Valentina Franca and Michael Doherty
The article focuses on the role that ‘confidential information’ plays in relation to the work of board-level worker representatives, and their interaction with other worker…
Abstract
Purpose
The article focuses on the role that ‘confidential information’ plays in relation to the work of board-level worker representatives, and their interaction with other worker participation mechanisms. Thus, the purpose of the paper is to explore the implications of confidentiality of board-level information for effective worker participation. The main argument is that if board-level worker representatives are excessively constrained by confidentiality provisions, their capacity to work effectively is brought into question.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research was undertaken on a sample of 12 public limited companies in Slovenia. In each company, three interviews were conducted: with the CEO or board member, with a board-level worker representative and with a works councilor, who was not a board-level worker representative (36 interviews in total). Each of these interviewees has a particular role, and interest, in handling confidential information. Thus, a method of triangulation by groups was employed. The interviews were conducted at the company premises during October and November 2017. The results were analysed by the content analysis method.
Findings
This research confirms that in the majority of companies, nearly all of the material and information discussed by the board is deemed to be ‘confidential’. Consequently, communication between board-level worker representatives and the works council is rendered difficult, if not impossible. The results indicate an urgent need to redefine the concept of confidentiality and to reinforce the level of communication between management boards and works councils.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited to one country, which, by no means, is fatal, as international comparisons, although of greater breadth, often lose some depth of analysis (especially, for example, where there are differences in legal contexts). Although the issues discussed in the paper are of relevance to all those with an interest in worker participation mechanisms, they cannot be generalised mostly due to national specificities.
Originality/value
The question of confidentiality as between the board, board-level worker representatives, works councils, trade unions and other form of worker representation, despite its importance, has been raised quite rarely in research. In this research, three groups of stakeholders (CEO/board member, board-level workers representative and works council members) have been covered, with the aim to extend the understanding of how confidentiality obligations impact relationships between these.
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Dasa Farcnik, Polona Domadenik Muren and Valentina Franca
The aim of the paper is to identify the causal effect of the COVID-19 induced crisis on students' decisions about their educational plans. The authors hypothesise that students…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the paper is to identify the causal effect of the COVID-19 induced crisis on students' decisions about their educational plans. The authors hypothesise that students adjusted their decisions by delaying graduation, dropping out or change the field of education because of increased uncertainty about future employment and monetary returns.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical approach is based on a survey done during the first wave of COVID-19 in Slovenia. The probability of dropping out, prolonging or stop-out is designed by applying probit and probit with insturmental variables empirical model.
Findings
Primary orientation towards work increases the probability of dropping out and financial constraints increase the probability of prolonging studies. The same holds after accounting for endogeneity. However, the authors do not find that poor job expectations due to COVID-19 affect students' decisions to prolong, drop-out or stop-out. The authors also find that the primary orientation toward work or study explains the differences in the probability of each outcome that is not influenced by enrolment in a particular field of study.
Research limitations/implications
The results cannot be read as an objective prediction of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on college failures. However, the study provides insight into how students' expectations change their intentions to prolong, drop-out, or stop-out during periods of high uncertainty. The extent, to which measured intentions are realised, however, is uncertain.
Practical implications
Understanding the response diversity and motives behind students' study decisions represents extremely valuable insights for economic policy. Mapped apprehensions, augmented by heterogeneity in personal and financial characteristics, are relevant for policymakers. In terms of future research, it would be interesting to analyse what changes occurred over a five-year period, specifically which field of study was most affected by students' adjusted plans due to the pandemic.
Social implications
Students have always been a special group in the labour market. After the initial shock of closing activities, studying online and the drastic decrease in student work due to COVID-19, the decision was made in spring 2020 to continue on the chosen path or not. This paper provides insight into the changing decision students made about their educational plans.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first to highlight the implications of COVID-19 for the adaptation of student plans in the transition from school-to work in Europe. It departs from the classical literature of college failures, as specific macroeconomic conditions influence students to reconsider their educational decisions. Moreover, the paper also contributes to the rapidly growing literature on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on household-level labour market outcomes, particularly with respect to job search and labour supply decisions in general.
Giacomo Di Foggia and Valentina Lazzarotti
The aim of this paper is to analyse the role and scope of revenue management and its impact on performance of Italian tourism industry. The paper takes into consideration…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to analyse the role and scope of revenue management and its impact on performance of Italian tourism industry. The paper takes into consideration exogenous factors that may enable or prevent business success. Prior research shed light from different lens.
Design/methodology/approach
Research design relies on an empirical analysis, information is gathered using a web survey. Variables are grouped into dependent (performance related items), independent and dummy, consistent with findings of existing literature. A questionnaire was e-mailed to a range of companies according to their NACE Rev.2 codes. The conceptual model is developed considering prior analysis of the literature.
Findings
This study provides new insights for practical business management operating in the tourism industry. Indeed, it clarifies the role of the revenue manager and shows its usefulness within SMEs.
Research limitations/implications
This study was conducted in only one sector and one country (Italy) and considered only SMEs.
Originality/value
Although interesting suggestions can be drawn by literature, to the best knowledge of the authors the empirical analysis is one of the few attempts to explore the topic in Italy in an extensive way.
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Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in…
Abstract
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.
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The purpose of this paper is to draw upon Johnson's “Circle of Culture” to develop a cultural approach for studying place marketing's internal audience. A research project on the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw upon Johnson's “Circle of Culture” to develop a cultural approach for studying place marketing's internal audience. A research project on the small Italian Renaissance city of Urbino explores how a number of marketing events dedicated to the painter Raphael, who was born there, have been produced and then received among different urban “populations” (dwellers, commuters, students, etc.). The second part of the paper conceptualizes events as both “inward” and “outward” forces and compares the Raphaellian events with some of Urbino's traditional festivities.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative study that applies discourse analysis to media texts, official documents and 42 in‐depth interviews held with both local officials and internal place consumers.
Findings
The inquiry reveals a predominance of discourses in support of the events: civic pride, identification, and economic benefits. What is more striking is that some participants not only appreciated the marketing events but “went beyond” by producing discourses in support of a more intensive exploitation of Urbino's cultural and heritage resources.
Research limitations/implications
Quantitative research is recommended to generalize evidence stemming from ethnographic inquiry and to measure “the magnitude” of the different discourses produced by the people.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to overcoming the materialist perspective which underpins a consistent part of literature by showing a new (counter)example of the “non‐oppositional voices” of place marketing. Moreover, it sheds more light on how “tertiary communication” takes place and how it can be properly investigated.
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Silvia De Simone, Gianfranco Cicotto, Roberta Pinna and Luca Giustiniano
Considering the ongoing international debate on the role of public administrations in economic systems, the interest around public service motivation (PSM) has significantly grown…
Abstract
Purpose
Considering the ongoing international debate on the role of public administrations in economic systems, the interest around public service motivation (PSM) has significantly grown among practitioners and scholars in the past two decades. Following the research streams that have investigated topics of organizational behavior within the public context, the purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of PSM on public employees’ feelings of job satisfaction. The novelty of the study lies in linking some characteristics of the work context presumed to be more prevalent in public organizations with specific job characteristics, regarded as relevant antecedents of job satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on two complementary studies conducted in an Italian public administration. The paper shows how PSM influences job satisfaction, job engagement, and life satisfaction.
Findings
This paper shows how PSM influences job satisfaction, job engagement, and life satisfaction. The findings display how job engagement affects both job and life satisfaction in such contexts. Additionally, the findings display how job engagement affects both job and life satisfaction in such contexts.
Research limitations/implications
Although based on a specific context of public administration, the analysis allows some generalizations.
Originality/value
Based on these results, the paper contributes to two main streams of the literature. First, it enriches the existing research on PSM by analyzing how it can be managed in complex organizations. Second, it informs the literature on job satisfaction and work-related stress and relates to the intersection between organizational behavior and human resource management that informs the drawing up of HR policies. Furthermore, the paper sheds new light on how to deal with such problems and at the same time opens new avenues for investigations.