bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Facebook use in libraries: an exploratory analysis
Authors: Aharony Noa
Published: June 2012

Purpose

The current study aims to present an exploratory analysis of the use of Facebook in American public and academic libraries, with the purpose of understanding patterns of Facebook use in libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

This study presents both a statistical descriptive analysis and a content analysis.

Findings

The research findings show that both kinds of libraries use the information section and the wall and that there is a difference in the use of other Facebook sections, which was surprisingly limited in both kinds of libraries. In addition, public libraries use the wall and the photos section as major channels of information more than academic libraries. Concentrating on the content of the Facebook wall posts, it appears that there are some differences between the two sections (categories and sub‐categories). However, it seems that both kinds of libraries use Facebook simply as a way to deliver information to users, rather than as a venue for discussion.

Originality/value

Research findings enable librarians and information scientists to better understand the Facebook phenomenon in different kinds of libraries.
Normative interventions, emergent cognition and decision rationality in ad hoc and established groups
Authors: Curşeu Petru , Schruijer Sandra
Published: June 2012

Purpose

As normative interventions (NIs) have been claimed to be effective in improving decision quality in groups, the aim of the paper is to address the effectiveness of NIs in ad hoc and established groups across several task domains.

Design/methodology/approach

Three experimental studies were conducted to test the effects of NIs on collective cognition, group rationality, and decision quality.

Findings

The first experimental study (58 groups) compared the effects of NIs on the emergence of group level cognitive structures. The results show that NIs lead to higher group cognitive complexity in established rather than in ad hoc groups. The second study tests the effects of NIs on group rationality (as emergent group competence) in a sample of 40 established groups and shows that NIs have synergic effects and foster group rationality. In the third study the insights of the first two studies are extended to a more realistic decision task performed by groups of managers. The results of the last study show that decision quality is higher in groups that received NIs as compared to groups that did not receive NIs.

Research limitations/implications

The results contribute to the group cognition literature by showing the synergic effects of NIs.

Practical implications

The results show that NIs are simple and effective ways of improving information processing and decision quality in established decision‐making groups.

Social implications

NIs help in achieving better decisions throughout society.

Originality/value

The paper is the first comprehensive test of the impact of NIs on group information processing across several cognitive tasks and the first to explore group rationality as an emergent group‐level competence.
How to intensify the individual's feelings of belonging to a social networking site?
Authors: Sánchez‐Franco Manuel J. , Buitrago‐Esquinas Eva M. , Yñiguez Rocío
Published: June 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to test an interaction effects model that includes perceived community support, community satisfaction, and post‐adoption behaviours by analysing a social networking site called Tuenti. Inclusion of routinisation as a moderator allows, in particular, the overcoming of inconsistencies of relationships among key drivers found in previous studies.

Design/methodology/approach

The research uses partial least squares to estimate the parameters of the interaction effects model.

Findings

Overall, community satisfaction leads Tuenti members to develop community participation and feelings of belonging, and identification with other members. In particular, routinised behaviours predispose members to a higher influence of community satisfaction on community integration – reducing the main effect of perceived support. The higher community satisfaction also results in a lower influence of perceived support on active participation.

Originality/value

Although previous research provides evidence of the possible effects of perceived community support and satisfaction on social behaviours, a review of the literature reveals that there are still very few published studies that analyse the interaction effects of community satisfaction and routinisation and consequently, improve the explanatory power of the theoretical framework.
Is telework effective for organizations?
Authors: Harker Martin Brittany , MacDonnell Rhiannon
Published: June 2012

Purpose

Telework is an alternative work relationship with demonstrated positive benefits for individuals and society, yet it has not been implemented with enthusiasm by most organizations. This could be due to the lacking, consolidated evidence for management regarding whether or not telework is a good thing for the firm. The purpose of this paper is to integrate multidisciplinary literature that reports effects of telework on organizational outcomes with the aim of providing a clearer answer to the question: is telework effective for organizations?

Design/methodology/approach

Meta‐analytical methods were used, beginning with an interdisciplinary search for effect sizes in eight databases. Limited to scholarly journals and dissertations, results included 991 articles scanned for inclusion criteria. The independent variable is telework, measured as a dichotomous variable. Dependent variables are outcomes of interest to organizations: productivity, retention, turnover intention, commitment, and performance. In total, 22 studies were double coded and meta‐analyzed using Hunter and Schmidt's approach, followed by five exploratory moderator analyses: level of analysis, level of the employee, response rate, proportion of females, and country of the study. Significant results are discussed.

Findings

Review and meta analysis of 32 correlations from empirical studies find that there is a small but positive relationship between telework and organizational outcomes. Telework is perceived to increase productivity, secure retention, strengthen organizational commitment, and to improve performance within the organization. In other words, it is indeed beneficial for organizations. All five hypotheses are supported.H1 (productivity), rc=0.23 (k=5,n=620), (95% CI=0.13−0.33).H2 (retention),r=0.10 (k=6,n=1652), (95% CI=0.04−0.16).H3 (commitment),r=0.11 (k=8,n=3144), (95% CI=0.03−0.18); moderator analysis shows sample age is significant (F(1,4)=4.715,p<0.05, R2=0.80).H4 (performance),r=0.16 (k=10,n=2522).H5 (organizational outcomes),r=0.17 (k=19,n=5502), (95% CI=0.1−0.20).

Originality/value

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first meta‐analysis of telework research at the organizational level, providing a unique contribution to the field in filling the gap between research on effects to the individual and society. Additional contributions resulted from the moderator analyses: first, in finding that the relationship between telework and performance is moderated by whether or not the sample was one individual per firm, or many individuals from one; and second, in finding that the relationship between telework and organizational commitment is moderated by age. Thus, the paper provides unique contributions with both scholarly and practical implications.
Psychosomatic model of workplace bullying: Australian and Ugandan schoolteachers
Authors: Casimir Gian , McCormack Darcy , Djurkovic Nikola , Nsubuga‐Kyobe Apollo
Published: June 2012

Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the psychosomatic model of downward workplace bullying in different cultures.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross‐sectional design was used. Participants were teachers in government and non‐government high schools in Australia and the Republic of Uganda. Participants completed a self‐report questionnaire.

Findings

The psychosomatic model is supported for both the Australian and the Ugandan samples. However, the relationship between bullying and physical symptoms is fully mediated by negative affect for the Australian sample but partially mediated for the Ugandan sample. The correlation between bullying and negative affect is stronger for the Australian sample than for the Ugandan sample.

Research limitations/implications

The psychosomatic model was extended by including culture as a moderator of the bullying‐negative affect relationship. The findings show that the psychosomatic model of workplace bullying is a variform universal. All participants are schoolteachers and the findings may therefore not be generalisable to employees in other occupations. The validity of the findings is questionable as the data are self‐reported. The cross‐sectional design used precludes any conclusions being made about cause‐effect relationships. Future studies should consider other personality dimensions that may influence the psychosomatic model of bullying and the use of a longitudinal design.

Practical implications

Downward bullying reduces employee effectiveness because the ensuing negative affect and physical symptoms hamper employees from performing optimally. Furthermore, targets may adopt avoidance strategies, such as absenteeism and turnover, to avoid being bullied.

Originality/value

The psychosomatic model of workplace bullying was examined cross‐culturally for the first time.
Why come into work ill? Individual and organizational factors underlying presenteeism
Authors: Collins Alison , Cartwright Susan
Published: June 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of managers and employees, in one private and one public sector organization, towards an individual's decision to go to work, despite being unwell, a phenomenon known as presenteeism in the literature.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative interviews (n=33) were used to investigate the personal beliefs and attitudes of managers and employees towards presenteeism in an attempt to understand why individuals come into work, despite being unwell, rather than taking time off work.

Findings

This paper explores the factors that influence an individual's decision to come into work despite being ill. Employees who are unwell are likely to take into consideration a combination of factors before deciding whether to come into work or take sick leave. The study's findings highlight the importance of both the work environment and an individual's personal motivation, including their work ethic, on presenteeism, providing further evidence that context is important.

Originality/value

The study's findings support previous research that attendance management mechanisms implemented by the organization can lead to absenteeism. However, well‐designed and managed return to work policies can be of reciprocal benefit to both the organization and the employee.
Lean and the working environment: a review of the literature
Authors: Hasle Peter , Bojesen Anders , Langaa Jensen Per , Bramming Pia
Published: June 2012

Purpose

The effects of lean on employees have been debated ever since the concept was introduced. The purpose of this paper is to review the scientific literature on the effects of lean on the working environment and employee health and well‐being.

Design/methodology/approach

Relevant databases were searched for studies of lean and the working environment. In total, 11 studies with quantitative effects of lean are included in this review. The methodology and results are analysed to extract information about lean and the effects on working environment.

Findings

There is strong evidence for the negative impact of lean on both the working environment and employee health and well‐being in cases of manual work with low complexity. However, since examples of positive effects were also found in the literature, it is important to move from a simple cause‐and‐effect model to a more comprehensive model that understands lean as an open and ambiguous concept, which can have both positive and negative effects depending on the actual lean practice used on the shop floor.

Research limitations/implications

The evidence remains limited with regard to the effect of lean on the working environment outside of manufacturing industry. The literature reflects, only to a limited extent, on the significance of implementation strategy and production context.

Practical implications

Organizations working with lean should make efforts to avoid an impaired working environment for manual employees. Involvement of employees in lean's practical application is one possible way of developing a healthy working environment.

Originality/value

This is the first paper to make use of the existing research evidence to examine the complex and ambiguous relations between lean and the working environment.
Service quality orientation: an approach to diffusing mindfulness in SMEs
Authors: Owusu‐Frimpong Nana , Nwankwo Sonny
Published: June 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to connect mindfulness with service quality constructs and apply the resultant framework, service‐mindful orientation (SMO), to the analysis of strategic perspectives and philosophical orientations of small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana towards service quality management.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods: face‐to‐face interview for the purpose of illuminating inter‐subjective discourses of quality orientation; and questionnaire method that enabled parametric testing of key variables and relationships on 60 service and manufacturing SMEs.

Findings

The paper finds conceptual synergy between conventional measures of mindfulness and service‐quality, resulting in the SMO framework. When this framework is applied to gauge strategic orientations, tensions became evident in both the conceptualisation and operationalisation. That an organisation is quality‐minded does not mean that it is quality mindful. Whilst there are subtle differences between manufacturing and service SME groups used in the study, both share a basic commonality in their muddled, cluttered and sometimes confusing approaches to service‐mindful orientation.

Research limitations/implications

The concept of SMO is yet to be fully developed to deliver generalisable measures and outcomes. There is certainly a need to advance the treatment to attain theoretic saturation. Also, the sample and design of the study should be seen from the exploratory learning and may be less‐than robust for stable generalizations.

Practical implications

There are, potentially, far‐reaching implications arising from this paper. Conceptually, SMO is introduced, not in any taxonomical manner, but as a robust platform within which to analyse, measure and evaluate the futurism of SMEs in terms of success‐readiness and stability. Practically, the battery of measures embodied within SMO are likely to provide the fillip for internal self‐assessments of how ready an individual SME or clusters would be in facing up to both their strategic and operational challenges relating to service‐quality management.

Originality/value

By introducing mindfulness from the realm of cognitive science into the domain of service quality, this paper extends the theoretic and discursive dimensions of quality management.
Administrator preparation: looking backwards and forwards
Authors: Bridges Edwin
Published: June 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to conduct a critical analysis of the origins and implementation of problem‐based learning in educational administration as a window into the limitations of this approach and more generally administrator preparation.

Design/methodology/approach

The author reviewed the published work of the originator from 1970‐2009, as well as his preparation program for principals, and evaluated his approach primarily in light of two perspectives, emotional labor and positive emotions. The paper probes the utility of using these sociological and psychological perspectives in studying and understanding the emotional side of administration through interviews with principals.

Findings

The major finding of this analysis was to question whether sufficient attention is being paid to the emotional aspects of administration in problem‐based learning in particular and administrator preparation programs more generally. The analysis reveals several areas where more attention should be paid, and provides some insight into the nature of mental and emotional labor of principals.

Originality/value

The paper combines two theoretical approaches in a novel way to raise a series of questions that can be used to evaluate programs for preparing administrators in terms of a critical, but for the most part neglected, area – the emotional side of administration. For those who choose to incorporate this facet of administration into their preparation program, the author describes an approach that might be used.
Staff involvement in leadership decision making in the UK further education sector
Authors: Maringe Felix
Published: June 2012

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to explore the quality of leadership decision making at various leadership levels in the further education (FE) sector. Using Hoffberg and Korver's model for integrated decision making, the paper aims to examine how staff in five UK FE colleges perceive the quality of their involvement in decision‐making teams and groups and the extent to which decision‐making processes meet Tatumet al.'s criteria for fair and just organisational decision making

Design/methodology/approach

The paper utilises data from the Integrating Diversity in Leadership Project sponsored by the Centre for Excellence in Leadership. It draws on responses made by 67 staff in five FE colleges in the UK to a series of qualitative questions in individual interviews. The paper also draws on observations of the level and quality of interaction and contribution made by 147 staff in 15 leadership decision‐making groups. The paper only draws on those responses that have relevance to the questions of leadership decision making, the quality of decision making and the perceptions of staff regarding their involvement in decision making at various levels.

Findings

The data suggest that inclusiveness in decision making decreases with the hierarchy of decision‐making groups, with the most senior groups being seen as the most exclusive, least transformed, closely guarded and offering restricted entry. Similarly, decision‐making teams at different levels are associated with different levels of justice and fairness related to the balance made between competing dilemmas of people versus process.

Originality/value

There is limited research conducted in this area. The study brings together aspects of social justice and inclusive decision making to bear on the structures and processes of leadership decision making in educational settings and uncovers a range of barriers that stand in the way of inclusive and fair decision making. These findings could indeed be a seedbed for an emerging theory of leadership decision making in educational establishments.
Cigarette smoking among medical students in China and modifiable risk factors for smoking prevention
Authors: Chen Xinguang , Tang Xiaolan , Stanton Bonita , Li Hanwu , Chen Weiqing
Published: June 2012

Purpose

The reduction of tobacco use among medical students is a potentially powerful strategy to reduce tobacco use among future health professionals, who in turn, can have significant impact on tobacco use among patients as well as the general population in China. The goal of this study is to update information on the prevalence of cigarette smoking among Chinese medical students and to assess modifiable factors for smoking reduction.

Design/methodology/approach

Presented in the paper are descriptive, associative and path model analyses of survey data collected among 758 medical students in year one through year three from Hainan Medical College, Hainan, China.

Findings

Among the total 758 participants, 66.9 percent of males and 26 percent of females smoked and 26.5 percent of males and 1.6 percent of females had smoked in the past 30 days. The median monthly expenditure on cigarettes was 30 Chinese Yuan (approximately US$4.25). The likelihood of smoking increased with male gender, more advanced year group, poor academic performance, perceived peer smoking, and depressive symptoms, after controlling for covariates.

Originality/value

Findings reported in this study provide further insight into the smoking prevalence among medical students in China as well as adding to knowledge about several potentially modifiable factors that are related to smoking. Data collected in this study are likely to prove valuable in prioritizing tobacco control among Chinese medical students, as they are future medical doctors, and their smoking behaviors will have strong influence on their patients as well as the general public.
Anti‐smoking practice in hospitals
Authors: Zhou Dunjin , Yan Yaqiong , Yu Huihong , Xia Qinghua , Yang Niannian , Zhang Zhifeng , Zhu Zhaoyang , Li Fang , Gong Jie
Published: June 2012

Purpose

This study aims to examine whether, in the opinion of patients selected in 13 hospitals of Hubei province, China, hospitals are smoke free. Patients were also asked whether their physicians had inquired about their smoking status.

Design/methodology/approach

Patients were recruited through an intercept method (i.e. stopped by the interviewer while in the hospital); data were collected through interviews, with a response rate of 96.1 percent.

Findings

Among the intercepted patients, 48.3 percent reported having seen people smoking in hospitals; 22.3 percent had seen a doctor and/or nurse smoking; 23.8 percent had smelled tobacco in hospitals; 68.4 percent reported having seen “no‐smoking” signs in hospital settings; 42.6 percent reported having been asked about smoking status in their latest visit to a doctor and 23.8 percent reported receiving tobacco cessation counseling. Compared to hospitals in large cities, patients from medium/small city hospitals reported significantly higher levels of cigarette smoking among physicians, and poorer implementation of regulations for a smoking‐free hospital, and less smoking cessation counseling by physicians.

Originality/value

Findings of this study point to the need for greater efforts to be made in promoting a smoke free environment in hospitals, as well as encouraging physicians to provide more smoking cessation counseling to smoking patients, particularly physicians in small and medium hospitals.
Framework for a global quality evaluation of a website
Authors: Rocha Álvaro
Published: June 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a high‐level structure for a global quality evaluation of a website. This structure is based on the characteristics, sub‐characteristics and attributes of three main dimensions (content, service, and technical quality) that will substantiate the development of broad website quality evaluation, comparison and improvement methodologies, according to particular sectors of activity and evaluator's perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the literature and the author's experience a framework is proposed for a global quality evaluation of a website.

Findings

Considering the results of some studies, as well as the systematisation of the knowledge available in several bibliographies, website quality can be grouped into three main dimensions: content quality, service quality, and technical quality. There has not yet been an evaluation methodology that focuses on these three main website quality dimensions in a broad and transversal sense.

Originality/value

The paper presents an innovative high‐level structure for a global quality evaluation of a website, based on three dimensions not previously considered together.
The effectiveness of web ads: rectangle vs contextual banners
Authors: Martín‐Santana Josefa D. , Beerli‐Palacio Asunción
Published: June 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this work is to analyse the relationship between click‐through rate (CTR) and the traditional measurements of advertising effectiveness and to measure the advertising effectiveness of two less common formats of online advertising in blogs: rectangle and contextual, as well as to explore which factors influence that effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was used to gather data. Advertising effectiveness was determined using the traditional measurements employed for conventional media at cognitive, affective and conative levels and analysing the CTR.

Findings

The results reflect a direct relation between measurements of effectiveness and CTR, differences in the effectiveness of the two advertising formats, and that the factors influencing that effectiveness are attitude toward the web site, involvement with the product and duration of web site visit.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of the study is that the experimental design is focused on two types of formats inserted into two types of blog and about only one product. A further limitation is the need to analyse other factors that may influence the effectiveness.

Practical implications

The principal conclusion of the study is that managers should not evaluate the effectiveness of their online campaigns by using only the CTR.

Originality/value

Despite the increase in their use, blogs have not received attention in the field of advertising research.
Success factors closing AstraZeneca's research site in Lund, Sweden
Authors: Severinsson Liv , Turunen Mikael , Fröjd Christina , Andréasson Agneta , Hultkvist Bengtsson Ursula
Published: June 2012

Purpose

As part of the AstraZeneca R&D transformation the Lund research site with 900 employees has been closed and the research activities moved to a different geographical location in Mölndal, Sweden. The change period lasted for 22 months starting in March 2010 with the end result that 200 employees moved to Mölndal, 100 retired, 600 had to find new opportunities, and the Lund research facility was sold and transferred to a non‐profit life science foundation. This case report will present and discuss the learning from moving a research area to a different geographical location and closing a research site.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study will describe challenges associated with an extensive change journey, the measures that were undertaken by the leadership team, and the results of a staff survey evaluating the success of delivered objectives.

Findings

A major learning from this change process was the importance of an empowered local cross‐functional leadership team that can drive and execute major global changes at the local level. Key success factors were transparent face‐to‐face communication and engagement and motivation of employees to deliver challenging objectives. A staff exit survey showed that >90 percent of the employees felt they had been treated with respect. They left the Lund research site feeling proud of having worked for AstraZeneca and for leaving the site in a responsible way.

Originality/value

This case study describes how a difficult change management assignment can become a success story.
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Authors: Wollard Karen K.
Published: June 2012

Purpose

Reviews the latest learning and development books across the globe and pinpoints practical implications.

Design/methodology/approach

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is a thoughtful and provocative book about thinking. It takes the reader through 40 years of research into how humans think, often contradicting conventional wisdom and demonstrating how pliable and easily distracted much of thinking can be. Reading it, one is challenged to question nearly everything about how the brain processes the world around it.

Practical implications

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

Originality/value

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to digest format.
Could health service reforms make general practitioners ill?
Authors: Hockly Anthea , Caan Woody
Published: June 2012

Purpose

This is an unprecedented period of organisational change in English primary care. The aim of this paper is to draw on findings from the most recent period of rapid change for primary care, with lessons that may have profound implications for the implementation of forthcoming Health Service reforms.

Design/methodology/approach

Front line practitioners from two primary care Trusts were surveyed in terms of their reaction to change and those questionnaire findings were used to design interviews for a cross‐section of staff with varied responsibilities.

Findings

General practitioners (GPs) differed from all other staff groups. Most GPs found change unwelcome and stressful, especially if individually they felt they had little influence on an externally imposed re‐organisation. They also felt accumulated changes had distanced them from patient care which had been a major motivating factor.

Originality/value

The reforms currently proposed in the NHS and Social Care Bill compel GPs to take on unfamiliar commissioning roles, in new organisational structures. Implementation of the Bill needs to take into consideration the health impact on key medical colleagues, if it ignores the work satisfaction GPs derive from clinical care and the mental health consequences of loss of control over working practice.
Rehabilitation programme for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse
Authors: Ellis Fiona
Published: June 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of group therapy programmes for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), looking specifically at The Butterfly Programme, an eight week programme of healing that uses various therapeutic methods, to show how women who have experienced a form of CSA and remain deeply affected, can become more empowered through group therapy.

Design/methodology/approach

By looking at venues where the programme can be delivered and where disclosure may occur, the report provides further statistics on how women survivors are affected into adulthood. Information is given on the emotional benefits of group therapy, the structure of the programme and how survivors take an active role by working closely with the facilitator.

Findings

Through questionnaires, completed at the beginning and end of the programme the effectiveness of the programme is assessed with improvements in self‐esteem measured against the Rosenberg self‐esteem scale, a reliable ten‐item, self‐report measure of global self‐esteem. Data taken from 59 women demonstrate the positive effects of group therapy.

Originality/value

The report shows how The Butterfly Programme enables women to address difficult emotions associated with their experience of CSA, helping them to reduce their dependency on “peripheral” medical services, and instead assists them to improve their education and employment prospects as well as improving their personal relationships.
From ABA to SPR: 30 years developing evidence based services for the treatment and prevention of conduct disorder in Wales
Authors: Hutchings Judy
Published: June 2012

Purpose

This paper describes the author's work during 35 years as a clinical psychologist in the NHS in Wales working mainly with conduct disordered children and their families. It describe how from initially working within an applied behaviour analysis (ABA) framework with individual families she subsequently established and researched the group based Incredible Years (IY) parent programme in Wales and led a Wales‐wide dissemination of the IY programmes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a case study example of the use of the Society for Prevention Research (SPR) criteria for translational research, that is research that can be applied successfully in the real world.

Findings

Many of the challenges were overcome through the inclusion of strategies to maximise effectiveness with differing populations, and by gaining the support of government and local services.

Originality/value

The paper discusses the challenges of taking an evidence‐based programme to scale.
The education of children in care: a research review
Authors: Welbourne Penelope , Leeson Caroline
Published: June 2012

Purpose

This paper seeks to explore three key aspects of the education of children in care: the composition of that population of children and the extent to which they differ from the general population of children due to difficulties most of them have experienced prior to as well as after entering care; issues relating to the identification of causal relationships and the extent of “underachievement” by children in care; and any evidence that care may provide more positive opportunities than is often supposed.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper's approach is an extensive literature review of existing published research into social policy and practice of caring for looked after children.

Findings

The significant factors that contribute to better achievement for children in care are: placement stability and support at school but for some children therapeutic help and specialist assessments are necessary to improve outcomes. Different analyses produce different results and the scrutiny of children's trajectories indicates better outcomes than one‐off comparisons with children not in care.

Originality/value

Extensive research has established that children in care achieve less educationally than their peers not in care, but does not explain why. This paper helps to fill this gap.
A balanced view of long work hours
Authors: Haines Victor Y. , Marchand Alain , Genin Emilie , Rousseau Vincent
Published: June 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address the theoretical ordering of the associations between work hours, psychological demands, decision latitude, and psychological distress.

Design/methodology/approach

A mediation model, predicting that the association between long work hours and psychological distress is mediated by psychological demands and decision latitude, was tested with a representative sample of 7,802 individuals in full‐time paid employment surveyed by a government agency. Structural equation modeling was used and the full mediation model was replicated for subsamples of men and women. The analysis controlled for demographic variables, work characteristics and socioeconomic status.

Findings

As expected, decision latitude is associated with less and psychological demands with more psychological distress. Long work hours are associated with more decision latitude and psychological demands. The association between long work hours and psychological distress is mediated by psychological demands and decision latitude. The mediation process was supported in male and female sub‐samples.

Research limitations/implications

Considering the weak associations between work hours and psychological strain reported in previous research, the findings of this study support new theorizing about this association. Accordingly, long work hours may be viewed as a distal variable influencing the duration of exposure to psychological demands. The study reported here also underscores the need to further investigate the positive consequences of long work hours within the context of psychological contracts.

Originality/value

This is one of the few studies that conceptualize work hours as something other than an occupational risk factor or as a job demand with a direct impact on psychological strain. It thus provides a new basis for thinking about the process through which long work hours may influence psychological strain.
Environmental determinants of obesity‐associated morbidity risks for truckers
Authors: Apostolopoulos Yorghos , Sönmez Sevil , Shattell Mona , Belzer Michael H.
Published: June 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the transportation environment triggers, exacerbates and sustains truckers’ risks for obesity and associated morbidities.

Design/methodology/approach

An extensive literature review of PubMed Central and TRANSPORT databases was conducted on truckers’ obesity risks and 120 journal articles were identified for closer evaluation. From these, populations, exposures, and relevant outcomes were evaluated within the framework of the broad transportation environment.

Findings

Connections between the transportation environment and truckers’ risks for obesity‐associated comorbidities were delineated, and an original conceptual framework was developed to illustrate links between the two. This framework addresses links not only between the transportation environment and trucker obesity risks but also with other health strains – applicable to other transport occupational segments. Moreover, it provides direction for preliminary environmental‐scale interventions to curb trucker obesity. The utilization of this framework further underscores the need for: an appraisal of the health parameters of trucking worksites; assessment of truckers’ obesity‐risk trajectories, and examination of potential causality between the transportation environment, inactivity and diet‐related morbidities; and the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions to mitigate trucker obesity. While there is a geographic emphasis on North America, data and assertions of this paper are applicable to trucking sectors of many industrialized nations.

Originality/value

The paper brings to light the influences of the transportation environment on trucker obesity‐associated morbidity risks.
The role of Islamic work ethics in developing organizational citizenship behavior at the Jordanian Press Foundations
Authors: M.K. Alhyasat Khaled
Published: June 2012

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to identify the effect of Islamic work ethics on the organizational citizenship behavior in Jordanian press organizations, and single out the most significant element of Islamic work ethics.

Design/methodology/approach

– The present study adopted the descriptive analytical approach based on field survey. The population of the study consists of seven daily newspapers in Jordan in 2010. A stratified random sample of the top management and executive management was taken, proportionate to the size of each organization. In total, 66 questionnaires were distributed to 30 per cent of the 218 targeted managers, and 175 questionnaires were distributed to 15 per cent of the employees, who totaled 1,163. In total, 204 questionnaires were collected. Frequencies and percentages were used to identify the characteristics of the community, while means and standard deviations were used to answer the questions, along with the multiple regression and the single-factor analysis of variance.

Findings

– The study found that the level of commitment on the part of workers in Jordanian press foundations to Islamic work ethics was high. In addition, there was a statistically significant effect of abidance by Islamic work ethics (kindness and forgiveness in dealing with employees and clients, obedience to the people in power and respecting job ethics in organizational citizenship behavior among employees in these organizations. Meanwhile, there was no statistically significant effect of abidance by the Islamic work ethics (proficiency, giving advice to Muslims, sense of responsibility, justice and fairness, integrity and teamwork) in organizational citizenship behavior.

Practical implications

– The paper involves a set of components of organizational citizenship behavior derived from Islamic work ethics. These ethics can be integrated into the human resources systems in media organizations, and other types of entities. These ethics can be incorporated into any code of conduct, stating the behaviors expected from every employee.

Originality/value

– The researcher conducted a comparative study based on related literature. Obviously, previous studies addressed work ethics generally, but they did not address the specific components of ethics which this study did). It is also worth indicating that all previous studies were conducted in foreign contexts, whereas this study has been conducted in an Arab context. Additionally, there are studies on organizational citizenship behavior, but this one linked between Islamic work ethics and organizational citizenship behavior.
Network organisation in supporting post‐disaster management in Indonesia
Authors: Kusumasari Bevaola
Published: June 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the support network organisations between local government, non‐government organisations (NGOs) and community groups in post‐disaster management.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of an exploratory case study which concentrates on the Bantul district, Indonesia. The Bantul local government, located in Yogyakarta Provincial Indonesia, was selected as a case study because it had experience in managing post‐disaster conditions after the 2006 earthquake. Data were gathered through in‐depth interviews with 40 key informants with knowledge about the case.

Findings

The research revealed that this local government has made significant achievements in managing network organisations for logistic and humanitarian aid implementation. Inter‐organisational networks, citizen‐to‐organisation networks and organisation‐to‐citizen networks have become prominent resources for local government in managing a disaster because they address the lack of local government capability through negotiated efforts or partnership with other government levels, social institutions, non‐profit sector organisations and the community, in order to mobilize and utilize available capacity effectively.

Originality/value

This paper presents lessons learnt from local government in organising the support network for logistic and humanitarian aid to respond to disasters.
Intestinal microbiota and secretory immunoglobulin A in feces of exclusively breast‐fed infants with blood‐streaked stools
Authors: Kumagai Hideki , Maisawa Shun‐ichi , Tanaka Mamoru , Takahashi Motomichi , Takasago Yuhei , Nishijima Asaka , Watanabe Shuhka
Published: June 2012

Episodes of blood‐streaked stools are not uncommon in exclusively breast‐fed infants under 6 months of age. Such bleeding is thought to be associated with food protein‐induced proctocolitis, however the pathomechanism remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate intestinal microbiota and secretory immunoglobulin A in the feces of exclusively breast‐fed infants with blood‐streaked stools. Fecal specimens from 15 full‐term infants with blood‐streaked stools and 15 breast‐fed healthy infants were studied and the results compared. All infants had been delivered vaginally and exclusively breast‐fed. The fecal microbiota were investigated by phylogenetic analysis combined with culture methods for some bacterial species, and feces were assessed for the presence of fecal secretory immunoglobulin A by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Phylogenetic cluster analysis revealed four major clusters of fecal bacteria, cluster A being found only in healthy infants. TheBacteroides fragilisgroup was observed more frequently in controls than in patients (P < 0.05). In the controls, the predominant species belonging to theEnterobacteriaceaegroup wasEscherichia coli, whereas in the patients it wasKlebsiella(P < 0.05). Concentrations of secretory immunoglobulin A were high in one third of the healthy controls. In conclusion, the pathomechanism of rectal bleeding in exclusively breast‐fed infants may be related to differences in the composition of their intestinal flora.
Plasma leukocyte cell‐derived chemotaxin 2 is associated with the severity of systemic inflammation in patients with sepsis
Authors: Ando Kazuyoshi , Kato Hidehito , Kotani Toru , Ozaki Makoto , Arimura Yutaka , Yagi Junji
Published: June 2012

The aim of the present study was to determine the correlations between leukocyte cell‐derived chemotaxin 2 (LECT2) and inflammation‐related variables in human inflammatory disease. Plasma samples from 23 septic patients who had been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of our institution and 31 volunteers were used. Plasma LECT2 concentrations were examined retrospectively and compared with those of various inflammatory cytokines and routine laboratory data. The LECT2 concentrations of the septic patients at the time of ICU entry (5.3 ± 4.1 ng/mL) were significantly lower than those of the volunteers (19.7 ± 3.4 ng/mL) and these concentrations had significantly increased by the time of ICU discharge. Individual analyses showed that the LECT2 concentrations of all 19 patients had increased by the time of ICU discharge. A combination of LECT2 and C‐reactive protein (CRP) concentrations was capable of discriminating the acute and recovery phases of sepsis to a degree similar to those of the combinations of CRP concentration and percentage of neutrophils, CRP concentration and percentage of immature white blood cells, or CRP and interleukin‐6 concentrations. Thus, the LECT2 concentration correlates with the severity of systemic inflammation in patients with sepsis. LECT2 may be a reliable diagnostic indicator of human inflammatory diseases.
Sequence of alcohol involvement from early onset to young adult alcohol abuse: differential predictors and moderation by family‐focused preventive intervention
Authors: Mason W. Alex , Spoth Richard L.
Published: June 2012

Aims

This study tests risk factors for four dimensions of alcohol use in the sequence from (i) early onset prior to age 13 to (ii) adolescent alcohol use and (iii) alcohol problems to (iv) young adult alcohol abuse. It also examines whether family‐focused preventive interventions buffer predictive relationships.

Design

Data were from a randomized prevention trial extending from ages 11 to 21 years.

Setting

Families of sixth graders enrolled in 33 rural schools in the Midwestern United States were invited to participate.

Participants

Families (n = 667) were pretested and assigned randomly to a control group (n = 208) or to family interventions (n = 459). The average age of participating youth was 11.3 years when the study began (52% female).

Measurements

Questionnaire data were collected on alcohol dimensions during adolescence (early onset, alcohol use, alcohol problems) and young adulthood (alcohol abuse), and on risk factors in early adolescence (male gender, impulsive behaviors, aggression–hostility, peer deviance and parent problem drinking).

Findings

Impulsive behaviors predicted early onset, peer deviance predicted alcohol use and parent problem drinking predicted alcohol problems (P < 0.05). Aggression–hostility and alcohol problems predicted alcohol abuse in the control group (P < 0.05), but not in the family interventions group (P > 0.05).

Conclusions

Different dimensions of alcohol use and problems from before age 13 to young adulthood are predicted by different risk factors. Family‐focused preventive interventions can reduce the influence of some of these risk factors, including early adolescent aggression–hostility and late adolescent alcohol problems.