Mary Pomaa Agyekum, Selase Adjoa Odopey, Sabina Asiamah, Lucy Wallis, John E.O. Williams and Rachel Locke
The purpose of this study explores the perspective of key informants (educators, preceptors and former students) of the Kintampo Project, on the perceived effectiveness, gains and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study explores the perspective of key informants (educators, preceptors and former students) of the Kintampo Project, on the perceived effectiveness, gains and challenges in delivering this large-scale training innovation in Ghana. The problem of mental health care neglect in Ghana is gradually improving. The Kintampo Project which trained mental health workers in Ghana has played a critical role in increasing access to mental health care.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study explored participants' perspectives on the Kintampo Project in three broad areas: perceived effectiveness, gains and challenges. In all, 17 interviews were conducted with former students, preceptors and educators from the project. The interviews were digitally audio-recorded, transcribed, coded and analysed using deductive and thematic methods.
Findings
The participants perceived the project to have been successful in increasing the number of mental health workers in Ghana. The project provided a route for career progression for those involved. However, the Kintampo Project faced accreditation issues, low recognition, improper integration and remuneration of trained staff in the Ghana Health Service. This study points to the fact that the sustainability of mental health training in Ghana can be obstructed, because of this career path being less attractive. Further research is needed to explore how best to achieve sustainability of similar mental health innovations.
Originality/value
This paper shares the views of participants in the Kintampo Project.
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Ridley Scott’s 1982 cinematic production of Blade Runner, based loosely on a 1968 story by Philip Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), is read within a general context of…
Abstract
Ridley Scott’s 1982 cinematic production of Blade Runner, based loosely on a 1968 story by Philip Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), is read within a general context of critical theory, the purpose being twofold: first, to highlight the film’s fit with, and within, several issues that have been important to critical theory and, second, to explore some questions, criticisms, and extensions of those issues – the dialectic of identity/difference most crucially – by speculations within and on the film’s text. The exploration is similar in approach to studies of specific films within the context of issues of social, cultural, and political theory conducted by the late Stanley Cavell. Interrogations of dimensions of scenarios and sequences of plotline, conceptual pursuit of some implications, and assessments of the realism at work in cinematic format are combined with mainly descriptive evaluations of character portrayals and dynamics as these relate to specified thematics of the identity/difference dialectic. The film puts in relief evolving meanings of prosthetics – which is to say changes in the practical as well as conceptual-semantic boundaries of “human being”: what counts as “same” versus “other”? “domestic” versus “foreign”? “integrity” versus “dissolution”? “safety” versus “danger”? And how do those polarities, understood within a unity-of-opposites dialectic, change, as human beings are confronted more and more stressfully by their own reproductions of “environment” – that is, the perspectival device of “what is ‘text’ and what is context’?” – and variations of that device by direct and indirect effects of human actions, as those actions have unfolded within recursive sequences of prior versions of perspectival device, a device repeatedly engaged, albeit primarily and mainly implicitly, as a “prosthetic that could not be a prosthetic.”
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Rachel Mindra, Musa Moya, Linda Tia Zuze and Odongo Kodongo
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between financial self-efficacy (FSE) and financial inclusion (FI) among individual financial consumers in Uganda.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between financial self-efficacy (FSE) and financial inclusion (FI) among individual financial consumers in Uganda.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a quantitative approach and cross-sectional research design, a sample of 400 individuals from urban Central and rural Northern Uganda was drawn. SPSS and AMOS™ 21, regression analysis and structural equation models were used to establish the hypothesized relationship between FSE and FI.
Findings
The results suggest a strong positive and significant relationship between FSE and FI. The results further suggest that other variables which were controlled for, such as age and gender, had significant influence on an individual’s usage of formal financial services.
Research limitations/implications
The study was assessed using both potential and actual consumers of financial services collectively. However, if separately assessed, possibly there would be a variation in behavioral responses toward FI.
Practical implications
Formal financial service providers need to enhance individuals’ levels of confidence in management of finances and utilization of formal financial products and services, so that the financial consumers can realize the changes in financial behavior and consequently FI.
Social implications
The enhancement of individuals’ level of confidence in evaluating the available financial service options will guide them to take financial decisions that will improve their livelihood.
Originality/value
The results contribute toward the limited empirical and theoretical evidence for FSE and FI from a behavioral demand-side perspective.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide a survey piece on the concept of privacy and the justification of privacy rights.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a survey piece on the concept of privacy and the justification of privacy rights.
Design/methodology/approach
This article reviews each of the following areas: a brief history of privacy; philosophical definitions of privacy along with specific critiques; legal conceptions of privacy, including the history of privacy protections granted in constitutional and tort law; and general critiques of privacy protections both moral and legal.
Findings
A primary goal of this article has been to provide an overview of the most important philosophical and legal issues related to privacy. While privacy is difficult to define and has been challenged on legal and moral grounds, it is a cultural universal and has played an important role in the formation of Western liberal democracies.
Originality/value
The paper provides a general overview of the issues and debates that frame this lively area of scholarly inquiry. By facilitating a wider engagement and input from numerous communities and disciplines, it is the authors' hope to advance scholarly debate in this important area.
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Rhoda C. Joseph and Mohammad Ali
The purpose of this study is to examine the primary sources and methods of Web-based messaging during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. The authors use ethical lens to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the primary sources and methods of Web-based messaging during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. The authors use ethical lens to develop a conceptual framework to inform and reduce conflicts of Web-based messaging associated with COVID-19.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper provides a comprehensive review of three different ethical schools and identifies the cohesive theme of common good across them. Common good leading to a greater good serves as the overarching ethical construct for Web-based messages that focus on society and not the singular individual, business or political ideology.
Findings
The findings suggest that the ethical construct of common good focuses on prioritizing the society over the individual and draws upon utilitarian principles focused on consequences, Kantian principles focused on intentions and Aristotelian principles focused on the definition of good. Web-based messaging on COVID-19 originates from diverse public and private sources and ethically can be governed by adherence to achieving the greatest good for society. Pervasive conflicts with COVID-19 messaging can be mitigated by pursuing a more ethical agenda with messages.
Originality/value
This manuscript provides a conceptual framework, based on ethical principles, to serve as a blueprint for Web-based messaging during a pandemic. This work offers an ethical perspective for communication during a pandemic and it is original in conceptualizing the components of Web-based messaging and decomposing them into the different levels where conflicts can occur. This article can serve as a template for Web-based communication pertaining to future pandemics and other events that benefit from prioritizing the impact on society over the impact on the individual.
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The purpose of this paper is to discover the relationship between the extended organizational commitment model (EOCM) and self-determination theory (SDT). The author shows that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discover the relationship between the extended organizational commitment model (EOCM) and self-determination theory (SDT). The author shows that specific dimensions of commitment can be associated with the forms of regulation and motivation.
Design/methodology/approach
Using literature analysis, the author sets the theoretical relationships between commitment and regulation (and motivation). The interrelated relationships are illustrated qualitatively by presenting case studies.
Findings
Like the regulation-based motivation scale, the dimensions of organizational commitment (OC) can be sorted and combined with regulation and motivation. The emotional-based OC dimensions (normative commitment as a sense of indebtedness (NC:HiSoI); normative commitment as a moral duty (NC:HiMD); affective commitment (AC)) are influenced by regulation and motivation. In the case of cost-based OC dimensions (deliberate commitment (DC); continuance commitment as a low perceived alternatives (CC:LoAlt); continuance commitment as high sacrifice (CC:HiSac)), the leaders’ motivational strategies are driven by their perceives of the employees’ OC. Commitment dimensions stemming from a degree of necessity are linked to lower levels of regulation, while commitment dimensions stemming from internal conviction are linked to the higher levels of regulation.
Research limitations/implications
The results also must be proved by quantitative researches later. The model presented in this study primarily supports the theoretical understanding of relationships, so its validity should be tested in different cultures, professions or employees with different qualifications and personalities in the future.
Practical implications
Significant resources can be saved for an organization if managers do not want to increase OC in general, rather only its one dimension, depending on the situation and goals, or if managers form their employees’ commitment profiles in a smaller team severally. However, in other cases, the employees’ commitment profiles set the useable motivational strategies, which call into question the suitability of universal motivation systems.
Social implications
From the point of view of employees, the synergy between regulation (and motivation) and OC contributes to the improvement of their psychological well-being and means more efficient use of resources for organizations.
Originality/value
The study shows the hierarchy of dimensions of the EOCM and its relationship with regulations in the SDT.
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Christopher J. Meyer, Blaine McCormick, Aimee Clement, Rachel Woods and Chuck Fifield
This paper aims to focus on a little studied but important type of conflict, zero‐sum situations. These conflicts are less likely to take place than those in which participants…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on a little studied but important type of conflict, zero‐sum situations. These conflicts are less likely to take place than those in which participants can come to an integrative agreement, but knowing how to best strategize for zero‐sum conflicts can lead to better outcomes in these situations.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants in the study utilized two specific strategies – purposive or contingent – in a rock‐paper‐scissors elimination tournament. The use of the strategy and the outcome were measured in a controlled setting.
Findings
Results demonstrate that using a strategy in a win‐lose conflict situation significantly predicts success. Further, competitive individuals are more likely to utilize strategies than other personality types.
Originality/value
This paper builds on the theory that individuals in conflict situations have preferences, pursue goals, and behave purposefully. In particular, the paper studies the antecedents to strategies employed in a conflict situation and that strategy's effect on the outcome.
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Mohammad A. Ali, Faiza Abbas and Rhoda Joseph
This paper intends to argue against the idea of an asocial business arena by reiterating the original philosophical underpinnings of theories on the creation of society, societal…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper intends to argue against the idea of an asocial business arena by reiterating the original philosophical underpinnings of theories on the creation of society, societal institutions and the relationship between society and societal institutions. This paper posits that business and ethics, though initially aligned, have been systematically maligned and distorted. The authors present a theoretically justified argument that business and ethics can and should seamlessly exist in the same realm.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a theoretical study that endeavors to go back to the original theories on business and society to challenge the view that business ethics is an oxymoron. For this purpose, the authors survey and interpret the scholarly works of Adam Smith, Aristotle and John Locke.
Findings
Given the economic debacles faced by the USA and the world economy in the past two decades, this study argues that one significant factor for these financial disasters could be that the original ideas about self-interest, societal interest, the free market system and the relationship between society and its constituting components, i.e. individuals, groups and institutions, have been distorted over time. Based on the interpretation of the original ideas around business and society, the authors find that some distortion of the original theories have indeed occurred.
Originality/value
This study is going against a well-established prevalent idea that business ethics is an oxymoron. It is claimed that the endoxa about business and its place in society often represents misinterpretations of the original ideas on the relationship between business and society. The originality of this work lies in challenging this dangerous idea by revisiting by journeying back in philosophical history to cut through the ideological scar tissue and reach the original arguments surrounding society and societal institutions.
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MIRIAM EREZ and RACHEL ISRAELI
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of three work‐value orientations — cosmopolitan, local and bureaucratic, on teachers' activities in the high‐school system…
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of three work‐value orientations — cosmopolitan, local and bureaucratic, on teachers' activities in the high‐school system. The research supported the notion that the bureaucratic orientation is not in conflict with the two other orientations and hence its effect on teachers' activities is not opposite to that of the local cosmopolitan orientation. Two hundred and sixty‐two high‐school teachers participated in the study. They answered mailed questionnaires which sought biographical data, measures of the three work value orientations and measures of five groups of school activities. Results indicated that teachers' activities are affected by their work‐value orientations. The bureaucratic orientation was not found to be in conflict with the two other orientations, but rather complementary to the local one in its effect on teachers' activity. The teachers who rated high in all three orientations were also the most involved in all five groups of school activities.