Disability status,individual variable pay,and pay satisfaction: Does relational and institutional trust make a difference?

Although prior research suggests that disabled employees have different needs in the context of some HRM practices, we know little about their reactions to reward systems. We address this gap in the literature by testing a model using the 2011 British Workplace Employee Relations Survey (disabled employees, n = 1,251; nondisabled employees, n = 9,959; workplaces, n = 1,806) and find that disabled employees report lower levels of pay satisfaction than nondisabled employees, and when compensated based on individual performance, the difference in pay satisfaction is larger. We suggest that relational (derived from trust in management) and institutional (derived from firm‐wide policies and HRM practices, both intended to provide equitable treatment to disabled employees) forms of trust play important roles. The results of multilevel analyses show that when trust in management is high, the difference in pay satisfaction under variable pay is reduced. We find just the opposite for employees who work in organizations with a formal disability policy but without supportive HRM practices; the gap in pay satisfaction is exacerbated. However, the combination of the presence of a firm‐wide policy and HRM practices reduced the difference in pay satisfaction. Implications of the findings for theory, future research, and management practice are discussed.     

Great Expectations: Benchmarking for Best Value

Many local authorities have embarked on benchmarking as one way of satisfying the Government's requirement that local authorities provide 'best value' services. This article suggests that the Government's initial enthusiasm for benchmarking was based on an incomplete understanding of the previous experiences of benchmarking in the local government sector. The most recent pronouncements make little mention of benchmarking, but there has been no explicit statement that it is no longer a key feature of best value. Local authorities are investing in developing benchmarking technology that may well fail to pay back in terms of meeting best value stipulations or in satisfying the authorities' own internal management needs. The authors suggest how local authority benchmarking efforts might be redirected to better effect.     

Let’s get real: new continental philosophy’s methodological imperative

This paper elucidates the implications of the ontological turn within continental philosophy for social researchers. In my literature review, I focus on the work of ?i?ek, Badiou, and Ferraris, and I identify three challenges which we must address. First, their work demands increasingly realist approaches to social research. Building on this, the second challenge is to find a methodology which can serve this realist approach; here, I argue that critique of the critical theory tradition is most appropriate. The third and final challenge is to identify appropriate concrete methods. I do so and then provide an example of how these methods could be applied in the study of sustainable food production. Ultimately, I argue that the most important intervention is an ethical one, as this tradition compels us to produce knowledge which benefits the comparatively disadvantaged in society. I conclude with specific implications for my own field of consumer research.     

Do Women Ask?

Females typically earn less than males. The reasons are not fully understood. This paper re‐examines the idea that women “don't ask,” which potentially assigns part of the responsibility for the gender pay gap onto female behavior. Such an account cannot readily be tested with standard datasets. This paper is the first to be able to use matched employer–employee data in which workers are questioned about their asking behavior. It concludes that males and females ask equally often for promotions and raises. The paper's empirical results suggest, however, that while women do now ask they “don't get.”     

From classical to contemporary leadership challenges

This article explored the Aeneid, Virgil's foundation epic of the Latin canon, from a values‐based leadership perspective, which is defined as the moral foundation underlying stewardship decisions and actions of leaders. Specifically, we juxtaposed the resonant leadership elements of vision, culture, and values—and their corresponding equivalent Roman themes of fatum, pietas, and virtus. Using a thematic analysis approach, we coded the following eight values: integrity, good judgment, leadership by example, decision making, trust, justice/fairness, humility, and sense of urgency. We found that while the Aeneid extols prototypical values, the epic instructs that truly effective leadership is not about being a monochromatic prototype. Rather, the epic reveals that the essence and privilege of effective leadership demands reflection on the dynamic relationship between the leader and the led toward a better, envisioned future.     

Did public risk perspectives of mad cow disease reflect media representations and actual outcomes?

The first confirmed Canadian case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was reported to the general public on 20 May 2003 and received considerable media coverage. A random‐digit dialled telephone survey of 1207 people in Alberta, Canada, was conducted in spring 2007 to better understand public perspectives on the resulting economic concerns and effects on farming. Comparisons to other risk events and concerns about the overall risk were also examined. Respondents acknowledged BSE to be an economic risk, especially to cattle producers. Health risks were of little concern, especially in comparison to other relevant risk events such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the BSE crisis in Britain. However, the risk of BSE was perceived as more dangerous should a domestically attributed case of variant Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (vCJD) (the human form of the disease) occur. The social amplification of risk framework (SARF) was extended to demonstrate that the discovery of BSE in Alberta led to neither an amplification nor attenuation of risk. Rather, risk management strategies employed in Alberta led to a mirroring of media representations and public perceptions of the risk. This unusual situation is in part due to the social and cultural context of the discovery of BSE in Alberta, including the history and pride of beef production in Alberta, how the risk was anchored, and a trust in government fostered by the media. This research also demonstrated how the application and interpretation of SARF is dependent on the comparative value used to assess whether amplification or attenuation has occurred.     

Leisure Spaces,Community, and Third Places

ABSTRACT

After decades of highlighting the decline of social networks, leisure spaces as third places constitute a welcomed approach to mediate this loss. Third places are defined as public gathering places that ultimately contribute to the strength of community. We appreciate the concept and believe that it has and will continue to influence scholars in the field of leisure. For this reason, this research reflection argues Oldenburg's conceptualization of third places requires reconsideration. Specifically, we address the increasing prevalence of technology and question Oldenburg's claim that technology contributes to the isolation of individuals. We also encourage a more complex understanding of third places—one that is beyond the idealized notion of public places. Oldenburg's social dimensions of third places (enjoyment, regularity, pure sociability/social leveler, and diversity) are offered as a useful framework. More specifically, we argue that diversity is the most relevant characteristic when exploring third places as a platform for community.     

Gender differences in kindergarteners’ robotics and programming achievement

Early childhood is a critical period for introducing girls to traditionally masculine fields of science and technology before more extreme gender stereotypes surface in later years. This study looks at the TangibleK Robotics Program in order to determine whether kindergarten boys and girls were equally successful in a series of building and programming tasks. The TangibleK Program consisted of a six lesson robotics and programming curriculum that was implemented in three different kindergarten classrooms (N = 53 students). Although previous research has found that males outperform females in robotics and programming related fields, it was hypothesized that the young age of participants and their limited cultural indoctrination regarding gender stereotypes would allow boys and girls to have equal success in this program. Although boys had a higher mean score than girls on more than half of the tasks, very few of these differences were statistically significant. Boys scored significantly higher than girls only in two areas: properly attaching robotic materials, and programming using Ifs. Overall, both boys and girls were able to successfully complete the program.     

Applications of the behavioural homogeneity evaluation framework: The predictive ability of consumer involvement for international food market segmentation

Abstract

This article proposes a framework of alternative international marketing strategies, based on the evaluation of intra- and inter-cultural behavioural homogeneity for market segmentation. The framework developed in this study provides a generic structure to behavioural homogeneity, proposing consumer involvement as a construct with unique predictive ability for international marketing strategy decisions. A model-based segmentation process, using structural equation models, is implemented to illustrate the application of the framework.     

A framework of Corporate Social Responsibility for advertising accountability: The case of Australian government advertising campaign

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has emerged as a dominant theme guiding business practice. Governments have embraced this philosophy and legislated to encourage socially responsible business practice in its many forms. While governments' endorsement of CSR practice is expressed in policy, the successful integration into its own practice is not evidenced in the literature. Using a case research method, this paper analyses the nature of Australian government advertising processes, developing a modified framework founded on Wood's (1991 Wood, D. 1991. Corporate Social Performance revisited.. Academy of Management Review, 16(4): 691–718. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) Corporate Social Performance model and Maignan and Ferrell's (2004 Maignan, I. and Ferrell, O. 2004. Corporate Social Responsibility and marketing: An integrative framework.. Academy of Marketing Science, 32: 1 [Google Scholar]) CSR principles. This research is important because it provides an application model for CSR practice and provides government with a decision‐making vehicle for CSR.