Paige M. Hulls, Frank de Vocht, Richard M. Martin and Rebecca M. Langford
Around 400,000 working days per year are lost in the construction industry due to stress, depression or anxiety, but a large proportion of the industry – those primarily not based…
Abstract
Purpose
Around 400,000 working days per year are lost in the construction industry due to stress, depression or anxiety, but a large proportion of the industry – those primarily not based “on-site” – is not included in these statistics. Little research has been conducted in this group about their experiences of occupational stress. The authors explored how stress was experienced and managed by construction professionals and its perceived impact on health.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors interviewed 32 construction professionals in a British construction company, with varying levels of seniority and years in the industry. Interviews were transcribed, coded and analysed thematically.
Findings
Stress was viewed an inevitable and increasing part of the construction industry, exacerbated by recent economic challenges. Participants talked about a culture of stress and overwork but often felt unable to challenge it due to job insecurity. Senior management acknowledged stress was a problem within the industry and something that potentially threatened company productivity. Company-wide initiatives had been implemented to address stress levels (e.g. Mental Health First Aiders), but were criticised for ignoring underlying issues. Informal means of managing stress were identified, such as careful consideration of team dynamics, which allowed employees to form close bonds and using “banter” and camaraderie to relieve stress. However, the persistence of a macho male image meant some participants were reluctant to talk about their feelings at work. Participants described individual coping strategies, such as exercise, but these were hard to prioritise in challenging times.
Originality/value
There is growing recognition that health and well-being must be given greater priority in the construction industry. Industry pressures and competitive practices undermine efforts to improve staff well-being. Action must be taken at senior levels to address this conflict, while building on existing informal mechanisms of support and stress relief.
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Richard Martin Pates, Rebecca Hannah Harris, Millicent Lewis, Sumayah Al-Kouraishi and David Tiddy
This paper aims to examine the need for outcome research in secure children’s homes, explaining the problems for young people and how we can remedy this.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the need for outcome research in secure children’s homes, explaining the problems for young people and how we can remedy this.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a discussion paper raising issues of importance as to who these children are, what is provided and how well they work in providing what is a very expensive service.
Findings
There is a great need to investigate the efficacy of secure children’s homes by assessing outcomes.
Originality/value
As far as the authors are aware, this topic has not been previously discussed in academic journals.
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Richard Martin Pates and Kristian Hooper
Secure Children’s Homes are safe environments where many of the most troubled children in British society are resident. These children are from either a criminal background or…
Abstract
Purpose
Secure Children’s Homes are safe environments where many of the most troubled children in British society are resident. These children are from either a criminal background or referred for protection of themselves and others from harm. There is often a history of drug use and diagnoses of mental health problems before admission. The purpose of this paper is to examine one Secure Children’s Home to determine the level of drug use prior to admission compared to surveys of children not in this environment and to examine the veracity of the mental health diagnoses.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a retrospective examination of case notes for admissions from 2014 to 2015.
Findings
The study found much higher levels of drug use than in the general population at similar age and a wide diagnosis of mental health problems prior to admission.
Research limitations/implications
Levels of harm from traumatic childhood events need to be recognised by referrers as maybe leading to attachment disorders and not mental health problems. More research is needed into the outcomes form Secure Children’s Homes in the long term.
Practical implications
The children in these homes do have as anticipated much higher levels of drug use than in the general population and high levels of mental health diagnoses which are not always borne out during their admission to the children’s home.
Originality/value
This is an examination of a special population of young people indicating high levels of drug use and mental health problems.
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In Chapter 1, a broad overview of the scope of entrepreneurialism in policing and criminal contexts which are broadly positive in nature was developed. In Chapter 2, the scrutiny…
Abstract
In Chapter 1, a broad overview of the scope of entrepreneurialism in policing and criminal contexts which are broadly positive in nature was developed. In Chapter 2, the scrutiny to cover socio-cultural and organisational barriers to the implementation of entrepreneurial policing are extended. These include police culture, organisational traits such as ‘Machismo’ and ‘Conformism’, the restrictive nature of the police rank structure, the military model of policing, bureaucracy, risk-aversion, anti-entrepreneurialism, anti-intellectualism, the ‘Maverick’ stereotype, and the ‘Questioning Constable’. Many of these elements are of a negative nature and inhibit the implementation of entrepreneurial policing and practices. Also the entrepreneurial organisation and issues such as privatisation, commercialisation, innovation, and technology which also inhibit entrepreneurialism in policing contexts, but which also offer significant opportunities, are considered.
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This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/09513559710156706. When citing the…
Abstract
This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/09513559710156706. When citing the article, please cite: Martin Kitchener, Richard Whipp, (1997), “Tracks of change in hospitals: a study of quasi-market transformation”, International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 10 Iss: 1/2, pp. 47 - 61.
Roger Martin, Richard Florida, Melissa Pogue and Charlotta Mellander
This paper aims to marry Michael Porter’s industrial cluster theory of traded and local clusters to Richard Florida’s occupational approach of creative and routine workers to gain…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to marry Michael Porter’s industrial cluster theory of traded and local clusters to Richard Florida’s occupational approach of creative and routine workers to gain a better understanding of the process of economic development.
Design/methodology/approach
Combining these two approaches, four major industrial-occupational categories are identified. The shares of US employment in each – creative-in-traded, creative-in-local, routine-in-traded and routine-in-local – are calculated, and a correlation analysis is used to examine the relationship of each to regional economic development indicators.
Findings
Economic growth and development is positively related to employment in the creative-in-traded category. While metros with a higher share of creative-in-traded employment enjoy higher wages and incomes overall, these benefits are not experienced by all worker categories. The share of creative-in-traded employment is also positively and significantly associated with higher inequality. After accounting for higher median housing costs, routine workers in both traded and local industries are found to be relatively worse off in metros with high shares of creative-in-traded employment, on average.
Social implications
This work points to the imperative for the US Government and industry to upgrade routine jobs, which make up the majority of all employment, by increasing the creative content of this work.
Originality/value
The research is among the first to systematically marry the industry and occupational approaches to clusters and economic development.
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C. Richard Baker and Martin E. Persson
Accounting history has tended to ignore the accounting research enterprise, focusing instead on particular episodes or periods, such as histories of standards setting or histories…
Abstract
Accounting history has tended to ignore the accounting research enterprise, focusing instead on particular episodes or periods, such as histories of standards setting or histories of the accounting profession. In effect, methodological and theoretical differences within the accounting research discipline have so profoundly divided the discipline that researchers working in one area are relatively unable or unwilling to understand the key issues in other areas. This chapter seeks to shed some light on the greatest divide in accounting research: the divide between positive and critical accounting research. This chapter argues that both positive and critical accounting research can trace their origins to certain key figures who were doctoral students at the University of Chicago in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The chapter employs Foucault’s concept of genealogy to examine the origins of the positivist and critical paradigms in accounting research.
C. Richard Baker and Martin E. Persson
Accounting conventions, norms, and standards play an important role in modern society in various areas related to the measurement of economic performance, allocation of capital…
Abstract
Accounting conventions, norms, and standards play an important role in modern society in various areas related to the measurement of economic performance, allocation of capital, regulation of commercial activity, and taxation. From a historical perspective, the emergence of accounting standards-setting bodies at national and international levels is a recent phenomenon, dating perhaps only to the early years of the twentieth century. Accounting standards setting as a whole has been influenced by several key factors, including the practices of commercial enterprises and professional accountants, rules and regulations created by law, and academic theories regarding the nature of assets and the measurement of business income. The purpose of this chapter is to trace the historical development of accounting standards setting in the United States during the first part of the twentieth century, until approximately 1939, which marked the creation of the Committee on Accounting Procedure of the American Institute of Accountants, which was most likely the first accounting standards-setting body in the industrial world. From 1900 to 1939, there were significant debates about the advisability and feasibility of uniform accounting standards and the manner in which such standards ought to be implemented. These debates formed the basis for subsequent national and international accounting standards-setting bodies and are worthy of detailed examination.
C. Richard Baker and Martin E. Persson
In this chapter, we study the evolution of the auditor’s report from its emergence more than 150 years ago to the present. During this period, the standard auditor’s report has…
Abstract
In this chapter, we study the evolution of the auditor’s report from its emergence more than 150 years ago to the present. During this period, the standard auditor’s report has evolved from a rudimentary form to its current and more sophisticated structure with a clearly defined title, addressed to specific entities, and systematically divided into sections that are meant to highlight certain aspects of the audit examination. We describe the major events that have affected the financial reporting environment in the United States and, in turn, how these events have transformed the auditor’s report over the last century. As will be demonstrated in the chapter, the progression of the presentation of the auditor’s report, from being a certification to the standard report of the present day, has been guided primarily by the kind of information that investors and creditors wanted to know in relation to their investments in public companies. However, the desire for that information was often influenced by periodic incidents of corporate scandals. These scandals made it imperative that a monitoring mechanism was established to maintain the confidence of investors and creditors in the reporting of financial information about companies and the overall functioning of the capital markets.