bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Demystification of the glass ceiling phenomenon
Authors: Vassakis Konstantinos , Sakka Georgia , Lemonakis Christos
Published: March 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the gender role phenomenon and the stereotyping of requisite managers’ personal characteristics in the Greek society of today.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected quantitatively based on the informants’ perceptions on successful managers’ personality traits and according to the informants’ personality characteristics. Questionnaires were administered online to two separate convenience samples. Reliability analysis (Cronbach’sα) was employed for scale refinement, while intraclass correlation coefficient (r’) andt-test analysis examined the similarity of respondents’ responses across the items of the refined scale.

Findings

The results indicate that gender role stereotypes are challenged. It seems that the perceived managers’ personality is comprised of both agentic/masculine and communal/feminine characteristics and this perception is not perceived differently by men and women. This debates on whether the “glass ceiling” exists due to other determinants.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the literature on gender role stereotyping research and perceptions of managerial personality characteristics in Greece.
Agro-pastoralists’ determinants of adaptation to climate change
Authors: Kgosikoma Keneilwe Ruth , Lekota Phatsimo Cotildah , Kgosikoma Olaotswe Ernest
Published: March 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to analyze smallholder farmers’ perceptions on climate change and its stressors, their adaptation strategies and factors that influence their adaptation to climate change.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted in Kweneng district, located in the south eastern part of Botswana. Multi-stage sampling was used to obtain a representative sample from three sub-districts in the district. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data by using face-to-face interviews.

Findings

Majority of farmers perceived an increase in mean annual temperature and the number of hot days and a decrease in mean annual rainfall and the number of rainfall days over the past 10 years as indicators of climate change. The prominent adaptation strategies included changes in planting dates for crops and supplementary feeding for livestock. The logistic regression results show that gender, age, household size, poverty, shortage of land, mixed farming and knowledge about climate change significantly influence adaptation.

Practical implications

The findings indicate that climate change policy should target agricultural diversification at the household level and dissemination of information on climate change and adaptation strategies.

Originality/value

Policy recommendations can be suggested: government climate change interventions should target agricultural diversification at the household level, and this study provides insights on what influences adaptation strategies and what should be targeted to build resilience in the agricultural sector.
The mechanical and comfort properties of cotton and regenerated fibers blended woven fabrics
Authors: Latif Wasif , Basit Abdul , Ali Zulfiqar , Ahmad Baig Sajjad
Published: March 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the 100 percent pure cotton and 50:50 cotton and regenerated fibers (tencel, modal, bamboo, viscose) blends. The blends of regenerated fibers with cotton are studied so as to replace 100 percent cotton fabrics with the cotton blends as cotton cannot fulfill the demand of clothing due to the increasing population.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to conduct this study, cotton, as natural cellulose fiber, was used. Regenerated fibers include viscose, tencel, modal and bamboo. Five yarn samples of Ne 30/1 of 100 percent cotton and blends (50:50) of cotton with tencel, modal, bamboo and viscose fibers were produced. The blending was done in the Blow-room, and yarn samples were produced by employing the ring spinning technique. Plain woven fabrics samples with Ends (76) and Picks (68) per inch of 120 gsm were prepared. The fabric samples were tested for mechanical (warp and weft tensile and tear strengths) and comfort properties (air permeability, moisture management and thermal resistance).

Findings

Cotton:tencel fabric has the excellent mechanical (tensile and tear strength) as well as comfort properties (air permeability, moisture management and thermal resistance). It means that the most suitable blend that cotton can make with the regenerated fibers is the tencel. Therefore, to have more comfortable fabrics, the fabrics which are being made by 100 percent cotton can be replaced with the cotton:tencel.

Originality/value

To the authors’ information, no study has been reported in which all the regenerated fibers blended with cotton were studied. Hence, the aim of this work is to study the mechanical and comfort properties of the regenerated fibers (modal, tencel, viscose and bamboo) blended with cotton. The blends of cotton with regenerated fibers might replace 100 percent cotton in clothing applications as cotton cannot fulfill the increasing demanding of clothing.
Challenging teachers’ ideas about what students need to learn
Authors: Martensson Pernilla , Hansson Henrik
Published: March 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the processes that make teachers learn in a collaborative arrangement similar to lesson study (LS) and learning study (LearS). The teachers in this collaboration wanted to enhance teaching and student learning (grades 4-7) about decimal numbers.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis is based on data from five teachers’ collaborative work in an adaptive arrangement of LS and LearS called subject didactic groups. Data consist of eight audio recordings of the teachers’ meetings as well as written and photographic documentation of the meetings. The analysis was carried out through the lens of expansive learning within an activity system (Engeström, 1987). This entailed a focus on contradictions between teachers’ ways of thinking and acting when individually and collaboratively developing their teaching, on the solutions to the conflicts produced by the teachers, and on how these challenged the teachers’ ideas about what the students need to learn.

Findings

The authors identified contradictions between formative and summative assessment, exams and stressed students, prevailing norms about teaching and the theoretical tool used for planning and analyzing lessons and student learning, and the local curriculum and time constraints. The solutions to the conflicts were the driving force for developing new and more qualitative knowledge about what the students need to learn.

Originality/value

This paper gives explicit examples of contradictions and solutions that can challenge and drive teachers to expand their learning in an adaptive form of LS and LearS suited to daily teaching.
Thinking outside the box: a neuroscientific perspective on trust in B2B relationships
Authors: van Zeeland-van der Holst Eveline Maria , Henseler Jörg
Published: March 2018

Purpose

The concept of trust suffers from conceptual confusion. The current perspectives on trust within the B2B marketing domain could be visualised as a big box of which the borders are defined by the disciplines marketing, economics, psychology and sociology. The purpose of this paper is to enlarge the box by introducing neuroscientific insights on trust to the B2B marketing domain.

Design/methodology/approach

By a literature study on neuroscientific insights on trust, this paper examines how neuroscience can help to solve existing problems within trust research and how it can address problems that otherwise might not be considered.

Findings

The neural coordinates of trust not only show that trust entails cognitive and affective elements, but also that these elements are so intertwined that they cannot be completely separated. What can and should be separated are the concepts of trust and distrust: the neural coordinates of trust are clearly different from the neural coordinates of distrust. Furthermore, there are personal differences in the ease of trusting others, which are not only caused by previous experiences but also by differences in resting patterns of frontal electroencephalographic asymmetry and by differences in hormonal state.

Research limitations/implications

Specifically, the neural difference between trust and distrust might shape the future research agenda for trust research within industrial marketing. It is likely that the process of distrust goes quick, whereas trust comes more slow. This is reflected in the dual processing theory, which is seen as a paradigm shift in the psychology of reasoning.

Originality/value

New perspectives and directions for trust research are presented. The distinction between trust and distrust is connected to approach- and avoidance-motivated behaviour, which is highly relevant for deepening the studies on trust within industrial marketing.
The role of interaction for corporate sustainability
Authors: Vildåsen Sigurd Sagen , Havenvid Malena Ingemansson
Published: March 2018

Purpose

Most scholars acknowledge the role of firm-stakeholder relationship for enabling corporate sustainability (CS), but existing literature tends to apply a superficial understanding of interaction. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to advance knowledge by challenging classical stakeholder theory with fundamental insights from the IMP perspective, which in turn leads to a deeper conceptualization of interactive CS.

Design/methodology/approach

A typology framework is developed through an abductive research design grounded in the concepts of actors, resources, and activities. The authors illustrate the potential of the framework through a longitudinal case study. The empirical case revolves around an initiative for recycling of plastic material in a partly beforehand established supply chain, and the study reveals three main findings.

Findings

First, recycling solutions can result in major technological challenges. For example, using recycled material can jeopardize industrial quality standards. Second, third-party stakeholders represent critical knowledge and competence that can remedy technological challenges. Finally, R&D projects are important means for developing firm-stakeholder relationships.

Research limitations/implications

The paper introduces IMP concepts to the CS debate, which can illuminate the emerging literature on tensions and paradoxes related to CS phenomena. Further research is needed on the role of non-business actors as capacity generators for social and environmental change in traditional business networks.

Practical implications

The proposed framework can be used to analyze why some stakeholders (individuals and groups) turn into contributing actors in inter-organizational relationships, while others remain latent.

Originality/value

This paper illustrates the usefulness of actor bonds, resource ties and activity links as explanatory concepts. Moreover, developed relationships in terms of collaboration and networks represent a capacity to change, which is overlooked in current CS debates.
The sexual street harassment battle: perceptions of women in urban India
Authors: Bharucha Jehangir , Khatri Rita
Published: March 2018

Purpose

In India, women feel unsafe particularly in public spaces and single women feel threatened in almost every context (Nag, 2016). The purpose of this paper is to examine women’s safety in the metropolitan city of Mumbai and argue that we need to address this issue and respond to the dearth of firsthand knowledge about women’s safety in India which is investigated in light of the social and cultural milieu. The study makes several recommendations based on the research findings.

Design/methodology/approach

The data collection was done in three separate stages. In the first phase, a structured questionnaire was administered orally to around 300 working women all over the city of Mumbai and its suburbs. The second stage adopted an exploratory qualitative approach using in-depth interviews and reflections. In the third stage, the authors audited busy areas on various parameters that might hamper women’s safety.

Findings

All the raw data obtained were analyzed using qualitative data coding and categorized to generate themes. Six clear themes emerged which include: perception of safety; safety in transportation; actual violation of personal or physical safety; negligible reaction by the victims; experience with the police; and firsthand recommendations and strategies. This study brings to light the disturbing fact that 91 percent of women worry about their safety all the time or most of the time when they are outside their homes. On the streets of the city almost all had experienced some tangible threats to their safety at some point of time.

Originality/value

Hypocrisy in the treatment of women is precisely what makes India unsafe for women. Although Mumbai ranks as the safest city in India, the study portrays that it is unsafe and fearsome for women. The recent much publicized crimes against women especially rape cases have made women’s safety an important topic for research. Not much primary research exists in this area.
Emergent politics and constitutional drift: the fragility of procedural liberalism
Authors: Salter Alexander , Furton Glenn
Published: March 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to integrate classical elite theory into theories of constitutional bargains.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative methods/surveys/case studies.

Findings

Open-ended constitutional entrepreneurship cannot be forestalled. Constitutional entrepreneurs will almost always be social elites.

Research limitations/implications

The research yields a toolkit for analysing constitutional bargains. It needs to be used in historical settings to acquire greater empirical content. Need to be applied to concrete historical cases to do economic history. Right now it is still only institutionally contingent theory.

Practical implications

Formal constitutions do not, and cannot, bind. Informal constitutions can, but they are continually evolving due to elite pressure group behaviors.

Social implications

Liberalism needs another method to institutionalize itself!

Originality/value

Open-ended nature of constitutional bargaining overlooked in orthodox institutional entrepreneurship/constitutional economics literature.
Career mobility in young professionals
Authors: Baluku Martin Mabunda , Löser Dorothee , Otto Kathleen , Schummer Steffen Erik
Published: March 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of protean-related traits and attitudes in the development of international mobility (expatriation) and entrepreneurial intentions among early career professionals. Career mobility is of increasing relevance to achieving career success in the era of protean and boundaryless careers, and in the present day highly globalized labor market. International mobility provides opportunities for work in organizations (corporate expatriation) as well as in entrepreneurship (expat entrepreneurship).

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reports two studies examining the role of “protean career personality,” conceptualized as consisting of personal initiative and flexibility on entrepreneurial and expatriation intention, looking at career orientation attitude as the mediating mechanism. In study 1, the impact of personal initiative and flexibility on the two career mobility paths is explored using a sample of 442 German undergraduate students. Study 2 replicates these relationships among a sample of 100 early career professionals who graduated with a diploma in psychology.

Findings

Results indicate that for the sample of undergraduate students, flexibility and career orientation were positively related to expatriation intention. However, the mediation path was non-significant. On the other hand, personal initiative and career orientation were essential for entrepreneurial intentions, with a significant mediation path. For the early career professionals in contrast, only flexibility turned out to be resourceful for both expatriation and entrepreneurial intentions.

Practical implications

Suggestions for supporting early career professionals to develop interest in working abroad or in entrepreneurship are provided. Particularly, the results indicate that protean traits affect mobility intentions differently. To strengthen intentions for expatriation work, attention should be paid enhancing the ability for staying flexible when it comes to career choices. This applies to both undergraduate students and early career professionals. However, a strong career orientation is also essential to the development of expatriation intention among current students. On the other hand, enhancing proactivity could strengthen entrepreneurial intention among undergraduate students.

Originality/value

This study applies protean-related traits and attitudes; and how they work together in the development of mobility intentions among undergraduate students and early career professionals. The study reveals differential roles of these traits and attitudes among these groups, with regard to expatriation and entrepreneurship. This is important for career guidance.
WOM source characteristics and message quality: the receiver perspective
Authors: Le Tri D. , Dobele Angela R. , Robinson Linda J.
Published: March 2018

Purpose

Word-of-mouth (WOM) literature has identified the roles of source and message in WOM influence, but the relationship between them is yet to be investigated. The purpose of this paper is to explore this relationship by examining the mediation of message on the impact of perceived source characteristics from the perspective of the receiver. The paper also considered the mutual relationships between source characteristics and message quality.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative survey of prospective students was conducted to empirically examine the proposed conceptual model. A sample of 509 respondents was analysed using structural equation modelling.

Findings

The findings suggest the significant impact of expertise, trustworthiness, homophily and opinion leadership of the WOM source on the judgement of message quality and the indirect effects on WOM influence mediated by the message quality. The results also indicate the moderating effects of receiver involvement and the valence of the message on the impact of message quality.

Practical implications

The findings of this paper can inform the strategic development of WOM marketing. A deeper understanding of source characteristics and the role of the message may enable marketing practitioners to better target appropriate influencers for seeding programmes that stimulate WOM communication about their brands or products.

Originality/value

This study examines how the receiver’s evaluations of message content mediate the relationship between source characteristics and WOM influence. Source and message are two elements of communication which are processed when people receive information. However, nascent research examines their effects on each other. This research contributes to the understanding of this relationship through an empirical examination of the direct effects of primary source characteristics on perceived message quality.
Effects of brand transgressions on third-party consumers
Authors: Mantovani Danielle , Korelo José Carlos , Ibarra Jenny
Published: March 2018

Purpose

Brand transgressions, characterized by service failure, are a frequent theme for marketing scholars. Their impact on satisfaction, trust and brand loyalty is of high interest. However, in assessing the influence of those events on third-party consumers, the literature is still lacking. The purpose of this paper is to explore how social distance explains the reactions of close and distant third-party consumers toward other consumers during a brand transgression event. Anger is analyzed as a driver of this process.

Design/methodology/approach

Two experiments were conducted. Both studies presented a 3 (social distance: victim vs close third party vs distant third party) by 2 (severity: low vs high) between-subjects design. Respondents were asked to read a transgression scenario in a mobile phone service (study 1) and in a restaurant (study 2) and then completed scales that measured their affective reactions and evaluations of the relationship – satisfaction, trust, and loyalty intention – with the transgressing brand.

Findings

The results showed that transgression severity intensifies the effect of the brand transgression on consumer’s anger. Victims and close third parties demonstrated higher levels of anger compared to distant third-party consumers. In the case of severe transgressions, an experience of anger contagion between victims and close third-party consumers was responsible for the negative effect on the relationship evaluation of the transgressing brand compared to distant third-party consumers.

Originality/value

This study extends previous research about how social distance influences consumer-brand relationships and demonstrates the mediating role played by affective anger contagion.
A cross-national comparison of Millennial consumers’ initial trust towards an e-travel website
Authors: Jensen Jan Møller , Wagner Corinna
Published: March 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine Millennials’ formation of trust towards a travel website and identify the similarities and the differences in trust formation among consumers from two countries – Denmark and Portugal.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on online surveys conducted with convenience samples from two culturally-distant countries. Independent t-tests, structural equation modelling and multi-group analysis are used to verify the conceptual model and test the hypotheses.

Findings

Results support a strong relationship between initial trust towards a travel website and consumers’ behavioural intentions. The results also suggest that cultural differences between countries moderate the formation of initial trust and behavioural reactions hereto.

Originality/value

The study provides new insights into understanding how Millennials from Portugal and Denmark form initial trust towards an e-travel website.
Conclusions: managing tourism sustainability in mountain destinations
Authors: Dornier Raphaël , Mauri Chiara
Published: March 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to offer some key summary points drawn from the collection of articles gathered in this theme issue as to how Alpine destinations can manage tourism sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper summarizes the contribution made by different articles published in this issue and discusses their connection to the strategic issue of tourism sustainability.

Findings

The paper presents four key points that contribute to the debate on tourism sustainability: the sharing economy geared for winter mountain destinations; marketing perspectives on sustainability in winter mountain destinations; sustainability and transportation; and the institutional, legal and socio-economic aspects of sustainability.

Originality/value

Drawing on indicators of tourists’ behavior and from the findings of the articles published in this issue, this concluding study identifies the challenges that winter mountain destinations will have to address in the future. The originality and value of this issue lies in the multidisciplinary approach that was adopted – most research on sustainability tends to focus on a single academic stream. Moreover, the focus is on mountain areas with a cross-border perspective, whereas most research on sustainability is designed for a single country, and wider applicability is bounded by constraints.
Tourism development and adaptation to climate change through legal constraint
Authors: Joye Jean-François
Published: March 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to present a legal study addressing the way in which tourism development and planning in mountain areas can be adapted to climate change issues. It gives examples of attempts to regulate such development by law. Recent legislation in France has created new obligations targeted at ski resort managers. Urban planning and tourism development are key topics of the new French Mountain Act (law of 28 December 2016). The law moves back and forth between two goals, economic development and the protection of nature, and it is sometimes difficult to understand the general coherence of the text. Nevertheless, two significant new legal elements can be highlighted. Planning policies in mountain areas have to take climate change issues into account in the process of authorising major tourism building projects. Moreover, for the first time, the law requires obsolete ski lifts to be dismantled when they are no longer in use. Of course, although these measures are only legally theoretical at the moment, they represent important progress and are initially relevant to many ski resorts affected by global warming, especially in low-altitude mountain areas. Many of these are already experiencing a lack of snow, and a new economic model needs to be drawn up.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on a review of French laws having an effect on mountain areas’ adaptation to climate change.

Findings

This paper presents two innovations included in the new French Mountain Act (law of 28 December 2016).

Originality/value

This paper underscores problems emanating from global warming in mountain areas. Some ski resorts are facing a lack of snow. The main issue is to anticipate the fact that many ski lifts, or other structures or buildings created for the snow economy, could become obsolete. Legal tools can provide a solution by forcing administrations or operators to be cautious when making decisions relating to new tourist investments, and to dismantle obsolete ski lifts.
From ski to snow: rethinking package holidays in a winter mountain destination
Authors: Mauri Chiara , Turci Lorenzo
Published: March 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to examine tourists’ preferences for package holidays offering different bundles of activities at a winter mountain destination. A winter mountain destination is usually chosen for snow sports, particularly skiing, but increasingly more tourists want to fully exploit their holiday opportunity with an authentic and comprehensive experience of the place. After collecting qualitative data on how tourists spend their typical day, quantitative research is conducted to segment the demand on the basis of tourists’ preferences for bundles of activities undertaken during a winter mountain holiday.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a mixed method. Two focus groups are included to understand how tourists spend their time at a winter destination; results are then used to identify the components of the holiday, which are then combined in eight packages using an orthogonal array. A questionnaire is administered to a sample of 273 tourists at a well-known mountain destination to measure their preference for different packages. Results are analyzed using factor analysis, conjoint analysis and cluster analysis.

Findings

The most significant findings are as follows: winter mountain holidaying is a highly segmented market. Even at a mountain destination strongly associated with skiing, there are many tourists who do not ski and spend their time doing something else; food and beverage, and all their related activities, are at the top of all tourists’ interests, and passionate skiers very highly rate the experience of tasting, eating, understanding and buying local food; and there are four segments of winter mountain holiday tourists who show very differentiated interests for the different activities that can be experienced at a mountain location.

Originality/value

This paper considers what lies beyond sport at winter mountain destinations, and it reveals new possibilities for configuring bundles of activities to attract different segments of tourists.
Global warming and skiing: analysis of the future of skiing in the Aosta valley
Authors: Joly Marcello , Ungureanu Elena Irina
Published: March 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the impact of global warming and climate change on skiing by assessing the costs that ski resorts would have to bear to address the lack of snow. In this way, new development models can be hypothesized for the regional economy in the Aosta Valley, territory located in the West Alps, whose economy is largely based on winter tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

Starting with a literature review regarding global warming and its effects on the Alps, a methodology of analysis has been implemented to assess the relative weaknesses of ski resorts. Additional costs in adaptation strategies have been considered in the light of a major choice ski resorts must face: investing or not. For this analysis, four scenarios of global warming have been taken into consideration.

Findings

The lack of snow due to a rise in temperatures will have a big impact on regional ski resorts and will seriously threaten the economy of small lateral valleys. In this scenario, it is important to think about reorganizing the regional ski supply by focusing on stations with better economic results and those strategically well located. In this way, we can safeguard winter tourism in the region and preserve skiing by concentrating costs only in those resorts that are also able to bear new cost adaptation strategies.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is its estimation of the future impact of a rise in the average temperature in regional ski resorts. This impact is assessed in relation to concerns about the reduction of the skiing area and the new costs that ski companies will need to bear. The paper also proposes a new model for the reorganization of the ski supply in the Aosta Valley.
Overview: tourism sustainability in the Alpine region: the major trends and challenges
Authors: Dornier Raphaël , Mauri Chiara
Published: March 2018

Purpose

This introductory paper aims to provide a broad overview of the significance and contributions of this theme issue.

Design/methodology/approach

This introductory paper draws from the papers presented at a conference on tourism and local development in the Alpine region (Courmayeur, Italy, June 26-27, 2017). Sustainable tourism from different perspectives was a core topic at this conference, and it is a theme widely discussed in the literature.

Findings

Sustainability in mountain tourism has many facets, and it involves many aspects of tourism management: mobility and mobility infrastructure; global warming, snow shortage and long-term viability of ski stations; pollution and clean air; price of accessibility; stakeholders’ involvement and networking; and cross-border partnerships. The tourism literature has always been in transition, with many disciplines contributing to its development. Sustainability adds new perspectives that enrich the field and broaden the horizon and discussion. Even though each paper has its own specific conclusion, there are several key themes that emerge from most of the papers. Among these, sustainability is stimulating a re-think of the “classical” products and services provided in mountain destinations, particularly in relation to the winter season. Snow, water and other physical resources typical of mountain regions can no longer be taken for granted, and their progressive scarcity requires a long-term view.

Practical implications

The findings indicate that it will be necessary to encourage tourists to try and explore the wider range of products and services that a mountain destination can offer. To facilitate this, tourism operators will need to configure a broader and richer experience in the future. The issue of sustainability involves many stakeholders, who can combine their knowledge, competences and activities to maximize the attractiveness of a location while preserving its resources for the future.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is that it highlights the key themes and perspectives that sustainable tourism is raising.
EUSALP and the challenge of multi-level governance policies in the Alps
Authors: Teston Francesca , Bramanti Alberto
Published: March 2018

Purpose

“Wide area cooperation” may be the ultimate challenge within transnational cooperation processes. Although the Alps share a remarkable history of mutual collaboration, they are facing the challenge of a new sustainable-coordination paradigm. The Alpine territories are at a turning point. They are striving for a new governance arrangement and trying to avoid both the Scylla of top-town dirigisme and the Charybdis of poor local governments. This paper aims to address the recent literature on the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP) macro-regional strategy; provide some insights into the role that EUSALP could play as ultimate coordinator of the numerous networks operating in the Alpine space; and discuss a workable division of labour among the different actors that can ensure a renewed focus on sustainable development.

Design/methodology/approach

The review addresses two main strands of literature related to “wide area cooperation” and “multi-level governance” to synthesise the debate on the most appropriate governance structure for the Alps. The paper examines, dating back to 2000, the recent history of bottom-up projects related to sustainable tourism in the western arc of the Alps. The study uses a subset of best practices to evaluate the emerging governance frame.

Findings

The main outcomes of this study are a framework for a theoretical debate on the most appropriate governance structure for the Alps, guidance for policymakers on a division of labour among different stakeholders that can promote sustainable tourism in the Alps and a set of suggestions for practitioners. Further, the study acknowledges “sustainable tourism” as a highly relevant field to the emergence of bottom-up arrangements aimed at developing workable governance agreements.

Research limitations/implications

The paper provides a state-of-the-art framework for “wide area cooperation” in the Alps and serves as a basis for discussion between academics and practitioners. As EUSALP is still in its infancy, its success will depend on the pro-active involvement of national stakeholders. In the case of Italy, this is all but granted because of the current unstable political situation.

Originality/value

This paper provides a rigorous framework for addressing top-down strategies and bottom-up planning in the Alpine space. The study also makes a practical contribution by addressing some topics of interest to policymakers.
What are the benefits of clean air for Alpine destinations?
Authors: Arcaro Alex , Gorla Gianluigi , Zublena Manuela
Published: March 2018

Purpose

In this paper, the authors assume that the matter of a good quality of air will grow in importance in the future, and that it could be a noticeable part of a quality system to be used for communication purposes. The authors propose some synthetic indicators for air quality and discuss them in-depth to provide robust indexes suitable for ranking a set of alpine destinations.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use locally based data on three pollutants with reference to 25 alpine touristic destinations. Starting from hourly data for 62 days of the 2014 summer season for each pollutant, the authors end with a single synthetic air quality index for any locality. The aggregation methodologies are at the core of the paper; in particular, the authors propose a constant elasticity of substitution (CES) function – a well-known tool in Economics – to aggregate the pollutants the authors deal with. Because the degree of substitution among them is unknown, the authors simulate two extreme cases and an intermediate one to rank the localities on the bases of the synthetic air quality index.

Findings

All the Alpine destinations the authors considered have – or had in summer 2014 – an excellent open-air quality, and this was a permanent trait of that period. Ranks look robust (stable), as they do not depend significantly on the available options of the techniques the authors used.

Originality/value

The originality of the paper is inherent first in the idea that high quality air can be an issue of interest for touristic goals, especially in the case of mountain destinations, which have all proven to offer an excellent open-air quality. Second, from a methodological perspective, the paper frames dispersed and sectorial approaches into a single flexible one which has the property of being theoretically grounded into the economics mainstream and, at meantime, suitable to deal with some lack of information and research.
Covariation in urban birds providing cultural services or disservices and people
Authors: Cox Daniel T. C. , Hudson Hannah L. , Plummer Kate E. , Siriwardena Gavin M. , Anderson Karen , Hancock Steven , Devine‐Wright Patrick , Gaston Kevin J.
Published: March 2018

The spatial distributions of biodiversity and people vary across landscapes and are critical to the delivery of ecosystem services and disservices. The high densities of people and often of birds in urban areas lead to frequent human–avian interactions, which can be positive or negative for people's well‐being. The identities of the bird species providing these services or disservices tend to be quite different; however, it is unclear how their abundance and richness covary with human population density, and hence with potential recipients of these services and disservices.

We surveyed bird populations in 106 tiles (500 × 500 m) across the 174 km2of an extended urban area in southern England. From the literature, we identified two groups of species: those associated with positive interactions for human well‐being and those that display behaviours that are negative for human well‐being. We estimated the abundance (adjusted for detection probability) and richness of each group and modelled how they covary with human population density.

Aggregation of population estimates for the 35 service and nine disservice species observed revealed 593,128 (95% confidence interval: 541,817–657,046) and 225,491 (200,134–235,066) birds respectively. Across the surveyed tiles, there were 1.09 service and 0.42 disservice birds per person.

There was a peaking quadratic relationship between service abundance and human population density, but a negative linear relationship between richness and human density. Conversely, there were positive linear relationships for both abundance and richness of disservice species with human density. The ratio of service to disservice birds shifted from 3.5–1 at intermediate human densities to 1–1 in more densely populated areas.

Synthesis and applications. Differences in the distributions of service and disservice species, and the extremely low ratios of birds to people particularly in socioeconomically deprived areas, mean that people there have few opportunities for contact with birds, and the contact they do have is equally likely to be negative as positive for human well‐being. We recommend spatial targeting of improvements in green infrastructure, combined with the targeted provisioning of food and nesting places for service species, to promote positive interactions between birds and people.
Information uncertainty influences conservation outcomes when prioritizing multi‐action management efforts
Authors: Cattarino Lorenzo , Hermoso Virgilio , Carwardine Josie , Adams Vanessa M. , Kennard Mark J. , Linke Simon
Published: March 2018

In managing various threats to biodiversity, it is important to prioritize multiple management actions and the levels of effort to apply. However, a spatial conservation prioritization framework that integrates these key aspects, and can be generalized, is still missing. Moreover, assessing the robustness of prioritization frameworks to uncertainty in species responses to management is critical to avoid misallocation of limited resources. Yet, the impact of information uncertainty on prioritization of management effort remains unknown.

We present an approach for prioritizing alternative levels of conservation management effort to multiple actions, based on the ecological responses of species to management. We estimated species responses through a structured email‐based expert elicitation process, where we also captured the uncertainty in individual experts' assessments. We identified priority locations and associated level of management of effort of four actions to abate threats to freshwater‐dependent fauna, using a northern Australia case study, and quantified sensitivity of the proposed solution to uncertainty in the answers of each individual expert.

Achievement of conservation targets for freshwater‐dependent fauna in the Daly River catchment would require 9.4 million AU$ per year, for a total of approximately 189 million AU$ investment over 20 years. We suggest that this could be best achieved through a mix of aerial shooting of buffalos and pigs, riparian fencing and chemical spraying of weeds, applied at varying levels of management effort in key areas of the catchment.

Uncertainty in experts' estimation of species responses to threats causes 60% of the species to achieve 80% of their conservation targets, which was consistent across target levels.

Synthesis and applications. Our prioritization approach facilitates the planning of conservation management at fine spatial scales and is applicable to terrestrial, freshwater and marine realms. Plan implementation may require policy instruments ranging from landowner stewardship agreements, market‐based mechanisms and low‐intensity land use management schemes, to regulation of commercial activities within portions of marine protected areas. However, assessing plan sensitivity to uncertainty in species response to management and finding ways of dealing with it in the prioritization rather than ignoring it, as often done, remains vital for effective achievement of conservation objectives.
Home exercise programs supported by video and automated reminders for patients with stroke: A qualitative analysis
Authors: Emmerson Kellie B. , Harding Katherine E. , Lockwood Kylee J. , Taylor Nicholas F.
Published: March 2018

Background

Allied health professionals working in rehabilitation often prescribe home exercise programs. Smart technology offers an alternative format for presentation of home exercise programs with potential advantages over traditional paper‐based programs, but how do patients feel about this?

Design

This qualitative analysis was part of a convergent mixed methods design, using in depth, semi‐structured interviews to explore the lived experience of patients utilising touch screen tablets to support an upper limb home exercise program post stroke.

Methods

Ten male participants with stroke and upper limb impairment who received home exercise programs using video and reminders on tablet computers participated. Interviews were transcribed and analysed thematically.

Results

There were three main themes: (1) exercises on the tablet helped patients’ recovery in a variety of ways; (2) everyone could use the tablet for their home exercise program; but (3) not everyone liked using the tablet.

Conclusions and significance of the study

Smart technology is increasingly accessible and provides a novel, convenient way to provide home exercise programs post stroke with a number of benefits. This technology is not for everyone, but may be well suited to patients who already own and use these devices in daily life. Automated reminders were not viewed as a useful reminder tool.
Effectiveness of interventions for co‐residing family caregivers of people with dementia: Systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Abrahams Rebecca , Liu Karen P. Y. , Bissett Michelle , Fahey Paul , Cheung Karen S. L. , Bye Rosalind , Chaudhary Katrina , Chu Leung‐Wing
Published: March 2018

Background/aim

Occupational therapists and health practitioners commonly provide interventions to family caregivers of people with dementia with the aim of relieving burden, depression, and disruptions in health and social support. To date, the effects of multicomponent interventions specifically targeting these four important outcomes has not been established. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of multicomponent interventions on four outcomes for co‐residing family caregivers of people with dementia.

Methods

A comprehensive database search of the literature was performed using CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO, OTseeker, EMBASE and the Cochrane library. Randomised control trials (RCTs) that included multicomponent interventions for co‐residing family caregivers addressing burden, depression, health and social support were selected. Relevant articles were critically reviewed and study results were synthesised. Meta‐analysis was conducted separately.

Results

Twenty‐two of 358 retrieved studies were selected, with 15 studies being included in the meta‐analyses. The multicomponent interventions identified were comprised of a range of different individual strategies. Significant effective results were found for all four specified outcomes.

Conclusions

Many types of multicomponent interventions appear beneficial on all of the four specified outcomes. The literature presents a trend that multicomponent interventions consisting of a combination of counselling, support groups, education, stress and mood management or telephone support are important strategies within an effective multicomponent intervention.
The Research Collaboration Paradox: A Tale of Two Governance Narratives in an Australian Innovation Setting
Authors: Noble David , Charles Michael B. , Keast Robyn
Published: March 2018

Australian government policy aims to exploit university–industry research collaboration to transform the nation from a ‘lucky’ country enjoying the riches of agribusiness and resource exploitation, to a ‘clever’ country, exporting ingenuity and innovation globally. The Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) program has operated for more than a quarter of a century, but successive modifications demonstrate an inherent tension between two governance narratives pertaining to university–industry collaboration. This brief discussion looks at how the gradual privileging of one of these two narratives over time could potentially compromise genuine innovation‐producing collaboration. Policy makers therefore need to find ways to reconcile these two narratives.
Interrupted futures: co‐operative labour and the changing forms of collective precarity in rural Andean Peru
Authors: Harvey Penny
Published: March 2018

Sociological interest in precarious labour has focused on the existential insecurity associated with the discontinuous work relations of contemporary modes of production and the difficulties produced for the formation of effective modes of social and political solidarity. This essay, by contrast, explores the continuities of precarious living in the Southern Peruvian Andes over the past century, with a focus on how the affective force of social obligations and responsibilities to wider collectives (such as the family, the peasant community, or the co‐operative) both support and interrupt the search for more stable personal and collective futures. Approaching precarity as a relational condition, the essay traces how precarity takes form in the movements between formal and informal labour practices.