Exposure to occupational violence and the buffering effects of intra-oranizational support

This paper presents a conceptually distinct analysis of the data first reported by Leather et al. Specifically, it investigates the effects of exposure to a variety of forms of work-related violence upon work attitudes and general well-being within a sample of UK public house licensees—individuals who manage public houses and hold the licence permitting the sale of alcoholic drinks on the premises. In addition, it examines the role of social support in moderating such effects. Based upon a sample of 242 licensees, it reports a consistent interaction between exposure to such violence and the availability of perceived intra-organizational support in determining the size of any negative effects upon individual well-being, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. It is argued that exposure to all forms of work-related violence, including intimidation, verbal abuse and threat, should be seen as a potential stressor within the work environment, the negative effects of which are buffered by perceived support from within the organization, but not by that perceived to be available from informal sources such as family and friends.     

Respectability,morality and disgust in the night‐time economy: exploring reactions to ‘lap dance’ clubs in England and Wales

The night‐time economy is often described as repelling consumers fearful of the ‘undesirable Others’ imagined dominant within such time‐spaces. In this paper we explore this by describing attitudes towards, and reactions to, one particularly contentious site: the ‘lap dance’ club. Often targeted by campaigners in England and Wales as a source of criminality and anti‐sociality, in this paper we shift the focus from fear to disgust, and argue that Sexual Entertainment Venues (SEVs) are opposed on the basis of moral judgments that reflect distinctions of both class and gender. Drawing on documentary analysis, survey results and interview data collected during guided walks, we detail the concerns voiced by those anxious about the presence of lap dance or striptease clubs in their town or city, particularly the notion that they ‘lower the tone’ of particular streets or neighbourhoods. Our conclusion is that the opposition expressed to lap dance clubs is part of an attempt to police the boundaries of respectable masculinities and femininities, marginalizing the producers and consumers of sexual entertainment through ‘speech acts’ which identify such entertainment as unruly, vulgar and uncivilized. These findings are considered in the light of ongoing debates concerning the relations of morality, respectability and disgust.     

Embodying the environment in everyday life practices1

This paper suggests ways in which ‘the environment’ needs to be reconfigured so that it better resonates with how people are experiencing politics, nature and everyday life. Through empirical research on environmental concerns and everyday practices, this paper sketches a framework through which the values associated with contemporary environmentalism might be developed in a more reflexive relationship to wider transformations in society. In particular, the research critically evaluates the standard storyline of a ‘global nature’ under threat and in need of collective action by a global imagined community. In contrast to rhetorics of the global environment, this paper explores ways in which the environment is being embodied, valued and experienced in an array of social practices. The paper further outlines the significance of such embodied practices as significant yet undervalued points of connection for wider, global environmental issues.     

Nondestructive creation: Entrepreneurship and management research in the study of growth

Economists’ focus on institutions in explaining economic growth, while important, can obscure the significant role played by individual entrepreneurs and the process of entrepreneurship. The prevailing view of entrepreneurship in economics (which continues to shape prevailing public policies) centers on Schumpeter's famous concept of “creative destruction.” In the context of sustained high levels of economic growth, as in the recent American experience, I focus on a different feature of entrepreneurship—“nondestructive creation,” in which the uncoordinated contest of ideas and search for new applications of existing ideas generate growth. And this nondestructive creation should be analyzed and can be fostered.     

The Experience and Practice of Approved Social Workers in Northern Ireland

Correspondence to Dr Roger Manktelow, School of Social and Community Sciences, University of Ulster Magee College, Derry, BT48 7JL, Northern Ireland. Summary This article reports on the first extensive survey of ApprovedSocial Worker (ASW) activity under the Mental Health (NorthernIreland) Order 1986. The integrated health and social servicesorganizational structure, the adverse effects on individualmental health of the legacy of thirty years of civil conflictand the move from hospital to community care are significantfeatures which have influenced the delivery of mental healthsocial work services locally. The practice and experience ofASWs was surveyed by postal questionnaire and user and carerexperience of compulsory hospital admission was investigatedby a series of focus groups. The study revealed that two-thirdsof ASWs had experience of acting as an applicant in compulsoryhospital admission during the past two years. Nearly half (42per cent) of these ASWs had reported experience of between oneand five admissions and one-tenth had completed over twentyadmissions in the two-year period. In only a small minorityof cases did joint face-to-face assessment with the GeneralPractitioner (doctor) take place; nearly half of ASWs reporteddifficulties in obtaining transport; and only one-fifth of ASWshad experience of acting as a second approved social worker.Half of ASWs reported experience of guardianship, either asapplicant or in making the recommendation. Both service usersand carers reported a lack of understanding about the role ofthe ASW and complained about the lack of alternative resourcesthat ASWs could use to prevent hospital admissions. These findingsare discussed and a number of recommendations are proposed forimprovements to approved social worker practice.     

A knowledge chain management framework to support integrated decisions in global supply chains

Knowledge management has been identified as a key enabler to achieve organisation’s value chain competitiveness. It, however, has been facing fresh challenges in a global supply chain setting. This paper proposes a global knowledge chain management (GKCM) framework that identifies and prioritises critical knowledge that a global supply chain can focus on to support integrated decisions. The framework explores three types of global context knowledge, namely global market knowledge, global capacity knowledge and global supply network configuration knowledge. Empirical study has been undertaken within the manufacturing industry to evaluate the GKCM framework. Analytic network process has been explored as a key method to assess the importance of the global knowledge constructs from supply chain managers’ perspectives. A key contribution of the paper is that it advances existing knowledge chain management approaches within one organisation and its local supply chain to include the global context knowledge applicable to global manufacturing settings, and highlights how the GKCM framework can support global supply chain integrated decisions.     

Effects of exposure to occupational violence and the mediating impact of fear

This paper examines the consequences of exposure to work-related violence and in particular, focuses upon the role of fear (of violence) as a mediating variable. The sample comprises UK public house licensees-individuals who manage public houses and hold the licence permitting the sale of alcoholic drinks on the premises. Questionnaires were sent to 479 licensees and a response rate of 51% was achieved. Each questionnaire measured exposure to a range of violent assaults, fear of violence, general well-being, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Based upon a final sample of 242 pub licensees, regression analyses showed that as the severity of the violence to which licensees were exposed increased, so fear of becoming a victim and symptoms of impaired well-being increased, while job satisfaction and organizational commitment decreased. Hierarchical analyses showed that fear of violence fully mediated the negative impact of exposure upon each of these other variables. It is argued that the management of fear appraisals should be integrated into organizational responses to work-place violence.