scholarly journals The Relationship Between Jurisdiction and the Local Authority’s Online Sustainability Disclosure

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Corina Joseph ◽  
Heidi Christy Mingi Michael

<p>The objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between jurisdiction and the extent of sustainability information disclosure on Malaysian local authority websites. The extent of online sustainability disclosure is examined utilizing the coercive isomorphism tenet in both quantitative and qualitative phases.  In the quantitative stage, the analysis of 139 websites was conducted. The General Linear Model is utilized to determine the relationship between jurisdiction (measured by different states) and the extent of online sustainability information disclosure. In the qualitative phase, the semi-structured interviews were carried out to answer the underlying possible reasons derived from the quantitative phase. The quantitative phase provided evidence that various states have applied distinctive degree of coercive pressures on the extent of sustainability information disclosure on Malaysian local authority websites.  The interview findings revealed additional factors that are relating to the jurisdiction: political, state leadership, and bureaucratic procedure implemented by different states. The paper has recognized the impact of coercive isomorphism for the jurisdiction utilizing both quantitative and qualitative phases.</p>

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yassine Sefiani ◽  
Barry J. Davies ◽  
Robin Bown ◽  
Neilson Kite

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of networking on business performance by uncovering particular and significant methods of pursuing business connections, for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Tangier. Design/methodology/approach A two-stage design, which incorporated both quantitative and qualitative approaches, was employed in this study. Approaches were employed in succession with the findings from the quantitative phase informing the qualitative phase. Initially, a paper and online survey questionnaire was administered to a population of 365 industrial SMEs to gain some insights on the perceptions of owner-managers of the impact of networking on business performance. Following the quantitative phase, 15 in-depth face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected owner-managers of SMEs, forming a judgmental selection, to explore their experiences, beliefs, and attitudes with respect to networking factor. Findings Both quantitative and qualitative phases of the study found that networking was a significant factor in influencing the success of SMEs. The concept of wasta, the Arabic word for connections, emerged from the qualitative phase. Findings show that using wasta, through politico-business networks is important since it enables access to current information that is crucial for the success of SMEs. The concept of wasta was also mentioned in relation to financial resources and suppliers. Findings revealed that strong relationships with suppliers enable firms to get financial resources in the form of trade credits. Furthermore, the relationship between wasta and human resources was also revealed. Findings showed that owner-managers use their network relations through wasta in order to recruit their staff. Research limitations/implications The findings of this study add to the understanding of networking in Arabic countries with the importance of wasta in an economy that functions on relationships. The findings of this study could therefore be useful to international managers to assist their intercultural effectiveness by adjusting to culture-specific networking in Tangier. Originality/value This study is among those few studies located in the Middle East North Africa region that explore the performance of SMEs from the perceptions of owner-managers themselves, and not based on aggregate or economic data. It supports previous findings of several studies and contributes additional evidence that suggests the significance of wasta and its impact on SME success.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 233339362110281
Author(s):  
Renee Fiolet ◽  
Cynthia Brown ◽  
Molly Wellington ◽  
Karen Bentley ◽  
Kelsey Hegarty

Technology-facilitated abuse can be a serious form of domestic violence. Little is known about the relationship between technology-facilitated abuse and other types of domestic violence, or the impact technology-facilitated abuse has on survivors. The aim of this interpretative descriptive study is to understand domestic violence specialist service providers’ perspectives on the impact of technology-facilitated abuse, and the link between technology-facilitated abuse and other forms of domestic violence. A qualitative approach using 15 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with Australian domestic violence specialist practitioners, and three themes were identified through data coding using inductive thematic analysis. Another form of control describes technology-facilitated abuse behaviors as enacting controlling behaviors using new mediums. Amplifies level of fear characterizes the impact of technology-facilitated abuse. A powerful tool to engage others describes opportunities technology offers perpetrators to abuse through engaging others. Findings highlight technology-facilitated abuse’s complexity and integral role in domestic violence and can assist clinicians to understand the impact and harm that can result from technology-facilitated abuse.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-85
Author(s):  
Yohanes Firmansyah ◽  
Imam Haryanto

The Covid-19 case has had a huge influence on all aspects of human life, starting from health, economy, sosial, law, and many more. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused various frictions between various interests, one of which is a clash between individual interests and community interests. One of the obvious things about this problem is regarding the impact of COVID-19 in the field of sociology, especially the relationship between individuals, especially the issue of community stigmatization regarding infectious diseases, the dilemma between the privacy rights of the identity of COVID-19 patients and the disclosure of publik data on COVID-19 patients with various risks will injure and cause multiple material and immaterial losses. On the other hand, Covid-19 also raises various sosial-psychological problems and legal problems that still do not regulate all aspects of human life. This paper describes the sociological elements of COVID-19, the right to privacy, publik information disclosure, and the sosial-psychological impact of COVID-19, along with a juridical review of the right to privacy and publik disclosure of information regarding the transparency of COVID-19.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Anne Tarrant ◽  
Alison Torn

Purpose This study aims to explore the ways in which young people and prison staff (Prison Officers) within a youth custodial establishment experience empathy. Previous research tends to view empathy as a stable trait and one which people can develop through individual-centred therapy. There has been little consideration of the impact of relationship factors and context in relation to empathy experience and expression. The current study aims to address this by exploring the role of the custodial context in shaping empathy, including the potential impact of relationships, environmental factors and culture. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach was used to enable breadth and depth in the exploration of this area. Individual, semi-structured interviews were carried out with a purposive sample of three young people and three Prison Officers. Data was analysed using inductive thematic analysis informed by the guidelines of Braun and Clarke (2006) and King and Horrocks (2010). Findings Constructed themes included “constructions of empathy”, “recipe for empathy”, “institutional investment”, “the value of empathy” and “doing empathy”. Together, they provide detailed insight into the interplay of personal and wider contextual factors influencing the experience of empathy in a custodial setting. The findings suggest that the way in which young people and staff experience empathy in the custodial environment is unique. The findings suggest that empathy takes place within the context of relationships and is influenced by the nature of those relationships, along with the wider social context within which it occurs. Practical implications The findings of the current study support a move away from understanding empathy as an individual personality trait and instead viewing it as a dynamic experience that is changeable based upon the relationship and the context within which it occurs. The findings suggest that interventions aiming to develop empathy should look beyond the level of the individual and the relationship and focus upon developing environments that are supportive of empathy. Originality/value This study provides unique insights into the subjective experience of empathy in a custodial setting, presenting as one of the first to take a more holistic approach to understand this phenomenon.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kishore Kumar ◽  
Ranjita Kumari ◽  
Archana Poonia ◽  
Rakesh Kumar

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the nature and extent of sustainability disclosure practices of publicly listed companies in India. Further, it investigates the impact of potential determinants on the sustainability disclosure of companies. Design/methodology/approach The study analyzes data of 75 top listed nonbanking companies operating in India included in NIFTY100 Index for the years 2014-2015 to 2018-2019. In the present study, environment, social and governance disclosure dimensions were considered to evaluate the sustainability reporting performance of companies using content analysis. Panel data analysis was conducted to investigate the impact of various factors on the extent of sustainability information disclosure. Findings Results indicate that environmentally polluting industries disclose significantly higher sustainability information than non-polluting industries in India. The empirical findings suggest that determinants such as company size, age, free cash flow capacity, government ownership and global reporting initiative (GRI) usage positively related to the extent of corporate sustainability disclosure. Contrary to the expectations, financial leverage and profitability were found to be negatively related to the sustainability disclosure of companies in India. Practical implications This study provides empirical evidence for regulators, practitioners and corporate strategists to assess the progress in the sustainability reporting landscape in India. The finding implies that large and established companies can reduce legitimacy costs through higher sustainability information disclosure. Interestingly, this premise did not hold in the case of high leveraged and profitable companies. Overall findings can also help policymakers to incorporate necessary reforms to improve sustainability reporting in India. Originality/value This study is one of the first studies to investigate the nature, extent and potential determinants of corporate sustainability disclosure in India. The paper adds to the existing literature on sustainability reporting by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between sustainability reporting and potential determinants such as government ownership, size, leverage, profitability, age, free cash flow capacity, industry and GRI usage.


2015 ◽  
pp. 1333-1350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fawzi Ishtaiwa

This study investigated students' perceptions towards the affordances and challenges of integrating mobile learning (m-learning) into an undergraduate course. It also examined the impact of students' gender on their perceived affordances and challenges. The relationship between students' perceived affordances and perceived challenges of m-learning was also explored. Questionnaires distributed to 76 students and semi-structured interviews conducted with 17 students were used for collecting data to answer the research questions. The results revealed that students' perceptions towards the affordances of m-learning were particularly positive. They indicated that m-learning can provide an active, flexible, contextualised, and situated learning environment. However, several challenges are associated with m-learning integration. Most notable are: distraction, small device screens, plagiarism, cost, and parents' negative attitudes toward m-learning. The study also revealed that students' gender significantly impacted on the perceived affordances and challenges of m-learning. Finally, a negative significant correlation was found between mobile technology affordances and challenges.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umar Altahtooh ◽  
Thamir Alaskar

Despite the importance of milestone as a key knowledge in project management, there has been lack of research to understand the relationship between milestones and decision-making. This paper presents a pragmatic research context that aims understanding the nature of milestones and their relationship with different decision-making structures and responsibilities across projects. Data were collected through 14 semi-structured interviews with project managers and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings explore the concepts of project milestones among project managers in Saudi Arabia. The paper finds that there is a relationship between milestones and the impact on decision-making.


2020 ◽  
pp. 136078042094634
Author(s):  
Natalie Pitimson

The lived experience of returning to work after a bereavement remains relatively under researched. Within sociology, the notion of emotional labour has been explored at length, but the place and experience of grief in the workplace is less well understood. This research, framed by Hochschild’s work on feeling rules, focuses on professional individuals working in UK companies who agreed to discuss their experiences of returning to work after a bereavement, in terms of dealing with their own emotions and those of their colleagues, as well as navigating company policy in the area of compassionate leave. Qualitative data from seven semi-structured interviews were analysed, exposing key common emotional and experiential themes, particularly regarding disenfranchised grief, comfort in the familiarity of the work environment, and the impact of silent or awkward responses from colleagues. The emergent themes from the data were used to address the research objective of examining the relationship between grief, emotional labour, and the lived experience of returning to work after a bereavement.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Geisa dos Santos Luz ◽  
Mara Regina Santos da Silva ◽  
Francine DeMontigny

ABSTRACT Rare diseases cause strong impact in families and generate needs beyond those associated with the most frequent diseases. Some of these needs are the inclusion of new responsibilities and the relationship with the healthcare and social services. This study is aimed at identifying the priority needs of families of rare disease patients as perceived from the time of diagnosis. This is a qualitative study conducted with 16 relatives of rare disease patients who live in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Data were collected from November 2012 to March 2013, through semi-structured interviews and submitted to content analysis, based on the bioecological system of human development. The results indicated the following priority needs: access to social and healthcare services; knowledge about rare diseases; social support structures; acceptance and social integration; preservation of personal and family life. It was concluded that (re)organizing services and meeting the specific needs are preconditions to qualify nursing care and soften the impact the rare disease has on the family.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 301
Author(s):  
Veena Manja ◽  
James Wiedeman ◽  
Jeffrey S Hoch ◽  
Diana Lee Farmer

Background: The rapid rise of COVID-19 infections has strained the capacity of healthcare systems worldwide. Many organizations are changing practice to make room for a surge in patients with COVID-19 infections. Cancelling and rescheduling elective procedures is one strategy advocated and used by many. This process may result in negative consequences for the patients who need procedures and have negative teaching and economic implications.Rationale and Study Design: This convergent mixed-methods study includes analysis of surgical databases to evaluate differences in case-volume and case-mix before and after the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic (quantitative phase), prospective observational study of patients impacted by the delayed scheduling of surgical procedures (quantitative phase) and 1:1 semi-structured interviews with patients, physicians and administrators to understand the impact of operational changes as a result on COVID-19 infection on patient care, teaching and learning and fiscal outcomes.Methods: The quantitative phase will consist of a review of the surgical database to quantify the differences in case-volume and case-mix during 2019 and 2020. In addition a prospective cohort of patients impacted by the delay in these procedures will be followed for 6 months to assess changes in patient important outcomes due to changes in scheduling procedures. The qualitative phase will consist of 1:1 semi-structured interviews to gain a depth of understanding of the trade-offs due to a change in practice related to COVID-19. The interviews will be analyzed using qualitative description.Discussion: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused worldwide disruption in the practice of healthcare, current focus on increasing capacity in preparation for a COVID-19 surge may have unforeseen consequences for patients who need non-COVID-19 related care. Studying the impact prospectively will provide information on the trade-offs associated with change in healthcare priorities. These results may be helpful in informing optimal healthcare practices and resource allocation in the future. 


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