bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An exploratory study of gender effect on student presentation evaluations
Authors: Girard Tulay , Pinar Musa
Published: March 2009

Purpose

This study aims to examine the potential effects of the gender similarity between the presenter and evaluator on the presentation evaluation scores obtained with an evaluation form.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from marketing students at two universities in the USA. A rubric and separate survey instrument were used to capture student presentation evaluation scores and perceptions of gender differences in various aspects of presentation quality.

Findings

Findings indicate that gender of evaluators or presenters did not have any significant effect on presentation scores. The survey of student perceptions of gender effect on student presentations indicate that while female students seem to be perceived as better presenters than male students, the study found no consistent patterns of gender effect on presentation evaluations.

Research limitations/implications

Only four evaluation criteria were used to measure presentation quality.

Originality/value

The results of this exploratory study uses the actual presentation evaluations and survey of student perceptions suggesting that student inputs can be included for grading without any concern of gender bias on grading.
Job stress and organizational commitment among mentoring coordinators
Authors: Michael Orly , Court Deborah , Petal Pnina
Published: March 2009

Purpose

This research aims to examine the impact of job stress on the organizational commitment of a random, representative sample of coordinators in the Israeli educational mentoring organization PMP. Organizational commitment, including affective, continuance and normative commitment, refers to worker relations in the organization, and how these relations influence the employee's well‐being, behavior and contribution to the organization.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used three questionnaires to investigate the influence of the stress variable and its cumulative effects to predict the coordinators' organizational commitment, among 131 PMP coordinators from six different PMP branches around Israel.

Findings

The findings revealed that stress hinders the coordinators' sense of emotional commitment. As the stress level rises, the coordinators' sense of belonging decreases. Another finding was that the stress in the coordinators' job does not influence their overall continuance commitment. Strong continuance commitment was found in two categories: role expectations that were not compatible with the role requirements, and the second, unwillingness to leave the job in the middle of the year. In addition, the research indicated that job stress is not related to the PMP coordinators' normative commitment. They felt loyalty to the organization based on the faith that this work is the right thing to do.

Originality/value

The importance of the research lies in the highlighting of stress as an essential factor influencing work and performance in organizations, together with the mitigating influence of organizational commitment. These results could help organizations to better understand the influence of organizational commitment and to manage its implications more effectively. It is suggested that further research should investigate whether those working in educational settings have greater normative commitment than workers in other fields.
Accounting and subalternity: enlarging a research space
Authors: Graham Cameron
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The paper aims to describe the construction of this AAAJ special issue as an exercise in creating and consolidating social space for innovative accounting research.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of prior literature and the events leading to this AAAJ issue are used to provide a context for the articles appearing in the issue.

Findings

The paper suggests that accounting research is implicated in subalternity in complex ways, both through its construction of the subject of research and in its attempts to reproduce accounting researchers habituated to Western academic norms and practices.

Research limitations/implications

The paper sets out some conditions for innovative accounting research on less developed countries and indigenous peoples.

Originality/value

This journal issue is an attempt to expand research space by bringing together authors from different areas of accounting research, as well as a consolidation of vibrant existing streams of research. The paper introduces the special issue.
The preservation of indigenous accounting systems in a subaltern community
Authors: Jayasinghe Kelum , Thomas Dennis
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The paper aims to examine how indigenous accounting practices are mobilised in the daily life of a subaltern community, and how and why the members of that community have managed to preserve such practices over time despite external pressures for change.

Design/methodology/approach

An ethno‐methodological field study is employed to produce a text that informs readers about the ways in which people engage in social accounting practices. It uses the concepts of structuration theory to understand how indigenous accounting systems are shaped by the interplay between the actions of agents and social structures.

Findings

The case study suggests that it is the strongly prevailing patronage based political system, as mobilised into the subaltern social structure, which makes individuals unable to change and exercise their agencies, and tends to “preserve” and “sustain” indigenous accounting systems. Social accounting is seen as the common language of the inhabitants in their everyday life, as sanctioned by the unique form of autonomy‐dependency relationship shaped by patronage politics.

Research limitations/implications

The findings imply that any form of rational transformations in indigenous accounting systems in local subaltern communities requires a phenomenological analysis of any prevailing and dominant patronage political systems.

Originality/value

This is the first empirical study that focuses on how and why local subaltern communities preserve their indigenous accounting practices over time. This contrasts with previous work that has focused on the presence or absence of accounting beyond work organisations.
Weapons of the weak: subalterns' emancipatory accounting in Ceylon Tea
Authors: Alawattage Chandana , Wickramasinghe Danture
Published: March 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to report on subalterns' emancipatory accounting (SEA) embedded in transformation of governance and accountability structures (GAS) in Ceylon Tea.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on James Scott's political anthropology to examine how subalterns' resistance and emancipatory accounting triggers structural transformations.

Findings

An attempt is made to theorise subaltern resistance as a form of emancipatory accounting. Concerning the commentaries that accounting has been to suppress or hegemonise the subalterns and appreciating the analysis of indigenous resistance implicated in emancipatory potential, this paper examines how a distinct subaltern group in Ceylon Tea deployed their own weapons towards the changes in GAS.

Originality/value

The accounting literature neglects how subalterns reconstruct governance and accountability structures: this paper introduces a social accounting perspective on resistance, control and structural transformations. Also, it introduces to accounting researchers James Scott's political anthropology as an alternative framework.
Profession, race and empire: keeping the centre pure, 1921‐1927
Authors: Poullaos Chris
Published: March 2009

Purpose

This paper seeks to examine the social construction of the racialised, colonial subaltern accountant in the British imperial centre in the early twentieth century..

Design/methodology/approach

Primary sources are used to provide an historical analysis of the British accountancy arena in the 1920s, this being the period when “race thinking” first became explicit. Secondary histories of race and empire are used to contextualise this analysis by highlighting: the growth of “race thinking” in the latter part of the nineteenth and the early decades of the twentieth centuries; and the American challenge to British imperial hegemony after the First World War.

Findings

This paper tracks the struggles of British accountants in the imperial centre in the 1920s to find a path between racialist attitudes in the imperial centre, their own included and countervailing discourses of non‐discrimination. For the Scottish chartered bodies, this involved the development of a de facto barrier to entry when a proposed de jure one aroused, surprisingly enough, the prospect of retaliation from American accountants.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations in the primary sources preclude detailed examination of the attitudes of individuals or for all variations in the positions adopted by particular bodies.

Practical implications

The troubling thing about the demise of explicit race talk by the end of the 1920s is that de facto barriers to the entry of the racialised, subordinated Other remained in place.

Originality/value

This paper shows that the rise of race thinking in Britain did not leave British accountancy untouched; largely through the pressure it placed upon the identity of British accountants qua Britons and the consequential issue of inclusion/exclusion of non‐Britons.
Management accounting in less developed countries: what is known and needs knowing
Authors: Hopper Trevor , Tsamenyi Mathew , Uddin Shahzad , Wickramasinghe Danture
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate management accounting research in developing countries and formulate suggestions for its progression.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a desk based study of existing literature analysed through a framework of management control transformation in developing countries derived from the authors' research.

Findings

Research is growing, especially on accounting in state‐owned and privatised enterprises but more is needed on small and micro enterprises, agriculture, non‐governmental organisations, and transnational institutions.

Originality/value

This is the first review of this area and thus should help intending and existing scholars.
To seek or not to seek professional help? School leaders' dilemma
Authors: Nir Adam E.
Published: March 2009

Purpose

School leaders are professionals who need professional help to enable them better to cope with the ever‐changing challenges characteristic to their daily routine. Yet, in considering their hierarchical position in schools, they may be reluctant to ask for professional assistance even when help is available and needed, attempting to maintain their power and firm image. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to explore how school leaders cope with this assumed dilemma.

Design/methodology/approach

In‐depth open interviews were conducted with Israeli school principals. These interviews were structured around a set of key issues that the literature identified as being related to help‐seeking behavior.

Findings

Data indicate principals' loneliness on the job and need for professional help. Yet it appears that the threat implied in exposing one's weaknesses, lack of reliable sources of help within the formal system, personal inhibitions and fears of damaging self‐image and losing capacity to influence are barriers undermining their inclination to formally seek help. Therefore, they prefer to informally ask the assistance of lay individuals, but even then adopt various strategies such as avoidance, buffering and differentiation, attempting to prevent the assumed negative consequences associated with help‐seeking behaviors.

Originality/value

Theoretically, it is possible to conclude that those who are most in need due to their hierarchical position and role complexity are least likely to become involved in help‐seeking behaviors. Creating an organizational culture that will encourage school principals to ask for help and establishing a discreet channel within the formal system that will provide professional advice are further discussed.
The vice‐principal experience as a preparation for the principalship
Authors: Kwan Paula
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine first the job responsibilities undertaken by vice‐principals and second to investigate the respective contribution of each job responsibility in preparing them for the principalship. Because new principals are drawn predominantly from the ranks of vice‐principals in Hong Kong, it is important to examine whether their current experience adequately prepares vice‐principals to take up this senior position.

Design/methodology/approach

All vice‐principals in Hong Kong secondary schools were sent a questionnaire that asked for the extent of their involvement in various activities and their adequacy of preparation for the principalship. A sequential regression analysis was used to examine the effect of various job dimensions on the vice‐principals' perceived preparedness, over and above the effect of their demographic variables.

Findings

Seven job responsibility dimensions pertaining to the role of vice‐principals were identified. It was found that respondents spend most of their time on staff management and the least on resource management. Among the seven job dimensions, only strategic direction and policy environment were found to have an effect on their perceived preparation for the principalship.

Research limitations/implications

The findings reflect that vice‐principals take their staff management and resource management responsibilities lightly as they do not perceive their extensive experience gained in staff management as an asset or their inadequate experience in resource management as a deficiency in preparing them for the principalship. As these two dimensions are the core elements of school‐based management, they deserve the attention of policy‐makers. In addition, policy‐makers should address the development of vice‐principals in the dimension of strategic direction and policy environment.

Originality/value

The paper, using a quantitative methodology, is the first to investigate the link between job responsibility dimensions and preparation for the principalship as perceived by vice‐principals.
Resolving leadership dilemmas in New Zealand kindergartens: an action research study
Authors: Cardno Carol , Reynolds Bronwyn
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine dilemmas encountered by kindergarten head teachers with the further aim of developing their capability to recognise and resolve “leadership dilemmas”.

Design/methodology/approach

Action research was used to conduct a three‐phase study involving 16 kindergarten head teachers and six system managers (within the Auckland region). A reconnaissance phase investigated the nature of perceived dilemmas and typical responses. In the second phase, an intervention that provided participants with both the theory and practice skills was implemented. A third phase of research evaluated the extent to which change had occurred.

Findings

The reconnaissance phase findings (pre‐learning questionnaire) confirm the incidence of dilemmas in kindergarten settings. The data show that, while leaders could identify issues that signalled the presence of dilemmas, they were unable to articulate leadership dilemmas clearly or confront them successfully. A professional development intervention was evaluated using a post‐learning questionnaire. There is evidence that these leaders were better able to recognise and articulate the leadership dilemmas they encountered in performance management settings. The findings show that participants are able to analyse their responses to these dilemmas by relating these to the theory base and indicating where they believe there is need for further learning. In summary, the intervention did change participants' practice but the study is limited by its inability to gauge internalisation of learning and study its implementation. For this to occur another cycle of action research is required.

Originality/value

The paper is original in that it studies the practices of leaders in relation to resolving dilemmas which arise when leaders manage the performance of staff. If leaders have an understanding of the theory and skills they need to address these tension‐laden problems, they could positively influence the quality of teaching and learning through leadership practices.
Teacher effectiveness and student achievement
Authors: Heck Ronald H.
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show how increasing teacher effectiveness is central to school efforts to improve student outcomes. This study aims to examine successive teachers' effects on student achievement. The premise advanced is that teacher effectiveness is an individual resource that varies across classrooms within schools, as well as a collective resource that varies across schools.

Design/methodology/approach

The methods used represent an attempt to expand the scope of previous studies about ways in which schools affect student learning by examining a multilevel constellation of teacher‐related effects (e.g. classroom effectiveness, collective teaching quality, school academic organization) that can be changed to increase educational effectiveness. The sample consisted of 9,196 students, cross‐classified in 511 and 527 classrooms, and nested in 156 elementary schools.

Findings

First, the effectiveness of successive teachers was related to student achievement in reading and math. Second, collective teacher effectiveness, as an organizational property of schools, was positively associated with achievement levels. Third, the stability of the school's teaching staff and the quality of its academic organization and teaching processes were positively related to achievement levels.

Originality/value

Findings are consistent with studies that have found that differences in teacher effectiveness matter in explaining student achievement. They also suggest that teacher effects tend to accumulate within and between schools to provide noticeable academic advantage or disadvantage. The results imply promising avenues through which a leadership focus on hiring and retaining high‐quality teachers and facilitating improved academic processes can yield increased school effectiveness.
The citation indexes and the quantification of knowledge
Authors: Rodríguez‐Ruiz Óscar
Published: March 2009

Purpose

This paper seeks to show the limitations of citation analysis to measure the quality of scientific contributions, also exploring the consequences of the assessment of research performance for educational institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

The study reviews the literature about citation and assessment of the research endeavour to identify problems that clearly affect the administration of the institutions of higher education

Findings

Citation and other metrics are being used increasingly by the educational administration. Citation indexes can be considered as useful indicators, but they do not represent the quality of research. For this reason, bibliometric measurement cannot be the essential part of academic appraisal.

Originality/value

The paper highlights the fact that administrators in higher education institutions and academic authorities need to be conscious of the essential role of peer review.
The impact of RFID on service organizations: a service profit chain perspective
Authors: Smith Jeffery S. , Lee Lorraine , Gleim Mark
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of radio frequency identification (RFID) implementation on service performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study utilizes a case study methodology to explain the impact of RFID on performance. The service profit chain is used as the overarching framework to facilitate the discussion. Qualitative methods in the form of in‐depth interviews, observation, and participation are employed for the collection of data.

Findings

The results in the paper indicate that RFID implementation has a significant impact on the consumer components (quality, value, satisfaction, and financials) of the service profit chain. The implementation also has an effect on the technical aspects of internal operations (internal quality and productivity) but is limited in how it affects the employee components (satisfaction, capability, and loyalty).

Research limitations/implications

The paper denotes the potential impact on performance of RFID implementation through the utilization of a qualitative research approach, which limits the scope of the findings. Also, the focal organizations are non‐profits, which can also hinder generalizability.

Originality/value

This research is one of the first to empirically examine the way in which RFID implementation can affect operational and financial performance. In doing so, valuable insights are gained as to how RFID can be used to improve existing performance. Additionally, areas are identified that can be investigated to further benefit from the implementation.
Determining the relative importance of critical factors in delivering service quality of banks
Authors: Kumar Mukesh , Tat Kee Fong , Taap Manshor Amat
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the critical factors to accessing the level of service quality of banks by re‐examining the SERVQUAL model, originally pioneered by Parasuraman. Further, the technique of dominance analysis is used to measure the relative importance of each critical factor in closing up overall service quality gap of banks.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample consists of 308 bank customers from different parts of Malaysia. The data were collected by using a structured questionnaire, which consists of three parts. Part 1 deals with consumers' usage of banking channels and their banking behavior. Part 2 contains 26 statements related to service quality dimensions based on past literatures. Finally, Part 3 contains the questions related to the socio‐demographic profiles of respondents.

Findings

The modified SERVQUAL model consists of four critical factors (dimensions) as detected by factor analysis. They are: tangibility, reliability, competence and convenience. The results reveal that there are significant differences between the respondents' expectation and their perceptions. Among the four dimensions tested, tangibility has the smallest gap whereas convenience has the largest gap. The application of dominance analysis indicates that competence and convenience together can help to reduce the SERVQUAL gap as much as 76 per cent. The banking sector needs to become more competent by being more responsive and fulfilling the assurance of the customers and providing the banking facilities more conveniently.

Originality/value

The paper shows that hardly any work has been conducted which applies the dominance analysis approach in SERVQUAL dimensions to determine the relative importance of the critical factors in closing the overall service quality gap. Measuring the relative importance of service quality dimensions consistently will provide insights to the banks as to what areas need to be emphasized in order to retain their customers and attract new ones. It provides the guidelines for the banks to develop proper strategies and react faster to the changes of customers' banking behavior.
Developing laminar mixed convection of nanofluids in an inclined tube with uniform wall heat flux
Authors: Ben Mansour R. , Galanis N. , Nguyen C.T.
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The aim is to study the conjugate problem of developing laminar mixed convection flow and heat transfer of water‐Al2O3 nanofluid inside an inclined tube submitted to a uniform wall heat flux.

Design/methodology/approach

The set of non‐linear, coupled and fully elliptic governing equations has been solved using a “finite‐control‐volume” numerical method, the classical power‐law scheme for computing heat and momentum fluxes staggered and non uniform grids for spatial discretization of various regions of the tube.

Findings

Numerical results have shown that the presence of nanoparticles slightly intensifies the secondary flow due to buoyancy, in particular in the developing region. It also increases the average Nusselt number and decreases slightly the product ReCf with respect to those of water. For the horizontal inclination, two new correlations have been proposed to calculate these two variables in the fully developed region, for Grashof number ranging from 103 to 105 and particle volume concentrations up to 7 per cent.

Practical implications

The results of this study can be employed for various practical heat transfer and thermal applications using nanofluids.

Originality/value

The present study constitutes an original contribution to the knowledge of nanofluid thermal behaviour.
Analysis of conduction‐radiation problem in absorbing and emitting nongray materials
Authors: Marques Severino P.C. , Barbero Ever J. , Murillo John S.R.
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a computationally efficient model to solve combined conduction/radiation heat transfer problems in absorbing, emitting, non‐scattering, non‐gray materials.

Design/methodology/approach

The model is formulated for steady‐state condition and based on an iterative approach where the medium is discretized into finite strips and the extinction spectrum is divided into finite bands to consider the extinction coefficient variation with the wavelength.

Findings

Temperature fields and heat flux distributions are presented to demonstrate the capability of the formulation. It is shown that the model is quite accurate and efficient even for the cases of pure radiation. Differently from other models, the number of iterations required by the model for convergence is very low, even in the cases dominated by radiation.

Originality/value

The model has great potential to contribute with the evaluation and design of materials for thermal insulation, where radiation heat transfer can be the dominant mechanism, such as aerogel materials which are recognized as the solids with the lowest thermal conductivity and are intended to be used in building and construction, aerospace, transportation and other applications.
Jet impingement onto a cylindrical cavity
Authors: Yilbas B.S. , Shuja S.Z.
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The paper's aim is to provide information on heat transfer and flow characteristics for a jet emerging from a conical nozzle and impinging onto the cylindrical, which resembles the laser heating process, for researchers and graduate students working in the laser processing area, which can help them to improve the understanding of the laser machining process.

Design/methodology/approach

A numerical scheme employing the control volume approach is introduced to model the flow and heating situations. The effect of jet velocity on the heat transfer rates and skin friction around the cylindrical cavity subjected to the jet impingement was investigated.

Findings

Increasing jet velocity at nozzle exit enhances the heat transfer rates from the cavity wall and modifies the skin friction at cavity wall, which is more pronounced as the cavity depth increases to 1 mm.

Research limitations/implications

The effects of nozzle cone angle on the flow structure and heat transfer characteristics were not examined, which perhaps limits the general usefulness of the findings.

Practical implications

Very useful information are provided for the laser gas assisted processing, which has a practical importance in machining industry.

Originality/value

This paper provides original information for the effects of the gas jet velocity on the cooling rates of the laser produced cavity.
Shape modification of an axial flow turbine nozzle to reduce erosion
Authors: Mazur Zdzislaw , Campos‐Amezcua Rafael , Campos‐Amezcua Alfonso
Published: March 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to validate an axial turbine modified nozzle design, looking for a reduction of the nozzle erosion process during operation in power plants.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach taken is numerical simulation using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool, comparing original and proposed/modified nozzle designs.

Findings

The paper provides information about how to achieve a solution of the turbine operational problem (abrasive wear) by an analysis of flow patterns under a variety of conditions.

Research limitations/implications

It does not give a detailed interpretation of flow behaviour due to the lack of validation data.

Practical implications

A very useful flow simulation methodology that can be used in industry is provided.

Originality/value

The proposed design modification of an axial turbine nozzle with the aid of CFD simulation has not been performed yet. This paper investigates the possibility of nozzle erosion reduction by modifying local flow patterns.
Distance education in China: the current state of e‐learning
Authors: Chen Li , Chen Huina , Wang Nan
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the current trends in and future prospects for distance education in primary, secondary, and higher education in China.

Design/methodology/approach

This article reviews relevant literature and cases, and explores the current situation of distance education in China.

Findings

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in education is at different stages in China. There are three main forms of distance education practice in China based on executing agencies, target students, and goals.

Practical implications

The paper summarizes characteristics of each e‐learning form in China. This information is useful for policy makers, administrators and teachers.

Originality/value

This paper classifies major practice models of e‐learning in China and defines different forms according to their own characters definitely.
Teachers' conceptions of e‐learning in Chinese higher education
Authors: Zhao Jianhua , McConnell David , Jiang Yinjian
Published: March 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to first, examine teachers' conception of e‐learning and second, is to reveal how e‐learning is applied in teaching and learning in the field of Chinese higher education.

Design/methodology/approach

Various issues are reviewed in the instruction part, i.e. e‐learning applications in China, research and practices of e‐learning. The methodology applied in this study is phenomenography. Twenty‐four Chinese participants were interviewed in‐depth based on a protocol developed in the planning stage. The interviews are analysed from a grounded theory perspective and a set of conceptual categories are proposed.

Findings

Five categories, i.e. the centrality of the lecture, online cooperation learning, network learning, student learning, and infrastructure and access are identified in terms of the phenomenographic study. The findings demonstrate that the traditional teaching methods that dominate in China are unlikely to present conditions for mainstreaming e‐learning in the near future.

Practical implications

Traditional Chinese teaching culture still dominates in higher education, and teachers' conceptions do influence their teaching behaviours. Therefore, a training programme could be developed based on the categories of teachers' conceptions of e‐learning.

Originality/value

This study helps us to understand how Chinese teachers understand e‐learning and how they utilise e‐learning in their teaching and learning.
Moving from TV broadcasting to e‐learning
Authors: Gao Ping , Zhang Ruling
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it provides an overview of the demand, capacity and challenges of teacher education in China. Second, it highlights the significant contributions of China Central Radio and TV University (CCRTVU) to teacher education in the last three decades. Finally, it discusses challenges and issues for e‐learning as a new form of distance education for upgrading qualifications and promoting professional development of teachers and principals in remote, rural schools.

Design/methodology/approach

As a case study, this paper analyses CCRTVU's infrastructure and operational structure, and its unique position to bridge teacher education institutions and integrate educational resources.

Findings

When CCRTVU moves from TV broadcasting to e‐learning, it offers new and innovative forms of professional development for millions of school teachers and principals, and accompanying new challenges.

Originality/value

The paper suggests that rigorous research should be conducted to address what works and how to reach teachers and school principals in remote, rural areas.
The development of the Distance Education College of East China Normal University: a case study
Authors: Ye Lixin , Su Xiaobing , Yan Hanbing
Published: March 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to present a picture of the past and the present status of the Distance Education College (DEC) of East China Normal University (ECNU). It describes what the DEC has achieved in each phase, and probes into some essential problems that the DEC has attempted to solve.

Design/methodology/approach

This article provides a comprehensive description of the development of the DEC by following a case study method.

Findings

The DEC goes through three stages. In the first phase, a teacher‐focused policy and disciplined management are formed. In the second phase, a quality‐first policy is emphasized, and two training modes are developed: the human‐centered management mode and the trainee‐oriented training mode. In the third phase, the DEC initiates further innovation and uses a new platform.

Practical implications

ECNU has witnessed and participated in the development of modern distance education in China. It remains successful in developing distance education. The effort made by the DEC well showcases the overall development and growth of modern distance education in China.

Originality/value

This article presents the development of the DEC and will help readers understand the developmental process of distance education colleges in China.
The design of a web‐based course for self‐directed learning
Authors: Liu Mingzhuo
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how to design a web‐based course in the context of China for self‐directed learning from four perspectives – i.e. pedagogical, psychological, social and technological – and also to summarize the design principles for the web‐based course.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews literature related to: self‐directed learning, with a view to bringing out its capabilities and capacities for use in a web‐based environment; theories and pedagogies of learning with a view to imbuing them for the design of web‐based courses; and challenges of the design of web‐based courses with a view to gauging its acceptability.

Findings

The development of a successful web‐based course needs to focus on multiple perspectives — pedagogical, psychological, social and technological – in order to contextualize it for learner‐centeredness. The results show that the course designed based on these dimensions was flexible, useful and welcomed.

Originality/value

This paper describes a conceptual framework for designing a web‐based course from four perspectives and also presents a series of design principles for a web‐based course.
The use of e‐learning in pre‐service teacher education
Authors: Li Baomin
Published: March 2009

Purpose

E‐learning has been applied in pre‐service teacher training for many years. The purpose of this paper is to present the use of e‐learning in a pre‐service teacher training course and discuss the relevant issues involved.

Design/methodology/approach

The article reviews literature related to instruction design, and e‐learning concepts and practice. A survey is conducted, the course having been offered for two years.

Findings

The use of e‐learning in this pre‐service teacher training course is successful because it achieves the expected goal. The self‐study ability of pre‐service teachers is improved. Learners also participate actively. However, further improvement needs to be done in curriculum design teacher support.

Originality/value

This paper integrates theories and practice. It shows a sample of applying e‐learning into a course for pre‐service teacher education. This blended approach is new in the context of China.
Beyond the control‐resistance debate
Authors: Bolton Sharon C. , Houlihan Maeve
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this short paper is to introduce the special issue and outline its major themes.

Design/methodology/approach

The control‐resistance literatures are described, and the necessity for field‐led empirical accounts is amplified, as a precursor to introducing the contributions to this special issue.

Findings

Forms of control co‐mingle and the old imprints the new. Theories of control, resistance, agency and consent can most usefully be expanded by engaging with empirical accounts, resisting duality, and embracing multidimensionality.

Originality/value

This paper offers a review of the state of debate about control and resistance within organisation studies, and calls for field‐informed accounts and fresh perspectives.
“Worky tickets”: exploring dissent at work
Authors: Smith Andrew
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to chart the process of culture change within Durham National Savings, both before and after the public‐private partnership (PPP) of the organisation, and to examine dissent – in its many forms – as a dimension of employee resistance.

Design/methodology/approach

In‐depth semi‐structured interviews were conducted with trade union representatives and shop‐floor employees. Senior management declined all offers to participate in the research.

Findings

Despite managerial attempts to generate a homogenous culture, the organisation consisted of an array of subcultures. Yet dissent became more pointed and political after the PPP of the organisation. In combination with trade union resistance, workplace dissent challenges and destabilises managerial efforts at usurping organisational cultures.

Originality/value

The theoretical contribution of the paper is important as it moves beyond traditional forms of resistance to examine opaque and emergent forms of dissent at the subterranean level. The changing nature of such actions and attitudes are examined in the context of managerial attempts to transform the culture of the organisation. Whilst there are overlaps around the notions of misbehaviour, dissent and resistance, a fresh and extended definition of workplace dissent is offered.
Welfare wars: public service frontline absenteeism as collective resistance
Authors: Junor Anne , O'Brien John , O'Donnell Michael
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model to explain frontline employee absence as a form of concerted resistance in a public service welfare environment.

Design/methodology/approach

Conflicts over absenteeism can be interpreted as a mix of formal and informal struggles over the effort bargain. Centrelink workers' use of “unplanned leave” between 2005 and 2007 involved the quasi‐collective use of a formal entitlement in a form of misbehaviour that defied management control.

Findings

Whereas absenteeism is normally assumed to be a form of unorganised individual time‐theft, in this study it became a tacitly‐agreed form of collective resistance and a way of affirming collectively negotiated rights.

Research limitations/implications

This paper explores how the toll of cost cutting and implementation of tighter welfare eligibility rules elicited collective resistance through leave taking and highlights how absenteeism can be more than an individual response of passive disengagement.

Originality/value

Using theories of resistance, the authors highlight how the case study both conforms to and departs from the received wisdom about absenteeism as an individual oppositional strategy.
When complexity meets culture: new public management and the Swedish police
Authors: Andersson Thomas , Tengblad Stefan
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how new public management (NPM) reform from the national level is implemented as practice in a local unit within the police sector in Sweden.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative case‐study approach is applied using semi‐structured interviews, participant observations and analysis of documents.

Findings

The paper illustrates different kinds of resistance at the organizational level. The dominant form of resistance was found to be cultural distancing. The paper demonstrates a tendency among police officers to deal with a changing and more complex work context by embracing a traditional work role.

Research limitations/implications

The paper shows that reforms that add complexity may fail because of potential contradictions and the limited capacity and motivation of employees to deal with the complexity in the manner prescribed by NPM.

Practical implications

The paper shows that the popular trend to adopt multi‐dimensional forms of control (for instance the balanced‐scorecard approach) may fail if there is a lack of consensus about what goals and measurement are important and/or there is a lack of dialogue about how the new goals should be implemented in practice.

Originality/value

Research about NPM‐reforms in the police sector is rare. The original contribution of this paper is to study NPM‐reforms with a focus on the role of complexity in relation to resistance.
Miners' identity and the changing face of the labour process within the UK coal mining industry
Authors: Allsop David , Calveley Moira
Published: March 2009

Purpose

Much current academic writing focuses on the changing nature of work in the services sector, particularly with regard to the implementation of new technological processes. Bringing attention back to a traditional industry, coal mining, the paper aims to consider the impact of technology upon the labour process and identity of coal miners.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on qualitative research undertaken by an ex‐coal miner and draws upon interviews with workers in five of the UK's remaining deep coal mines.

Findings

The paper demonstrates how the introduction of new technology in the mining industry has intensified workplace monitoring and surveillance. Despite this, we identify how complete management control over the labour process has not been possible. As the paper will show, miners draw upon their identity as autonomous workers in order to mediate the impact of technology on their working practices. The underlying belief of miners is that the capabilities of new technological working practices do not extend to replacing them at the coal face and that their unique identity as coal miners, combined with the unusual nature of the job, provides them with a force for mediating management control.

Originality/value

The paper offers a unique insight into the impact of technology upon the identity and labour process of a group of workers from a traditional heavy industry.
Restaurant servers, tipping, and resistance
Authors: Gatta Mary
Published: March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a next step in Greta Foff Paules' groundbreaking analysis of control‐resistance in service work by exploring the work practices of restaurant servers in regard to ways they resist and reshape the tipping system that structures their work life. Specifically, the author explores how workers will attempt to manipulate the system to elicit higher tips from customers and when servers forgo an economic tip, so that they can exercise dignity and self‐respect. Central to this analysis is to highlight the space in between Paules' notions of “getting” and “making” a tip. In this space, servers can exercise resistance and still acknowledge the humanness of the customer.

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology is participant observation and interviews.

Findings

Restaurant servers see their ability to manipulate the tipping system as routes to exercising agency and resistance in work interactions. Moreover, servers see their ability to earn tips (and even forgo tips) by both capitalizing on the organizational structures and capitalizing on the customers' human nature.

Research limitations/implications

The research focuses on servers broadly, and not on distinctions within groups of servers (i.e. sex differences, age differences or restaurant types).

Originality/value

This paper furthers the understanding of the tipping practice, which is historically viewed in terms of status inequality and control. In contrast, the author highlight how workers in practice, are able to use the tipping system to resist customer and manager demands, assert their creativity, agency, and self‐dignity, and still treat the customer as a social being.
Coping with control? Retail employee responses to flexibilisation
Authors: Carls Kristin
Published: March 2009

Purpose

This paper deals with flexibilisation of work and employment in large‐scale retailing. Its aim is two‐fold: first, to highlight how an authoritarian workplace regime and normative forms of control interact, in the attempt to achieve workforce alignment to flexibility. Second, to explore how employees make sense of experienced workplace conflicts, and to what extent they are able to develop capacities to act and to influence their working conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on a qualitative study undertaken in four large‐scale retailing companies in the Italian city of Milan. It is based on 45 semi‐structured, problem‐centred interviews with employees, shop stewards and union officers.

Findings

Analysis reveals how control manifests in “forced availability” based on individualised, informal daily flexibilisation, and sustained by resulting precarisation. Employees are active participants, as the functioning of the work organization depends on their capacity to balance in‐built contradictions. Yet, their capacity to act remains limited. They are trapped by individualised concepts of labour relations: a merit‐oriented understanding of work as a “fair exchange” and a personalised perception of social relations and interactions at the work place.

Research limitations/implications

The research encountered challenges in accessing temporary employees due to their fear of negative repercussions. This makes the sample slightly biased towards permanent, part time and fulltime, employment. Yet, it is also an opportunity, as it makes it possible to map experiences of precarisation across different employee groups.

Originality/value

Using the concepts of “coping practices”, “common sense” and “capacity to act”, the paper proposes to go beyond the dualisms of the resistance‐control debate. It points at the contradictory and interlinked character of employees' coping practices of adaptation, appropriation, conflictive negotiation and resistance.