THE ROLE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR: AN UNRESOLVED PARADOX

Business activity and consumption activities are recognised as impacting, often negatively, on the environment. The challenge of ‘satisfying the needs of the present generation without compromising the chance for future generations to satisfy theirs’ requires, however, contributions by all societal actors. A growing number of firms “overcomply” with environmental regulation for several reasons. Firms satisfy consumer demand and try to shape that demand. In doing so, they may create a taste for environment protection and sustainability. Corporate social responsibility has received considerable attention. The concept of ‘consumer social responsibility’ has received comparatively little attention probably because of the dominance of the notion of consumer sovereignty. If consumers’ perception of corporate social responsibility practices drives their purchase behaviour, firms are motivated to invest in socially responsible practices. However, there exists a wide gap between positive attitudes toward social responsibility and actual purchase behaviours. This paper tries to shed some light on what affects individuals’ perceptions about their responsibilities as citizens/consumers and their consumption behaviour.Environment, Sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility, Consumer Sovereignty, Consumer Social Responsibility, Preferences, Social norms

Physician Burnout: A Technology-based Reification of Competing Logics View

Physician burnout has become a major concern for healthcare organizations and society as the increasing use of technology along with other changes have dramatically altered healthcare delivery in recent years. While prior research on burnout has offered explanations of a “dark side” of technology, it has not sufficiently captured the complexity of the institutional context in healthcare. To address this research gap, we develop a theoretical framework of physician burnout that considers both institutional issues and job demands/resources related to healthcare delivery. Drawing on the institutional logics literature, we identify four competing logics that shape physician responses to day-to-day interactions with technology and institutional issues. We contribute to IS literature by theorizing that when technology reifies competing logics, the technology—which was intended to be a job resource—becomes a source of increasing job demands while simultaneously reducing worker autonomy that could have buffered the impact of those increasing demands

Perceptions, difficulties and working memory capacity related to mathematics performance

There is a general view that students of not have a positive attitude towards mathematics. In general, mathematics is considered a ‘difficult’ subject and sometimes there is a lack of enjoyment. Mathematics is often portrayed as being abstract and unrelated to life. In the light of the key role mathematics has in the curriculum, the aim of this study is to explore the difficulties and self-perceptions of students aged about 10-12 in Pakistan as they undertake their studies in mathematics. The study uses a survey of student perceptions, working with samples of students drawn from both Urdu and English medium schools (N = 813). In addition, working memory capacity of those in grade 5 (age about 10) was measured and information was gained about their performance in mathematics examinations. The data is analysed to consider how their self-perceptions related to their experiences in learning mathematics which varies with age, language background and gender. Any relationships between these self perceptions, mathematics marks and measured working memory capacity are explored as well. The observed outcomes can be used to inform the agenda for action or further study. It was found that the vast majority (English medium and Urdu medium) appreciate the role and the importance of studies in mathematics although topics like geometry, fractions, topics with life applications, statistics are causing problems. It is almost certain that these topics place demands on working memory which make understanding very difficult. In the Urdu medium schools, the curriculum in grade 6 is clearly causing major problems while, in both systems, pressures for success based on examination performance have generated a complete industry of private tutors. Many of the gender differences can be interpreted in terms of the social roles in Pakistani society. However, girls do seem more positive and more committed in relation to their studies in mathematics. The study has revealed two major issues which need careful consideration. One is the whole issue of memorisation and understanding. The goal of meaningful learning must be stressed more if positive attitudes are to be retained. The whole issue of making the mathematics studied become related in some way to the lifestyle of the learner seems very important but this is not easy without overloading working memory. In considering both of these issues, the critical role of assessment has to be addressed: if assessment offers rewards almost entirely for the recall and correct execution of mathematical procedures, then this will be reflected in textbooks and teaching approaches. Along with curriculum design and teaching approaches which are consistent with the known limitations of working memory, assessment is perhaps the single most important issue to be considered. Very significant correlations were found for grade 5 students when their measured working memory capacity was related to their mathematics examination performance. Indeed, the correlation value for Urdu medium students is the highest such correlation which has been found in any discipline. This suggests major curriculum design problems in the national syllabus for Urdu medium schools as well as assessment problems. The study has pinpointed many areas of success along with specific areas where there are serious problems. In this way, an agenda for future research and action has been described

Attitudes to training and their relation to the wellbeing of workers

Background: This study aimed to investigate the influence of attitudes towards training on individuals’ level of well-being, after controlling for other variables (demographics and psychosocial characteristics). Attitudes towards training consist of motivation to learn, learning, transfer intention and cognitive dissonance. Methodology: In total, 210 workers who had undergone various training programs completed an online survey measuring various psychosocial characteristics, four training attitudes and level of well-being. Results: The results showed that positive psychosocial characteristics (positive personality, positive coping, positive work characteristics, organisational citizenship behaviours and commitment) had significant associations with positive attitudes towards training (motivation to learn, learning and transfer intention) and positive well-being. Similarly, negative psychosocial characteristics (negative coping and negative work characteristics) were correlated with negative training attitudes (cognitive dissonance) and negative well-being. The training attitudes also had a moderate to high correlation with well-being. However, after controlling for other variables (age, gender, education and psychosocial characteristics), only cognitive dissonance was found to influence negative well-being. Cognitive dissonance theory was used to explain these findings. Conclusion: This study gives a new perspective in the field of both training and well-being. It not only provides new knowledge but may also be beneficial to practitioners. More research is required in the future to confirm the link between training attitudes and well-being and examine in more depth the relationship between them

Difficulties in understanding mathematics: an approach related to working memory and field dependency

It is commonly agreed that learning with understanding is more desirable than learning by rote. Understanding is described in terms of the way information is represented and structured in the memory. A mathematical idea or procedure or fact is understood if it is a part of an internal network, and the degree of understanding is determined by the number and the strength of the connections between ideas. When a student learns a piece of mathematical knowledge without making connections with items in his or her existing networks of internal knowledge, he or she is learning without understanding. Learning with understanding has progressively been elevated to one of the most important goals for all learners in all subjects. However, the realisation of this goal has been problematic, especially in the domain of mathematics where there are marked difficulties in learning and understanding. The experience of working with learners who do not do well in mathematics suggests that much of the problem is that learners are required to spend so much time in mathematics lessons engaged in tasks which seek to give them competence in mathematical procedures. This leaves inadequate time for gaining understanding or seeking how the procedures can be applied in life. Much of the satisfaction inherent in learning is that of understanding: making connections, relating the symbols of mathematics to real situations, seeing how things fit together, and articulating the patterns and relationships which are fundamental to our number system and number operations. Other factors include attitudes towards mathematics, working memory capacity, extent of field dependency, curriculum approaches, the classroom climate and assessment. In this study, attitudes, working memory capacity and extent of field dependency will be considered. The work will be underpinned by an information processing model for learning. A mathematics curriculum framework released by the US National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2000) offers a research-based description of what is involved for students to learn mathematics with understanding. The approach is based on “how learners learn, not on “how to teach”, and it should enable mathematics teachers to see mathematics from the standpoint of the learner as he progresses through the various stages of cognitive development. The focus in the present study is to try to find out what aspects of the process of teaching and learning seem to be important in enabling students to grow, develop and achieve. The attention here is on the learner and the nature of the learning process. What is known about learning and memory is reviewed while the literature on specific areas of difficulty in learning mathematics is summarised. Some likely explanations for these difficulties are discussed. Attitudes and how they are measured are then discussed and there is a brief section of learner characteristics, with special emphasis on field dependency as this characteristic seems to be of importance in learning mathematics. The study is set in schools in Nigeria and England but the aim is not to make comparisons. Several types of measurement are made with students: working memory capacity and extent of field dependency are measured using well-established tests (digit span backward test and the hidden figure test). Performance in mathematics is obtained from tests and examinations used in the various schools, standardised as appropriate. Surveys and interviews are also used to probe perceptions, attitudes and aspects of difficulties. Throughout, large samples were employed in the data collection with the overall aim of obtaining a clear picture about the nature and the influence of attitudes, working memory capacity and extent of field dependency in relation to learning, and to see how this was related to mathematics achievement as measured by formal examination. The study starts by focussing on gaining an overview of the nature of the problems and relating these to student perception and attitudes as well as working memory capacity. At that stage, the focus moves more towards extent of field dependency, seen as one way by which the fixed and limited working memory capacity can be used more efficiently. Data analysis was in form of comparison and correlation although there are also much descriptive data. Some very clear patterns and trends were observable. Students are consistently positive towards the more cognitive elements of attitude to mathematics (mathematics is important; lessons are essential). However, they are more negative towards the more affective elements like enjoyment, satisfaction and interest. Thus, they are very realistic about the value of mathematics but find their experiences of learning it much more daunting. Attitudes towards the learning of mathematics change with age. As students grow older, the belief that mathematics is interesting and relevant to them is weakened, although many still think positively about the importance of mathematics. Loss of interest in mathematics may well be related to an inability to grasp what is required and the oft-stated problem that it is difficult trying to take in too much information and selecting what is important. These and other features probably relate to working memory overload, with field dependency skills area being important. The study identified clearly the topics which were perceived as most difficult at various ages. These topics involved ideas and concepts where many things had to be handled cognitively at the same time, thus placing high demands on the limited working memory capacity. As expected, working memory capacity and mathematics achievement relate strongly while extent of field dependency also relates strongly to performance. Performance in mathematics is best for those who are more field-independent. It was found that extent of field dependency grew with age. Thus, as students grow older (at least between 12 and about 17), they tend to become more field-independent. It was also found that girls tend to be more field-independent than boys, perhaps reflecting maturity or their greater commitment and attention to details to undertake their work with care during the years of adolescence. The outcomes of the findings are interpreted in terms of an information processing model. It is argued that curriculum design, teaching approaches and assessment which are consistent with the known limitations of the working memory must be considered during the learning process. There is also discussion of the importance of learning for understanding and the problem of seeking to achieve this while gaining mastery in procedural skills in the light of limited working memory capacity. It is also argued that positive attitudes towards the learning in mathematics must not only be related to the problem of limited working memory capacity but also to ways to develop increased field independence as well as seeing mathematics as a subject to be understood and capable of being applied usefully

The Legal Implications of Psychology: Human Behavior, Behavioral Economics, and the Law Symposium: The Legal Implications of Psychology Human Behavior, Behavioral Economics, and the Law

Nearly all interesting legal issues require accurate predictions about human behavior to be resolved satisfactorily. Judges, policy- makers, and academics invoke mental models of individual and social behavior whenever they estimate the desirability of alternative rules, policies, or procedures. Contemporary legal scholarship has come to recognize that if these predictions are naive and intuitive, without any strong empirical grounding, they are susceptible to error and ideological bias. Something more rigorous is thus expected when normative claims are advanced, and the place of the social sciences has expanded in legal discourse to satisfy this expectation.\u27 Three branches of the social sciences-economics, psychology, and sociology-offer the most obvious assistance in predicting every- day human behavior, and each has a well-recognized history of influence on legal scholarship. The legal realists-most notably, Jerome Frank--took psychology quite seriously half a century ago; sociological jurisprudence came to prominence shortly thereafter, and law and society studies are still highly visible. But as many have said so often, both psychology and sociology have suffered from the inability to generate a unified behavioral model rivaling the simplicity, elegance, and testability of the economist\u27s utility- maximizing rational actor. For this reason (and probably a host of others), the rational actor model came to dominate predictions about how normal persons and groups respond to legal incentives. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, law and economics was the one social science-based approach to have a truly pervasive effect on legal thinking. Law and psychology for some time was largely the study of either marginal segments of the population, such as the criminally insane, or specialized procedural subjects like jury behavior and eyewitness recall

Behavioral Theories of Judgment and Decision Making in Legal Scholarship: A Literature Review

Nearly all interesting legal issues require accurate predictions about human behavior to be resolved satisfactorily. Judges, policy- makers, and academics invoke mental models of individual and social behavior whenever they estimate the desirability of alternative rules, policies, or procedures. Contemporary legal scholarship has come to recognize that if these predictions are naive and intuitive, without any strong empirical grounding, they are susceptible to error and ideological bias. Something more rigorous is thus expected when normative claims are advanced, and the place of the social sciences has expanded in legal discourse to satisfy this expectation.\u27 Three branches of the social sciences-economics, psychology, and sociology-offer the most obvious assistance in predicting everyday human behavior, and each has a well-recognized history of influence on legal scholarship. The legal realists-most notably, Jerome Frank--took psychology quite seriously half a century ago; sociological jurisprudence came to prominence shortly thereafter, and law and society studies are still highly visible. But as many have said so often, both psychology and sociology have suffered from the inability to generate a unified behavioral model rivaling the simplicity, elegance, and testability of the economist\u27s utility- maximizing rational actor. For this reason (and probably a host of others), the rational actor model came to dominate predictions about how normal persons and groups respond to legal incentives. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, law and economics was the one social science-based approach to have a truly pervasive effect on legal thinking. Law and psychology for some time was largely the study of either marginal segments of the population, such as the criminally insane, or specialized procedural subjects like jury behavior and eyewitness recall

An Applied Study for the Retention of Varsity Assistant Football Coaches That Serve on the Faculty at City High School in Northern Virginia

The purpose of this applied study was to solve the central research question of how the problem of lack of assistant football coach retention that also teach in the faculty at City High School (a pseudonym) located in Northern Virginia be solved. The results of the research were intended to provide data to administrators and coaches to allow decisions concerning the issue of assistant football coach retention that also teach. This applied research study focused on one high school with the data collection including interviews with the principal, the athletic director, the former head football coach, three former coaches on the faculty, and a former teacher and coach that sought to elicit the atmosphere and culture of the school and athletic program. An online survey was completed by the school’s administration, current coaching staff, three coaches from other sports, and former coaches on suspected reasons why teacher-coaches leave coaching. The same population also participated in an anonymous online discussion board that provided depth to the survey by providing qualitative data. The data analysis consisted of themes for the qualitative data and descriptive statistics for the quantitative data. The information gathered will help school administration become a way of the retention of the teacher-coaches in order to aid and improve the academic and athletic realm of the school

Improving the Communication Skills of IS Developers during Requirements Elicitation using Experiential Learning

The improvement of communication skills among Information Systems (IS) developers can be considered as a strategy to mitigate the risk of project failure during IS design. This paper addresses issues on various communication barriers normally encountered during its requirements elicitation (RE) stage. This study aims to adopt experiential learning as a method to improve the communication skills of IS developers during RE techniques such as prototype presentations. As such, an educational multimedia, which teaches communication skill enhancement among professionals during presentations, served as an interventional tool for experiential learning. Using a longitudinal quasi-experiment, the developers’ self-assessments of their communication skills during prototype presentations at pre- and post-intervention were compared and analyzed using the WordStat® software. Responses showed significant improvements on the presentation skills especially on keywords-in-context related to the audience, information, interest, prototype, room, summary, and talk. This signifies the influence of such learning method to the developers at post-intervention. Further, the study implies that experiential learning can be empirically supported to effectively motivate IS developers in improving their presentation skills after receiving a learning intervention. Thus, experiential learning can be used by project managers as an effective training strategy to improve the communication skills of their IS developers in preparation to current and future projects on IS design especially during prototype presentations of the RE stage