Many entrepreneurial firms risk falling into a cash flow “Valley of Death”‐the stage of a young firmʼs life when seed funding is running dry but the firm has yet to secure…
Abstract
Many entrepreneurial firms risk falling into a cash flow “Valley of Death”‐the stage of a young firmʼs life when seed funding is running dry but the firm has yet to secure sufficient additional funding to carry it through to product commercialization.This is particularly true in the nascent cleantech sector, where investments are often complex and capital intensive. Drawing on an in-depth interview with seasoned entrepreneur Brian Cunningham, CEO of the Wave Energy Conversion Corporation of America, this article explores the role of persistence in entrepreneurship, distinguishing between “calculated” and “blind” persistence.
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Ayden I. Scheim, Randy Jackson, Liz James, T. Sharp Dopler, Jake Pyne and Greta R. Bauer
Despite health inequities experienced by Aboriginal and transgender (trans) communities, little research has explored the well-being of Aboriginal trans (gender-diverse) people…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite health inequities experienced by Aboriginal and transgender (trans) communities, little research has explored the well-being of Aboriginal trans (gender-diverse) people. This paper aims to describe barriers to well-being in a sample of Aboriginal gender-diverse people in Ontario, Canada.
Design/methodology/approach
In 2009-2010, 433 trans people in Canada's most populous province participated in a multi-mode health survey. In all, 32 participants identified as First Nations, Métis, or Inuit (Aboriginal); unweighted frequencies were calculated to describe their characteristics.
Findings
Participants expressed diverse gender identities; 44 per cent identified with the pan-Aboriginal term two-spirit. High levels of poverty (47 per cent), homelessness or underhousing (34 per cent), and ever having to move due to being trans (67 per cent) were reported. In all, 61 per cent reported at least one past-year unmet health care need. Most participants had experienced violence due to being trans (73 per cent) and had ever seriously considered suicide (76 per cent). One-fifth had been incarcerated while presenting in their felt gender. Aboriginal spirituality was practiced by 44 per cent, and 19 per cent had seen an Aboriginal Elder for mental health support.
Research limitations/implications
Action is needed to address the social determinants of health among Aboriginal gender-diverse people. Using principles of self-determination, there is a need to increase access to health and community supports, including integration of traditional culture and healing practices. Larger study samples and qualitative research are required.
Originality/value
These first published data regarding the health of Aboriginal gender-diverse Ontarians illustrate both their heterogeneity and all-too-common experiences of individual and systemic discrimination, and barriers to care. Results highlight potential impacts of colonialism and social exclusion, and suggest priorities for ameliorative action.
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Margaret Robinson and Lori E. Ross
The purpose of this paper is to outline the use of intersectionality theory in research with gender and sexual minorities – that is, with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to outline the use of intersectionality theory in research with gender and sexual minorities – that is, with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) people, and lesser-studied groups such as two-spirited people.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the paper note the limited way that LGBTQ research has taken up issues of intersecting oppression. The paper outlines why theoretical and methodological attention to overlapping oppressions is important, and why theorists of intersectionality have identified the additive model as inadequate. The paper presents a sketch of current best practices for intersectional research, notes special issues for intersectional research arising within qualitative and quantitative paradigms, and finishes with an overview of how these issues are taken up in this special issue of Ethnicity and Inequalities in Health and Social Care.
Findings
Current best practices for intersectional research include. Bringing a critical political lens to data analyses; contextualizing findings in light of systemic oppressions; strategically using both additive and multivariate regression models; and bringing a conscious awareness of the limitations of current methods to our analyses.
Originality/value
This paper addresses the use of intersectionality theory in research with gender and sexual minorities, highlighting methodological issues associated with qualitative and quantitative paradigms in LGBTQ research.
Vic Blake, Jeff Hearn, David Jackson, Randy Barber, Richard Johnson and Zbyszek Luczynski
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the process of participating in a long-term collective memory work group of older men, focusing on the making/unmaking of older men and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the process of participating in a long-term collective memory work group of older men, focusing on the making/unmaking of older men and masculinities, and the potential of memory work with older men.
Design/methodology/approach
Participant review and reflection on collective memory work with a group of older men.
Findings
Collective memory work provides a novel way to explore ageing, gendering, men, and masculinities. Its potential for working with older men is examined critically in relation to gender politics, power and (in)equalities, interconnections and contradictions of men’s ageing and gendering, the personal and the political, as well as working with older men more generally, including those in transition and crisis.
Originality/value
There is little previous writing on this approach to ageing, men, and masculinities. The paper aims to stimulate wider applications of this approach.
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Vic Blake, Jeff Hearn, Randy Barber, David Jackson, Richard Johnson and Zbyszek Luczynski
The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of setting up and participating in a collective memory work group of older men, with a focus on the making and unmaking of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of setting up and participating in a collective memory work group of older men, with a focus on the making and unmaking of older men and masculinities through age, ageing, gender, gendering, and other intersections.
Design/methodology/approach
Participant review and reflection on collective of memory work group of older men.
Findings
Memory work is located in relation to related but different forms of writing and group work, emphasizing how in this method everyone becomes a writer, an author, a listener, a reader, a discussant, and a commentator. This provides a novel way to explore the constructions and intersections of ageing, gender, men, and masculinities.
Social implications
The potential of memory work, both for working with older men, and more generally is outlined. Key issues are: genuine and collective commitment to substantive change, not just at a personal level, but also at wider social/political/cultural levels; willingness to trust in the other members of the group, an issue that may be difficult for some men; and commitment for caring for one another especially in their moments of greatest vulnerability.
Originality/value
There is little, if any, other writing on this approach to ageing, men, and masculinities. The paper is therefore of great value, and may stimulate wider application of this approach.
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Koji Ueno, Lacey J. Ritter, Randi Ingram, Taylor M. Jackson, Emily Daina Šaras, Jason V. D'Amours and Jessi Grace
The authors aimed to identify the nature of customer harassment against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) workers.
Abstract
Purpose
The authors aimed to identify the nature of customer harassment against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) workers.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyzed data from in-depth interviews with 30 LGBTQ service workers in the United States who had recently experienced customer harassment.
Findings
Among various forms of customer harassment LGBTQ workers reported, some showed commonalities with previously reported cases of race-based and gender-based customer harassment. However, other cases highlighted unique aspects of LGBTQ-based customer harassment—customers morally condemned their LGBTQ identities, refused their service while displaying emotional disgust, and made sexual advances while imposing sexual stereotypes and fantasies about LGBTQ people. Experiences of customer harassment varied across subgroups of workers who had specific sexual and gender identities, and LGBTQ workers of color were harassed for their LGBTQ and racial identities simultaneously.
Originality/value
Past research on group-based customer harassment has focused on incidents against straight, cisgender women and workers of workers of color, but the present study identified the nature of customer harassment that targeted workers' LGBTQ status.
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In the late 2000s, the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) emerged to become the dominant mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation, bringing the sport to mainstream acceptance. The…
Abstract
Purpose
In the late 2000s, the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) emerged to become the dominant mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation, bringing the sport to mainstream acceptance. The purpose of this paper is to draw on theories of co-evolution and positive feedbacks to provide insights into how the UFC has assumed this dominant position.
Design/methodology/approach
A single historical case study is compiled drawing on data from a number of sources, including the UFC, US State Athletic Commissions, MMA web sites and prior UFC-related academic literature.
Findings
A number of significant growth dynamics are identified, including interconnections between the increase in free-to-air events and the generation of new UFC fans and revenues; the increased financial rewards to successful fighters that allows them to improve the quality of their training and the improved quality of UFC content; and the accumulation of a critical mass of high-level fighters that increases the reputation of the UFC and the increased attraction of new fighters to the organisation.
Research limitations/implications
Further in depth studies are necessary to substantiate and quantify the interconnections identified in this paper.
Practical implications
The paper provides insights for other non-mainstream sports organisations that are attempting to grow their participation and viewership.
Originality/value
The emergence of new sports and sports organisations such as the UFC with global appeal and significant commercial returns is infrequent. This study contributes to the need for understanding of how new sports enter the mainstream and the role that governing organisations such as the UFC play in achieving this transition.
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In the world of corporate real estate, there are as many intuitive methods for decision‐making as there are real estate executives. Some executives may use comparisons of new…
Abstract
In the world of corporate real estate, there are as many intuitive methods for decision‐making as there are real estate executives. Some executives may use comparisons of new sites to existing sites. Others have a checklist of characteristics that sites must have in order to be a ‘go’. Still others examine neighbourhoods around sites to determine if they will be successful. The current paper takes a look at the intuitive ways that real estate executives make decisions and demonstrates how scientific modelling mimics these decision strategies.
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Multinational enterprises (MNEs) own and control technological resources and capabilities that make them critical actors in accelerating the transition toward net zero. Even…
Abstract
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) own and control technological resources and capabilities that make them critical actors in accelerating the transition toward net zero. Even beyond the energy sector, stakeholders are putting increasing pressure on MNEs to reduce the carbon intensity of their operations, that is, to improve their carbon performance. While there is unambiguous evidence that national climate policy is a critical catalyst for long-term carbon performance improvements, there is limited research on how MNEs’ carbon strategies react to climate policies. This chapter reviews the concepts, drivers, and strategies connected to carbon performance in the broader sustainability and management literature to clarify potential complementarities to international business (IB). The authors then highlight how MNEs will face increasing institutional complexity along two dimensions: (1) the structural diversity of institutional environments and (2) institutional dynamism, primarily reflected by public policy. The proposed conceptual framework maps these two dimensions to national and subnational levels, and the authors present two data sources that allow the quantitative analysis of country differences in the diversity and dynamism of national climate policy. The authors conclude that there are ample opportunities for IB researchers to explore MNEs’ strategic reactions to climate policy and to inform policymakers about the consequences of national climate policy in the global economy.