scholarly journals VIEWS ON AGING: NEW PERSPECTIVES FOR THEORY AND RESEARCH

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S786-S786
Author(s):  
Verena Klusmann ◽  
Anna E Kornadt

Abstract Over the past 20 years, research on views on aging has substantiated their importance for successful development and sustained quality of life over the full length of the life span. However, a deep understanding of the origins of views on aging and the underlying processes of their lifespan development and manifestation is lacking. Since 2017, the scientific network “Images of Aging” funded by the German Research Foundation (http://www.health.uni-konstanz.de/images-of-aging) assembles national and international renowned experts in the field. The network engages in empirical clarifications on both the distinctness and validity of the construct (contribution of Klusmann et al.) as well as in critically reviewing terminology and measures of views on aging (contribution of Notthoff et al.). The network aims to help clarifying the dynamic interplay of determinants and outcomes in the context of health (contribution of Wolff et al.) as well as disentangling intra- and intergenerational stereotypic perceptions (contribution of Kornadt et al.). Both of these are understudied issues with highly practical implications for two of the largest demographic challenges: shaping the coexistence of generations as well as providing adequate health care supply. Integrating both pertinent theoretical approaches and empirical findings the network regards views on aging under a lifespan perspective. Recently, it suggested three core principles of views on aging regarding lifelong bio-psycho-social development, their multidimensional nature, and their impact across life. These considerations provide a background for an integrative discussion of the symposium’s contributions.

2021 ◽  
pp. 109634802110115
Author(s):  
Seonjeong (Ally) Lee ◽  
Ning-Kuang Chuang

The physical environment plays an essential role in customers’ hotel stay experiences. Hotels offer a differentiated atmosphere that creates favorable customers’ evaluations. Based on the significant role of environmental cues, this study investigates the effects of an expanded servicescape on customers’ evaluations, including customer satisfaction, quality of life, and customer loyalty, in the context of the hotel industry. To test the proposed research framework, this study collects data from previous hotel customers and conducts a self-administered, online survey. Findings identified ambience, interactions with employees, authenticity, and fascination positively influenced customers’ satisfaction, which further influenced customer loyalty. Only ambience and fascination positively influenced quality of life, which in turn influenced customer loyalty. Results contributed to the application of expanded servicescape in the hotel context. Results also suggested practical implications of the holistic approach of servicescape in the hotel industry.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 769
Author(s):  
Mona Treude

Cities are becoming digital and are aiming to be sustainable. How they are combining the two is not always apparent from the outside. What we need is a look from inside. In recent years, cities have increasingly called themselves Smart City. This can mean different things, but generally includes a look towards new digital technologies and claim that a Smart City has various advantages for its citizens, roughly in line with the demands of sustainable development. A city can be seen as smart in a narrow sense, technology wise, sustainable or smart and sustainable. Current city rankings, which often evaluate and classify cities in terms of the target dimensions “smart” and “sustainable”, certify that some cities are both. In its most established academic definitions, the Smart City also serves both to improve the quality of life of its citizens and to promote sustainable development. Some cities have obviously managed to combine the two. The question that arises is as follows: What are the underlying processes towards a sustainable Smart City and are cities really using smart tools to make themselves sustainable in the sense of the 2015 United Nations Sustainability Goal 11? This question is to be answered by a method that has not yet been applied in research on cities and smart cities: the innovation biography. Based on evolutionary economics, the innovation biography approaches the process towards a Smart City as an innovation process. It will highlight which actors are involved, how knowledge is shared among them, what form citizen participation processes take and whether the use of digital and smart services within a Smart City leads to a more sustainable city. Such a process-oriented method should show, among other things, to what extent and when sustainability-relevant motives play a role and which actors and citizens are involved in the process at all.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-133
Author(s):  
Nicola Davies ◽  
Teresa Burdett

PurposeIntegrated healthcare is a central tenant of the NHS Long Term Plan (NHS, 2019). NICE in 2019 published guidelines; advising the integration of multidisciplinary professionals which may lead to an improvement in conservative treatment methods of pelvic organ prolapse. Therefore, current literature on the conservative treatments for pelvic organ prolapse needs to be reviewed to ascertain if an integrated approach would improve the symptoms and quality of life for women.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review of the literature between 2013 and 2018 was implemented. Papers included were written in English, peer-reviewed and consisted of treatments of pelvic organ prolapse in women. Papers containing surgical interventions, postpartum participants, reviews, evaluations, guidelines, follow-up studies, focusing on cost effectiveness, sexual function were excluded.FindingsSeven studies in total were included, and two overarching themes were identified: quality of life after treatment and the effect of conservative treatment on pelvic organ prolapse symptoms. The literature suggested that integrating care had a more positive outcome on pelvic organ symptoms and quality of life.Research limitations/implicationsTo develop a robust enhanced model of care for conservative treatment of pelvic organ prolapse through more mixed method or qualitative research, that incorporates integrative treatment methods with collaboration from multidisciplinary professionals.Practical implicationsThe practical implications of integrating the conservative management of pelvic organ prolapse is the communication between the multidisciplinary team must be exceptional to ensure everyone understands and agrees the treatment that is being provided to patient. Also, effective teamwork is important to ensure the patient receives the best care with input from the correct disciplines. The multi-professional team will need to have regular meetings to discuss and implement care plans for patients that might prove difficult to schedule due to differing commitments and priorities. This must be overcome to insure a successful and effective integrated approach to pelvic organ prolapse is delivered.Social implicationsThe social implications of integrating the professional approach to women's care of pelvic organ prolapse involves reducing the severity of the symptoms therefore, increasing the quality of life. This may result in the reduction of surgical intervention due to the patient being satisfied with the conservative management. Through integrating the management of the prolapse the patient will receive an accessible individualised care plan pathway that focuses on treating or reducing the impact of the symptoms that are bothersome to the patient whilst managing patient expectations. Patients will also, be reassured by the number of multi-disciplinary professionals involved in their care.Originality/valueGlobal integration of conservative treatments and multidisciplinary-professionals specialising in pelvic organ prolapse and pelvic floor dysfunction is needed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 242-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Cudworth

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to map the field of sociological animal studies through some examples of critical and mainstream approaches and considers their relation to advocacy. It makes the argument that while all these initiatives have made important contributions to the project of “animalising sociology” and suggest a need for change in species relations, the link between analysis and political strategy is uncertain. Design/methodology/approach – The paper develops its argument by using secondary sources, reviewing sociological positions and offering illustrations of possible interventions. Findings – Sociological interventions in the field of animal studies have been informed by critical perspectives, such as feminism and Marxism, or taken less critical routes deploying actor-network theory and symbolic interactionism. Whilst those working in critical traditions may appear to have a more certain political agenda, an analysis of “how things are” does not always lead to a clear position on “what is to be done” in terms of social movement agendas or policy intervention. In addition, concepts deployed in advocacy such as “liberation”, “quality of life” or “care” are problematic when applied beyond the human. Despite this, there are possibilities for coalition and solidarity around certain claims for change. Research limitations/implications – If the central argument of the paper were taken seriously by general sociologists, then sociology may be more open to “animal studies”. In implications for exisitng sociological animal studies scholarship is to trouble some of the certainties around advocacy. Practical implications – If the central argument of the paper were taken seriously by advocacy groups, then the hiatus between “welfarism” and “liberation” might be overcome. Originality/value – There have been recent attempts to map the field of scholarship in animal studies, but surprisingly little consideration of how different emergent positions inform questions of advocacy and the possibilities for political intervention.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Femke Boelsma ◽  
Irene Caubo-Damen ◽  
Alice Schippers ◽  
Menco Dane ◽  
Tineke A. Abma

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Fatouh ◽  
Ayowande A. McCunn

Purpose This paper aims to present a model of shareholders’ willingness to exert effort to reduce the likelihood of bank distress and the implications of the presence of contingent convertible (CoCo) bonds in the liabilities structure of a bank. Design/methodology/approach This study presents a basic model about the moral hazard surrounding shareholders willingness to exert effort that increases the likelihood of a bank’s success. This study uses a one-shot game and so do not capture the effects of repeated interactions. Findings Consistent with the existing literature, this study shows that the direction of the wealth transfer at the conversion of CoCo bonds determines their impact on shareholder risk-taking incentives. This study also finds that “anytime” CoCos (CoCo bonds trigger-able anytime at the discretion of managers) have a minor advantage over regular CoCo bonds, and that quality of capital requirements can reduce the risk-taking incentives of shareholders. Practical implications This study argues that shareholders can also use manager-specific CoCo bonds to reduce the riskiness of the bank activities. The issuance of such bonds can increase the resilience of individual banks and the whole banking system. Regulators can use restrictions on conversion rates and/or requirements on the quality of capital to address the impact of CoCo bonds issuance on risk-taking incentives. Originality/value To model the risk-taking incentives, authors generally modify the asset processes to introduce components that reflect asymmetric information between CoCo holders and shareholders and/or managers. This paper follows a simpler method similar to that of Holmström and Tirole (1998).


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trudie Walters ◽  
Najmeh Hassanli ◽  
Wiebke Finkler

PurposeIn this paper the authors seek to understand how academic conferences [re]produce deeply embedded gendered patterns of interaction and informal norms within the business disciplines.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on Acker's (2012) established and updated theory of gendered organisations, the authors focus on the role of academic conferences in the reproduction of gendered practices in the business disciplines. The authors surveyed academics at top universities in Australia and New Zealand who had attended international conferences in their discipline area.FindingsAcademic conferences in the business disciplines communicate organisational logic and act as gendered substructures that [re]produce gendered practices, through the hierarchy of conference participation. Even in disciplinary conferences with a significant proportion of women delegates, the entrenched organisational logic is manifest in the bodies that perform keynote and visible expert roles, perpetuating the notion of the “ideal academic” as male.Practical implicationsThe authors call for disciplinary associations to formulate an equality policy, which covers all facets of conference delivery, to which institutions must then respond in their bid to host the conference and which then forms part of the selection criteria; explicitly communicate why equality is important and what decisions the association and hosts took to address it; and develop databases of women experts to remove the most common excuse for the lack of women keynote speakers. Men, question conference hosts when asked to be a keynote speaker or panelist: Are half of the speakers women and is there diversity in the line-up? If not, provide the names of women to take your place.Originality/valueThe contribution of this study is twofold. First is the focus on revealing the underlying processes that contribute to the [re]production of gender inequality at academic conferences: the “how” rather than the “what”. Second, the authors believe it to be the first study to investigate academic conferences across the spectrum of business disciplines.


Author(s):  
Perttu Salovaara

Purpose It has recently become more acknowledged that there is a quality of “messiness” to the qualitative research process. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the fieldpath approach—a hermeneutically inspired framework—to account for the non-linearity, uncertainty and ambiguity of the research process. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper reviews how the scope of hermeneutics has been partly misunderstood. The paper discusses how the scope of hermeneutics has lately been expanded by works such as Günter Figal’s (2010) Objectivity: The Hermeneutical and Philosophy. Findings The fieldpath approach proposes that a heightened relation to materiality enables the messiness of the process to be preserved, while at the same time offering a way to find one’s footing in the midst of ontologically incomplete phenomena that are still—in a processual fashion—forming and becoming. Research limitations/implications This is a conceptual paper. In addition to the research mentioned here, more studies would be needed to legitimise, test and refine the approach. Practical implications Objectivity provides an additional criterion for researchers to lean on when facing the non-linearity and unexpected turns inherent in the qualitative research process. Social implications The stress on materiality involves an ethical dimension. Post-human ethics are concerned with the future environmental consequences and sustainability of the material world. The way that matter matters in our methodologies is of primary importance. Originality/value First, the paper emphasises that hermeneutics, contrary to the common perception, does offer criteria for evaluating between interpretations. Second, it introduces the notion of hermeneutic objectivity, which stresses the importance of materiality for interpretations. Third, it introduces the fieldpath approach, which, based on the previous criterion of hermeneutic objectivity, allows for the messiness of the research process, while also preserving a tight grip on the hermeneutic imperative of “understanding in a new way”.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 136
Author(s):  
Mussie T. Tessema ◽  
Kubilay Gok ◽  
Alex Ngoma ◽  
Mengsteab Tesfayohannes ◽  
Gerry V. Fernando

This paper uses Singapore as a case study to illustrate how staffing policies and practices affect the quality of the workforce which ultimately influence performance at employee and organization level. It reveals that Singapore public service has been able to put in place most of the ‘critical factors’ for an effective staffing system management. The presence of those critical factors have played an important role in making Singapore to be one of the most effective public services in the world. Finally, it forwards theoretical and practical implications of the study and future research direction.


Author(s):  
N.A. Pakhtusova ◽  
◽  
A.V. Podmareva ◽  
I.G. Samsonova

The article deals with the problem of improving the quality of training of teachers of vocational training by integrating practice-oriented and theoretical approaches for the implementation of the experimental project «Professionalism» as a priority direction in the development of secondary vocational education. It is noted that the professional activity of a teacher becomes more multitasking and requires the formation of professional skills while developing fl exibility of thinking, intelligence, and the ability to quickly respond to the demands of the labor market. The professional training of teachers provides for the integration of practice-oriented and theoretical approaches to form a competitive specialist. At the same time, the educational environment should diff er in the variability of approaches, educational technologies, didactic means and teaching methods. The article describes some forms of work with students that allow modeling the future professional activity of a teacher of vocational training and imply deepening and expanding the content of theoretical material and its refraction when performing practical tasks of a professional orientation. Noting the practice-oriented approach as an active form of organizing professional training of students, the authors consider the experience of working on the basis of the South Ural State Humanitarian Pedagogical University.


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