can help firms to operate more efficiently and reduce their carbon footprint.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers' hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.
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S. Michelle Driedger and Jade Weimer
Scholars rely on electronic databases to conduct searches and locate relevant citations. The purpose of this paper is to compare the retrieval results on the same topic (multiple…
Abstract
Purpose
Scholars rely on electronic databases to conduct searches and locate relevant citations. The purpose of this paper is to compare the retrieval results on the same topic (multiple sclerosis and liberation therapy) of two commonly used databases for searching print news media: ProQuest’s Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies and Dow Jones’ Factiva.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study comparing two electronic searchable databases using the same keywords, date range, and newspaper-specific search parameters across three Canadian university institutions.
Findings
Considerable differences were found between institutional searches using Factiva. Factiva allows all individual users the capacity to establish systems-wide “administrator” privileges, thereby controlling the output for subsequent users if these preferences are not changed. The capacity for individual users to tailor searches within Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies was more in line with standard protocols for institutions paying for single user accounts with access to multiple sessions within that same institution: any user-specific searching/retrieval preferences are individually contained within a search and do not influence the searches of a different user.
Research limitations/implications
What began as a comparative analysis of two commonly used databases for searching print news media turned into an examination of larger systemic problems. The findings call into question several factors: the integrity of a researcher-generated data set; the quality of results published in peer-reviewed journals based on researcher-generated data sets derived from established e-resource databases; the reliability of the same e-resource database across multiple institutions; and the quality of e-resource databases for scholarly research when developed to serve primarily non-academic clients.
Originality/value
No comparison of this kind for these particular e-resource databases has been documented in the literature. In fact, the scholarly publications that address questions of functionality and reliability of either Factiva or Proquest have not brought this issue into the discussion. Therefore, this study furthers academic discourse on the nature and reliability of database use at any academic institution and illustrates that researchers, in a variety of academic fields, cannot depend on the reliability of their search results without thoroughly consulting the various settings of their database.
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Emna Mnif, Bassem Salhi and Anis Jarboui
The purpose of this paper is to present the Islamic stock and Sukuk market efficiency and focus on the presence of investor herding behaviour (HB) captured by Hurst exponent…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the Islamic stock and Sukuk market efficiency and focus on the presence of investor herding behaviour (HB) captured by Hurst exponent estimation.
Design/methodology/approach
The Hurst exponent was estimated with various methods. The authors studied the evolving efficiency of the “Dow Jones” indices from 1 January 2010 to 30 December 2016 using a rolling sample of the Hurst exponent. In addition, they used a time-varying parameter method based on the Hurst of delayed returns. After that, the robust Hurst method was considered. In the next step, the efficiency of the different activity types of Islamic bonds was studied using an efficiency index. Finally, the Hurst exponent estimates were applied to assess the presence of HB.
Findings
The results show that, firstly, there’s a strong correlation between the “DJIM” and “DJSI” prices and returns. Secondly, by using robust Hurst estimate, it is observed that the “DJIM” is the most efficient market. The Hurst exponent estimation results show that HB is more intensive in the Islamic stock market. These results indicate also the inexistence of this behaviour in the studied Sukuk market.
Research limitations/implications
Sukuk as Islamic financial assets is recent. Their relative time series are not long enough to apply the long memory approach. Furthermore, this work can be extended to study other Islamic financial markets.
Practical implications
Herding affects risk-return characteristics of assets and has an impact on asset pricing models. Practitioners are interested in understanding herding and its timing as it might create profitable trading opportunities.
Social implications
This work analyses the impact of Islamic principles on the financial markets and their ability to understand some behavioural biases.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by identifying the efficiency and the presence of HB with Hurst exponent estimation in Islamic markets.
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Michelle Cornes and Roger Clough
In this paper, we draw on ethnographic research which tracked older people's journeys through the health and social care system, highlighting some of the key issues which will…
Abstract
In this paper, we draw on ethnographic research which tracked older people's journeys through the health and social care system, highlighting some of the key issues which will need to be addressed if the new single assessment process is to become user‐ and carer‐friendly. We argue that the concept of the ‘whole system’ is a misnomer, and a more accurate picture is that of a world at war, with territorial disputes rife and border controls tighter than ever. We suggest that too much emphasis has been placed on IT systems and paperwork and that the real challenge is to cut through the jargon of modernisation and to see things from a wholly different perspective.
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Michelle L. Flynn, Dana C. Verhoeven and Marissa L. Shuffler
Multiteam systems (MTSs) have been employed across numerous organizations and occupations (e.g., healthcare, emergency disaster response, business, and military) to achieve…
Abstract
Purpose
Multiteam systems (MTSs) have been employed across numerous organizations and occupations (e.g., healthcare, emergency disaster response, business, and military) to achieve complex goals over time. As MTSs are inherently different than team level and organizational level theories, this chapter highlights the defining features of these dynamic systems through a temporal lens. Thus, the main purpose of our chapter is to address the challenges and issues concerning MTSs over time in order to provide a future agenda to guide researchers and practitioners.
Methodology/approach
To explore temporality throughout this chapter, we leverage two key MTSs frameworks along with contributions from the literature to produce a review, which demonstrates the extent of MTS theoretical and practical findings. After reviewing the definitional components of MTSs, we highlight various compositional, linkage, and developmental attributes that operate within a system. We then expand upon these attributes to consider the structural features of the system that enhance boundaries between component teams (i.e., differentiation) and may disrupt the system over time (i.e., dynamism).
Findings
After reviewing and integrating current MTS literature, we provide a new conceptual framework for MTSs and their temporal complexities. We offer several methodologies that managers and researchers can employ to assess these complex systems and suggest practical recommendations and areas for future research as we continue to study MTSs.
Originality
Our original conceptual framework considers MTSs through a dynamic lens developing over time and suggests the need for future research to build upon this perspective.
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Hormonal contraceptives are complicated reproductive technologies – both biologically and socially. Deeply embedded in global political-economic agendas and historically…
Abstract
Hormonal contraceptives are complicated reproductive technologies – both biologically and socially. Deeply embedded in global political-economic agendas and historically underpinned by eugenic movements, hormonal contraceptives have a social life often beyond their intended or imagined uses. Because so much of the discussion around contraceptives focuses on their complex history and volatile present, there has been minimal space to talk about the future of hormonal contraceptives. In this chapter I show that while the past and present are complex, the future is even more so!
As the threat of climate change becomes more palpable, two key anxieties (re)surface. First, a fear around growing populations in the Global South (while in reality Total Fertility Rate (TFRs) are in decline) and second, that of a hormonal body out of sync in the face of environmental changes. Similar anxieties have historically mobilised draconian ‘family planning’ measures in countries (like India) in the first instance. And in the second instance, hormonal manipulations to find ‘balance’ in the body, as opposed to balancing (or coming to a reckoning with) contemporary environments with/in which the body exists.
This chapter is an attempt to bring to the fore the importance of studying hormonal contraceptives in environmentally unstable times. To imagine a space beyond coercion or ‘choice’ as variously imagined, when it comes to reproductive justice vis-à-vis hormonal contraception. I suggest that, just as contraceptives have allowed us access to conversations about both women's autonomy and reproductive control, they now allow us to unpack the limits and potentials of hormonal management via the hormonal contraceptive pill.
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With connections to history, culture, and religion, many holidays have potential for inclusion in early grade social studies curriculum. However, opportunities for meaningful…
Abstract
Purpose
With connections to history, culture, and religion, many holidays have potential for inclusion in early grade social studies curriculum. However, opportunities for meaningful content are frequently passed over in favor of holiday crafts that can trivialize content and promote stereotyping, cultural appropriation, and false information. The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' perspectives about holidays in the curriculum.
Design/methodology/approach
Through questionnaires and interviews, 20 teachers identified which holidays they address and explained why and how they attend to these special days.
Findings
Most often, participants used holidays to teach history, impart values, and make connections to children's lives. Findings suggest that although holidays may provide avenues for transformative social studies, few early grade teachers may recognize this potential.
Originality/value
This study adds to elementary social studies research by promoting scholarly consideration of meaningful holiday lessons as avenues for robust social studies instruction.
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Karen A. Shastri, Kuldeep Shastri and David E. Stout
This paper aims to provide upper‐level accounting and/or finance students with a review of the intricacies of option pricing, discounted cash flow (DCF) capital budgeting decision…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide upper‐level accounting and/or finance students with a review of the intricacies of option pricing, discounted cash flow (DCF) capital budgeting decision models, various types of real options, how risk analysis of long‐term capital investments can be facilitated by explicit consideration of real options, and the role of sensitivity analysis in the analysis of capital investment projects with real options.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper describes a fictional company facing a risky capital investment proposal. Students evaluate the investment proposal using traditional DCF analysis (i.e. the net present value method), and then re‐run the analysis by incorporating the existence of real options into the analysis of the proposed investment. Finally, students see the value of using Crystal Ball software for conducting sensitivity analysis as part of the decision‐making process.
Findings
There are two primary conceptual lessons that students realize by completing this educational case: real‐options analysis is a conceptually correct and robust way to explicitly deal with project uncertainty, and failure to explicitly consider real options in the analysis of capital investment projects may result in suboptimal decision making.
Originality/value
This case covers all major real‐option topics required for the certified management accountant exam. Further, the case fills a void in the literature of accounting education as this literature pertains to the availability of case material regarding the use of real options as an extension to conventional capital budgeting techniques.