Search results for: career intentions

Authors: Abrar Al-Enzi

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Despite being frequently used everyday in the Arab World, Wasta, which is seen as a type of social capital, has received little attention from previous scholars, even in the Middle East. In simple words, Wasta basically means granting deserved or undeserved privileges to others through personal contacts. This paper suggests that Wasta is an important determinant of how some employees get recruited and turn to Wasta for privileges and favors in organizations. It is said, that Wasta accelerates career advancement and other work practices for employees, whether they deserve it or even are suitable for it or not. The overall goal of this paper is to see how Wasta influences human resource management practices by viewing the history of Wasta, the importance of using it, and how it affects employees as well as organizations in terms of recruitment and work practices. Accordingly, the question that will be addressed is: Does Wasta influence human resource management, knowledge sharing and innovation in Kuwait, which in turn affects employees’ commitment within organizations? Therefore, a mixed method sequential exploratory research design will be used to explore the research topic through initial exploratory interviews, paper-based and online surveys (Quantitative method) and semi-structured interviews (Qualitative method). The reason behind such a choice is because both qualitative and quantitative methods complement each other when combined by providing a clearer picture of the topic.

Keywords: human resource management practices, Kuwait, social capital, Wasta

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Authors: Mohd Sarfaraz

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The objective of this study is to investigate the work-life balance and job satisfaction among women employees in a hospital in India. It is believed that balancing a successful career with a family life or personal life can be challenging. WLB impacts on persons' satisfaction in their work and personal life roles. For this purpose, a questionnaire is developed with 22 items. The data collected from women employees who are working in a hospital in Aligarh, India. The constructs considered in this study include WLB and job satisfaction. The demographic and organisational variables considered in the study are genders, age and tenure of the job. Factors of WLB are flexible working conditions, work-life balance programs, and employee intention to change/leave a job, work pressure/stress and long working hours. This paper examines the relationship between work-family conflict, policies, and job and life satisfaction. Appropriate statistical tool using SPSS will be applied to achieve the objective. The anxiety over work-life balance is progressively becoming a common talk, especially for female employees.Increasing demands from the work and family domains represent a high strain for employees which even lead to the health problems among employees. Although it is believed that work-family role strain is more common among women employees. Therefore, the study will focus on these issues of WLB and job satisfaction among female professionals.

Keywords: work-life balance, job satisfaction, work- family conflict, health

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Authors: Mayowa A. Sofowora, Seraphin D. Eyono Obono

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The use of information and communication technologies such as computers, mobile phones and the internet is becoming prevalent in today’s world; and it is facilitating access to a vast amount of data, services, and applications for the improvement of people’s lives. However, this prevalence of ICTs is hampered by the problem of low income levels in developing countries to the point where people cannot timeously replace or repair their ICT devices when damaged or lost; and this problem serves as a motivation for this study whose aim is to examine the perceptions of teachers on the reliability of cellphones when used for teaching and learning purposes. The research objectives unfolding this aim are of two types: objectives on the selection and design of theories and models, and objectives on the empirical testing of these theories and models. The first type of objectives is achieved using content analysis in an extensive literature survey, and the second type of objectives is achieved through a survey of high school teachers from the ILembe and Umgungudlovu districts in the KwaZuluNatal province of South Africa. Data collected from this questionnaire based survey is analysed in SPSS using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations after checking the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. The main hypothesis driving this study is that there is a relationship between the demographics and the attribution identity of teachers on one hand, and their perceptions on the reliability of cellphones on the other hand, as suggested by existing literature; except that attribution identities are considered in this study under three angles: intention, knowledge and ability, and action. The results of this study confirm that the perceptions of teachers on the reliability of cellphones for teaching and learning are affected by the school location of these teachers, and by their perceptions on learners’ cellphones usage intentions and actual use.

Keywords: attribution, cellphones, e-learning, reliability

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Authors: Kyujin Shim, Soojin Kim

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This study identifies and examines the impact of factors on two types of CSR outcomes, consumers’ perceptions of corporate authenticity and their pro-firm behavior intentions. Specifically we investigated the roles of two factors - the consumers’ perceptions of CSR motives of a company (i.e. business-oriented vs. society-oriented) and their ethical orientations (i.e. deontology vs. consequentialism). A web-based survey was conducted in South Korea and the United States respectively to compare the differences of consumer reactions between the two countries. The results show that consumers in two countries behave differently to a firm’s CSR motives. In the United States, when consumers perceive a company’s CSR motive as society-oriented, they are more likely to perceive the company authentic and as a result more likely to engage in pro-firm behavior. However, when consumers’ ethical orientation is considered, only consumers’ consequential orientation led to their pro-firm behavioral intention. In South Korea, interpretation of two different CSR motives affects the valence in consumers’ perceptions of corporate authenticity (i.e. society-oriented CSR motive and positive perception of corporate authenticity vs. business-oriented CSR motive and negative perception of corporate authenticity). Korean consumers also showed same pattern in terms of relationship among society-oriented CSR motive, perception of corporate authenticity, and pro-firm behavior intention. Interestingly, Korean consumers’ consequential orientation affects both their perception of corporate authenticity and their pro-firm behavior intention positively. In addition, there was an interaction effect of business-oriented CSR motive and deontological orientation on perception of corporate authenticity. Theoretical and practical implications will be discussed.

Keywords: corporate authenticity, corporate social responsibility, consequentialist ethics, CSR motives, deontological ethics

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Authors: Luedech Girdwichai, Witthaya Mekhum

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This research analyses the factors affecting the success and develops a guideline for self- reliance planning of the entrepreneurs for effective implementation. Samples in this study included 42 awarded winners from the 2nd Sufficiency Economics Philosophy (SEP) National Contest arranged by Office of the Royal Development Projects Board. The results revealed 4 main factors affecting the success as follows: 1) there is a need to encourage unity and cooperation in the enterprise in conducting development plan. 2) The entrepreneur must be a knowledge seeker and lead by example on SEP life. 3) The entrepreneur must be able to apply traditional local wisdom with his present experience and knowledge in defining product identity. 4) The entrepreneur should provide career training for the staffs to develop their competencies. The guideline for self-reliance planning consisted of 4 aspects: 1) Human resource development: the enterprise should develop its staffs especially on integrity, honesty, and public minded. 2) Local community development: there should be a clear target for the local community development. 3) Local community economic development: by encouraging additional incomes through experience sharing. 4) Enterprise development planning: by arranging monthly meeting to conduct the development plan including analysing problems and synthesizing data.

Keywords: potential development, SME entrepreneurs, sufficiency economics philosophy, finance, management

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Authors: R. Domínguez, A. Castro, N. Fernandez, F. Hidalgo, F. Ortiz

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Aims: Study musculoskeletal disorders produced by excess physical exertion in marines Introduction: Musculoskeletal injuries during military training are an important medical problem faced by military organizations throughout the world. Military occupations are physically demanding, which represents a high risk of injury "and subsequent disability, these injuries represent important risk factors for hospitalization, disability, and discharge Methodology: This is a causal correlational study in which data were collected in order to find a cause-effect relationship between the physical effort in marines during their career in the Chilean Navy and the musculoskeletal disorders that occur in some from them. Results:100% had experienced musculoskeletal pain in some part of the body and 73.52% of the respondents had experienced limitations in the ability to work, as a consequence forced to change jobs due to musculoskeletal pain. The neck, shoulders and the lumbar dorsal region were the regions with the highest prevalence of pain, as well as pain that limit the ability to work. Conclusion: Musculoskeletal injuries and illnesses related to injuries are common in marines, both in those who operate in campus Charles, as in another operational unit due to the nature of the work. Many of these injuries occur during physical training and sports and various studies have dealt with the descriptive epidemiology of musculoskeletal injuries in military personnel.

Keywords: physical effort, marines, musculoskeletal disorders produced (MSD), training

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Authors: Setenay Nil Doğan, Ece Oztan

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Research and development (R&D) as a term denotes the innovative studies conducted systematically to increase knowledge and its practices. As R&D intensity of Turkey (0,84%) is quite below the EU average intensity score, it has displayed a continuous increase since the 2000s. Also, the development of human capital in R&D has been one of the basic aims of National Strategy of Science, Technology, and Innovation, and National Innovation System 2023 of Turkey. R&D is considered to one of the fields in which the gender gap is wide. The reflections of the analogy of leaky pipeline, a term used for vertical differentiation in academy can also be observed in those scientific activities related with the private sector. In the private sector, the gender gap becomes wider: the percentage of female researchers in the universities (41%) decreases to 24% in the private sector. Though half of the undergraduates and gradutes are female in Turkey, a widening gender gap is observed in terms of employment in R&D. Given this background, this paper will focus on gendered dynamics of careers in R&D through the interviews conducted with 25 female and 25 male employees, working in a university technopark and some of the large RD centers in Turkey working in several sectors such as electronics, automotive etc. Focusing on some aspects of gender differences in terms of career experiences in R&D and innovation, mobility, participation to the projects, patents and inclusion to other innovatory activities, home-work balance, it aims to explore the relationships between science, technology, innovation and gender.

Keywords: gender, innovation, R&D, science, technology

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Authors: Chamindi Dilkushi Senaratne

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Staff development both formal and informal, structured and unstructured is universally accepted as fundamental to the growth of individuals and institutions. This study is based on feedback summaries collected from 2014 to 2017 from 240 participants of the staff development programme for probationary lecturers at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. It also contains data from interviews conducted with the resource persons in the programme. The study further includes observations from experts involved in staff training in higher education institutions in Sri Lanka The data reveals that though the programme has many aspects that can be improved, the selected topics in the curriculum and new topics that were incorporated had positive impacts to enhance continuing professional development of staff in Sri Lankan universities. The participants also believe that the programme has an impact on professional development, teaching, and management of classroom and curricula and research skills. Based on the findings, the study recommends the addition of new topics to the curriculum such as continuing professional development, code of conduct in universities, gender awareness and the green concept. The study further recommends programmes for senior academic staff in universities to assist them to reach higher levels in their career by focusing on areas such as teaching, research, and administrative skills.

Keywords: staff development, higher education, curriculum, research

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Authors: Abderrahman Hassi, Omar Bacadi, Khaoula Zitouni

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Abdelkader El Mouaziz is a Moroccan long-distance runner with a career-best time of 2:06:46 in the Chicago Marathon. El Mouaziz is a winner of the Madrid Marathon in 1994, the London Marathon in 1999 and 2001, as well as the New York Marathon in 2001. While he was playing for the Moroccan national team, he used to train in the Ifrane-Azrou region owing to its altitude, fresh forests, non-polluted air and quietness. After winning so many international competitions and retiring, he left his native Casablanca and went back to the Ifrane-Azrou region and started a business that employs ten people. In March 2010, El Mouaziz opened a bed and breakfast called Tourtite with a nice view on the mountain near the city of Ifrane in the way to Azrou. He wanted to give back to the region that helped him become a sport legend. His management style is not different than his sport style: performance and competitiveness combined with fair play. The objective of the present case study is to further enhance the understanding of the dynamics of transferring athletic championship-winning principles to entrepreneurial activities. The case study is a real-life situation and experience designed to provoke and stimulate reflections about a particular approach of management, especially for start-up businesses.

Keywords: sport, winning principles, entrepreneurship, Abdelkader El Mouaziz

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Authors: Yun Hang Stanley Cheung

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In recent years, many educators and entrepreneurs have often suggested that students’ and workers’ ability of the adversity response is very important, it would affect problem-solving strategies and ultimate success in their career or life. The meaning of resilience is discussed as the process of bouncing back and the ability to adapt well in adversity’s response, being resilient does not mean to live without any stress and difficulty, but to grow and thrive under pressure. The purpose of this study is to describe the process of resilience and adversity’s response. The use of the narrative inquiry aims for understanding the experiential process of adversity response, and the problem-solving strategies (such as emotion control, motivation, decisions making process), as well as making the experience become life story, which may be evaluated by its teller and its listeners. The narrative study describes the researcher’s self-experience of adversity’s response to the recovery of the seriously burnt injury from a hill fire at his 12 years old, as well as the adversities and obstacles related to the tragedy after the physical recovery. Sense-Making Theory and McCormack’s Lenses were used for constructive perspective and data analyzing. To conclude, this study has described the life story of fighting the adversities, also, those narratives come out some suggestions, which point out positive thinking is necessary to build up resilience and the ability of immediate adversity response. Also, some problem-solving strategies toward adversities are discussed, which are helpful for resilience education for youth and young adult.

Keywords: adversity response, life story, narrative inquiry, resilience

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Authors: Yangwon Hyun

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Nowadays, business settings are becoming increasingly multilingual and multicultural under the conditions of globalization. When people from different linguistic and cultural background interact, their divergent cultural conceptualizations may result in communicative problems. Even though intercultural business communication between Thais and South Koreans has become increasingly significant along with the development of international trade relations, there have been very few attempts to conduct research on interactional problems in that context. Based on a Cultural Linguistics perspective, this study analyzes Thai cultural conceptualizations that underly interactional problems with Koreans at Korean business organizations where were located in Thailand. The data was gathered through in-depth interviews with ten Korean and ten Thai employees as well as through six months of field observations. The results indicate that there are three cultural pragmatic schemas that underly problems of interaction between the two groups; (1) the schema of kreng-jai as a communicative strategy of withholding one’s intentions in order to not hurt another’s emotion, (2) the schema of mai-pen-rai as a linguistic strategy of inducing interlocutors to not be concerned about substantial matters so as to avoid confrontations, and (3) the schema of jai-yen as a linguistic expression used for persuading interlocutors to maintain a calm state of mind in order to avoid conflicts. The linguistic behaviors of Thai employees in relation to these three cultural schemas had led to misunderstandings and interpersonal conflicts with Korean supervisors and co-workers. These interactional problems were caused not only because Koreans were unfamiliar with Thai cultural conceptualizations, but also because these conceptualizations were incompatible with goal-oriented Korean business discourse. The findings of this study can enhance mutual understandings between Thai and Korean employees. Thus, it contributes to the promotion of smooth intercultural communication in the workplace.

Keywords: business context, cultural conceptualizations, cultural linguistics, intercultural communication, thai culture

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Authors: Ya-Chen Chen

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The primary objective of this research project is to rectify or supplement the commonly overlooked aspect that the United Kingdom has, in fact, profoundly influenced Director King Hu's cinematic career. Predominantly focused on Hu's connections with Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States, thereby neglecting his significant milestones in the UK. Notably, his inclusion in the 1978 International Movie Guide in the UK was instrumental in establishing his reputation and categorizing him among the top five global directors of the time. Additionally, the financial sponsorship from the UK-based Goldcrest Film Company brought his unfinished project, "The Battle for Ono," closer to fruition. Beyond these aspects, this study delves deeply into how Director King Hu and film critic Derek Elley navigated the rise of global (especially British and Hong Kong) feminism and how they reacted to gender dynamics or gender politics—masculine and feminine, yin and yang, male and female—in their cinematic focuses. These are facets often overlooked in the broader film community. Given the scarcity of attention these points usually receive, this research project serves as a targeted intervention, spotlighting these critically under-explored yet crucial topics.

Keywords: King Hu, 1978 International Movie Guide in the UK, Derek Elley, UK-based Goldcrest Film Company

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Authors: Robin Lok-Wang Ma

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The Center/Unit for Industry Engagement and Collaboration, as well as Internship, play a significant role at university. In general, the Center serves as the official interface between the industry and the School or Department to cultivate students’ early exposure to professional experience. The missions of the Center are not limited to provide a communication channel and collaborative platform for the industries and the university but also to assist students to build up their career paths early while still in the university. In recent years, a cooperative education experience (commonly known as a co-op) has been strongly advocated for students to make the school-to-work transition. The nature of the co-op program is not only consistent with the internships/final year design projects, but it is also more industrial-oriented with academic support from faculty at the university. The purpose of this paper is to describe an approach to how cooperative education experience can be integrated into Engineering Curriculum. It provides a mutual understanding and exchange of ideas for the approach between the university and the industry. A suggested format in terms of timeline, duration, selection of candidates, students, and companies’ expectations for the co-op program is described. Also, feedbacks from employers/industries show that a longer-term co-op program is well suited for students compared with a short-term internship. To this end, it provides a new insight into collaboration and/or partnership between the university and the industries to prepare professional work-ready graduates.

Keywords: cooperative education, industry, engagement, collaboration

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Authors: Eid Alotaibi

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of tourists’ culture on perception and evaluation of hotel service experience and behavioral intentions. Drawing on Hofested’s cultural dimensions, this study seeks to further contribute towards understanding the effect of culture on perception and evaluation of hotels’ services, and whether there are differences between Saudi and European tourists’ perceptions of hotel services evaluation. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used in this study. Data were collected from tourists staying in five-star hotels in Saudi Arabia using the self-completion technique. The findings show that evaluations of hotel services differ from one culture to another. T-test results reveal that Saudis were more tolerant and reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction, were more likely to return and recommend the hotel, and perceived the price for the hotel stay as being good value for money as compared to their European counterparts. The sample was relatively small and specific to only five-star hotel evaluations. As a result, findings cannot be generalized to the wider tourist population. The results of this research have important implications for management within the Saudi hospitality industry. The study contributes to the tourist cultural theory by emphasizing the relative importance of cultural dimensions in-service evaluation. The author argues that no studies could be identified that compare Saudis and Europeans in their evaluations of their experiences staying at hotels. Therefore, the current study would enhance understanding of the effects of cultural factors on service evaluations and provide valuable input for international market segmentation and resource allocation in the Saudi hotel industry.

Keywords: culture, tourist, service experience, hotel industry, Hofested’s cultural dimensions

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Authors: Izharul Haq

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Every one of us seek to aspire to gain quality education. The biggest stake holders are students who labor through years acquiring knowledge and skill to help them prepare for their career. Parents spend a fortune on their children’s education. Companies spend billions of dollars to enhance standards by developing new education products and services. Quality education is the golden key to a long lasting prosperity for the individual and the nation. But unfortunately, education standards are continuously deteriorating and it has become a global phenomenon. Unfortunately, teaching is often described as a ‘popularity contest’ and those teachers who are usually popular with students are often those who compromise teaching to appease students. Such teachers also ‘teach-to-the-test’ ensuring high test scores. Such teachers, hence, receive good student rating. Teachers who are conscientious, rigorous and thorough are often the victims of good appraisal. Government and private organizations are spending billions of dollars trying to capture the characteristics of a good teacher. But the results are still vague and inconclusive. At present there is no objective way to measure teaching effectiveness. In this paper we present an innovative method to objectively measure teaching effectiveness using a new teaching tool (TSquare). The TSquare tool used in the study is practical, easy to use, cost effective and requires no special equipment to implement. Hence it has a global appeal for poor and the rich countries alike.

Keywords: measuring teaching effectiveness, quality in education, student learning, teaching styles

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Authors: Raymond Awinbilla

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The call for tree planting has long been set in motion by the government of Ghana. The Forestry Commission encourages plantation development through numerous interventions including formulating policies and enacting legislations. However, forest policies have failed and that has generated a major concern over the vast gap between the intentions of national policies and the realities established. This study addresses three objectives;1) Assessing the farmers' response and contribution to the tree planting initiative, 2) Identifying socio-economic factors hindering the development of smallholder plantations as a livelihood strategy, and 3) Determining the level of support available for smallholder tree growers and the factors influencing it. The field work was done in 12 farming communities in Ghana. The article illuminates that farmers have responded to the call for tree planting and have planted both exotic and indigenous tree species. Farmers have converted 17.2% (369.48ha) of their total land size into plantations and have no problem with land tenure. Operations and marketing constraints include lack of funds for operations, delay in payment, low price of wood, manipulation of price by buyers, documentation by buyers, and no ready market for harvesting wood products. Environmental institutions encourage tree planting; the only exception is with the Lands Commission. Support availed to farmers includes capacity building in silvicultural practices, organisation of farmers, linkage to markets and finance. Efforts by the Government of Ghana to enhance forest resources in the country could rely on the input of local populations.

Keywords: livelihood strategy, marketing constraints, environmental institutions, silvicultural practices

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Authors: Mananya Meenakorn

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This research aims to investigate: (1) Relationship between the quality of working life and organizational commitment of municipal employee in Samut Sakhon Province. (2) To compare the quality of working life and the organizational commitment of municipal employee in Samut Sakhon Province by the gender, age, education, official experience, position, division, and income. This study is a quantitative research; data was collected by questionnaires distributed to the municipal employee in Samut Sakhon province for 241 sample by stratified random sampling. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistic including percentage, mean, standard deviation and inferential statistic including t-test, F-test and Pearson correlation for hypothesis testing. Finding showed that the quality of working life and the organizational commitment of municipal Employee in Samut Sakhon province in terms of compensation and fair has a positive correlation (r = 0.673) and the comparison of the quality of working life and organizational commitment of municipal employees in Samut Sakhon province by gender. We found that the overall difference was statistically significant at the 0.05 level and we also found stability and progress in career path and the characteristics are beneficial to society has a difference was statistically significant at the 0.01 level, and the participation and social acceptance has a difference was statistically significant at the 0.05 level.

Keywords: quality of working life, organizational commitment, municipal employee, Samut Sakhon province

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Authors: Kin Yan Ho

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Negative brand news (such as Volkswagen’s faulty carbon emission reports, China’s Luckin Coffee scandal, and bribery in reputable US universities) influence how people perceive a company. Germany’s citizens claimed Volkswagen’s scandal as a national embarrassment and cannot recover their psychological damages through monetary and non-monetary compensation. The main research question is to examine how consumers evaluate and respond to embarrassing brand publicity. The cognitive appraisal theory is used as a theoretical foundation. This study describes the use of scenario-based experiment. The findings suggest that consumers with different levels of embarrassment evaluate brand remedial offers from emotion-focused and task-focused restorative justice perspectives (newly derived from the well-established scales of perceived justice). When consumers face both negative and positive brand information (i.e., negative publicity news and a remedial offer), they change their appraisal criterion. The social situation in the cognitive reappraisal process influences the quality of the customer-brand relationship and the customer’s recovery from brand embarrassment. The results also depict that the components of recovery compensation cause differences in emotion recovery, relationship quality, and repurchase intentions. This study extends embarrassment literature in an embarrassing brand publicity context. The emotional components of brand remedial tactics provide insights to brand managers on how to handle different consumers’ emotions, consumer satisfaction, and foster positive future behavior.

Keywords: brand relationship quality, cognitive appraisal, crisis communications, emotion, justice, social presence

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Authors: Francesco Ceresia

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Workplace aggression is broadly recognized as a main work-related risk for healthcare organizations the world over. Scholars underlined that nonfatal workplace aggressions can be also produced by Type II workplace aggression, that occur when the aggressor has a legitimate relationship with the organization and commits an act of hostility while being served or cared for by members of the organization. Several reviews and meta-analysis highlighted the main antecedents and consequences of Type II verbal and physical workplace aggression in the healthcare sector, also focusing on its economic and psychosocial costs. However, some scholars emphasized the need for a systemic and multi-factorial approach to deeply understand and effectively respond to such kind of aggression. The main aim of the study is to propose a qualitative model of Type II workplace aggression in a health care organization in accordance with the system thinking and multi-factorial perspective. A case study research approach, conducted in an Italian non-hospital healthcare organization, is presented. Two main data collection methods have been adopted: individual and group interviews with a sample (N = 24) of physicians, nurses and clericals. A causal loop diagram (CLD) that describes the main causal relationships among the key-variables of the proposed model has been outlined. The main feedback loops and the causal link polarities have been also defined to fully describe the structure underlining the Type II workplace aggression phenomenon. The proposed qualitative model shows how the Type II workplace aggression is related with burnout, work performance, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, work motivation and emotional dissonance. Finally, strategies and policies to reduce the strength of workplace aggression’s drivers are suggested.

Keywords: healthcare, system thinking, work motivation, workplace aggression

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Authors: Juan de Ona, Esperanza Estevez, Rocío de Ona

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Urban traffic levels can be reduced by drawing travelers away from private vehicles over to using public transport. This modal change can be achieved by either introducing restrictions on private vehicles or by introducing measures which increase people’s satisfaction with public transport. For public transport users, quality of service affects customer satisfaction, which, in turn, influences the behavioral intentions towards the service. This paper intends to identify the main attributes which influence the perception private vehicle users have about the public transport services provided in five European cities: Berlin, Lisbon, London, Madrid and Rome. Ordinal logit models have been applied to an online panel survey with a sample size of 2,500 regular private vehicle users (approximately 500 inhabitants per city). To achieve a comprehensive analysis and to deal with heterogeneity in perceptions, 15 models have been developed for the entire sample and 14 user segments. The results show differences between the cities and among the segments. Madrid was taken as reference city and results indicate that the inhabitants are satisfied with public transport in Madrid and that the most important public transport service attributes for private vehicle users are frequency, speed and intermodality. Frequency is an important attribute for all the segments, while speed and intermodality are important for most of the segments. An analysis by segments has identified attributes which, although not important in most cases, are relevant for specific segments. This study also points out important differences between the five cities. Findings from this study can be used to develop policies and recommendations for persuading.

Keywords: service quality, satisfaction, public transportation, private vehicle users, car users, segmentation, ordered logit

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Authors: Ruwan Gunawardane

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This paper attempts to emphasize the benefits of conducting an intensive course in English for university entrants. In the Sri Lankan university context, an intensive course in English is usually conducted amidst various obstacles. In the 1970s and 1980s, undergraduates had intensive programmes in English for two to three months. Towards the end of the 1990s, a programme called General English Language Training (GELT) was conducted for the new students, and it was done outside universities before they entered their respective universities. Later it was not conducted, and that also resulted in students’ poor performance in English at university. However, having understood its importance, an eight week long intensive course in English was conducted for the new intake of the Faculty of Science, University of Ruhuna. As the findings show, the students heavily benefited from the programme. More importantly, they had the opportunity to refresh their knowledge of English gained at school and private institutions while gaining new knowledge. Another advantage was that they had plenty of time to enjoy learning English since the learners had adequate opportunities to carry out communicative tasks and the course was not exam-oriented, which reduced their fear of making mistakes in English considerably. The data was collected through an open-ended questionnaire given to 60 students, and their oral feedback was also taken into consideration. In addition, a focus group interview with 6 teachers was also conducted to get an idea about their experience and perception. The data were qualitatively analyzed. The findings suggest that an intensive programme in English undoubtedly lays a good foundation for the students’ academic career at university.

Keywords: intensive course, English, teachers, undergraduates, experience, perception

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Authors: Robin C. Ladwig

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The future of work becomes less predictable, which requires increasing the adaptability of organizations to social and work changes. Society is transforming regarding gender identity in the sense that more people come forward to identify as trans and gender diverse (TGD). Organizations are ill-equipped to provide a safe and encouraging work environment by lacking inclusive organizational structures. The qualitative multi-method research about TGD inclusivity in the workplace explores the enablers and barriers for TGD individuals to satisfactory engage in the work environment and organizational culture. Furthermore, these TGD insights are analyzed about their organizational implications and awareness from a leadership and management perspective. The semi-structured online interviews with TGD individuals and the photo-elicit open-ended questionnaire addressed to leadership and management in diversity, career development, and human resources have been analyzed with a critical grounded theory approach. Findings demonstrated the significance of TGD voices, the support of leadership and management, as well as the synergy between voices and leadership. Hence, it indicates practical implications such as the revision of exclusive language used in policies, data collection, or communication and reconsideration of organizational decision-making by leaders to include TGD voices.

Keywords: future of work, occupational identity, organisational decision-making, trans and gender diverse identity

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Authors: Ching-Yuan Huang, Rhay-Hung Weng, Yi-Ting Chen

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Mentoring functions will improve new nurses' job performance, provide support with new nurses, and then reduce the turnover rate of them. This study explored the impact of transformational leadership and interpersonal interaction on mentoring functions. We employed a questionnaire survey to collect data and selected a sample of new nurses from three hospitals in Taiwan. A total of 306 valid surveys were obtained. Multiple regression model analysis was conducted to test the study hypothesis. Inspirational motivation, idealized influence, and individualized consideration had a positive influence on overall mentoring function, but intellectual stimulation had a positive influence on career development function only. Perceived similarity and interaction frequency also had positive influences on mentoring functions. When the shift overlap rate exceeded 80%, mentoring function experienced a negative result. The transformational leadership of mentors actually would improve the mentoring functions among new staff nurses. Perceived similarity and interaction frequency between mentees and mentors also had a positive influence on mentoring functions. Managers should enhance the transformational leadership of mentors by designing leadership training and motivation programs. Furthermore, nursing managers should promote the interaction between new staff nurses and their mentors, but the shift overlap rate should not exceed 80%.

Keywords: interpersonal interaction, mentoring function, mentor, new nurse, transformational leadership

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Authors: Stanely Nsubuga

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Background In Uganda, injection drug use is a growing but less studied problem. Preventing the transition to injection drug use may help prevent blood-borne viral transmission, but little is known about when and how people transition to injection drug use. A greater understanding of this transition process may aid in the country’s efforts to prevent the continued growth of injection drug use, HIV, and hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection among people who inject drugs (PWID). Methods Using a rapid situation assessment framework, we conducted semi-structured interviews among 125 PWID (102 males and 23 females)—recruited through outreach and snow-ball sampling. Participants were interviewed about their experiences on when and how they transitioned into injection drug use and these issues were also discussed in 12 focus groups held with the participants. Results All the study participants started their drug use career with non-injecting forms including chewing, smoking, and sniffing before transitioning to injecting. Transitioning was generally described as a peer-driven and socially learnt behavior. The participants’ social networks and accessibility to injectable drugs on the market and among close friends influenced the time lag between first regular drug use and first injecting—which took an average of 4.5 years. By the age of 24, at least 81.6% (95.7% for females and 78.4% for males) had transitioned into injecting. Over 84.8% shared injecting equipment during their first injection, 47.2% started injecting because a close friend was already injecting, 26.4% desired to achieve a greater “high” (26.4%) which could reflect drug-tolerance, and 12% out of curiosity.

Keywords: People who Use Drugs, transition, injection drug use, Uganda

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Authors: Anna Jagielska

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Five years ago, the word ‘gender’ was discussed in Poland exclusively in academic contexts. One year later, it was chosen as the word of the year and omnipresent in the Polish media. The rapid career of this word is due to the involvement of the Polish church hierarchy who strategically brought this term into relation with abortion, pornography and paedophilia. ‘Gender’ is more than a political slogan. It is a symbol of social anxiety and moral panic in Poland which need to be historically considered. The aim of this paper is to present selected rhetorical strategies used by the Polish Catholic clergy who strive to have an impact on the current gender discourse in Poland. In particular, the gender debate, culminated in the pastoral letter of the Bishops' Conference of Poland, will be discussed. The church’s protest against the Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence will be analyzed and the recent heated debates in Poland on contraception, abortion, in vitro fertilization, and sex education will be mentioned. To provide explanations on the specificity of Polish gender debates the role of the Catholic Church in the fall of communism in Poland as well as the charismatisation of Polish society by Pope John Paul II will be explained. The social constructions of communism and feminism which are manifested in both written and symbolic contracts on gender equality between the Church and the State will be demonstrated. At the end of the paper, theories about the changing role of religion in society will be applied.

Keywords: gender, Poland, religion, catholicism, feminism

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Authors: Laurence Doremus

Abstract:

Freud as the builder of psychoanalysis as a discipline had created the science with Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), a psychiatry specialist from Zurich who was very important in the Freudian theory. The knowledge about the foundation of psychoanalysis is often focused on the influence of the works from Breuer or Charcot in the Freudian praxis, at least at the beginning of his career, and Jung's influence is often under-estimated. The paper focuses on the importance of the Jungian contributions in Freud's theories at the beginning of the creation of the discipline in the 1910s. We often meet Jungian schools on the first hand and Freudian schools, on the other hand in the academic field, but the Freudian field has to admit the importance of the Jungian theories in Freudian science. And also, the dialectical energy which appears in the letters exchanged between both of the fathers of psychoanalysis is important to understand the foundations of Freud Theory. That's why the paper will analyze in detail the correspondence between them in an epistemological and historical approach. Effectively the letters were translated and published (in French but also in English and other languages) lately in history and are still not well knew by the researchers in the psychoanalytical field. We well explain how Freud was helped by Jung despite his desire to build the theory. We analyze how the second topic named 'unconscious, preconscious, and conscious', is the result of the first topic that Jung built with Freud. The paper is a contribution to the knowledge we should have about the intense friendship between the two protagonists.

Keywords: Carl Gustav Jung, correspondence, Freud's letters, psychoanalytic theory

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Authors: Karin Megheșan, Alexandra Popescu, Teodora Dobre

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In the past few years, the Russian Federation has become a central point on the security agenda of the most important international actors, due to its reloaded aggressiveness of foreign policy. Vladimir Putin, the actual president of the Russian Federation, has proven that Russia can and has the willingness to become the powerful actor that used to be during the Cold War. Russia’s new behavior on the international scene showed that Russia has not only expansionist (where expansionist is not only in terms of territory but also of ideology) intentions, but also the necessary resources, to build an empire that may have the power to counterbalance the influence of the United States and stop the expansion of the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization in an equation understood of multipolar Russian view. But in order to do this, there is necessary to follow a well-established plan or policy. Thus, the aim of the paper is to discuss how has the foreign policy of the Russian Federation evolved under the influence of the military and security strategies of the Russian nation, to briefly examine some of the factors that sculpture Russian foreign policy and behavior, in order to reshape a Russian (Soviet) profile so far considered antiquated. Our approach is an argument in favor of the analyses of the recent evolutions embedded in the course of history. In this context, the paper will include analytical thoughts about the Russian foreign policy and the latest strategic documents (security strategy and military doctrine) adopted by the Putin administration, with the purpose to highlight the main direction of action followed by all these documents together. The paper concludes that the military component is to be found in all these strategic documents, as well as at the core of Russian national interest, aspect that proves that Russia is still the adept of the traditional realist paradigm, reshaped in a Russian theory of the multipolar world.

Keywords: hybrid warfare, military component, military doctrine, Russian foreign policy, security strategy

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Authors: Jingqian Xiao

Abstract:

The rapid wave of urbanization triggered by China’s economic growth over the past few decades has inevitably impacted the country’s educational landscape. Educational spaces in China shifted during the 1990s when, due to the government’s tax reforms, large numbers of rural schools were abolished or merged with urban schools, resulting in an “urbanization” of school content and values. While urbanized education is now the status quo, there is as yet no literature review, to our best knowledge, that comprehensively summarizes academic work on this phenomenon. Besides, most research on Chinese educational urbanization relies on basic policy deductions, and there is room for improvement in both the quality and quantity of empirical research on this topic. This paper, therefore, reviews relevant literature on educational urbanization in China from three interrelated factors that shape educational inequality between urban and rural China, namely the urbanization in educational space, school content, and educational values. Results find that the main discussion on Chinese educational urbanization often addresses how Chinese rural education can be improved by reforming the urbanization model to revitalize rural society. While the complete urbanization of Chinese education does not seem feasible, the rapidly changing nature of China’s development patterns and political landscape means the course of Chinese education may shift at any time. When the government does decide to fulfill its intentions to improve the countryside, many formerly dilapidated rural schools may be revived, but for the moment, both rural and urban education in China suffers from governmental neglect. In addition, the breakout of COVID-19, which led to a sudden spread of online education that reopened the gap between the educational conditions and the cultural capital of families in rural and urban areas, has also posed new challenges for China’s attempts to resolve conflicting interests between urban and rural schools and promote educational equality.

Keywords: Chinese education, educational inequality, rural and urban education, urbanization in education

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Authors: Natanya Meyer, Johann Landsberg

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Unemployment among the youth is a significant problem in South Africa. Large corporations and the public sector simply cannot create enough jobs. Too many youths in South Africa currently do not consider entrepreneurship as an option in order to become independent. Unlike the youth of the Netherlands, South African youth prefer to find employment in the public or private sector. The Netherlands has a much lower unemployment rate than South Africa and the Dutch are generally very entrepreneurial. From early on entrepreneurship is considered a desirable career option in the Netherlands. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a difference in the perceptions of some Dutch and South African students in terms of unemployment and entrepreneurship. Questionnaires were distributed to students at the North West University's Vaal Triangle campus in Vanderbijlpark in Gauteng, South Africa and the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands. A descriptive statistical analysis approach was followed and the means for the independent questions were calculated. The results demonstrate that the Dutch students are not as concerned about unemployment after completion of their studies as this is not as significant a problem as it is in South Africa. Both groups had positive responses towards the posed questions, but the South African group felt more strongly about the issues. Both groups of students felt that there was a need for more practical entrepreneurship training. The South African education system should focus on practical entrepreneurship training from a young age.

Keywords: entrepreneurship development, entrepreneurship development programmes, entrepreneurship intention, Netherlands, South Africa, unemployment

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Authors: Sadeeqa Khan, Muhammad Usman

Abstract:

Employees’ knowledge hiding behaviors can be detrimental to employees’ interpersonal relationships and individual and organizational learning and creativity. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the literature on the contingencies, antecedents and outcomes of employees’ knowledge hiding behaviors is still in its infancy. On the other hand, not everyone who hides knowledge hides it the same way, as individuals are different, so do their behaviors. This study explores the links between employees’ personality traits and their knowledge hiding behaviors. By using a single case study as a research methodology and collecting data through 28 semi-structured interviews from employees working in Alpha Electronics (the pseudo name of the company to ascertain anonymity) operating in Pakistan, we foreground the patterns of relationships between employees’ personality traits and knowledge hiding behaviors – rationalized hiding, evasive hiding and playing dumb. Our findings suggest that employees high on extraversion involve in evasive knowledge hiding; while employees low on extraversion (introverts) demonstrate rationalized hiding. Moreover, both extrovert and introvert employees involve in playing dumb in situations that involve risk for their jobs and careers. For instance, when knowledge is requested from their managers, both extrovert and introvert employees tend to play dumb, as in such cases, evasive and rationalized hiding can be harmful to their job and career-related interests and motives. Other than theoretical contributions, the study offers important implications for organizations faced with the challenges of shortage of skills and knowledge.

Keywords: knowledge hiding, personality, rationalized hiding, playing dumb, evasive hiding

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