Elanor Gibson, Nicola Ramsden, Rachel Tomlinson and Charlie Jones
The purpose of this paper is to understand whether a woodland-based intervention might offer something helpful and engaging for people affected by dementia. In total, 18 people…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand whether a woodland-based intervention might offer something helpful and engaging for people affected by dementia. In total, 18 people came to Woodland Wellbeing groups over summer and autumn in 2016.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors made observations during the groups, kept some notes and conducted some interviews around three months after people had participated in Woodland Wellbeing.
Findings
Feedback from participants indicated themes around connection with nature and to one another; the joy in new learning and activities; and the inspirational impact of feeling part of nature.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the growing literature on natural approaches in supporting the wellbeing of people affected by dementia, and highlights the value of partnership working.
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William Cooke, Rachel Anne Tomlinson, Richard Burguete, Daniel Johns and Gaëlle Vanard
The purpose of this paper is to rigorously determine the tensile properties of a selective laser sintering (SLS) material. Emphasis was placed on the anisotropy and inhomogeneity…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to rigorously determine the tensile properties of a selective laser sintering (SLS) material. Emphasis was placed on the anisotropy and inhomogeneity of the material, the repeatability of the SLS process, and the effect of age (actually moisture absorption) on the material properties.
Design/methodology/approach
Two builds of 144 dogbone tensile specimens each were tested, with 18 specimens stored for 43 days in a non‐desiccated environment before testing. Specimens were distributed throughout the build volume and aligned with the apparatus' principal axes. Tensile properties were treated statistically, using the t‐test to determine the differences between various samples.
Findings
The material was transversely isotropic in Young's modulus and strain to failure, and generally orthotropic in ultimate tensile strength. The material was inhomogeneous throughout the build volume and affected by age, with a 57 per cent reduction in University of Technology after 43 days (the changes in properties were suggested to be due to moisture absorption). Properties varied by up to 25 per cent from build‐to‐build with no change in nominal process parameters.
Research limitations/implications
It was not possible to confirm the “ageing” effect was caused by moisture absorption, and further work is suggested in this area. The causes of inhomogeneity and the effect of re‐coater action should also be studied further.
Originality/value
This is the most complete study of an SLS material's mechanical properties to date. The statistical analyses used further allow increased confidence in the conclusions drawn. This is also the only study to use cross‐fill scanning to produce specimens, and, therefore, isolate the effect of the re‐coater action.
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Muhammad Zia-ur-Rehman, Khalid Latif, Muhammad Mohsin, Zahid Hussain, Sajjad Ahmad Baig and Izma Imtiaz
The basic intention of this research is to investigate the role of information transparency of financial institutions and psychological attitude of the individuals toward their…
Abstract
Purpose
The basic intention of this research is to investigate the role of information transparency of financial institutions and psychological attitude of the individuals toward their attention to saving and borrowing. This study also tries to know how an individual's psychological factor affects a person's attitude to motivate them to save or borrow and contribute to well-being by giving them confidence that they can face financial challenges. So, the main concern of this study is to explore different factors that ultimately contribute to the financial well-being (FWB) of individual.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was conducted by using a well-structured questionnaire to collect data and test the developed hypotheses by using SmartPLS. Data were collected from 120 customers of seven different commercial banks in Pakistan.
Findings
The findings of this study show that perceived information transparency positively affects FWB. It is also because transparent shared information creates positive change in individuals' perceived self-efficacy and leads to FWB. Furthermore, an individual's psychological attitude toward borrowing and saving did not contribute to the FWB of people who belong to Pakistan.
Research limitations/implications
The research area is limited to one city of Pakistan and analysis is done with small numbers of sample, it can be increased and more areas can be explored.
Practical implications
This research provides significant implications for people and economists by providing awareness about the antecedents of FWB. The policymakers or managers who work in financial institutions should provide more transparent information and create less risky opportunities to improve the individual's well-being. If person, manager and financial institution can properly utilize the information of this study, then they are able to improve their FWB. By providing more transparent services and favorable experience with your dealings, it could help to obtain and retain more loyal internal (employees) and external customers. The loyal customers and sincere employees can increase the productivity level of organization. The more productive organizations in countries means better society and progress in the economy.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the body of knowledge that how perceived information transparency and psychological attitude of borrowing create improvement and upward changes in the FWB of a person.
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Iva Jestratijevic, James Ohisei Uanhoro and Rachel Creighton
The purpose of this quantitative study is to identify disclosure strategies for transparency in sustainability reporting to support strategic thinking around transparency in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this quantitative study is to identify disclosure strategies for transparency in sustainability reporting to support strategic thinking around transparency in the fashion industry. This research has two specific research objectives: to capture progress towards greater transparency across sustainability reporting areas, across fashion brands and years, and to identify strategic approaches for transparency in sustainability reporting by revealing common patterns in business disclosure.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors cross-sectionally analyzed secondary data using four consecutive Fashion Transparency Indices (2017–2020). Brands' strategies for transparency in sustainability reporting were examined through the stakeholder theory lens.
Findings
Findings confirm the presence of four approaches to disclosure: measurable, ambiguous, policy-only and secretive strategy. The disclosure was disproportionally distributed between 30% brands as transparency leaders and 70% brands as transparency laggards. The most transparent brands were not necessarily those rated highest by the index but those whose progress toward transparency was traceable over the years.
Research limitations/implications
The study has overcome the limitation of the verifiability approach, supporting the requirement for diachronic and strategic disclosure assessments.
Practical implications
As most brands hesitantly disclose sustainability information, stakeholders cannot know whether business policies equate to more than a corporate wish list. If there is no inspection for mandatory business disclosure, and if there is no penalty for disclosure violations, some fashion retailers will continue to generate profits while operating in an uncompliant and “opaque” manner.
Originality/value
The framing of disclosure strategies for transparency in sustainability reporting is the first scholarly effort to investigate diachronically sustainability disclosure among a big sample of major fashion brands.
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Annette McKeown, Gemma MacMillan, Ella Watkins, Domanic Caveney, Anna Smith, Patrick Jack Kennedy, Rachel Atkins and Robyn Lee
The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented for young people within the UK. The pandemic has presented particular challenges for vulnerable children and young people. For example, a…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented for young people within the UK. The pandemic has presented particular challenges for vulnerable children and young people. For example, a recent study in the UK indicated that 83% of young people with existing mental health conditions said the pandemic had made their condition worse (Young Minds, 2020). To date, the impact upon populations such as young people in Secure Children’s Homes (SCHs) is unknown. This study aims to elucidate this area.
Design/methodology/approach
SCHs provide a safe, supportive environment for vulnerable young people who frequently present with multiple and complex needs. Young people residing within a SCH may be residing at the setting because of a Secure Accommodation Order under a Section 25 Order of the Children’s Act (1989) or for criminal justice reasons, i.e. serving a Remand period or custodial sentence. Preliminary research compared a baseline period to a follow-up period after the commencement of COVID-19 national lockdown measures within a SCH in the North of England to develop understanding of the impact for young people.
Findings
A significant decrease in overall incidents (t (5) = −6.88, p < 0.001), restraints (t (5) = −9.07, p < 0.001) and other incidents including assaults occurred during follow-up. The SECURE STAIRS framework supports trauma-informed care and enhances support within the setting. Consistent with the framework, provision of formulation meetings was significantly increased within the follow-up period (Welsh’s t (74) = −2.74, p < 0.001). Reflections and future recommendations are outlined.
Originality/value
The unanticipated results highlight the value of examining incident data within secure environments and could lead to effective practice changes for practitioners working within this domain. This research also demonstrates how frameworks such as SECURE STAIRS can be beneficial for vulnerable young people during periods of change and stress in mitigating some of the potential negative effects. The implementation of such frameworks within SCHs is still novel and thus evaluative research is valuable.
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David P. Chitakunye and Pauline Maclaran
The purpose of the paper is to understand the meanings young people give to their food consumption practices in the mealtime interdependencies at home or at school.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to understand the meanings young people give to their food consumption practices in the mealtime interdependencies at home or at school.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses an interpretive research strategy and adopts a multi‐method approach that includes depth interviews, visual diaries, and participant observations during school and family mealtimes. Informants were young people aged between 13 and 17.
Findings
The paper finds a key theme that is emerging in relation to the meanings created with food consumption is the relationship between formal and informal environments for food consumption and between parental and teacher control, and how these are mediated by the media. In response to mealtime interdependencies, informants adopt rebellious and informal everyday mealtime practices such as “eating‐in‐front‐of‐the‐television”, “eating‐at‐any‐time”, and “speed‐eating”. The emergent practices may be interpreted as a form of intergenerational conflict communicated through consumption acts, and ways of negotiating social relationships within social institutions.
Practical implications
The environment of food consumption may affect the uptake of school meals as well as family meals, and this may impact upon young people's dietary choices and behaviour. Additionally, the results indicate that parents (and teachers) learn from children about new ways to maintain family relatedness and love at mealtimes.
Originality/value
The work in this paper explores the realm of food consumption practices as a political arena involving social institutions.
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Rachael Hains-Wesson and Kaiying Ji
In this study, the authors explore students' and industry’s perceptions about the challenges and opportunities of participating in a large-scale, non-compulsory, individual…
Abstract
Purpose
In this study, the authors explore students' and industry’s perceptions about the challenges and opportunities of participating in a large-scale, non-compulsory, individual, in-person and unpaid business placement programme at an Australian university. The placement programme aims to support students' workplace transition by emphasising the development of key employability skills through reflective learning and linking theory to practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilising a case study methodology and integrating survey questionnaires, the authors collected both quantitative and qualitative data with large sample sizes.
Findings
The results highlight curriculum areas for improvement, emphasising tailored feedback to manage placement expectations and addressing employability skill strengths and weaknesses.
Practical implications
Recommendations include co-partnering with students to develop short, tailored and hot tip videos along with online learning modules, including the presentation of evidence-based statistics to inform students about post-programme employment prospects.
Originality/value
The study contributes to benchmarking good practices in non-compulsory, individual, in-person and unpaid placement pedagogy within the business education context.
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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the story of 15 TEFL/TESOL English language teachers who spend their lives working globally.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the story of 15 TEFL/TESOL English language teachers who spend their lives working globally.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews from the research based on the grounded approach generated, among others, three inter-related themes, namely, the global drift, distinctive cultural dispositions and the concept of global quality.
Findings
The global drift symbolizes interviewees’ mobility pattern and captures their Hong Kong experience in four states – adaptation, drifting in global comfort, drifting in global discomfort and bitter/sweet home, each representing a different quality of mobility which contributes to the development of cultural dispositions. Findings of cultural disposition home and openness are considered in relation to studies of its kind. Four aspects of home perceptions in the data are identified. While interviewees developed complex and varied notions of home, it is argued that the geographical home remains a significant resource in the making of home. Data also suggest that most interviewees’ openness is limited – it is selective, functional and transient. Global quality, a concept emerged from the research, summarizes the distinctive cultural traits of the community of the globals. It overlaps with, but does not necessarily equate with, cosmopolitanism.
Originality/value
The conclusion relates the study, including the concepts generated from this research, to cosmopolitanism. Two theoretical constructs are employed in the analysis: form of mobility and nature of mobility.
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Sunday O. Obi, Festus E. Obiakor, Stephanie L. Obi, Tachelle Banks, Sean Warner and Natalie Spencer
The historian, Arthur M. Schlesinger (1999), once wrote that “a basic theme of American history has been the movement, uneven but steady, from exclusion to inclusion” – a movement…
Abstract
The historian, Arthur M. Schlesinger (1999), once wrote that “a basic theme of American history has been the movement, uneven but steady, from exclusion to inclusion” – a movement “fueled by ideals” (p. 173). He might well have been talking about the United States’ public education system where it has become evident that segments of its pupil population have been overlooked or neglected. The good news is that there have been some efforts to ameliorate this problem. However, despite these efforts, there continues to be lingering problems for culturally and linguistically diverse students with gifts and talents. In this chapter, we address how to maximize the success potential of these students.
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Sheila Riddell, Lyn Tett, Hazel Christie, Rachael King and Sofia Shan