Turning points: the personal and professional circumstances that lead academics to become middle managers

In the current higher education climate, there is a growing perception that the pressures associated with being an academic middle manager outweigh the perceived rewards of the position. This article investigates the personal and professional circumstances that lead academics to become middle managers by drawing on data from life history interviews undertaken with 17 male and female department heads from a range of disciplines, in a post-1992 UK university. The data suggests that experiencing conflict between personal and professional identities, manifested through different socialization experiences over time, can lead to a ‘turning point’ and a decision that affects a person’s career trajectory. Although the results of this study cannot be generalized, the findings may help other individuals and institutions move towards a firmer understanding of the academic who becomes head of department—in relation to theory, practice and research

Cyprus' image—a sun and sea destination—as a detrimental factor to seasonal fluctuations. Exploration into motivational factors for holidaying in Cyprus

Cyprus is established as a summer destination. To aid the destination in developing its winter season as well, this research uses a qualitative inductive approach to explore the tourists’ current image of the island and their motivations of visiting it. The research indicates that the current image, which essentially portrays Cyprus as a sun-and-sea destination is thought to dissuade tourists from perceiving the island as a year-round destination. Nonetheless, increasing the pull factors of the destination through the development of unique special interest products can help in extending the tourism season as well as broaden its narrow image

Underpinning excellence in higher education – an investigation into the leadership, governance and management behaviours of high-performing academic departments

The changes in government funding alongside external pressures of increased international and national competition have meant that higher education institutions need to excel in a turbulent environment. The leadership, governance and management (LGM) of academic departments are key concerns. This study investigates the correlation between behaviours, attitudes and competencies at a department level and overall departmental performance in terms of hard data measures. The research question this paper seeks to address is: what are the LGM behaviours that are associated with high-performance in academic departments? More than 600 people across 50 academic departments in 5 UK universities were surveyed through the use of three research phases consisting of open-ended questionnaires, critical case sampled semi-structured interviews and a fixed-response survey. Synthesising the data and findings of the study revealed a thematic framework of eight broad themes that contribute to excellence in academic departments. These were in the areas of change management, research and teaching, communication, strategy and shared values, leadership, departmental culture, rewards and staffing. The behaviours associated with each of these themes were used to construct the Underpinning Excellence model

Neutrino photoproduction on pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons

Production of single neutrinos as well as neutrino-antineutrino pairs by photons interacting with pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons is studied within the Standard Model. The corresponding cross sections are found analytically. The energy loss due to neutrino emission in a thermal plasma of photons and pions is calculated. It is shown that the obtained neutrino emissivity may be significantly enhanced in hot and dense matter due to in-medium modification of the pion decay constant. Phenomenological consequences for ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions and astrophysics are discussed.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures. A discussion and calculations of neutrino emissivities in a hot and dense medium are inserted. Phenomenological consequences are considered. New figures and references added. Accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Judging the impact of leadership-development activities on school practice

The nature and effectiveness of professional-development activities should be judged in a way that takes account of both the achievement of intended outcomes and the unintended consequences that may result. Our research project set out to create a robust approach that school staff members could use to assess the impact of professional-development programs on leadership and management practice without being constrained in this judgment by the stated aims of the program. In the process, we identified a number of factors and requirements relevant to a wider audience than that concerned with the development of leadership and management in England. Such an assessment has to rest upon a clear understanding of educational leadership,a clearly articulated model of practice, and a clear model of potential forms of impact. Such foundations, suitably adapted to the subject being addressed, are appropriate for assessing all teacher professional development

The role of brand loyalty and social media in e-commerce interfaces: survey results and implications for user interfaces

This paper explores the role of brand loyalty and social media in e-commerce interfaces. A survey consisting of 118 respondents was contacted to address the questions relating to online shopping and brand loyalty. Link between the frequency of access and time spent on an e-commerce user interface, and brand loyalty, gender and age profile differences, and the role of social media to branding and on-line shopping was analyzed. It was found that online loyalty differs from offline loyalty and loyalty also differed across genders, showing men were more loyal than women when shopping online. Information shared about products on social media by friends and family played an important role in purchase decision making. Website interface and ease of navigation were also key aspects for online shopping. The research concluded with recommendations to create multimodal websites which are more interactive and targeted so customer experience is enhanced and loyalty is achieved through the use of interactivity and social media

Work restructuring and changing craft identity: the Tale of the Disaffected Weavers (or what happens when the rug is pulled from under your feet)

This article explores the changes in worker identity that can occur during manufacturing restructuring – specifically those linked to the declining status of craft work – through an in-depth case study of Weaveco, a UK carpet manufacturer. An analysis of changes in the labour process is followed by employee reactions centred on the demise of the traditional craft identity of male carpet weavers. The voices of the weavers dramatize the tensions involved in reconstructing their masculine identity, and we consider the implications this has for understanding gendered work relations

A life cycle stakeholder management framework for enhanced collaboration between stakeholders with competing interests

This is a postprint version of the Book Chapter. Information regarding the official publication is available from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 SpringerImplementation of a Life Cycle Sustainability Management (LCSM) strategy can involve significant challenges because of competing or conflicting objectives between stakeholders. These differences may, if not identified and managed, hinder successful adoption of sustainability initiatives. This article proposes a conceptual framework for stakeholder management in a LCSM context. The framework identifies the key sustainability stakeholder groups and suggests strategic ambiguity as a management tool to harness dysfunctional conflict into constructive collaboration. The framework is of practical value as it can be used as a guideline by managers who wish to improve collaboration with stakeholders along the supply chain. The article also fills a gap in the academic literature where there is only limited research on sustainability stakeholder management through strategic ambiguity

Study of Long Distance Contributions to K→nπννˉK\to n\pi\nu\bar{\nu}

We calculate long distance contributions to $K\to\pi\nu\bar{\nu}\,,\ \pi\pi\nu\bar{\nu}$, and$\pi\pi\pi\nu\bar{\nu}$modes within the framework of chiral perturbation theory. We find that these contributions to decay rates of$K\to \pi\nu\bar{\nu}$and$K\to \pi\pi\nu\bar{\nu}$ in the chiral logarithmic approximation are at least seven orders of magnitude suppressed relative to those from the short distance parts. The long distance effects in this class of decays are therefore negligible.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX fil