Lee Cheng Koh, Rae Walker, Dennis Wollersheim and Pranee Liamputtong
The purpose of this paper is to present a mixed method study of social capital development and use, based on an intervention which provided women from refugee backgrounds with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a mixed method study of social capital development and use, based on an intervention which provided women from refugee backgrounds with social capital development skills and tools.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 111 Afghan, Burmese and Sudanese women living in Melbourne, Australia, received peer-support training and a free unlimited fixed-dial mobile phone for one year.
Findings
Interview and call log data suggest that the training sessions and mobile phones played important roles in bonding social capital development, resulting in a complex support network among participants. To a lesser extent, there was also evidence of bridging social capital creation. By providing linkages to government institutions through an interpreter service, the mobile phones gave participants easy access to linking social capital, in their heritage language.
Originality/value
The program supplements existing community resources with mobile phone technology to create social capital rich networks within these disadvantaged communities, and the authors describe the community characteristics that make participants amenable to such an intervention.
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Argues that the funding arrangements for UK higher education and inparticular the rules and rewards of the Research Assessment Exercise(RAE) have encouraged individuals…
Abstract
Argues that the funding arrangements for UK higher education and in particular the rules and rewards of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) have encouraged individuals, departments and institutions to prioritize research at the expense of teaching. Presents empirical evidence from geography, including the views of selected staff on the impact of the RAE on teaching in their departments and the negative impacts on the writing of textbooks and involvement in the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme. Argues that there should be a reappraisal of the impact of RAE on UK higher education. These developments are set in the context of the discussion of quality concerns in education in the United States.
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The purpose of this paper is to offer a Christian perspective on the ethical issues related to natural procreation and artificial reproduction methods.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer a Christian perspective on the ethical issues related to natural procreation and artificial reproduction methods.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses descriptive and comparative methodology between the ethical aspects specific to natural procreation and artificial reproduction.
Findings
Religious beliefs play a significant role in shaping the moral perspective when an infertile couple is confronted with the choice between natural procreation and artificial reproduction.
Originality/value
This paper survey a broad bibliography and offers a critical evaluation of the moral aspects specific to different methods of reproductive technologies compared to the natural procreation approach.
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Brendan Thomas O'Connell, Paul De Lange, Ann Martin-Sardesai and Gloria Agyemang
The purpose of this paper is to examine prominent issues and knowledge contributions from research exploring measurement and assessment of accounting research, impact and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine prominent issues and knowledge contributions from research exploring measurement and assessment of accounting research, impact and engagement. This paper also provides an overview of the other papers presented in this AAAJ Special Issue and draws from their findings to scope out future impactful research opportunities in this area.
Design/methodology/approach
Consists of a review and examination of the prior literature and the other papers published in this AAAJ Special Issue.
Findings
The paper identifies and summarises three key research themes in the extant literature: research productivity of accounting academics; the rise of the “Corporate University” and commodification of research; and, the benefits and limitations of Research Assessment Exercises. It draws upon work within these research themes to set out four broad areas for future impactful research.
Research limitations/implications
The value of this paper rests with collating and synthesising several important research themes on the nature and impact of measurement and assessment of accounting research, impact and engagement, and in prompting future extensions of this work through setting out areas for further innovative research in the area.
Practical implications
The research examined in this paper and the future research avenues proposed are highly relevant to university academics, administrators and regulators/policymakers. They also offer important insights into matters of accounting measurement, accountability, and control more generally.
Originality/value
This paper adds to vibrant existing streams of research in the area by bringing together authors from different areas of accounting research for this AAAJ Special Issue. In scoping out an agenda for impactful research in the nature and impact of measurement and assessment of accounting research, impact and engagement, this paper also draws attention to underexplored issues pertaining to areas such as the “lived experience” of academics in the corporatised university and envisioning what a future “optimal” system of measurement and assessment of research quality might look like?
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The social science research community in higher education in the United Kingdom constitutes the largest group of staff covered by any of the six research councils. Over 25% of the…
Abstract
The social science research community in higher education in the United Kingdom constitutes the largest group of staff covered by any of the six research councils. Over 25% of the people entered in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) had a social science base. This chapter examines the way the pattern of social science research in the UK has been affected by, mainly, the RAE, the interpretations and strategic implementations that flow from it, and the funding allocations it informs. It draws on my own previous work, and that of others across a range of social science disciplines, as well as a small survey of active researchers conducted in late 2004/early 2005 as processes were set in train for the 2008 exercise. The critique of a process based mainly on peer review provides food for thought for those in Australia, where a research quality assessment exercise is in prospect. Paradoxically, the UK may be moving, after 2008, to an approach close to the one being abandoned in Australia.
Petra Kipfelsberger and Heike Bruch
This study investigates the situations in which productive organizational energy (POE) and organizational performance increase through customer passion, that is, perceived…
Abstract
This study investigates the situations in which productive organizational energy (POE) and organizational performance increase through customer passion, that is, perceived customers’ affective commitment and customers’ positive word-of-mouth behavior. We integrate research on POE with research on customer influences on employees. Based on emotional contagion processes we develop hypotheses for the energizing influences of customers at the organizational level. We test the hypotheses using a dataset containing 495 board members and 8,299 employees of 152 organizations. The results show that customer passion is positively related to POE, which is in turn positively related to organizational performance. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the effect of customer passion on organizational performance through POE depends on top management team’s (TMT’s) customer orientation. By providing first insights into the linkages and contingencies of customer passion, POE, and organizational performance, this study puts forth a more holistic understanding of the energizing effect of customers on organizations.
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This paper aims to identify the successful strategies, through literature review, to be used in Kosovo to help integrate the Roma community and to reduce the community’s overall…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify the successful strategies, through literature review, to be used in Kosovo to help integrate the Roma community and to reduce the community’s overall social exclusion. This paper further examines the gaps between strategies and implementation results in reducing the social exclusion of the Roma through experiences of other European countries with similar political and socio-economic history as Kosovo.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a literature review and further examines the experiences of other European countries, with similar political and socio-economic history as Kosovo and their strategies in eliminating the social exclusion for Roma communities. A holistic socio-ecological approach is used as a recommended model to be used for the development of a strategy to reduce social exclusion among Roma Communities in Kosovo.
Findings
The social and economic implications are extremely negative for countries with large Roma minorities, such as Western Balkan countries and the European Union (EU) as a whole. Roma inclusion policies both in the EU and Western Balkans contain considerable flaws and tend to ignore the variables of discrimination and antigypsyism. There is an obvious need to act more urgently to prevent the exclusion of Roma and to create strategies for better inclusion. Overall, gaps seem to remain between the strategies and implementation results.
Practical implications
This paper aims to add to the existing literature about the ongoing efforts of the international development assistance community and communities in the developing world. This paper also aims to show the gaps in ongoing efforts and provide generic recommendations that may be applicable in many diverse situations with the aim of leading communities toward a self-sufficient sustainable future.
Originality/value
The Kosovo anti-discrimination law protects all individuals from discrimination; however, in practice, studies show that the Roma exclusion is very high in Kosovo. This paper stands among the first to analyze comparative literature and policy reviews.
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The purpose of this paper is to establish a historical context for the often maligned capital theory of Henry George within a North American frontier tradition that includes John…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish a historical context for the often maligned capital theory of Henry George within a North American frontier tradition that includes John Rae.
Design/methodology/approach
Modern discussions of rapid technological and institutional change provide a framework for detailed re‐examination of the capital theories of Rae and George, whose critics were largely constrained by a rigid neoclassical perspective.
Findings
Both Rae and George presented capital theories, defined as explanations of the supply of and demand for capital resulting in a determinate capital stock. Both writers stress elements that were not emphasized in neoclassical capital theory, most notably that the capital stock can increase rapidly under certain conditions; increases in knowledge, inventions, technical and technological changes, and scale are more important than mere accumulation of capital; high rates of return combined with rapid technical obsolescence and physical deterioration provide the opportunity for rapid changes in the form of the capital stock, and; the ephemeral nature, and hence potential mobility, of capital implies that security of property is essential for economic growth.
Research limitations/implications
The focus on two writers leads to the question of how widespread their ideas were in nineteenth century North America.
Practical implications
The rapidly changing technology and institutions that Rae and George observed place their theories closer to some modern trends in the study of economic development than to the literature of neoclassical capital theory.
Originality/value
George's grasp of economic theory deserves greater respect than it has often received in the economics literature when his work is considered in its historical context.