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1 – 10 of 599Kate Hutchings, Katrina Radford, Nancy Spencer, Neil Harris, Sara McMillan, Maddy Slattery, Amanda Wheeler and Elisha Roche
This paper aims to explore challenges and opportunities associated with young carers' employment in Australia.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore challenges and opportunities associated with young carers' employment in Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a multi-stakeholder approach, this study captures the reflections of stakeholders (n = 8) and young carers (n = 10) about opportunities for, and experiences of, paid employment for young carers.
Findings
Despite many organisations internationally increasingly pushing diversity agendas and suggesting a commitment to equal opportunity experiences, this study found that young carers' work opportunities are often disrupted by their caring role. For young carers to be successful in their careers, organisations need to provide further workplace flexibility, and other support is required to attract and retain young carers into organisations and harness their transferrable skills for meaningful careers.
Practical implications
The paper highlights important implications for human resource management practitioners given the need to maximise the participation of young carers as workers, with benefits for young carers themselves, employers and society.
Originality/value
The research adds to the human resource management and work–family conflict literature in examining young carers through drawing on Conservation of Resources theory to highlight resources invested in caring leads to loss of educational and work experience resources. This leads to loss cycles and spirals, which can potentially continue across a lifetime, further contributing to disadvantage and lack of workplace and societal inclusion for this group of young people.
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Many of today’s top organizations have implemented formal mentoring programs as a vital strategy to attract, develop, and retain talent. Human resource professionals have long…
Abstract
Many of today’s top organizations have implemented formal mentoring programs as a vital strategy to attract, develop, and retain talent. Human resource professionals have long recognized mentoring programs as an effective method to grow their organization’s intellectual capital and remain competitive. Both qualitative and quantitative research found that mentored employees experience job satisfaction, productivity and career advancement, which in turn creates profitability and cost savings for organizations. Historically, formal workplace mentoring programs were for a select number of employees. Due to time and geography constraints, face-to-face meetings between mentor and protégé were difficult to coordinate. While traditional mentoring programs provide benefit, logistics prohibit these relationships from taking full progression, giving rise to a new alternative: E-Mentoring. E-Mentoring lowers hurdles to participation using synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated means. Technological advances and forms of computer-mediated communication such as emails, chat groups, and video conferencing offer the potential for enhancing the E-Mentoring process. These new methods help to transcend functional, sectoral, and hierarchical barriers of formal mentoring relationships. Also, the non-face-to-face nature of the E-Mentoring relationship overcomes traditional barriers of age, race, gender, and status, which might negatively affect a traditional mentoring relationship. This chapter defines and compares traditional mentoring with E-Mentoring. It discusses the benefits and challenges of using technology or computer-mediated communication (CMC) for mentoring purposes. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how organizations can implement E-Mentoring as a professional development tool in the age of technology.
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Sara Carter, Susan A. Shaw and Neil Harris
Describes the changes which have taken place in the UK strawberrymarket in recent years and presents an outline of the opportunities forBritish producers identified by the Soft…
Abstract
Describes the changes which have taken place in the UK strawberry market in recent years and presents an outline of the opportunities for British producers identified by the Soft Fruit Working Party. New opportunities have been largely met by imports which have grown substantially in volume in recent years. Examines the reasons for the limited exploitation by British producers of these opportunities and analyses changing attitudes to production and marketing by British strawberry growers.
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Susan A. Shaw, Neil Harris and Sara Carter
Describes the state of the UK tomato sector which is facing fallingreal price levels and low profitability in a situation of generalovercapacity in the EC tomato industry and…
Abstract
Describes the state of the UK tomato sector which is facing falling real price levels and low profitability in a situation of general overcapacity in the EC tomato industry and where imports into the UK market are a substantial percentage of total consumption. Evaluates the Working Party for Salads′ improved short‐term marketing intelligence system during its first year of operation.
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Britain is substantially less‐sufficient in bacon production thanother European competitors, especially Denmark and The Netherlands,although in recent years the competitive…
Abstract
Britain is substantially less‐sufficient in bacon production than other European competitors, especially Denmark and The Netherlands, although in recent years the competitive position of the industry has improved. British animals are now of high quality and a rationalization process is under way in the processing sector. Proposes a number of changes to develop the industry further and reduce the trading deficit.
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Before launching yourself into the cut and thrust of management consultancy, there are two important areas you need to explore.
Adem Sav and Neil Harris
– This study aims to examine how working Australian Muslim men experience work-life conflict and how gender influences their experience.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how working Australian Muslim men experience work-life conflict and how gender influences their experience.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey questionnaires were collected, either face-to-face or online, from 403 Australian Muslim men and women.
Findings
Work-to-life conflict is more prevalent than life-to-work conflict in both sexes, and there are no gender differences in the experiences of either direction of conflict. Job demands are a stronger predictor than work hours in both sexes and the findings corroborate existing Western research on the importance of work flexibility in helping both sexes cope with conflict. As expected, non-work related antecedents have more impacts on life-to-work conflict among women than in men, but the findings question the role of religion, indicating its beneficial rather than demanding nature. Finally, work-to-life conflict is a slightly stronger negative predictor of job satisfaction in women than men, whereas life-to-work conflict is a stronger negative predictor in men but not in women.
Research limitations/implications
A greater focus on the work-life experiences of non-traditional populations and a change in the direction of work-life research, one that is broadened to include other roles besides work and family, such as religion, are needed.
Practical implications
Workplace policies designed to mitigate the negative impact of work-life conflict need to be matched to the workforce for both the workers and workplace to gain full benefits.
Originality/value
This research broadens the scope of work-life knowledge, one that is predominantly based on Western societies on white, English-speaking backgrounds, to men and women of non-traditional minority populations.
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Melinda Thomas, Fiona Rowe and Neil Harris
The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that characterise effective school‐community partnerships that support the sustainability of school health initiatives applied…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that characterise effective school‐community partnerships that support the sustainability of school health initiatives applied within a health‐promoting schools approach.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used an explanatory case study approach of five secondary schools participating in a health‐promoting school programme, “The Logan Healthy Schools Project” in Logan, South‐East Queensland, Australia to investigate how school‐community partnerships support the sustainability of school health initiatives. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 16 deputy principals, school staff members, and community‐based partners, along with observations and a documentary analysis of Logan Healthy School Project activities. A thematic analysis was conducted on the data.
Findings
The factors that characterise effective school‐community partnerships that support the sustainability of school health initiatives include: a focus on building relationships between school and community partners, complementary capacities of school personnel and service providers, commonality of intent and shared goals between both parties, and competence of practice, primarily of the community service provider. These four factors were consistent at the school operational level and strategic programme co‐ordination level of the Logan Healthy Schools Project, yet varied in importance across the initiation, growth, and maturity of the school‐community partnerships.
Originality/value
The study adds to the limited body of knowledge that surrounds effective school‐community partnerships and how the features of these partnerships contribute to the sustainability of school health initiatives. The study highlights the importance of initiating, growing, and maintaining school‐community partnerships and provides insight into the factors that should be considered when planning and developing school health promotion initiatives.
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Adem Sav, Neil Harris and Bernadette Sebar
– The purpose of this paper is to explore work-life conflict and work-life facilitation among employed Muslim men, a growing ethno-religious minority in Australia.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore work-life conflict and work-life facilitation among employed Muslim men, a growing ethno-religious minority in Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is guided by the interpretive paradigm and is qualitative in nature. The primary data collection method was semi-structured in-depth interviews and 20 participants participated in the study.
Findings
Australian Muslim men experience both work-life conflict and facilitation simultaneously; however, facilitation is reported more frequently. Work flexibility, work and family support, and religiosity promote work-life facilitation. In contrast, workload and work hours lead to feelings of conflict, with workload being the stronger antecedent. Importantly, religious values and beliefs are an underpinning influence on participants’ experiences.
Research limitations/implications
The study is conducted with a small sample and hence, lacks the power to generalise findings to the broader Muslim male population.
Practical implications
There is a strong need to modify the traditional western models of work-life conflict and facilitation and workplace policies designed to assist workers when dealing with minorities, such as Australian Muslims. By including religion, the research offers a fresh voice to work-life research and encourages to think about the salience of other life domains beside family, an issue of great concern within the work-life literature.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies to focus on Australian Muslim men and explore how religion fits into the current understanding of work-life balance.
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Adem Sav, Neil Harris and Bernadette Sebar
– This study explores how Australian Muslim men cope with potential conflict and achieve feelings of balance between their work, family and religious roles.
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores how Australian Muslim men cope with potential conflict and achieve feelings of balance between their work, family and religious roles.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is guided by the interpretive paradigm and is qualitative. Data is collected from participants via semi-structured in-depth interviews (n=20) and analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
Personal coping strategies (e.g. making permanent changes and time management) seem more effective in coping with immediate conflict and achieving work-life balance as opposed to external ones (e.g. supervisor support). Although some of the strategies mirror existing research, their extent of use and reasons for usage by Muslim men are different. Muslim men use these strategies in a preventive manner to actively achieve work-life balance rather than just cope with episodic work-life conflict.
Research limitations/implications
The study is conducted with a small sample and the findings may not be generalizable to non-practising Australian Muslim men. To date, research has not clearly articulated how people who do not experience work-life conflict, make decisions to achieve balance. This study has a positive look at a negative issue by indicating that workers can go beyond coping with conflict and explore avenues to achieve work-life balance. The findings underscore the importance of preventive coping in achieving work-life balance and caution researchers about investigating how people cope with immediate work-life conflict only.
Originality/value
In addition to work and family roles, this study focuses on religious commitments, with religion being a largely overlooked concept within the work-family coping literature.
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