Roos Wemmenhove and Wouter T. de Groot
As part of their commitment to sustainable development, the “greening” of curricula is a major objective of universities world‐wide. This paper describes the process of…
Abstract
As part of their commitment to sustainable development, the “greening” of curricula is a major objective of universities world‐wide. This paper describes the process of identifying principles for the (re)design of courses and programmes towards this aim within the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. These principles were elicited bottom‐up, from staff’s and students’ own visions of the issues involved. In their most condensed form, the principles thus found are: environment for development; in interaction with Tanzanian society; and in a student‐activating style. This contrasts with the usual conceptualisation of environment and development as normatively separate issues, with the trend to globalise the environmental issue, and with the top‐down teaching style that still dominates most universities. Both the study’s methods and its findings may be relevant for many more universities in the developing world.
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Dalia Aly and Branka Dimitrijevic
This research aims at examining public parks as a complex, interrelated system in which a public park’s natural system and its man-made system can work together within an…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims at examining public parks as a complex, interrelated system in which a public park’s natural system and its man-made system can work together within an ecocentric approach. It will create a framework that can support the design and management of public parks.
Design/methodology/approach
The article first introduces previous research and justifies the need for a new approach. It then uses conceptual analysis to examine the concepts that construct a park’s system through previous theoretical research. Finally, the public park system is constructed by synthesising its components and showing the interrelations between them. These components are defined based on previous theoretical and empirical research.
Findings
A public park system is defined as consisting of a natural system and a man-made system with multiple components that interact to offer the overall experience in a park. The defined system can be a useful tool for decision-makers, managers and designers in the analysis and evaluation of existing and potential projects to achieve multifunctional parks that are better utilised and have a wider influence.
Originality/value
The research offers an alternative approach for framing public parks that do not deal with their components in isolation from each other. This view of public parks brings together perspectives from different literature into one coherent framework that emphasises mutual dependencies and interactions in one integrated whole.
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Josep Bisbe, Anne-Marie Kruis and Paola Madini
Recent accounting research has connected the coercive and enabling types of formalisation (C/E) (Adler and Borys, 1996) with the distinction between diagnostic and interactive…
Abstract
Recent accounting research has connected the coercive and enabling types of formalisation (C/E) (Adler and Borys, 1996) with the distinction between diagnostic and interactive controls (D/I) proposed by Simons (1995, 2000) to tackle research questions on complex control situations involving both the degree of employee autonomy and patterns of management attention. The diverse conceptual approaches used for connecting C/E and D/I have led to fragmentation in the literature and raise concerns about their conceptual clarity. In this paper, we assess the conceptual clarity of various forms of connection between C/E and D/I. Firstly, we conduct an in-depth content analysis of 59 recent papers, and inductively identify three points of conceptual ambiguity and divergence in the literature (namely, the perspective from which a phenomenon is studied; whether categories capture choices driven by design or by style-of-use; and the properties of control systems). We also observe that the literature proposes various forms of connection (i.e. coexistence, inclusion, and combination approaches). Secondly, we use the three detected points of ambiguity and divergence as assessment criteria, and evaluate the extent to which conceptual clarity is at risk under each form of connection. Based on this assessment, we provide guidelines to enhance the conceptual clarity of the connections between C/E and D/I, propose several research models, and indicate opportunities for future research in this area.
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Sophie Guthmuller, Paolo Paruolo and Stefano Verzillo
This chapter summarises the role of EU actions in supporting healthcare policies in the EU Member States, both looking at implemented actions and describing current priorities for…
Abstract
This chapter summarises the role of EU actions in supporting healthcare policies in the EU Member States, both looking at implemented actions and describing current priorities for the future. It argues that these coordinated actions can be beneficial for EU Member States by helping them to avoid duplication of effort and to attain economies of scale. Moreover, data sharing with proper safeguards can unleash vast amount of ‘learning what works’ both for medical treatments and for healthcare sustainability measures. The need for this common learning appears ever more urgent while facing the health and economic consequences of the present pandemic.
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Ilse Goethals, Wouter Vanderplasschen, Stijn Vandevelde and Eric Broekaert
– The purpose of this paper is to summarize the main findings and conclusions of four separate studies on treatment in therapeutic communities (TCs) for addictions.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to summarize the main findings and conclusions of four separate studies on treatment in therapeutic communities (TCs) for addictions.
Design/methodology/approach
The first two studies address the core characteristics of the TC approach: a study on the workable and destructive elements of the Synanon model; and a comparative study on the essential elements of TCs for addictions in Europe and in the USA. The final two studies highlight clients’ perceptions of the TC treatment process in relation to retention: a study on clients’ first month perceptions of the TC treatment process and the influence of fixed and dynamic client factors; and a longitudinal study on changes in clients’ perception of the TC treatment process and the impact of motivation, psychological distress and cluster B personality traits.
Findings
The first study showed that Synanon’s therapeutic and pedagogical methods are still highly valued despite its negative reputation. The results of the second study suggest that while traditional TCs operate as concept-based TCs in Europe, modified TCs might differ in the extent to which they apply the core principles and elements of the TC approach. The third study provides evidence that suitability for treatment is a very important predictor for clients’ first month perceptions of the community environment. The fourth study shows that with time in treatment clients develop more profound perceptions regarding the essence of TC treatment.
Research limitations/implications
Finally, implications for clinical practice, general limitations and some concrete recommendations for future research are presented in this paper.
Originality/value
The PhD summary study contributes to the existing literature on TC treatment.
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The International Climate Change Regime is important for the very survival of the humankind. However, the unimpressive results and escalation of the challenges are becoming very…
Abstract
The International Climate Change Regime is important for the very survival of the humankind. However, the unimpressive results and escalation of the challenges are becoming very dangerous. By looking into participation at the international level, this chapter finds that women’s participation is very low. The chapter relies on the Feminist Theory for International Law and Relations to argue that the international regime is lacking women’s leadership traits as solidarity, creativity, and resilience. The cases of the El Nino in Peru, local farming in Brazil, and energy efficiency for cookstoves in Kenya present positive examples in which women’s participation is essential, generating a model bottom-up that includes local and transnational levels that fill that gap that risks global environmental and human health and life itself.
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This study aims to explore why certain firms can transition successfully to more sophisticated accounting and management control systems than others.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore why certain firms can transition successfully to more sophisticated accounting and management control systems than others.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses 20 semi-structured interviews with senior executives of former and present SMEs in the construction industry and business advisory firms to explore the factors behind making sophisticated control systems a permanent organizational feature.
Findings
Sophisticated control systems function based on the compliance of lower-level employees, whose lack of buy-in is a major hurdle for smaller firms. Foundational controls of basic human resources and systematic communication routines facilitate their buy-in through accountability, participation and information-sharing, without which firms fail to transition successfully to sophisticated control systems.
Research limitations/implications
The results are based on firms in a single industry and subject to the limitations of cross-sectional research. The transition strategy to more sophisticated control systems is important. This study suggests that foundational controls are necessary to successfully transition to more sophisticated controls.
Originality/value
This study focuses on smaller firms seeking to transition to more sophisticated control systems. This study identifies the key roadblock of noncompliance by lower-level employees, elaborates the role of foundational controls and describes the underlying mechanism behind gaining employee buy-in.
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Barbara J Stewart–Knox, Audrey Rankin, Brendan P Bunting, Lynn J Frewer, Carlos Celis-Morales, Katherine M Livingstone, Arnout R.H. Fischer, Rui Poínhos, Sharron Kuznesof, Mike J Gibney and John C. Mathers
Randomised controlled trials identify causal links between variables but not why an outcome has occurred. This analysis sought to determine how psychological factors assessed at…
Abstract
Purpose
Randomised controlled trials identify causal links between variables but not why an outcome has occurred. This analysis sought to determine how psychological factors assessed at baseline influenced response to personalised nutrition.
Design/methodology/approach
Web-based, randomised, controlled trial (RCT) was conducted across seven European countries. Volunteers, both male and female, aged over 18 years were randomised to either a non-personalised (control) or a personalised (treatment) dietary advice condition. Linear mixed model analysis with fixed effects was used to compare associations between internal and external health locus of control (HLoC), nutrition self-efficacy (NS-E) and self-report habit index (S-RHI) at baseline (N = 1444), with healthy eating index (HEI) and Mediterranean diet index (MDI) scores between conditions post-intervention (N = 763).
Findings
An increase in MDI scores was observed between baseline and six months in the treatment group which was associated with higher NS-E (p < 0.001), S-RHI (p < 0.001) and external HLoC (p < 0.001). Increase in HEI between baseline and six months in the treatment group was associated with higher NS-E (p < 0.001) and external HLoC (p = 0.009). Interaction between time and condition indicated increased HEI scores (p < 0.001), which were associated with higher S-RHI scores in the treatment than control group (p = 0.032). Internal HLoC had no effect on MDI or HEI.
Originality/value
Psychological factors associated with behaviour change need consideration when tailoring dietary advice. Those with weaker habit strength will require communication focussed upon establishing dietary habits and support in integrating advised changes into daily routine. Information on habit strength can also be used to inform how progress towards dietary goals is monitored and fed back to the individual. Those with stronger habit strength are more likely to benefit from personalised nutrition.
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Susanne Jansen, Marie-Christine P.J. Knippels and Wouter R. van Joolingen
The purpose of this paper is to explore the merits of lesson study (LS) as a research approach for research in (science) education. A lesson was developed to introduce students to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the merits of lesson study (LS) as a research approach for research in (science) education. A lesson was developed to introduce students to model-based reasoning: a higher order thinking skill that is seen as one of the major reasoning strategies in science.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants of the LS team were three secondary school teachers and two educational researchers. Additionally, one participant fulfilled both roles. Both qualitative and quantitative data were used to investigate the effect of the developed lesson on students and to formulate focal points for using the LS as a research approach.
Findings
The developed lesson successfully familiarized students with model-based reasoning. Three main focal points were formulated for using LS as a research approach: (1) make sure that the teachers support the research question that the researchers bring into the LS cycle, (2) take into account that the lesson is supposed to answer a research question that might cause extra stress for the teachers in an LS team and (3) state the role of both researchers and teachers in an LS team clearly at the beginning of the LS cycle.
Originality/value
This study aims to investigate whether LS can be used as a research approach by the educational research community.
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Santiago Velasquez, Petri Suomala and Marko Järvenpää
This paper aims to take note of the need to better understand cost consciousness from a management accounting perspective and serves as an exploratory study striving to analyze…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to take note of the need to better understand cost consciousness from a management accounting perspective and serves as an exploratory study striving to analyze how the notion has been addressed by management accounting scholars.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents the findings of a thorough literature review identifying the drivers, interpretations, definitions and results which management accounting scholars have associated with cost consciousness.
Findings
This paper has synthesized the definitions and interpretations by considering their conceptual broadness and the subjects that cost consciousness characterizes. In addition, various potential drivers of cost consciousness have been identified where management control systems play a major role. Also, this paper summarizes both the positive and negative outcomes which scholars seem to expect from an increase of cost consciousness.
Research limitations/implications
Given that no prior work has focused on the conceptual development of cost consciousness, it was necessary to infer most of the interpretations, drivers and results which management accounting scholars have associated to the cost consciousness notion.
Originality/value
Cost consciousness is a concept that appears in hundreds of peer-reviewed articles on management accounting. However, only a handful of management accounting scholars have defined or evaluated this concept to a certain degree. As a result, what management accountants believe cost consciousness to be, how it is driven and what result may be expected from it, is nowhere to be found in any synthesized manner. The findings of this paper develop the concept of cost consciousness by illuminating the common use of the construct across various disciplines.