Capital building through gym work

This research employed Pierre Bourdieu’s model of capital accumulation to frame the benefits conferred by gym use. Thirteen participants from four gyms in Melbourne, Australia, were purposefully selected for in-depth interviews, where detailed case histories were solicited, and data were analysed using a narrative coding model. Results indicated that the two most highly valued forms of capital were bodily capital and psychological capital. All 13 participants cited gym work as the means by which they built a better looking and better functioning body. They also advised that gym work had strengthened their self-esteem and psychological resilience, which, in turn, enabled them to present themselves more confidently in their various social roles outside the gym. In contrast, these 13 gym users accrued low levels of cultural and symbolic capital through their activities, and contrary to previous studies, also secured little social capital from gym work.     

Improving carbon offsetting appeals in online airplane ticket purchasing: testing new messages,and using new test methods

ABSTRACT

Voluntary carbon offsetting by air passengers could help counteract environmental damage caused by air travel. But adoption rates among air travellers are low. This study (1) develops new communication messages which counteract barriers to carbon offsetting identified in prior studies, and (2) tests their effectiveness using psychophysiological and attitudinal measures, a technique new to sustainable tourism research methodologies. Results point to low levels of traveller awareness of carbon offsetting schemes, the primary need for any message to attract the air passengers’ attention, the superiority of pictorial and short textual information as well as the identification of particularly effective content. The study makes three key contributions: (1) it highlights the critical importance of awareness raising as a precursor of behavioural change, (2) it offers tangible recommendations for improving carbon offsetting messages, and (3) it demonstrates the usefulness of psychophysiological measures for pre-testing alternative social marketing messages aimed at increasing environmentally sustainable tourist behaviour across a range of applications. Findings of considerable practical importance include refinements of current messages to increase both attention levels and emotional arousal, and the positive impact of promoting additional social co-benefits alongside environmental benefits. Future valuable research themes using psychophysiological and attitudinal measures are suggested.     

Technology agreements and industrial relations in Belgium

Belgium has a very developed system of national collective bargaining and as a result, it is one of the few countries with a national technology agreement. An analysis revealed that this agreement was not used very much. This article looks at the use and importance of technology agreements for unions.     

Community empowerment in vogue or vain?

Community is in vogue. But what does it mean and what could it mean, particularly for the residents of inner city areas and peripheral estates faced with poverty and deprivation and cut off from mainstream economic opportunities? This paper examines the concept of community drawing upon work recently undertaken on community involvement in City Challenge (Docklands Consultative Committee and Barrow Cadbury Trust, 1994). We ask the question, has urban policy really engaged with urban communities, and if not, how could it do so?

Urban policy has zigzagged from one set of initiatives to another. Whilst policy has been moulded over time to reflect differing government ideologies seeking to account for the root of the urban malaise, essentially many of Britain's inner cities are still facing the same deep-seated socio-economic problems, identified in the government's 1977 White Paper, A Policy for the Inner Cities.

Community involvement in these initiatives has had a chequered history. First, it was a starting point for tackling deprivation in the Urban Priority Areas, and then incorporated into the Community Development Projects of the early 1970s. In the 1980s urban communities reverted to a role as spectators to property-led regeneration. In the 1990s, the word “community” is being extensively employed in the urban debate.     

The halo effect in store image measurement

This research investigates the use of alternative rating procedures, familiarity, attribute importance and respondent sex on the magnitude of the halo effect present in store image, measurement. The results indicate that while there was little difference in the impact of the two measurements on the halo effect, both subjects’ familiarity with the store and attribute importance had an impact on the degree of halo effect present. Further, respondent sex interacted with attribute importance such that females were less subject to halo effects than males when important attributes were involved.     

Nuclear energy: Tenfold expansion or phase-out?

Today, consensus is strengthening that mankind ought to prevent atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations from more than doubling, since such a doubling is likely to cause a significant interference with the planet's climate system, to which it might prove difficult to adapt. Nuclear energy possesses large disadvantages, among which waste, proliferation and safety. An expansion of nuclear energy would encounter great social, institutional and economic barriers. Because the 21st century requires a radical transformation of global energy production and consumption towards nonfossil fuels, however, it is one of the noncarbon emitting alternatives that, at present, deserve enhanced research and development efforts. If nuclear energy were expanded 10-fold, it could contribute significantly to mitigating carbon emissions: a 10-fold expansion of nuclear energy could avoid about 15% of cumulative carbon emissions over the period 2000–2075. Nuclear energy, however, can be no panacea for the problem of global warming. Even with a massive expansion, nuclear energy should be complemented by drastic fossil fuel decarbonization measures or the development of renewable energy resources. Preferably, a combination of both should be targeted and complemented by far-reaching efficiency and savings regimes. Since the risks for humanity resulting from climate change are high, it would be unwise to currently abandon any noncarbon energy resource, including fission. A central thrust of continued research and development into nuclear energy ought to be the design of satisfactory nuclear waste depositories and of safe reactors that are less susceptible to proliferation risks.     

Individual Executive Characteristics: Explaining the Divergence Between Perceptual and Financial Measures in Nonprofit Organizations

Significant research has found that corporations have a social responsibility beyond maximizing shareholders' value. This study examines the effect of high-profile corporate bankruptcies on perception of corporate social responsibility. Undergraduate and graduate business students rated the importance of corporate social responsibility on profitability, long-term success and short-term success, before and after high-profile bankruptcies. The results indicated that students in general perceived corporate social responsibility to be more important to profitability and long-term success of the firm and less important to short-term success after media publicity of corporate scandals. Several demographic factors such as gender, age and college major played a role in this perception. These findings have important implications for business education, especially as it relates to corporate social responsibility.