The paper aims to respond conceptually, rather then empirically, to policy ignorance. It seeks to examine certain aspects of whistleblower protection offered in the common law…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to respond conceptually, rather then empirically, to policy ignorance. It seeks to examine certain aspects of whistleblower protection offered in the common law countries of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides a four‐country comparison of whistleblower protection laws against 13 characteristics gleaned from the international literature on whistleblower legislation. This analysis is informed by considerations of the common law and corruption and critical state theory.
Findings
The conclusion reached is that the whistleblower laws established in the common law countries of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK variously contain serious structural deficiencies, particularly with respect to the scope of protection and the construction of corruption. The concern is that whistleblowers seeking protection under these inadequate programs will be hurt and there will be negligible impact on the profile of corruption.
Research limitations/implications
The major weakness in the analysis was the subjective and arbitrary way the disclosure management characteristics were selected to assess the disclosure laws of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK. Future research should seek more objective indictors of performance as well as a consideration of exterior indicators such as the impact of disclosure policies on corruption.
Practical implications
If the findings here are validated in subsequent research, then governments should urgently review their current whistleblower policies in order to improve disclosure protection.
Originality/value
A conceptual framework informed by considerations of corruption, the common law and critical state theory was used to put whistleblower protection in a wider context where state interest competed with the needs of whistleblowers.
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The purpose of this paper is to problematise the concept of corruption as it is used in the African context by exposing the weaknesses in the business model used to define…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to problematise the concept of corruption as it is used in the African context by exposing the weaknesses in the business model used to define corruption and resource the massive yet incompetent anti‐corruption effort. The paper then aims to follow this critique by considering an alternative way of dealing with the awesome dimensions of African corruption.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper utilises in‐depth secondary source analysis, applying critical theory.
Findings
Corruption's main interpretive framework, neo‐liberalism, is exposed as dominating, business‐centric and non‐utilitarian. A new paradigm with a strong ethnographic texture is presented.
Originality/value
The paper for the first time co‐analyses two contending paradigms for the construction of African corruption in the context of the global economic crisis.
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The paper aims to examine how the measurement of African “corruption” has been manipulated to serve western economic interests.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to examine how the measurement of African “corruption” has been manipulated to serve western economic interests.
Design/methodology/approach
In depth secondary source analysis within a post‐colonial framework.
Findings
The most popular measure of corruption, Transparency International's corruption perception index (CPI), is a flawed instrument. Capable only of calculating proxies of corruption, the measure is oblivious to cultural variance and is business‐centric in style. The CPI is embraced in good faith by African governments and donor organisations oblivious to its deeper purpose of serving western economic and geo‐political interests under the guise of weeding out something falsely portrayed as a universal negative.
Practical implications
The paper will assist efforts to ground the anti‐corruption effort in the realities of Africa.
Originality/value
The paper is part of a minority scholarship that seeks to provide space for the consideration of alternatives to the dominant conceptions of corruption and its measurement.
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The paper's aim is to present a personal viewpoint of the state of the information systems discipline in Australian universities and hence provoke useful discussion in academia…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper's aim is to present a personal viewpoint of the state of the information systems discipline in Australian universities and hence provoke useful discussion in academia and industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Informal interviews with Australian information systems academics, were carried out, along with inspection of university web sites and conference mailing lists, using biology as a reference discipline.
Findings
It would seem that the information systems discipline in Australian universities is close to collapse unless action is taken.
Research limitations/implications
The paper represents a personal viewpoint, the methods employed are such that the paper is indicative rather than definitive.
Practical implications
The paper is relevant to information systems academics, university managers, government and employers in Australia. It provides a useful referent for the consideration of education and immigration policies.
Originality/value
It has been some time since a paper considering the state of the art of the information systems has been published. No published paper has taken this perspective.
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Paulina Arroyo and Nadia Smaili
For more than four decades, scholars from diverse disciplines and countries have been interested in the act of whistleblowing. To battle financial fraud, financial regulators have…
Abstract
Purpose
For more than four decades, scholars from diverse disciplines and countries have been interested in the act of whistleblowing. To battle financial fraud, financial regulators have been developing whistleblowing programs to motivate and protect whistleblowers, i.e. those who sound the alarm after witnessing an illegal act in their organization. The purpose of this article is to review five historical phases of whistleblowing research. The authors analyze the themes covered by whistleblowing studies conducted over the past 50 years and draw a snapshot of the evolution of whistleblowing research.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examine academic papers published between 1970 and 2022 and inventory the disciplines involved in the literature and changes in the definition of whistleblowing.
Findings
The findings show the progress made in academic research (especially for the accounting discipline) regarding whistleblowing. The themes covered by academic studies became progressively diverse. However, this broader scope limited the depth of analysis and the level of self-criticism in the academic research. All but a few articles fail to view whistleblowing in light of its actual level of complexity, and the rationale behind limiting the definition of whistleblowing can only increase this myopia. Although most academic studies have adopted Near and Miceli (1985) definition of whistleblowing, the literature has yet to reach a consensus. Indeed, the analysis shows that Near and Miceli’s (1985) definition of whistleblowing is incomplete and narrow by today’s standards, not to mention out of step with regulators’ needs.
Originality/value
The main contributions are offering a big picture of whistleblowing academic research's evolution and proposing a more complete and updated view of this act.
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Osvaldo Hernández, Leila Regina Durán, Andrés Fresno and María Fernanda Chamorro
In response to the challenges posed by the social environment, numerous individuals with autism use coping strategies, engaging in a phenomenon known as “camouflaging” to mask…
Abstract
Purpose
In response to the challenges posed by the social environment, numerous individuals with autism use coping strategies, engaging in a phenomenon known as “camouflaging” to mask their distinctive traits. Despite the growing attention directed toward this area of study, to date, there are no bibliometric studies delineating the evolution of this research theme. This study aims to analyze scientific research on camouflage and the autistic spectrum published in Web of Science (WoS).
Design/methodology/approach
Articles on camouflage and autism were retrieved from the WoS. The advanced search interface used was “Title, Abstract, Keywords (autistic OR asperger syndrome OR Autism OR ASD AND camouflage OR camouflaging AND Masking).” The analysis and visualization of the selected records and their data were carried out using MS Excel (v16.0) and Biblioshiny (v2.0, R package).
Findings
Following the selection process, a total of 70 articles were included. Notably, the UK emerged as the leading contributor in terms of the number of published articles. Prominent authors in this domain included William Mandy, Laura Hull and Meng-Chuan Lai, who exhibited the highest number of published articles and citations. The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders stood out as the most prolific journal. Predominant research themes encompassed camouflage (and its synonyms, masking or compensation), gender differences and mental health.
Originality/value
This study contributes to existing knowledge on this topic, as well as identifying new areas of research related to autism and camouflage. Moreover, it serves as a valuable resource for health-care professionals, including physicians and clinical psychologists, who may seek to augment their understanding and proficiency in the field.
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This is a selective annotated bibliography of the literature on Christopher Columbus from 1970 to 1989. The subject is particularly relevant considering the approach of the…
Abstract
This is a selective annotated bibliography of the literature on Christopher Columbus from 1970 to 1989. The subject is particularly relevant considering the approach of the Quincentenary of the “discovery” of America in 1992. For that same reason, there has been an outpouring of literature on the subject since 1990, a significant subset of which contributes to are interpretation of Columbus the man, his voyages, and their impact on the new world. It is hoped that this more recent literature will be part of a subsequent annotated bibliography.
William Alomoto, Angels Niñerola and Maria-Victòria Sánchez-Rebull
The growth of mental disorders and their costs represents a public health challenge. This study aims to explore how a social club can help mitigate its impact through arts and…
Abstract
Purpose
The growth of mental disorders and their costs represents a public health challenge. This study aims to explore how a social club can help mitigate its impact through arts and sports workshops.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the social return on investment (SROI) methodology, the impact of the social club is evaluated by identifying stakeholders and quantifying their contributions. In addition, the relationship between patients’ attendance and the reduction of relapses and medication consumption is explored.
Findings
The SROI showed a positive return on investment, €12.12 per euro invested. This ratio indicates that the social club generates social value well above its initial costs. On the other hand, two stakeholders were identified as higher impact generators, and it was confirmed that sports activities generate more social and economic impact than art activities – however, the positive effects of art activities last longer over time. The study revealed a positive relationship between social club attendance and relapse reduction. Almost 90% of the participating users reported no relapses or emergency hospitalizations during the past year of attendance. In addition, a substantial decrease in medication dosage was observed. These results suggest that social clubs help stabilize mental health and reduce the burden on health-care systems.
Originality/value
The case study highlights the vital role of social clubs in supporting people facing mental health issues. Policymakers and health-care providers can use this knowledge to invest in more effective and sustainable mental health support activities.
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Marcio Pereira Basilio, Valdecy Pereira, Max William Coelho Moreira de Oliveira, Antonio Fernandes da Costa Neto, Orlinda Claudia Rosa de Moraes and Samya Cotta Brandão Siqueira
The database of the Web of Science (WoS) was searched for publications from January 1945–May 7, 2020 on the topic of domestic violence in titles, abstracts and keywords. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The database of the Web of Science (WoS) was searched for publications from January 1945–May 7, 2020 on the topic of domestic violence in titles, abstracts and keywords. The references were analyzed using the R bibliometrix package, and abstracts were analyzed using latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) with collapsed Gibbs sampling to obtain topics related to domestic violence.
Design/methodology/approach
The aim of the study is to explore and provide an overview of research carried out on domestic violence, in its various aspects, over the past fifty years.
Findings
As a result of the research, the authors can assert that in the last fifty years, 32,298 authors have produced 19,495 documents on the theme of policing strategy and related subjects in 111 countries. Scientific production in this area grows at a rate of 12.81 per year. The United States of America is the leading country in publications with 48.14%, followed by the United Kingdom with 7.57% and Australia with 6.05%. Regarding universities, the highlight is the University of California with 664 publications, followed by the University of London with 515 and the University of North Carolina with 484. As for journals, the highlight is the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Journal of Family Violence and Violence Against Women, which account for more than 14.32% of all indexed literature. Regarding the authors, the highlight is Campbell J.C and Feder G. Probabilistic topic modeling revealed that 18% of the topics concentrate 90% of all tokens. Topic 1 accounts for 27.9% of the sample and conducts research related to intimate partner violence.
Practical implications
As a practical implication of using the LDA in the bibliographic review, we infer that its capacity to explore large masses of data allows the researcher to explore an infinitely greater amount than the traditional methods of systematic literature review.
Originality/value
The value of these studies is summarized in the presentation of an overview on the theme in the last fifty years, offering the opportunity for other researchers to use this research as a starting point for other analyses.
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Yin Ma, P.M. Nimmi, Maria Mouratidou and William E. Donald
This study aims to explore the impact of engaging in serious leisure (SL) on the well-being (WB) and self-perceived employability (PE) of university students while also…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the impact of engaging in serious leisure (SL) on the well-being (WB) and self-perceived employability (PE) of university students while also considering the role of career adaptability (CA) as a mediator.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 905 domestic undergraduate students from China completed an online survey.
Findings
The findings reveal that participation in SL positively influences WB and PE. Additionally, the results indicate that CA mediates the SL-WB relationship but not the SL-PE relationship.
Originality/value
The theoretical contribution of this research comes from advancing our understanding of sustainable career theory through empirical testing of SL, PE, and CA on WB outcomes within a higher education setting. The practical implications of this study involve providing universities with strategies to support domestic Chinese undergraduate students in enhancing their WB and PE through active engagement in SL pursuits and the development of CA. Moreover, our findings serve as a foundation for future research investigating whether insights gained from domestic Chinese undergraduate students can provide solutions on a global scale to address the persistent challenges of improving student WB and PE.