A new librarian participating in an audit for the first time studies the process to alleviate her concern. She finds that auditing is an essential form of control in libraries and…
Abstract
A new librarian participating in an audit for the first time studies the process to alleviate her concern. She finds that auditing is an essential form of control in libraries and learns that the process is very helpful. The three kinds of audits are defined. Then the general procedures followed in auditing, as well as the results that should be expected from an audit, are summarized.
Marian Makkar and Sheau-Fen Yap
The purpose of this paper is to address the following questions: how do consumers construct meaning around their inconspicuous luxury fashion experiences? What desires do…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the following questions: how do consumers construct meaning around their inconspicuous luxury fashion experiences? What desires do inconspicuous consumers strive to fulfill? What sentiments do they associate with their inconspicuous luxury fashion consumption?
Design/methodology/approach
This exploratory research begins with a netnographic study of 11 online luxury blogs followed by in-depth interviews and home observations of ten luxury consumers with inconspicuous preferences in Dubai.
Findings
Inconspicuous choices are not simply for associative or dissociative motivations but several symbolic consumption schemas come into play. A typology of inconspicuous luxury fashion consumers has emerged: fashion influencers, trendsetters, fashion followers, and luxe conservatives.
Practical implications
The findings have potential to yield important managerial implications for fashion retailers and brand communications. The typology of inconspicuous consumers provides a basis for developing a more targeted relationship marketing program for luxury fashion brands.
Originality/value
This research advances luxury knowledge in fashion and consumer behavior research by unveiling how consumers construct meanings around their inconspicuous consumption. The typology developed in this study marks the starting point for further extensions to explore the complexities of inconspicuous luxury consumers, which are grounded in the roles they take on in society, how they plan their luxury consumption journey and how they eventually use these possessions for self-identification and communication to others.
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This paper attempts to put Goffman’s writings about disability in Stigma into the context of his own writings as well as into the context of current concepts of disability.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper attempts to put Goffman’s writings about disability in Stigma into the context of his own writings as well as into the context of current concepts of disability.
Methodology/approach
This is a critical review of historical literature in Sociology.
Social implications
The paper suggests how Goffman’s writings can underpin a concept of disability as a fluid and active state rather than a passive and stigmatized state.
Originality/value
By putting Goffman’s writings into an historical context within the development of the field of sociology, the paper shows that some of the ways in which disability advocates and scholars tend to denigrate his writings are really a misinterpretation.
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Uses qualitative data to explore how contemporary religious beliefs mark conceptions of work, particularly with regards to the beliefs of conservative protestant women. Compares…
Abstract
Uses qualitative data to explore how contemporary religious beliefs mark conceptions of work, particularly with regards to the beliefs of conservative protestant women. Compares liberal protestant women and men as well as conservative men against this group. States that conservative women consider motherhood as their most important work yet they are also most likely to feel “called” to their paid work. Cites that this has important implications for the sociological literature on gender and work. Builds on the original work of Max Weber.
Sharon Mavin, Philip Wilding, Brenda Stalker, David Simmonds, Chris Rees and Francine Winch
The purpose of this paper is to report on a Forum for HRD initiative to proactively engage with HRD practitioners to develop “new commons” in the research‐practice nexus…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on a Forum for HRD initiative to proactively engage with HRD practitioners to develop “new commons” in the research‐practice nexus. Researchers joined a community of UK university HRD practitioners, negotiated a research project mapping the terrain of HRD practice, explored how research informed these are and identified future practice relevant HRD research.
Design/methodology/approach
The research process is described as grounded in relationship building and collaboration. Researchers utilized qualitative research methods to develop small‐scale empirical research and explore HRD practice in four case study universities and the UK Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.
Findings
Findings are presented in the following themes: organizational approaches to HRD; underpinning philosophies and interventions as research informed and contracting and evaluating external providers and identifies opportunities to develop new commons between theory and practice via collaborative partnerships between the Forum for HRD and UK university HRD practitioners.
Research limitations/implications
Future empirical research which is practice relevant is necessary in the area of evaluation of non‐accredited HRD interventions, the challenges of developing leadership and management in UK HE and the HRD research‐practice nexus.
Practical implications
The paper has valuable implications for bridging the space between HRD research and practice; it surfaces the practitioners' “lack of voice” within the profession and field of HRD and the lack of opportunities for the development of individual HRD practitioners.
Originality/value
The link between practice and theory within universities should be more developed, as HRD academics, a theoretical resource, are also “clients” of a University's HRD approach in practice. The research highlights how the reverse is the case, with the link between theory and practice under developed.
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Steve McDonald, Amanda K. Damarin, Jenelle Lawhorne and Annika Wilcox
The Internet and social media have fundamentally transformed the ways in which individuals find jobs. Relatively little is known about how demand-side market actors use online…
Abstract
The Internet and social media have fundamentally transformed the ways in which individuals find jobs. Relatively little is known about how demand-side market actors use online information and the implications for social stratification and mobility. This study provides an in-depth exploration of the online recruitment strategies pursued by human resource (HR) professionals. Qualitative interviews with 61 HR recruiters in two southern US metro areas reveal two distinct patterns in how they use Internet resources to fill jobs. For low and general skill work, they post advertisements to online job boards (e.g., Monster and CareerBuilder) with massive audiences of job seekers. By contrast, for high-skill or supervisory positions, they use LinkedIn to target passive candidates – employed individuals who are not looking for work but might be willing to change jobs. Although there are some intermediate practices, the overall picture is one of an increasingly bifurcated “winner-take-all” labor market in which recruiters focus their efforts on poaching specialized superstar talent (“purple squirrels”) from the ranks of the currently employed, while active job seekers are relegated to the hyper-competitive and impersonal “black hole” of the online job boards.
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Krisztina Rita Dörnyei, Athanasios Krystallis and Polymeros Chrysochou
This paper aims to investigate the impact of assortment size and attribute quantity on the depth and content of consumer information searches.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the impact of assortment size and attribute quantity on the depth and content of consumer information searches.
Design/methodology/approach
For a computer-aided experiment using an information display board, participants (n = 393) were placed in a simulated shopping situation that involved choosing a product among three sets of frequently purchased, low-involvement, FMCG alternatives.
Findings
The findings show that when the assortment size increases, consumers acquire information from more products and cues but sacrifice product attributes. In particular, this sacrifice comes at the expense of secondary product attributes (e.g. nutrition information, country of origin), whereas primary product attributes (e.g. brand name, price) remain constant. Attribute quantity does not have a significant effect on information search.
Practical implications
Provided that several strategies rely on providing more information to consumers with the aim of making more deliberate and better choices, the findings suggest that they may have a limited effect in product categories in which the assortment size is wide. The authors discuss the implications for category management and public policy.
Originality/value
Information searches are measured by means of three different variables (searched cues, searched products and searched attributes), which enable a more complex exploration of the consumer information search process.