Mark Taylor, John Haggerty, David Gresty, Natalia Criado Pacheco, Tom Berry and Peter Almond
The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of investigation of employee harassment via social media to develop best practices to help organisations conduct such…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of investigation of employee harassment via social media to develop best practices to help organisations conduct such investigations more effectively.
Design/methodology/approach
It reviews the technical, managerial and legal literature to develop guidance for organisations conducting investigations of employee harassment via social media.
Findings
Organisations may not have effective procedures for the investigation of social media misuse, in general, and employee harassment via social media, in particular. This paper provides guidance for organisations to conduct investigation of employee harassment via social media more effectively.
Originality/value
The paper consolidates the fragmented discussion of investigation of social media misuse with regard to employee harassment via a literature review across technical, managerial and legal disciplines. The paper provides guidance to support organisations for conducting investigations of employee harassment via social media more effectively.
Even though companies are loading themselves up with the full TQM armoury, the benefits do not always appear to match the effort. One of the main reasons for this is a reluctance…
Abstract
Even though companies are loading themselves up with the full TQM armoury, the benefits do not always appear to match the effort. One of the main reasons for this is a reluctance by senior management to inspire and empower their first‐line managers and supervisors.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of investigation of employee harassment via social media to develop best practices to help organizations conduct such…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of investigation of employee harassment via social media to develop best practices to help organizations conduct such investigations more effectively.
Design/methodology/approach
It reviews the technical, managerial and legal literature to develop guidance for organizations conducting investigations of employee harassment via social media.
Findings
Organizations may not have effective procedures for the investigation of social media misuse, in general, and employee harassment via social media, in particular. This paper provides guidance for organizations to conduct investigation of employee harassment via social media more effectively.
Originality/value
The paper consolidates the fragmented discussion of investigation of social media misuse with regard to employee harassment via a literature review across technical, managerial and legal disciplines. The paper provides guidance to support organizations for conducting investigations of employee harassment via social media more effectively.
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Keywords
Public administration as an aspect of governmental activity has existed as long as political systems have been functioning and trying to achieve program objectives set by the…
Abstract
Public administration as an aspect of governmental activity has existed as long as political systems have been functioning and trying to achieve program objectives set by the political decision-makers. Public administration as a field of systematic study is much more recent. Advisers to rulers and commentators on the workings of government have recorded their observations from time to time in sources as varied as Kautilya's Arthasastra in ancient India, the Bible, Aristotle's Politics, and Machiavelli's The Prince, but it was not until the eighteenth century that cameralism, concerned with the systematic management of governmental affairs, became a specialty of German scholars in Western Europe. In the United States, such a development did not take place until the latter part of the nineteenth century, with the publication in 1887 of Woodrow Wilson's famous essay, “The Study of Administration,” generally considered the starting point. Since that time, public administration has become a well-recognized area of specialized interest, either as a subfield of political science or as an academic discipline in its own right.
Louise Almond, Michelle McManus, David Brian and Daniel Peter Merrington
The purpose of this paper is to explore risk factors contained in the existing UK domestic abuse (DA) risk assessment tool: domestic abuse, stalking and harassment and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore risk factors contained in the existing UK domestic abuse (DA) risk assessment tool: domestic abuse, stalking and harassment and honour-based violence (DASH) for individual predictive validity of DA recidivism using data from Devon and Cornwall Constabulary.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 1,441 DA perpetrators were monitored over a 12-month period, and 270 (18.7 per cent) went on to commit a further DA offence. The individual risk factors which were associated and predictive of increased risk of recidivism were identified.
Findings
Only four of the individual risk factors were significantly associated with an increased risk of DA recidivism: “criminal history”, “problems with alcohol”, “separation” and “frightened”. Therefore, 21 of the risk factor items analysed could not discriminate between non-recidivist and recidivist perpetrators. Only two risk factors were able to significantly predict the recidivist group when compared to the non-recidivist group. These were identified as “criminal history” and “separated”. Of those who did commit a further DA offence in the following 12 months, 133 were violent and 137 were non-violent. The risk factors associated with these types of recidivism are identified.
Practical implications
The implications for UK police practice and the DASH risk assessment tool are discussed. By identifying key individual factors that can prioritise those individuals likely to recidivate and the severity of that recidivism, this could assist police decision making regarding the response and further prevention of DA incidents. The validation of association between individual factors and DA recidivism should improve the accuracy of risk levels.
Originality/value
This is the first large-scale validation of the individual risk factors contained within the UK’s DA risk assessment tool. It should be noted that the validity of the DASH tool itself was not examined within the current study.
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Assuming that the relations between the Local Authority and their Public Analyst are, as regards fixity of tenure, established on a satisfactory basis, there remain some very…
Abstract
Assuming that the relations between the Local Authority and their Public Analyst are, as regards fixity of tenure, established on a satisfactory basis, there remain some very important points to be discussed, namely, the duties of that officer, the conditions under which he works, and his relations to his colleagues on the staff. These are matters which, so far as we know, have never previously been dealt with in print, are only partially regulated by law, and are not settled by any uniformity of practice on the part of Local Authorities.
Criminal proceedings can only follow the commission of an offence, made so by statute. If an act is not unlawful, it matters little with what motives a person commits it or the…
Abstract
Criminal proceedings can only follow the commission of an offence, made so by statute. If an act is not unlawful, it matters little with what motives a person commits it or the consequences; he is outside the law, i.e. criminal law; civil law might have a remedy, but criminal law does not. Even when a criminal offence is committed, it may contain ingredients without which, what would otherwise be a punishable act, becomes guiltless. Most qualifications to guilt are of longstanding, used by parliamentary draftsmen in a wide range of statutes and have acquired reasonably precise judicial meaning. Most relate to intention—wilfully, intentionally, knowingly—and in a few, judicial extension of the popular meaning and usage of the term has occurred to prevent an innocent stance being simulated by a guilty party. “Knowledge” is such an example. The term has been deliberately widened to cover persons who “shut their eyes” to an offence; where a person deliberately refrains from making enquiries, the results of which he would not care to know, this amounts to having such knowledge— constructive knowledge.
Maximilian Nagel and B. Guy Peters
Much analysis considering the putative political challenges of the European Union (EU) has focussed on the (lack of) participation and identifications of European citizens. But…
Abstract
Much analysis considering the putative political challenges of the European Union (EU) has focussed on the (lack of) participation and identifications of European citizens. But what about the bureaucrats working on their behalf? This contribution will address the issue of representative bureaucracy and identification in the EU, specifically in the European Commission. While the literature on representativeness of public administration has focussed on issues of social class, ethnicity and gender, it is also important to consider geographical representativeness. This is particularly important when region (in this case of the EU nations) is relevant. As the authors point out, this question is all the more relevant given the assumption that individuals who join the Commission will identify with Europe more than their home country. Yet, at a time of ongoing discussions about a crisis of the EU and in the midst of populist governments, such an assumption is at least questionable. While it is difficult to assess the extent to which decision-making may be influenced by nationality, at least understanding patterns of representation can be important for understanding how passive – if not active – representation functions. The formal emphasis on representative bureaucracy within the EU raises several potential conflicts with other important principles of public management. It also creates a conflict with the fundamental commitment to creating transnational personnel who eschew strong attachments to nation states.
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Cheti Nicoletti, Kjell G. Salvanes and Emma Tominey
We estimate the parental investment response to the child endowment at birth, by analysing the effect of child birth weight on the hours worked by the mother two years after…
Abstract
We estimate the parental investment response to the child endowment at birth, by analysing the effect of child birth weight on the hours worked by the mother two years after birth. Mother’s working hours soon after child birth are a measure of investments in their children as a decrease (increase) in hours raises (lowers) her time investment in the child. The child birth endowment is endogenously determined in part by unobserved traits of parents, such as investments during pregnancy. We adopt an instrumental variables estimation. Our instrumental variables are measures of the father’s health endowment at birth, which drive child birth weight through genetic transmission but does not affect directly the mother’s postnatal investments, conditional on maternal and paternal human capital and prenatal investments. We find an inverted U-shape relationship between mothers worked hours and birth weight, suggesting that both low and extremely high child birth weight are associated with child health issues for which mothers compensate by reducing their labour supply. The mother’s compensating response to child birth weight seems slightly attenuated for second and later born children. Our study contributes to the literature on the response of parental investments to child’s health at birth by proposing new and more credible instrumental variables for the child health endowment at birth and allowing for a heterogeneous response of the mother’s investment for first born and later born children.
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In the last number certain general statements were made concerning the history, nature and production of lager beer as distinguished from the top fermentation ale which is the…
Abstract
In the last number certain general statements were made concerning the history, nature and production of lager beer as distinguished from the top fermentation ale which is the chief brew of this country. It may be useful to refer to the trade in Germany and some other countries. In Germany the export of beer is, as might be anticipated, considerable. The German export figures refer to (i) beer which has been exported in vessels of 15 litre capacity and over and (ii) beer exported in vessels of a smaller capacity. In the latter category we may include bottled beer though it is not specifically referred to as such. It is also safe to assume that all the beer exported is of lager type. There has been a steady decline in exports of both kinds of beer (i) and (ii). Thus in 1931 the exports of the first kind of beer which is obviously barrelled beer amounted to 189 thousand hectolitres in round figures or over four million gallons. The corresponding figures for 1932 and 1933 being three million and two‐and‐a‐half million gallons. The market for this beer is almost entirely the European market—Belgium, Holland and Switzerland are the chief buyers followed by France and Great Britain. Belgium, Holland and Switzerland take between them from 55 to 60 per cent. of this beer at the present time. The markets of Egypt, Palestine and Tunis about three per cent., British India and the Dutch East Indies a still smaller proportion. The beer that is exported in containers having a smaller capacity than 15 litres shows a heavy and continuous fall from about 8½ million gallons in 1930 to about 2½ million gallons in 1932. With regard to the chief markets for this kind of beer the African and Asiatic markets are by far the most important. The former include the Belgian Congo, British West Africa and Egypt in order of importance. They still retain their relative importance, but the falling off has been very great during the last three or four years. Thus in 1931 the imports into Egypt were about 315 thousand gallons. In 1932, 132 thousand, in 1933, 52 thousand. The corresponding figures for the Belgian Congo are in round figures 790 thousand, 423 thousand and 332 thousand. For British West Africa 649 thousand, 292 thousand and 190 thousand. The figures for these three markets form about 25 per cent. of the total exports. Nor are the figures for the Asiatic markets more encouraging. We need only consider the figures for the two chief markets, the Dutch East Indies and British India. The exports to the Dutch possessions in 1931 amounted to 1,540 thousand gallons, in 1932 they were 799 thousand, and in 1933, 439 thousand gallons. The corresponding figures for British India were 656 thousand, 486 thousand, and 357 thousand gallons. During these three years the Dutch East Indies and British India have between them absorbed 35 per cent. of the total exports.—It may also be remarked that the declared value of the beer exported in 15 litres vessels and those of more than 15 litres capacity appears to be somewhat less than half that of the beer exported in the smaller containers. This might have been expected, but the decline in the exports of the more costly item, which is much greater in proportion than is the case with the cheaper kind, makes the matter more serious for the German export trade. The chief reasons for this would seem to be the adverse rate of exchange and in the Far Eastern markets the competition of Japan. Much of the beer intended for the markets in tropical or semi‐tropical lands is specially brewed for the purpose. This naturally adds to the prime cost and we understand that some at least of the great German brewing firms have actually been working at a loss in their efforts to retain the Eastern markets that up to recent times have taken a large proportion of the German bottled “lager” exports. It may be of significance in this connection that the imports of this kind of beer into Japan would seem to have ceased. The trade in cask “lager,” a cheaper beer—inasmuch as it does not require the special preparation demanded by the other—sent for the most part to nearby markets has not suffered so severely. The brewing of lager beer would seem to have been started in Japan in about the year 1870 by an American named Copeland. The industry once started made fairly rapid progress and at the present time the value of the output is about 8 million pounds sterling. The average for the years 1927 to 1930 inclusive being about 8½ million pounds. This is only about one‐fifth of the value of all alcoholic liquors manufactured in Japan. The chief liquor is sake and this accounts for 70 per cent. of the total, the third item being distilled spirits. A considerable proportion of the beer, about 48 per cent., is exported from “Japan proper” to the Far Eastern markets, namely China, Kwantung, Hong Kong, Siam, the Straits Settlements and the Dutch Indies. Of these markets Kwantung and China in the order named are the most important, Kwantung taking 820 thousand gallons in 1932, and China about 670 thousand gallons. Hong Kong takes about 64 thousand gallons. The market is extending. During the war a favourable opportunity occurred to send this beer to British India. The amount sent to British India declined after the war, but a market for Japanese lager would appear to have been established and to be steadily increasing in importance. In 1932 rather over 400 thousand gallons were sent to British India. It is hardly to be expected that Japanese enterprise has ended with the establishing of Indian and Far Eastern markets for their beer. As everyone knows they are very able salesmen. Their methods of manufacture are efficient; and they have an admirable and subsidised merchant marine. We have not the least wish to be in any way “alarmists,” but we desire to point out both to British, German and Dutch brewers the serious import of the figures we have quoted. Germany, the original centre of the lager beer industry, Holland, which has, with Germany, gained a reputation second to none for the excellence of their “lager,” our own brewers of “lager” in this country are all equally menaced by the rapid growth of the industry in Japan and its steady and persistent entry into markets which have long been exclusively and satisfactorily served by the brewers of these three countries. How this threat of the possible decline of the old established markets in Asia and in Africa is to be met is, in detail at least, a matter for the English and European firms, who are affected, to decide. We should however, like to point out that while it may be that no one with a knowledge of the facts of the case would question the excellence of the English and European lager beers the “man in the street”—that is to say the ordinary consumer—has no authentic knowledge to rely upon, and he is the ultimate court of appeal. Price counts with him a great deal and he accepts what he is told as to quality. If he finds that a lager beer is not up to his expectations the fact will damage the whole trade “from China to Peru.” If on the other hand he is supplied with unquestionable and authoritative evidence that the lager beer he drinks is all that it should be and claims to be then the case is put on an altogether different footing. The present would seem to be a not altogether unfavourable time to endeavour to develop the English and European trade by methods of sound scientific salesmanship which must necessarily embrace something stronger, as evidence of quality, than the mere asseverations of the producer. The return of the world to more normal economic conditions can only be a matter of time and in spite of the somewhat gloomy trade prospects at present prevailing the beginning of better times should see producers ready and prepared to take full advantage of them.