scholarly journals Decision Making Power of Homemakers in a Rural Muslim Community of West Bengal: An Empirical Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-60
Author(s):  
Samsunnehar ◽  
Sumana Sarkar

Decision-making power is a vital key for assessing the empowerment of a person. Empowerment increases self-efficacy by which one can control one’s mode of life for survival in a better way. It is an established fact that women are the most disempowered section in our society and the rural Muslim women are relatively more oppressed than others as there is the predominance of social-cultural and economic inequality among this minority community. As a result, these women have very limited opportunities to participate in the decision-making process related to their family matters and societal affairs linked with their own lives. Considering this scenario, the present study attempts to examine and analyse the decision-making power of homemakers in rural Muslim communities at micro level, taking Santoshpur village of Murshidabad district, West Bengal, as a case study. The methodology designed for the present study integrates both quantitative and qualitative methods based on field surveys. For this, fifty respondents have been selected using stratified purposive random sampling technique, and data have been acquired through face-to-face interviews through a semi-structured questionnaire. Then, the Cumulative Empowerment Index (CEI) is constructed based on selected eight key indicators to measure respondents' decision-making ability and liberty. Multiple Correlations are also computed, indicating that education and economic dependencies are the most critical determinants influencing women's empowerment and decision-making processes. The study also reveals that the existing rigid cultural system is mainly responsible for the suppression of women’s identity as well as their thoughts. But there remains hope for the next-generation girl children as different schemes are being taken up by the Government of West Bengal to promote and popularise women’s education at different levels.

Curationis ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mosehle S. Matlala ◽  
Thanyani G. Lumadi

Background: Midwifery is the backbone of women and child healthcare. The shortage of staff in maternity units is a crisis faced by many countries worldwide, including South Africa.Objectives: This study aims to explore the perceptions of midwives on the shortage and retention of staff at a public institution.Method: The study was conducted at one of the tertiary hospitals in Tshwane District, Gauteng Province. A total of 11 midwives were interviewed through face-to-face and focus group interviews. An explorative, descriptive generic qualitative design method was followed, and a non-probability, purposive sampling technique was used. Thematic coding analysis was followed for analysing data.Results: The impact of shortage of midwives was reported to be directly related to poor provision of quality care as a result of increased workload, leading to low morale and burnout. The compromised autonomy of midwives in the high obstetrics dependency units devalues the status of midwives.Conclusion: Midwives are passionate about their job, despite the hurdles related to their day-to-day work environment. They are demoralised by chronic shortage of staff and feel overworked. Staff involvement in decision-making processes is a motivational factor for midwives to stay in the profession. The midwives need to be in the centre of the decision-making processes related to their profession. The revision of the scope of practice and classification of midwifery profession away from general nursing complex by the South African Nursing Council (SANC) could place midwifery in its rightful status.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-404
Author(s):  
Maurice S. Nyarangaa ◽  
Chen Hao ◽  
Duncan O. Hongo

Public participation aimed at improving the effectiveness of governance by involving citizens in governance policy formulation and decision-making processes. It was designed to promote transparency, accountability and effectiveness of any modern government. Although Kenya has legally adopted public participation in day-to-day government activities, challenges still cripple its effectiveness as documented by several scholars. Instead of reducing conflicts between the government and the public, it has heightened witnessing so many petitions of government missing on priorities in terms of development and government policies. Results show that participation weakly relates with governance hence frictions sustainable development. Theoretically, public participation influences governance efficiency and development, directly and indirectly, thus sustainable development policy and implementation depends on Public participation and good governance. However, an effective public participation in governance is has been fractioned by the government. Instead of being a promoter/sponsor of public participation, the government of Kenya has failed to put structures that would spur participation of citizens in policy making and other days to activities. This has brought about wrong priority setting and misappropriation of public resources; The government officials and political class interference ultimately limit public opinion and input effects on decision-making and policy formulation, which might be an inner factor determining the failure of public participation in Kenya. The study suggests the need for strengthening public participation by establishing an independent institution to preside over public participation processes.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulla Hakala

Purpose Listening to the customers has long been a key phrase and success element in product branding. This paper aims to highlight the importance of listening to residents during the branding of a place. The study explores ways of listening to residents to ensure they are heard and also discusses the challenges and benefits related to place branding flowing from having residents participate in decision-making processes. Design/methodology/approach Listening to residents and offering opportunities to participate requires place branders to fully attend to, comprehend and respond to residents’ comments, requests, ideas and feedback. This study reports on how two Nordic cities – Turku and Helsinki – listen to their residents. The data used comprise face-to-face interviews, telephone and e-mail conversations and documentary material. Findings Residents should not be considered as one homogeneous target; participation options and channels should be adapted to the demographics and geographic issues of the different regions and resident groups. Research limitations/implications The role of residents and the importance of listening are crucial features in the emerging concept of inclusive place branding (Kavaratzis et al., 2017); its future conceptual development could benefit from the case examples at hand. Practical implications City authorities should listen to residents and provide them with opportunities to actively contribute to decision-making. Other cities could learn from the examples introduced in the paper. Originality/value This paper documents two Nordic examples of cities putting into practice a policy of listening to the residents, a previously neglected research area.


2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnu Turvey

The incorporation of Māori concepts into legislation has been one of several methods the government has employed to acknowledge and promote Māori cultural identity and give practical effect to the Treaty of Waitangi within its legislative frameworks.  While legal recognition of Māori concepts may have appeared as a positive step towards the creation of a mutually beneficial level of bicultural discourse in the government's management frameworks, in practice they have been the source of a new set of challenges. By transplanting Māori concepts directly into legislation, Māori ideas must become operational parts of Western regimes; concepts which are to be recognised and given effect to within the decision-making processes of bodies charged with the administration of particular legislation as well as the courts. Drawing on Commons' observations about the nature of artificial selection - the process by which the meaning of ideas and language is consciously or subconsciously manipulated by the group in power in order to advance its own interests, it becomes evident that, in the context of the common law legal system, Māori concepts have become detached from their original purpose and meaning.


2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 480-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joana M. Gonçalves ◽  
Fernando A.F. Ferreira ◽  
João J.M. Ferreira ◽  
Luís M.C. Farinha

PurposeSmall- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have become increasingly important in national and international markets because they contribute to the development of local and national economies. SMEs often face serious challenges when competing with multinational companies. The purpose of this paper is to develop a method for assessing SMEs’ competitiveness.Design/methodology/approachBased on a constructivist epistemology, this study makes an integrated use of cognitive mapping and the measuring attractiveness by a categorical-based evaluation technique (MACBETH). To this end, face-to-face sessions were conducted with a panel of entrepreneurs and senior managers who deal with the challenges of maintaining SME competitiveness every day. The proposed assessment system was tested and validated by the panel members.FindingsThe methodological processes adopted in this study provide promising results for decision makers seeking to identify the most competitive SMEs. Specifically, the results emphasize, among other points, the importance of innovation and the human dimension to gaining competitive advantages.Research limitations/implicationsThe evaluation system developed in this study is extremely versatile and confirms the usefulness of integrating cognitive mapping and MACBETH to facilitate evaluations of SME competitiveness. However, due to its idiosyncratic and process-oriented nature, generalizations need to be done with caution.Practical implicationsThe proposed method can be valuable to researchers seeking to develop mechanisms for evaluating SMEs’ entrepreneurial performance and include specialized know-how and sensemaking in organizational decision-making processes.Originality/valueThe integrated use of cognitive maps and MACBETH contributes to a better understanding of how to assess SMEs’ competitiveness. No prior work reporting the use of this dual methodology in this study context has been found.


2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-24
Author(s):  
Guy Davidov ◽  
Maayan Davidov

Research on compliance has shown that people can be induced to comply with various requests by using techniques that capitalise on the human tendencies to act consistently and to reciprocate. Thus far this line of research has been applied to interactions between individuals, not to relations between institutions. We argue, however, that similar techniques are applied by courts vis-à-vis the government, the legislature and the public at large, when courts try to secure legitimacy and acceptance of their decisions. We discuss a number of known influence techniques – including ‘foot in the door’, ‘low-balling’, ‘giving a reputation to uphold’ and ‘door in the face’ – and provide examples from Israeli case law of the use of such techniques by courts. This analysis offers new insights that can further the understanding of judicial decision-making processes.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. e026579
Author(s):  
Momoko Sasazuki ◽  
Yasunari Sakai ◽  
Ryutaro Kira ◽  
Naoko Toda ◽  
Yuko Ichimiya ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo delineate the critical decision-making processes that paediatricians apply when treating children with life-threatening conditions and the psychosocial experience of paediatricians involved in such care.DesignWe conducted semistructured, individual face-to-face interviews for each participant from 2014 to 2015. The content of each interview was subjected to a comprehensive qualitative analysis. The categories of dilemma were extracted from a second-round content analysis.ParticipantsParticipants were board-certified paediatricians with sufficient experience in making decisions in relation to children with severe illnesses or disabilities. We repeated purposive sampling and analyses until we reached saturation of the category data.ResultsWe performed interviews with 15 paediatricians. They each reported both unique and overlapping categories of dilemmas that they encountered when making critical decisions. The dilemmas included five types of causal elements: (1) paediatricians’ convictions; (2) the quest for the best interests of patients; (3) the quest for medically appropriate plans; (4) confronting parents and families and (5) socioenvironmental issues. Dilemmas occurred and developed as conflicting interactions among these five elements. We further categorised these five elements into three principal domains: the decision-maker (decider); consensus making among families, colleagues and society (process) and the consequential output of the decision (consequence).ConclusionsThis is the first qualitative study to demonstrate the framework of paediatricians’ decision-making processes and the complex structures of dilemmas they face. Our data indicate the necessity of establishing and implementing an effective support system for paediatricians, such as structured professional education and arguments for creating social consensus that assist them to reach the best plan for the management of severely ill children.


Author(s):  
Norman Warner ◽  
Michael Letsky ◽  
Michael Cowen

The purpose of this paper is to describe a cognitive model of team collaboration emphasizing the human decision-making processes used during team collaboration. The descriptive model includes the domain characteristics, collaboration stages, meta- and macro cognitive processes and the mechanisms for achieving the stages and cognitive processes. Two experiments were designed to provide empirical data on the validity of the collaboration stages and cognitive processes of the model. Both face-to-face and asynchronous, distributed teams demonstrated behavior that supports the existence of the collaboration stages along with seven cognitive processes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 281-291
Author(s):  
Jessica A. Rueter ◽  
Rochell McWhorter ◽  
Julie Delello

The purpose of this article is to understand the decision-making processes by assessment personnel when choosing instruments to evaluate students with learning disabilities. Eight school personnel responsible for the evaluation of students in Texas participated in face-to-face, semistructured interviews. The instruments chosen were based on a variety of factors including the personnel’s basic knowledge and training on the use of the instruments, the culture and climate of the district, and the overall characteristics of the child being tested. The findings of this study suggested that assessment personnel encounter many decisions when evaluating children with learning disabilities. Implications from this study include the need for frequent support in encouraging reflective thinking and assessment training for those responsible for the important decisions regarding the identification and placement of students who are learning disabled.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-468
Author(s):  
Ann Suwaree Ashton ◽  
Noel Scott ◽  
Therdchai Choibamroong

Purpose This study aims to investigate the decision-making processes of international retirement migrants. The development of a place in response to the high demand for international retirement migration has become an important strategy for stakeholders within host destinations; of particular interest is international retirement migrant behaviour and intention to stay and retire in a foreign country. Design/methodology/approach This research presents the results of a qualitative study using face-to-face interview techniques. Content analysis technique was used to analyse data from interviews with 33 international retirees in Thailand. Findings Destination stakeholders must consider creating awareness of the destination through WOM, trustworthy websites and government channels, which migrants evaluate a destination based on pre-retirement visits that create attachment and emotional feelings for the place, and finally, the decision-making processes of short stay, semi-permanent and permanent migrants. Research limitations/implications This qualitative study investigated migrants from Europe, Australia and the USA. An understanding of IR migrants from Asia needs further research. Practical implications The results can be used as guidelines for government, hospitality and tourism stakeholders. IR migrants want different destination attributes to mainstream tourists, especially a peaceful environment, mild weather (not too cold or hot), and to live among locals. Originality/value This study examines migrant decision-making processes. The results provide a theoretical foundation for how IR migrants decide to retire overseas. This comprises three components: destination awareness, secondly, evaluation of the destination’s resources, and finally, the decision and implementation of their plans.


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