Controlling service work: An ambiguous accomplishment between employees, management and customers

In order to understand the control of service work, most service literature has focused on its production while treating the customer as secondary. The consumption literature emphasizes the customer’s role but lacks empirical evidence for its claims. Using an ethnographic study of an ‘exclusive’ department store, this article aims to reduce the gap between these two bodies of literature by investigating how employees, management and customers control service work. The findings suggest that the maintenance of class difference combined with competing expectations of managers, employees and customers makes the management of service work highly ambiguous and reveals a continuing instability between managerial practices of control and consumer culture

Embracing ethical fields: constructing consumption in the margins

Purpose Literature examining resistant consumer behaviour from an ethical consumption stance has increased over recent years. This paper argues that the conflation between ethical consumer behaviour and ‘anti-consumption’ practices results in a nihilistic reading and fails to uncover the tensions of those who seek to position themselves as ethical whilst still participating in the general market. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts an exploratory approach through semi-structured in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 7 ethical consumers. Findings The analysis reveals the process through which ethical consumption is constructed and defined in relation to the subject position of the ‘ethical consumer’ and their interactions with the dominant market of consumption. Research limitations/implications This research is limited to a single country and location and focused on a specific consumer group. Expansion of the research to a wider group would be valuable. Practical implications The impact of ethical consumption on the wider field of consumption can be witnessed in the ‘mainstreaming’ of many ethical ideals. This highlights the potential movements of power between various stakeholders that occupy particular spaces of social action. Originality/value Understanding the analysis through Bourdieu’s concepts of field and the margins created between spaces of consumption we focus on the theoretical cross-section of practice between ethical and market-driven forms of consumption, advancing discussion by exploring how self-identified ‘ethical consumers’ defined, legitimatised and negotiated their practices in relation to consumption acts and lifestyles. Keywords Anti-consumption, ethical consumption, consumer decision-making, Bourdieu

Regulating Clothing Outwork: A Sceptic's View

By applying the strategies of international anti-sweatshop campaigns to the Australian context, recent regulations governing home-based clothing production hold retailers responsible for policing the wages and employment conditions of clothing outworkers who manufacture clothing on their behalf. This paper argues that the new approach oversimplifies the regulatory challenge by assuming (1) that Australian clothing production is organised in a hierarchical ‘buyer-led’ linear structure in which core retail firms have the capacity to control their suppliers’ behaviour; (2) that firms act as unitary moral agents; and (3) that interventions imported from other times and places are applicable to the contemporary Australian context. After considering some alternative regulatory approaches, the paper concludes that the new regulatory strategy effectively privatises responsibility for labour market conditions – a development that cries out for further debate

The mechanics of trust: a framework for research and design

With an increasing number of technologies supporting transactions over distance and replacing traditional forms of interaction, designing for trust in mediated interactions has become a key concern for researchers in human computer interaction (HCI). While much of this research focuses on increasing users’ trust, we present a framework that shifts the perspective towards factors that support trustworthy behavior. In a second step, we analyze how the presence of these factors can be signalled. We argue that it is essential to take a systemic perspective for enabling well-placed trust and trustworthy behavior in the long term. For our analysis we draw on relevant research from sociology, economics, and psychology, as well as HCI. We identify contextual properties (motivation based on temporal, social, and institutional embeddedness) and the actor's intrinsic properties (ability, and motivation based on internalized norms and benevolence) that form the basis of trustworthy behavior. Our analysis provides a frame of reference for the design of studies on trust in technology-mediated interactions, as well as a guide for identifying trust requirements in design processes. We demonstrate the application of the framework in three scenarios: call centre interactions, B2C e-commerce, and voice-enabled on-line gaming

Thematic Analysis of Mainstream Rap Music - Considerations for Culturally Responsive Sexual Consent Education in High School

Background: Much of the research literature on sexual consent and sexual consent education has been focused on college students, providing a significant gap in our understanding of high school students, especially ethnic minority youth, who are at greatest risk for unwanted sexual contact and sexual activity. Furthermore, recent research suggests that music with sexually suggestive and misogynistic themes influence sexual communication and consenting behaviors. An analysis of rap music produced after the year 2000 is necessary to identify themes that may influence sexual communication among youth. Methods: A thematic analysis was conducted to examine the lyrics of mainstream rap music songs. Songs from the Billboard Hot Rap Singles Year-End Charts for the years 2001 through 2011 served as the data corpus for thematic analysis. Results: Each year, an average of 18 songs in the top 25 rap music hits included some level of sexual content. Overall, approximately 74% of the 244 songs made references to sex, sexual expectations and/or relationships. Three major themes emerged from the analysis: (1) It’s Really About Sex or Nothing At All, (2) Substances as the Precursor/Enhancer, and (3) Performance, Parts & Brand. Conclusion: The major themes found here highlight the prevalence of norms that perpetuate non-consensual sex and non-verbal sexual communication in a dominant musical genre. Each theme presented in this study represents rules and expectations related to sexual interactions that could influence an adolescent’s view of sexual communication and consent. Findings here should be further examined to identify how adolescents may perceive them and resonate with their meanings

Shape exploration in design : formalising and supporting a transformational process

The process of sketching can support the sort of transformational thinking that is seen as essential for the interpretation and reinterpretation of ideas in innovative design. Such transformational thinking, however, is not yet well supported by computer-aided design systems. In this paper, outcomes of experimental investigations into the mechanics of sketching are described, in particular those employed by practising architects and industrial designers as they responded to a series of conceptual design tasks,. Analyses of the experimental data suggest that the interactions of designers with their sketches can be formalised according to a finite number of generalised shape rules. A set of shape rules, formalising the reinterpretation and transformations of shapes, e.g. through deformation or restructuring, are presented. These rules are suggestive of the manipulations that need to be afforded in computational tools intended to support designers in design exploration. Accordingly, the results of the experimental investigations informed the development of a prototype shape synthesis system, and a discussion is presented in which the future requirements of such systems are explored

Ethical Leadership in Intercollegiate Athletics

Ethical leadership and a values-based culture should be two sides of the same coin in intercollegiate athletics. Needed are ethical leaders serving as role models of integrity, trustworthiness, honesty, fairness, and respect for others. Ethical leaders model how values should guide actions and decisions as well as implement reward systems that hold others accountable for ethical conduct. Athletic directors and other athletic administrators with the moral courage to do what is right regardless of circumstances can nurture values-based cultures as they shape and develop the lives of athletes and colleagues they influence. The purposes of this theoretical work are to explicate ethical leadership, explain the connection between ethical leadership and a values-based culture, and propose a model for developing and sustaining ethical leadership in a values-based culture

From governance to meta-governance in tourism?: Re-incorporating politics,interests and values in the analysis of tourism governance

Despite its theorization in the political and policy sciences in the early 1990s, the concept of metagovernance has gained relatively little recognition in tourism studies. Nevertheless, its significance in the political sciences and policy literature, especially as a result of the perceived failure of governance systems following the recent global financial crisis, has only served to reinforce its relevance. Metagovernance addresses some of the perceived failures of traditional governance approaches and associated interventions, and has enabled the understanding of central-state led regimes of shadowed hierarchical authorities and local-level micro-practices of social innovation and self-government. In contrast, tourism studies have tended to restrict study of the political dimension of tourism governance and the role of the state under the traditional parallelism between government and governance. Examination of how governance is itself governed enables a better understanding of the practices of planning and policy making affecting tourism and destinations. In particular, the applications of concepts of governance are inextricably linked to a given set of value assumptions which predetermine the range of its application. A short example of the application of the metagovernance paradigm is provided from the New Zealand context. It is concluded that governance mechanisms are not value-neutral and instead serve to highlight the allocation of power in a destination and the dominance of particular values and interests

Social media research: influencing the influencers

One of the central concepts in marketing theory is the idea that some individuals are more influential than others, and that these influencers play a central role in driving adoption of new products and services. From a customer service perspective, when these influencers are dissatisfied, they are able to drive disproportionally large numbers of customers, and potential customers, away. This report includes two pieces of research to help organisations engage with, and manage, online influencers. The first investigates the role of hyperinfluencers in online rate-and-review sites. Whilst existing research suggests that most individuals who post online are motivated by feelings of altruism or reciprocity this study found that the hyperinfluencers viewed reviewing products as a form of entertainment, creating ‘game’ elements out of the review process. The second piece of research examined the role of influence on social media sites, specifically Facebook, and questions whether it is possible to build effective brand communities on Facebook. The effectiveness of Facebook as a tool for building relationships with customers has been questioned, with some arguing that Facebook has only a limited value for marketers as a platform for promotions and offers. The research indicates that effective brand communities can be built on Facebook, but many brands are currently adopting social media community strategies that actually destroy brand value. For both pieces of research recommendations are provided for best practice in maximising the beneficial effect of online influencers, and minimising the potential for damaging brands online

Empowerment and local level conflict mediation in Indonesia : a comparative analysis of concepts, measures, and project efficacy

The notion of empowerment has been more often deductively claimed than carefully defined or inductively assessed by development scholars and practitioners alike. The authors define and assess empowerment through an in-depth examination of the extent to which a large community development project in rural Indonesia empowers participants (especially members of marginalized groups) through building their capacity to manage local conflict. Although the project induces conflict through its deployment of a competitive bidding process, the authors argue that, when well implemented, it can also enable otherwise unequal groups to more peacefully, equitably, and effectively engage one another. Using a mixed methods approach, they compare cases from otherwise similar treatment and control villages to shed light on the chief components of villagers'capacity to manage local conflict. They discuss the interdependencies of two major analytical realms-routines of inter-group collaboration, and sources of countervailing power-and their relation to local conflict processes and outcomes.ICT Policy and Strategies,Education and Society,Educational Sciences,Post Conflict Reconstruction,TF054599-PHRD-KYRGYZ REPUBLIC: WATER MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT