Roger Beech, Bie Nio Ong, Sue Jones and Vicky Edwards
This paper is an evaluated case study of the Wellbeing Coordinator (WBC) service in Cheshire, UK. WBCs are non-clinical members of the GP surgery or hospital team who offer advice…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper is an evaluated case study of the Wellbeing Coordinator (WBC) service in Cheshire, UK. WBCs are non-clinical members of the GP surgery or hospital team who offer advice and support to help people with long-term conditions and unmet social needs remain independent at home. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed method design assessed the outcomes of care for recipients and carers using interviews, diaries and validated wellbeing measures. Service utilization data, interviews and observations of WBC consultations enabled investigation of changes in processes of care. Data were analysed using simple descriptive statistics, established instrument scoring systems and accepted social science conventions.
Findings
The WBC complements medical approaches to supporting people with complex health and social care problems, with support for carers often a key service component. Users reported improvements in their wellbeing, access to social networks, and maintenance of social identity and valued activities. Health and social care professionals recognized the value of the service.
Practical implications
The WBC concept relieves the burden on health and social care professionals as the social elements of ill-health are addressed. A shift in thinking from ill-health to wellbeing means older people feel more able to regain control over their own lives, being less dependent on consulting professionals.
Originality/value
The WBC is a new service focussing on the individual in their health, social and economic context. Process and outcomes evaluations are rare in this field.
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Engineering as an exclusive male occupation is being eroded by the tide of sexual equality. But progress is slow. Paula Hann talks to women who have chosen engineering as a career…
Abstract
Engineering as an exclusive male occupation is being eroded by the tide of sexual equality. But progress is slow. Paula Hann talks to women who have chosen engineering as a career — and reports on the attitudes of their male employers.
Ray Qing Cao, Isaac Elking and Vicky Ching Gu
The purpose of this study is to examine how supply chain strategy affects a firm's sustainability performance and how the strength of that relationship is influenced by managerial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how supply chain strategy affects a firm's sustainability performance and how the strength of that relationship is influenced by managerial authentic leadership (AL) and its associated impact on interorganizational citizenship behavior (ICB).
Design/methodology/approach
Building on the intersection of three theories: organizational ambidexterity, AL and ICB, a mediated moderation model is developed and tested using structural equation modeling based on the responses from a cross-sectional survey administered by the authors.
Findings
The results reveal that an ambidextrous supply chain strategy is positively related to firm sustainability performance and this relationship is strengthened by AL. Furthermore, this study finds that this moderating relationship is partially mediated by ICB.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the first to empirically test the effect of supply chain ambidexterity on sustainability performance by explicitly considering how leadership characteristics can both directly and indirectly affect the efficacy of this relationship. The findings complement existing literature by providing novel insights into the ability of firm supply chain strategy to affect sustainability performance.
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Samantha Cooms and Vicki Saunders
Poetic inquiry is an approach that promotes alternate perspectives about what research means and speaks to more diverse audiences than traditional forms of research. Across…
Abstract
Purpose
Poetic inquiry is an approach that promotes alternate perspectives about what research means and speaks to more diverse audiences than traditional forms of research. Across academia, there is increasing attention to decolonising research. This reflects a shift towards research methods that recognise, acknowledge and appreciate diverse ways of knowing, being and doing. The purpose of this paper is to explore the different ways in which poetic inquiry communicates parallax to further decolonise knowledge production and dissemination and centre First Nations’ ways of knowing, being and doing.
Design/methodology/approach
This manuscript presents two First Nations’ perspectives on a methodological approach that is decolonial and aligns with Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing. In trying to frame this diversity through Indigenous standpoint theory (Foley, 2003), the authors present two First Nation’s women's autoethnographic perspectives through standpoint and poetics on the role of poetic inquiry and parallax in public pedagogy and decolonising research (Fredericks et al., 2019; Moreton-Robinson, 2000).
Findings
The key to understanding poetic inquiry is parallax, the shift in an object, perspective or thinking that comes with a change in the observer's position or perspective. Challenging dominant research paradigms is essential for the continued evolution of research methodologies and to challenge the legacy that researchers have left in colonised countries. The poetic is often invisible/unrecognised in the broader Indigenist research agenda; however, it is a powerful tool in decolonial research in the way it disrupts core assumptions about and within research and can effectively engage with those paradoxes that decolonising research tends to uncover.
Practical implications
Poetic inquiry is not readily accepted in academia; however, it is a medium that is well suited to communicating diverse ways of knowing and has a history of being embraced by First Nations peoples in Australia. Embracing poetic inquiry in qualitative research offers a unique approach to decolonising knowledge and making space for Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing.
Social implications
Poetic inquiry offers a unique approach to centring First Nations voices, perspectives and experiences to reduce hegemonic assumptions in qualitative research.
Originality/value
Writing about poetic inquiry and decolonisation from a First Nations’ perspective using poetry is a novel and nuanced approach to discussions around First Nations ways of knowing, being and doing.
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This paper seeks to report from a qualitative study of the global television concept Pop Idol with the aim of evaluating children's and teenagers' involvement as consumers, both…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to report from a qualitative study of the global television concept Pop Idol with the aim of evaluating children's and teenagers' involvement as consumers, both in their roles in purchasing goods and services, and being targets for well‐designed promotional activities.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on content analysis and interviews with children, the paper analyses the dynamics between marketing strategies, program content and child audiences.
Findings
The paper discusses how young consumers distinguish between two “regimes of truth” in the television concept: first the creation of a superstar, and second the broader phenomenon that Pop Idol represents, which is mainly about creating consumers through participation.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to acknowledging children's perspectives and childhood as not only valuable but necessary to inform consumer research, since children are deeply and unavoidably enmeshed in consumption in fundamental ways.
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In this tribute to Randy Hodson, I will demonstrate how the defining concept of his research – that “life demands dignity and meaningful work is essential for dignity” (Hodson…
Abstract
In this tribute to Randy Hodson, I will demonstrate how the defining concept of his research – that “life demands dignity and meaningful work is essential for dignity” (Hodson, 2001, p. 3) – has led me to fundamentally reinterpret much of my earlier fieldwork, principally represented in Managing in the Corporate Interest: Control and Resistance in an American Bank (Smith, 1990) and Crossing the Great Divide: Worker Risk and Opportunity in the New Economy (Smith, 2001). I then suggest that we add a fifth condition to his formulation of challenges to dignity. Hodson identified four: management abuse, overwork, limits on autonomy, and contradictions of employee involvement. The framework needs to be contextualized within the fifth major challenge of our times: the broader environment of employment precariousness under neoliberalism that has deeply affected our micro-experiences at work, including those singled out by Hodson.
Asks whether performance‐related pay can be compatible with TQM and examines the opinions of leading “gurus” on the subject. Looks at examples of good practice in performance…
Abstract
Asks whether performance‐related pay can be compatible with TQM and examines the opinions of leading “gurus” on the subject. Looks at examples of good practice in performance management in the United Kingdom and at the practical issues involved for an organization using TQM. Indicates how remuneration can be linked to several aspects of performance, both individual and in groups. Contends that if an organization is willing to invest money in a quality programme then it seems sensible to “link pay to the practices and process associated with organizational success”.
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The first cluster of papers in this volume studies the effect of worker participation on individuals, group processes, and organizations. This topic mirrors the predominant…
Abstract
The first cluster of papers in this volume studies the effect of worker participation on individuals, group processes, and organizations. This topic mirrors the predominant emphasis in the literature wherein worker participation, broadly defined, has been regressed against nearly every conceivable outcome in diverse work settings. Quite reasonably, a driving question for social scientists is what happens when worker participation is introduced. What are the consequences of top-down participation schemes and are they meaningful? Do they change the distribution of rewards and opportunities, or reconfigure dynamics between workers? The study of outcomes is significant because it touches on whether worker participation programs genuinely change the nature of work, improve workers’ jobs, strengthen workers’ hand or merely perpetuate traditional power structures.