Employee needs and expectations in the Irish voluntary sector

Little research exists on the work needs and expectations of employees in the Irish Voluntary Sector. The paper presents the preliminary findings of the first nation-wide survey of voluntary organisations, focusing on the psycho-social variables underpinning work. The survey employed the Meaning Of Working (MOW)questionnaire, widely used in European work-values research. Results from the 259 respondent voluntary organisations are compared with a private sector population, and indicate significant differences in employee work values, reward expectations and job involvement. The results are discussed and implications for the management and development of the Irish Voluntary Sector are advanced

Fathers: a Contemporary Perspective on their Role in Child-driven Materialism

This paper explores the contemporary role of fathers in child-driven materialistic consumption, a little explored territory. Commencing with an exploration of the child consumer and their influence in personal and family spending, both of which have grown considerably over that last number of decades, followed by an analysis of changes in families and the role fathers now play in the aforementioned. It is also acknowledged that fathers have previously been ignored to a large extent in the majority of research studies concerning parent-child consumption and purchases. As such, valuable insights emerged through an interpretative framework utilised to explore this area. Furthermore, the use of semi-structured interviews allowed fathers’ ‘lived’ experiences of the purchase and consumption process to emerge. Findings result in fathers, on the one hand, portraying themselves as the traditional authoritarian figure, claiming their spouses relent to materialistic consumption, while concurrently initiating a portion of materialistic purchases themselves. These emergent findings result in an obvious tension within fathers’ awareness of the more traditional models of fathering: the strong, authoritative, sensible and responsible parent, versus their recognition of a contemporary dilution of same: the sensitive, involved, engaged, explanatory father

An investigation of the effects of hierarchical level on "work meanings"

This study investigated the meaning of working for subjects from three levels of an organizational hierarchy. Employees of a high technology manufacturing organization were surveyed using an abridged version of the Meaning of Working questionnaire (1987). Five central domains of the ’meaning of working’ concept were explored using this instrument, namely Work Centrality, Work Role Identification, Valued Working Outcomes, Societal Norms about Working and Work Goals. Results show a high level of shared perceptions by members of three hierarchal levels on ’meaning of working’ variables, a finding which is at odds with past research, which for the most part indicates clear hierarchal effects. Such findings are discussed within the context of the internal processes of the organization. Results also indicated that members of the organization in which this experiment was undertaken, which is an advocate of progressive management practices, showed little commitment to the company itself. Additionally, the instrumental gains achieved through working were found to supersede self expressive gains, for the majority of those sampled, regardless of hierarchical level

Advancing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis as a Novel Methodological Tool in Deepening Insights and Amplifying the Voices of Women Mentees in Leadership Development Programmes in Irish Higher Education Institutions

Positioned within the field of Educational Leadership, this paper asserts the value of adopting Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), as a qualitative methodological approach to explore and unravel the lived experience of women mentees (academics, professional, management and support services staff) in leadership mentoring relationships in an Irish Higher Education context. The research context focuses on the intersection of leadership mentoring and gender in Irish academia, prompted by the under-representation of women in senior positions, coupled with IPA as an under-utilised methodology in educational leadership research. Women’s’ voices are an important part of the process of consciousness-raising in discourses within Educational Leadership, of making what is invisible, visible; more especially in terms of enablers and barriers to women’s career advancement. Giving time and space to hear these voices, through the utility of IPA, allows their stories to unfold, by attending to their experiences, understanding, perceptions and views, of being in a leadership mentoring relationship. This paper showcases five distinctive features of IPA: (a) epistemological grounding, (b) amplifying individual voice, (c) inductive deepening of insights, (d) versatility and flexibility, and (e) co-creation between researcher and women mentees, to reveal what it is like for these women. In the process of this unveiling, IPA can make an iridescent contribution to the discourse on gender equality, leadership development, policy practice and action within an Irish higher education context

Child Targeted TV Advertising and its influence on the Child- Parent Purchase Relationship:

Since the 1970s an argument has raged over the influence child targeted advertising has on its young audiences (Lawlor & Prothero 2003). An area of particular interest is the effect of child targeted advertising on the parent-child purchase relationship, commonly referred to as ‘pester-power’. In recent years, harnessing its power has become a Holy Grail for those who believe it to be the key to parent’s purse strings (Harding 2004). Industry spending on advertising to children has significantly increased in the past decade, from $100 million in 1990 to more than$2 billion in 2000 (www.media-awareness.ca). This paper outlines preliminary data exploring TV advertising and its effects on the parent child purchase relationship