The impact of clinical placements on the emotional intelligence of occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology, and business students: a longitudinal study

Background: Emotional intelligence (EI) is a critical skill for healthcare practitioners. Minimal longitudinal research has tracked the changes in EI of therapy students over their final full-time clinical placements. Methods: The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i2.0) measured the EI of 283 therapy students and 93 business students (control group who do no clinical placements) at three time points over a 16-month period, the same period that the therapy students participated in clinical placements. Results: Analysis of the therapy students showed significant increases over the 16 months of the study in Total EI score, as well as nine other EI skills. However, large percentages of students reported declining scores in emotional expression, assertiveness, self-expression, and stress tolerance, with some students reporting low EI scores before commencing full-time extended clinical placements. Conclusions: The study contributes to new knowledge about the changing EI skills of therapy students as they complete their full-time, extended placements. Emotional intelligence in student therapists should be actively fostered during coursework, clinical placements and when first entering the workforce. University educators are encouraged to include EI content through the therapy curricula. Employers are encouraged to provide peer coaching, mentoring and workshops focused on EI skills to recent graduates

Secondary Stakeholder Influence on CSR Disclosure: An Application of Stakeholder Salience Theory

The aim of this study is to analyse how secondary stakeholders influence managerial decision-making on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure. Based on stakeholder salience theory, we empirically investigate whether differences in environmental disclosure among companies are systematically related to differences in the level of power, urgency and legitimacy of the environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with which these companies are confronted. Using proprietary archival data for an international sample of 199 large companies, our results suggest that differences in environmental disclosures between companies are mainly associated with differences between their environmental stakeholders’ legitimacy. The effects of power and urgency are of an indirect nature, as they are mediated by legitimacy. This study improves our understanding of CSR disclosure by demonstrating that, next to the well-documented effect of company characteristics, stakeholder characteristics are also important. Besides, it provides scarce empirical evidence that not only primary stakeholders, but also secondary stakeholders are influential with regards to management decision-making. And more specifically, it offers insight into why some stakeholder groups are better able to influence disclosure decisions than other. The results also have important practical implications for managers of both environmental NGOs and large companies. For managers of environmental NGOs the results provide evidence of the most successful tactics for having their environmental information demands satisfied by companies. For company management the results provide insights into the most important stakeholder characteristics, on the basis of which they may develop strategies for proactively disclosing environmental information

Strategic planning barriers in small and medium enterprises: the Sri Lankan experience

Abstract not available

Conducting research in south asian small and medium enterprises: questions about methods

South Asia, comprising of more than eight emerging economies, is the second poorest region in the world. Among the many challenges commonly found within this region, poverty is one of the biggest. The literature reveals that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a significant role in achieving economic development. Recognising the importance of this sector, the governments of the South Asian region, attempt to provide more SME support in their quest to secure a sustainable growth particularly during this turbulent time. Consequently, more researchers are studying the practices and activities of these enterprises. The main objective of this paper is to propose suitable research methods for SME related research projects based on Sri Lankan experience. Our study reveals that face-to-face surveys are more suitable for collecting quantitative data while in-depth-interviews-based case studies provide a useful way to capture qualitative data which help to improve the reliability and validity of research

Environmental marketing as a tool of competitive advantage: a study based on organic food in China

For the global economy to become ecologically sustainable, it is necessary to organise business and industry along ecologically sound principles and technologies. Due to the fact that, in recent years, both producers and consumers have been turning towards more environmentally friendly goods and services, environmental issues have become a major marketing focus. Therefore changes in patterns of consumption are just as important as changes to the production process. This research aims to investigate how consumer attitudes towards the production of environmentally friendly 'organic food' can change a firms' environmental behaviour to gain competitive advantages. This research is mainly based on Chinese consumers buying behaviour of organic food. Chinese consumers mostly consider 'Certification', 'Branding', 'Sensory appeal', 'Social status', and 'Value for money'. Food manufacturers may focus on these factors to gain competitive advantage over other manufacturers through environmental marketing