Most people say there is nothing new in training, merely that old ideas are re‐packaged and presented in a different style, often couched in new jargon to establish their…
Garry Banks, Sandra Jowett, Alyson Brown and Jill Goodall
This article summarises the findings of a research study conducted to establish the links between homelessness, begging and drug misuse. It concludes that drug misuse is…
Abstract
This article summarises the findings of a research study conducted to establish the links between homelessness, begging and drug misuse. It concludes that drug misuse is widespread amongst beggars and rough sleepers. It discusses some of the issues concerning care and support services available to the homeless.
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Everett L. Worthington, Jr. and Freda Gonot-Schoupinsky
The purpose of this article is to elicit understanding of how forgiveness, religion and spirituality, and relationships can better our lives. It draws from the life of Everett L…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to elicit understanding of how forgiveness, religion and spirituality, and relationships can better our lives. It draws from the life of Everett L. Worthington, Jr, a positive psychologist and Commonwealth Professor Emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has published almost 50 books and over 500 scholarly articles or chapters.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a case study, followed by a ten-question interview. The core methodology is positive autoethnography which is embraced by Worthington to reveal life lessons from things he has done.
Findings
Worthington reveals a life honoring the interwoven lives of people. He has studied forgiveness intensively and finds it to be an essential way of making our way in the world and in a world community that all too often hosts hurt.
Research limitations/implications
An extensive literature has developed to understand what forgiveness is, how it comes about naturally and how the REACH Forgiveness method can help people who struggle to forgive themselves or others, and do it more quickly, thoroughly and frequently. Forgiving has psychological, social, spiritual and physical benefits to the forgiver.
Practical implications
This article is filled with practical information on how to forgive and how to pursue eudaemonia, which Worthington defines as virtue for oneself.
Social implications
Forgiveness has widespread social implications. Good relationships are those that can help form, maintain, grow and repair when damaged close emotional bonds. Forgiveness helps repair, maintain and grow those bonds.
Originality/value
Worthington has been instrumental in the establishment and growth of the subfield of forgiveness studies and in the study of humility.
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Matthew Brannan, Mike Rowe and Frank Worthington
The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to the new journal, its history, scope and ambitions.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to the new journal, its history, scope and ambitions.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews the current growth in interest in ethnographic research in organizational and management studies, reflected not least in the success of the Liverpool‐Keele Ethnography Symposium.
Findings
Surveying the state of the field, this paper has identified a need for a natural home for organizational ethnographers. The continuing growth and development of the Symposium is also a reflection of the shared experience among would‐be ethnographers who find that, when presenting ethnographic work at other conferences, their choice of methodology is more often subject to contrarian rather than constructive discussion. It is only by debating the merits of the empirical and theoretical themes and perspectives that inform the subject in a constructive way with others, who are genuinely appreciative of the tradition, that it will develop.
Originality/value
The paper presents the case for a platform for the publishing of quality organizational ethnographies and for a forum in which to debate and develop the methodology and methods associated with them. It argues for a “collective manifesto” embracing and encouraging the diversity of approaches and introduces the first contributions.
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Steve Winer, Leslie Ramos Salazar, Amy M. Anderson and Mike Busch
The purpose of this study is to extend Bippus and Young’s (2005) study and examine the effectiveness of the “I-you,” “I,” “You,” “We,” “But” and Question-based “Why” statements…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to extend Bippus and Young’s (2005) study and examine the effectiveness of the “I-you,” “I,” “You,” “We,” “But” and Question-based “Why” statements from Winer’s (2021) verbal coding program of conflict management using Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory (SLT).
Design/methodology/approach
Mixed methods were used using 175 university students from Texas and New York. A cross-sectional convenience sampling approach was conducted. Survey data was collected using Qualtrics.
Findings
Descriptive results demonstrated that the “We” statement was the most passive, the “I-you” statement was the most assertive and the “But,” “I,” “You” and Question statements were perceived to be aggressive. In addition, assertive “I-You” statements were perceived to be more effective in resolving the conflict and maintaining a relationship, whereas aggressive statements were less likely to resolve the conflict and maintain the relationship. Qualitative themes also support the “I-You” statement as the most assertive, while the “But,” “You” and “I” statements were found to be the most aggressive statements.
Practical implications
Implications and applications are discussed to stimulate future research among researchers and practitioners when addressing conflict. Being aware of the verbal statements that de-escalate conflict may be helpful in solving conflict in interpersonal, family and professional relationships. Future trainings can adopt effective verbal statements to resolve conflict when experiencing anger issues. Future research can continue to investigate verbal communication statements using SLT to help practitioners and managers address conflict in interpersonal relationships.
Originality/value
This study examines verbal statements in relation to communication styles and conflict management.
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Jamie D. Collins, Dan Li and Purva Kansal
This study focuses on home country institutions as sources of variation in the level of foreign investment into India. Our findings support the idea that institutional voids found…
Abstract
This study focuses on home country institutions as sources of variation in the level of foreign investment into India. Our findings support the idea that institutional voids found in India are less of a deterrent to investments from home countries with high levels of institutional development than from home countries with similar institutional voids. Overall, foreign investments in India are found to be significantly related to the strength of institutions within home countries. The levels of both approved and realized foreign direct investment (FDI) are strongly influenced by economic factors and home country regulative institutions, and weakly influenced by home country cognitive institutions. When considered separately, the cognitive institutions and regulative institutions within a given home country each significantly influence the level of approved/realized FDI into India. However, when considered jointly, only the strength of regulative institutions is predictive of FDI inflows.
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Zhichao Wang and Valentin Zelenyuk
Estimation of (in)efficiency became a popular practice that witnessed applications in virtually any sector of the economy over the last few decades. Many different models were…
Abstract
Estimation of (in)efficiency became a popular practice that witnessed applications in virtually any sector of the economy over the last few decades. Many different models were deployed for such endeavors, with Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) models dominating the econometric literature. Among the most popular variants of SFA are Aigner, Lovell, and Schmidt (1977), which launched the literature, and Kumbhakar, Ghosh, and McGuckin (1991), which pioneered the branch taking account of the (in)efficiency term via the so-called environmental variables or determinants of inefficiency. Focusing on these two prominent approaches in SFA, the goal of this chapter is to try to understand the production inefficiency of public hospitals in Queensland. While doing so, a recognized yet often overlooked phenomenon emerges where possible dramatic differences (and consequently very different policy implications) can be derived from different models, even within one paradigm of SFA models. This emphasizes the importance of exploring many alternative models, and scrutinizing their assumptions, before drawing policy implications, especially when such implications may substantially affect people’s lives, as is the case in the hospital sector.
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Rashid Mehmood, Royston Meriton, Gary Graham, Patrick Hennelly and Mukesh Kumar
The purpose of this paper is to advance knowledge of the transformative potential of big data on city-based transport models. The central question guiding this paper is: how could…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to advance knowledge of the transformative potential of big data on city-based transport models. The central question guiding this paper is: how could big data transform smart city transport operations? In answering this question the authors present initial results from a Markov study. However the authors also suggest caution in the transformation potential of big data and highlight the risks of city and organizational adoption. A theoretical framework is presented together with an associated scenario which guides the development of a Markov model.
Design/methodology/approach
A model with several scenarios is developed to explore a theoretical framework focussed on matching the transport demands (of people and freight mobility) with city transport service provision using big data. This model was designed to illustrate how sharing transport load (and capacity) in a smart city can improve efficiencies in meeting demand for city services.
Findings
This modelling study is an initial preliminary stage of the investigation in how big data could be used to redefine and enable new operational models. The study provides new understanding about load sharing and optimization in a smart city context. Basically the authors demonstrate how big data could be used to improve transport efficiency and lower externalities in a smart city. Further how improvement could take place by having a car free city environment, autonomous vehicles and shared resource capacity among providers.
Research limitations/implications
The research relied on a Markov model and the numerical solution of its steady state probabilities vector to illustrate the transformation of transport operations management (OM) in the future city context. More in depth analysis and more discrete modelling are clearly needed to assist in the implementation of big data initiatives and facilitate new innovations in OM. The work complements and extends that of Setia and Patel (2013), who theoretically link together information system design to operation absorptive capacity capabilities.
Practical implications
The study implies that transport operations would actually need to be re-organized so as to deal with lowering CO2 footprint. The logistic aspects could be seen as a move from individual firms optimizing their own transportation supply to a shared collaborative load and resourced system. Such ideas are radical changes driven by, or leading to more decentralized rather than having centralized transport solutions (Caplice, 2013).
Social implications
The growth of cities and urban areas in the twenty-first century has put more pressure on resources and conditions of urban life. This paper is an initial first step in building theory, knowledge and critical understanding of the social implications being posed by the growth in cities and the role that big data and smart cities could play in developing a resilient and sustainable transport city system.
Originality/value
Despite the importance of OM to big data implementation, for both practitioners and researchers, we have yet to see a systematic analysis of its implementation and its absorptive capacity contribution to building capabilities, at either city system or organizational levels. As such the Markov model makes a preliminary contribution to the literature integrating big data capabilities with OM capabilities and the resulting improvements in system absorptive capacity.