Gender Socialization, Family Leadership, and the Invisible Father in Children’s Literature

Objective: This study examines the portrayals of mothers and fathers in children’s picture books read by millions of parents and children in their formative years. We investigate the extent to which these books present rigid parental stereotypes that misrepresent the potential of family leaders. Method: We performed a content analysis of 203 prominent children’s picture books from recent years to assess the appearances, activities, and emotions of mothers and fathers. Results: Rather than transcending narrow gender stereotypes, fathers in the most-read books continue to be underrepresented, relatively hands-off parents. Mothers are generally portrayed as emotional parents who complete traditional chores and nurture children. Conclusion: The gender socialization of children and parents via children’s books contributes to the notion that mothers and fathers cannot perform as equals in homes or workplaces. Representations of mothers and fathers differ substantially, with fathers playing a secondary role in parenting if they appear at all.

Cultural Learning in Young Māori Offenders and Their Families: A Preliminary Model

<p>It has been acknowledged that many Māori individuals have become disconnected from their cultural heritage, and this includes young people who have come to the attention of the police, and their families. Community remedial programmes have been funded by the Government through the Ministry of Justice and New Zealand Police to work with young Māori offenders. There is an expectation that by including compensatory cultural components to address assumed weak cultural links through Māori cultural activities, these programmes will be able to rectify the impacts of colonising activities. In this research 23 young Māori people who had attended a community youth programme and 19 parents/caregivers were interviewed about what was important to them and about the place of Māori cultural activities in their lives. Interviews with 14 programme provider staff, four New Zealand Police staff, five community stakeholders and a Judge from a Rangatahi Court explored what they saw were the experiences for the young people and their families. The interviews were semi-structured and interview data was analysed using Grounded Theory to generate a Theory of Māori cultural learning and model of a Māori cultural framework within which Māori cultural socialisation occurs. Findings identified three family composition groups as reflecting aspects of multi-realities for the participant families which were highlighted by membership of whanau family groups; presence of family leadership; participation in Māori cultural community and location of family residence. The differences between the family composition groups had resulted from a breakdown of Māori community and disruption to the function of Māori cultural activities which also impacted on the structures and process of Māori cultural socialisation and transmission. These findings are discussed as are implications for the providers of remedial programmes for young Māori and their families, Māori families, whanau and communities. Suggestions for future research are also made.</p>

Cultural Learning in Young Māori Offenders and Their Families: A Preliminary Model

<p>It has been acknowledged that many Māori individuals have become disconnected from their cultural heritage, and this includes young people who have come to the attention of the police, and their families. Community remedial programmes have been funded by the Government through the Ministry of Justice and New Zealand Police to work with young Māori offenders. There is an expectation that by including compensatory cultural components to address assumed weak cultural links through Māori cultural activities, these programmes will be able to rectify the impacts of colonising activities. In this research 23 young Māori people who had attended a community youth programme and 19 parents/caregivers were interviewed about what was important to them and about the place of Māori cultural activities in their lives. Interviews with 14 programme provider staff, four New Zealand Police staff, five community stakeholders and a Judge from a Rangatahi Court explored what they saw were the experiences for the young people and their families. The interviews were semi-structured and interview data was analysed using Grounded Theory to generate a Theory of Māori cultural learning and model of a Māori cultural framework within which Māori cultural socialisation occurs. Findings identified three family composition groups as reflecting aspects of multi-realities for the participant families which were highlighted by membership of whanau family groups; presence of family leadership; participation in Māori cultural community and location of family residence. The differences between the family composition groups had resulted from a breakdown of Māori community and disruption to the function of Māori cultural activities which also impacted on the structures and process of Māori cultural socialisation and transmission. These findings are discussed as are implications for the providers of remedial programmes for young Māori and their families, Māori families, whanau and communities. Suggestions for future research are also made.</p>

The Influence of Family Leadership on Girl- Child School Dropout

Family leadership is one of the vital aspects that influences and determines both the wellbeing and successful education of a girl-child. Unfortunately, the role of family leadership in ensuring girls' education is oversimplified into getting girls enrolled in school rather than warranting their perseverance in learning and successful completion. As a result, many communities in Tanzania, especially those in rural and marginalized areas are experiencing persistent girl–child school dropouts. It is against this standpoint that we sought to find out how family leadership may influence secondary school girls’ dropouts. We also explored possible measures which should be employed to eliminate girl-child school dropouts. In conducting this study, we employed a mixed research approach and convergent parallel design. We collected data through interviews and questionnaires involving 143 respondents including girl students, teachers, heads of schools, and district educational officers. Our findings from this study indicate that while the government of Tanzania has made remarkable efforts to ensure girls’ continuity and successful completion of secondary education, there are a number of factors hindering girls’ continuity and completion of secondary education. Weak family leadership, the improper raising of the children, less emphasis and interest on the importance of girls’ education, limited cooperation between family leadership were among the reason for continuous girl-child school dropout. Hence, based on our findings and the significance of girl’s education as well as the role which parents should play in ensuring girls achievement of education, we appeal to various educational leaders, to make strategic efforts in raising more awareness among rural and marginalized communities about the importance of educating girls and the role of family leadership in bringing to an end the phenomena of girl-child school dropout which is catastrophic to the long-awaited sustainable development. Moreover, we call upon all parents, to make intentional efforts in mentoring and influencing girls to strive towards achieving formal education

The family’s effect on knowledge sharing in family firms

Purpose The purpose of this study was to understand how the family system plays a role in knowledge sharing (KS) within family firms. The authors argue that the family’s influence can occur through two routes. An external route in which the family affects the culture of the organization and through an internal route in which family leadership within the firm affects the practices and behaviors within the business. Design/methodology/approach Data for this project came from the survey responses of 93 Spanish family firms. Findings The findings expand previous understanding about KS in family firms by outlining the two routes through which the family can have positive effect on KS within family firms. Results show that family system characteristics (i.e. next-generation commitment, family trust and intergenerational relationships) affect KS through their impact on the participative culture of a family firm. Additionally, when a family has been in control of the business for more generations, they place higher importance on family legacy and continuity, which is likely to strengthen the relationship between participative culture and KS in family firms. Originality/value Given the important role that the family system plays within the family business, this paper explored how family characteristics can influence KS in family firms. The authors contribute to the literature by highlighting the importance that the owning family can have in creating an environment that can facilitate KS in family firms.

Filling the void of family leadership: institutional support to business model changes in the Italian Industry 4.0 experience

We examine whether the probability of innovating a company’s business model towards the Industry 4.0 paradigm is affected by external institutional support and family leadership. Industry 4.0 is the information-intensive transformation of global manufacturing enabled by Internet technologies aimed at reinventing products and services from design and engineering to manufacturing. Using a sample of 3000 firms from a corporate survey on the manufacturing industry in Italy, our results showed that family leadership has a significant positive influence on the adoption of Industry 4.0 business models, but only in terms of family ownership. By contrast, family management has a negative influence on the probability of adopting a new business model. However, this negative influence is almost totally offset by the presence of the Triple Helix, i.e. the external support by public institutions and universities, which counterbalances the lower propensity of family managers to adopt Industry 4.0 business models. This supporting role only occurs when institutions and universities act together.

The Impact of Politically Connected CEOs and Boards of Directors on Firm Performance: A Study of Vietnamese Family and Nonfamily Firms

Integrating new institutional economics and resource dependence theory, this study investigates whether in transition economies, characterized by shifting from centrally commanded to more market-oriented economies, there are performance differences among family firms (FFs), nonfamily firms (non-FFs), and former state-owned enterprises (former SOEs), and whether political connections affect these differences. Our findings suggest that FFs outperform non-FFs and former SOEs, unless non-FFs have politically connected CEOs. The performance gap in favor of FFs increases at high levels of board political connection intensity. Among FFs, the top-performing ones either promote nonfamily leadership or combine family leadership with politically connected boards of directors.

Family leadership and environmental sustainability: a case of the single fathers in Russia

Nowadays, the traditional perception of the family is changing. However, understanding children preferences and shaping their views of the world still remain the key prerequisites for the environmental sustainability. The purpose of the article is to analyze models of single fatherhood, to study the motivation and structure of factors that determine the involved fatherhood making, the specifics of mother’s and parent family’s influence on the paternal practices implementation. Our research testifies to the fact that single fathers tend to become family leaders and undertake responsibility related to childcare in the context of transforming marital and family relations as well as facing global environmental issues. The results of the study show that single fatherhood is usually a forced situation caused by death or severe illness of the mother, her deviant behavior and leaving the family, deprivation of parental rights, divorce consequences, long-term separation of spouses, use of modern reproductive technologies of surrogacy. It is concluded that the scenarios of the single fatherhood becoming – planned or casual – are associated with the cause of the child appearance in the family. The significant differences are found in the social and cultural capital of the single fathers which might have different impacts on the level of environmental education they can pass on to their children.

How important is it for family businesses to maintain a strong entrepreneurial orientation over time?

The purpose of this article is to explore how important is the entrepreneurial orientation for family businesses. Entrepreneurial orientation is an important concept within the entrepreneurship field and it should be maintained through family generations. Proactiveness, risk-taking and innovativeness form the essence of entrepreneurial orientation, while the generational level is an influential variable, related to entrepreneurial orientation. A preliminary and conceptual study of the described problem was undertaken. Although risk-taking is essential in developing entrepreneurship and sustaining the family legacy, family businesses are risk-averse, due to concerns about reduction in family wealth. Entrepreneurial orientation may be strong at the founder stage, but it decreases as the business moves through generations. Entrepreneurial families should have an entrepreneurial orientation towards business activities, as it provides the vision to mobilise the knowledge within the family business. Strong and consistent family leadership is needed to create a climate favouring entrepreneurial orientation. Families should develop an entrepreneurial spirit and orientation that can sustain the current generation and the entire family into the future.