The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Fragile Balance of a Small Zoo: the Case of Pistoia Zoo in Italy

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Francesca Bandoli ◽  
Paolo Cavicchio
Keyword(s):  
Endangered Species ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Collaborative Management ◽  
Private Institutions ◽  
International Level ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Integrated Conservation ◽  
Operational Constraints

Abstract Zoos and aquaria have progressively evolved into conservation centres aimed at conserving biodiversity through educational, recreational, research and integrated conservation activities. Their work is based on a strong cooperation at national and international level, that enables the collaborative management of hundreds of thousands of animals and the protection of endangered species through integrated conservation programmes. The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated health, social and economic crisis have greatly impacted the zoological community, leading to multifaceted consequences especially for small private institutions. Here, we present the operational and ethical challenges, as well as the opportunities, arisen from the on-going crisis, focusing on Pistoia Zoo (Italy) as a case study. We finally discuss ethical and operational constraints and perspectives which could characterize the upcoming future of zoological facilities.

Modernisation of Higher Education – Willful Action or Wishful Thinking? The Case of Bulgaria

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
Elena Blagoeva
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
National Level ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

The impact of the last global economic crisis (2008) on the European economy put a strain on higher education (HE), yet it also pushed the sector towards intensive reforms and improvements. This paper focuses on the “Strategy for the Development of Higher Education in the Republic of Bulgaria 2014-2020”. With a case study methodology, we explore the strategic endeavours of the Bulgarian government to comply with the European directions and to secure sustainable growth for the HE sector. Our research question is ‘How capable is the Bulgarian HE Strategy to overcome the economic and systemic restraints of Bulgarian higher education?’. Because the development of strategies for HE within the EU is highly contextual, a single qualitative case study was chosen as the research approach. HE institutions are not ivory towers, but subjects to a variety of external and internal forces. Within the EU, this is obviated by the fact that Universities obtain their funds from institutions such as governments, students and their families, donors, as well as EU-level programmes. Therefore, to explore how these pressures interact to affect strategic action on national level, the case method is well suited as it enabled us to study the phenomena thoroughly and deeply. The paper suggests the actions proposed within the Strategy have the potential to overcome the delay, the regional isolation and the negative impact of the economic crisis on the country. Nevertheless, the key elements on which the success or failure of this Strategy hinges are the control mechanisms and the approach to implementation. Shortcomings in these two aspects of strategic actions in HE seem to mark the difference between gaining long-term benefits and merely saving face in front of international institutions.

Dealing with Misselling: Impact of Behavioural Interventions on Insurance Agents

2021 ◽  
pp. 263145412098771
Author(s):  
Biju Dominic ◽  
Reshmi
Keyword(s):  
Control Mechanism ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Insurance Company ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Behavioural Interventions ◽  
Insurance Agents ◽  
Insurance Policies ◽  
Ethical Violations ◽  
Long Run

This case study is about misselling of insurance policies and associated ethical challenges in a leading insurance company. Pro-organisational ethical violations mostly remain unnoticed and are often protected by implausible explanations. In the long run, persistent rationalisation makes malpractices a norm. The present work describes the interventions applied by a consulting firm to bring behavioural integrity. The consulting firm found that socialisation, rationalisation and institutionalisation considerably influenced people’s behaviour at the workplace and normalised unethical behaviour of insurance agents. It architected the behaviour of salespeople by specifically designed interventions through self-control mechanism and nudges. These interventions developed integrity in employees and reduced the number of cautions, warnings and terminations.

Innovative management strategies for building and sustaining a digital initiatives department with limited resources

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Collaborative Management ◽  
Strong Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovative Strategies ◽  
Other Information

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer and explore innovative strategies for building and sustaining digital initiatives at information organizations. Although the examples provided are based on case studies at an academic library, the practices are rooted in project management principles and therefore applicable to all library types, museums, archives and other information organizations. The innovative strategies on staffing and funding will be particularly useful to organizations faced with monetary and staffing shortages and highlights collaborative management practices. Design/methodology/approach Concept of strategic and collaborative management practices led by an experienced project manager cross-trained in management, technical and soft skills enables the successful development and sustainability of digital initiatives. A cross-trained librarian’s management practices of leading the Digital Scholarship Initiatives at a particular university will be examined as a case study and aided with literature supporting the need for digital initiatives leaders to have training beyond the credentials of librarian, curator, archivist or historian in the technologically savvy twenty-first century ecology of information centers. Findings The innovative strategies implemented in the case study yielded increases in the number of hours of digital lab usage, digital projects developed, seminars or workshops presented, attendance of library hosted events, number of programs implemented and awareness on campus, all with limited staff and funding. The variety and level of production and marketing is instrumental to the growth and sustainability of digital initiatives. Practical implications The innovative strategies emphasized in this paper use the concept of borrowed or shared time to start staffing needs and is particularly helpful to organizations that do not have a strong line of dedicated staffing or funding to begin building digital initiatives. Offers small ways to start immediately while setting the stage to plan for big ideas for the future. Originality/value This paper suggests a credentialed information expert, such as a librarian, archivist or curator, that is, also cross-trained in project management and technology is the key to not only successfully leading digital initiatives but is instrumental for its sustainability and the marketing, growth and future of digital initiatives.

On the Ethics of International Religious/Spiritual Gatherings and Academic Conferencing in the Era of Global Warming: A Case Study of the Parliament of The World’s Religions Melbourne 2009 - Part 1

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-195
Author(s):  
Almut Beringer ◽  
Steven Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Peak Oil ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Academic Events ◽  
Special Responsibility

Global climate change and its impacts have ethical dimensions, for instance carbon footprint equity concerns. World issues, including the state of the ecosphere and biodiver­sity, regularly see political leaders, NGOs, business representatives, religious/spiritual orga­nizations, academics, and others engage in international aviation-dependent meetings to address critical challenges facing humanity and the planet. Yet, climate scientists and advocates call for an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 to cap the increase in global temperatures to 2ºC. Aviation emissions resulting from international meetings raise questions that are not silenced by GHG emissions offsetting. The era of climate change and ‘peak oil’ poses ethical challenges for holding international in-person religious and academic events, especially when the events propound an environmentalist concern and when aviation use is assumed. This paper raises ques­tions regarding the ecological impacts of large international events and focuses the ‘inconvenient truths’ associated with international aviation in the era of global warming. The Parliament of the World’s Religions, the largest multifaith gathering in the world, serves as a case study. The paper emphasizes the view that faith-based/faith-inspired organizations have a special responsibility for leadership in policy and praxis on the moral imperatives of sustainability, sustainable development and climate justice.

A Qualitative Analysis of Unethical Behaviors in Projects: Insight From Moral Psychology

2021 ◽  
pp. 875697282110377
Author(s):  
Mehrdad Sarhadi ◽  
Sogand Hasanzadeh
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Paradigm Change ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Late Modernism ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Unethical Behaviors ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Stakeholder Behavior ◽  
Unconscious Desire

Ethical aspects of stakeholder behavior can have a wide range of implications for other areas of project management. This research critically reviewed project ethics under the philosophical paradigm change from modernism to late modernism, which led to a flexible and realizable ethical framework based on Levinasian and Nietzschean moral psychologies. A qualitative approach was adopted through a multiple-case study to confront the theoretical framework with the empirical world, evaluate its authenticity, and obtain a better understanding of its challenges. Research results showed that stakeholders’ unconscious desire for existential meaning can provide considerable potential for dealing with ethical challenges.

“When My Hands Were Tied, You Were Able to Continue”

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-176
Author(s):  
Mary Kimani ◽  
Catherine Vanner
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Research Assistant ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Abuse Case

This paper discusses our experiences harnessing the complementarity of perspectives, positions, and resources as an outsider lead researcher and an insider research assistant while reporting a child abuse case that we learned of during qualitative case study research in Kenya. We use collaborative autoethnography to examine our experiences during the research process, with semi-structured individual interviews of each other and document analysis of our email correspondence. We provide a narrative of vulnerability regarding the complexity of reporting child abuse and offer recommendations on how researchers can navigate their limitations and strategically draw from insider-outsider partnerships when managing ethical challenges.

scholarly journals Examining Disclosure Risk and Data Utility: An Administrative Data Case Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-24
Author(s):  
Michael Comerford
Keyword(s):  
Administrative Data ◽  
Real World ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Sufficient Data ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Data Utility ◽  
Disclosure Risk ◽  
Individual Privacy

The plethora of new data sources, combined with a growing interest in increased access to previously unpublished data, poses a set of ethical challenges regarding individual privacy. This paper sets out one aspect of those challenges: the need to anonymise data in such a form that protects the privacy of individuals while providing sufficient data utility for data users. This issue is discussed using a case study of Scottish Government’s administrative data, in which disclosure risk is examined and data utility is assessed using a potential ‘real-world’ analysis.

scholarly journals Studi Kasus Penanganan Pembiayaan Bermasalah di Baitul Maal wa Tamwil (BMT) Hubbul Wathon pada Masa Pandemi Covid-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 333
Author(s):  
Winda Hidayanti ◽  
Hesty Juan Kirana ◽  
Anisya May Yustitia ◽  
Harnum Widyaningrum ◽  
Tulasmi Tulasmi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Financial Institution ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Interview Techniques ◽  
Made In ◽  
Descriptive Qualitative

The research is a Case Study of Troubled Financing Handling at BMT Hubbul Wathon in the Covid-19 Pandemic. The research method uses a descriptive qualitative approach. In collecting data, researchers used interview techniques with BMT about policies to deal with the economic crisis during the Covid-19 Pandemic. BMT Hubbul Wathon Sumowono is one of the non-bank syari'ah financial institutions that issues a lot of financing products, such as Mudharabah, Musyarakah, Murabahah, and Ijarah financing. In providing financing to customers, an agreement is made in the BMT institution, in which there are several provisions that must be agreed upon by both parties. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, BMT Hubbul Wathon experienced a decrease in both savings, financing and installments. In the Covid-19 Pandemic as well, problematic financing at BMT Hubbul Wathon Sumowono increased by 5% when compared to the financing provided before the Covid-19 Pandemic. Therefore, this non-bank syari'ah financial institution issued several measures or policies including maintaining liquidity, restrictions in providing financing, and also by adding new customer members.

scholarly journals Big data and Belmont: On the ethics and research implications of consumer-based datasets

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 205395172110481
Author(s):  
Remy Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Research Participant ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Marketing Risk ◽  
Brokerage Firms

Consumer-based datasets are the products of data brokerage firms that agglomerate millions of personal records on the adult US population. This big data commodity is purchased by both companies and individual clients for purposes such as marketing, risk prevention, and identity searches. The sheer magnitude and population coverage of available consumer-based datasets and the opacity of the business practices that create these datasets pose emergent ethical challenges within the computational social sciences that have begun to incorporate consumer-based datasets into empirical research. To directly engage with the core ethical debates around the use of consumer-based datasets within social science research, I first consider two case study applications of consumer-based dataset-based scholarship. I then focus on three primary ethical dilemmas within consumer-based datasets regarding human subject research, participant privacy, and informed consent in conversation with the principles of the seminal Belmont Report.

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