Action learning: how learning transfers from entrepreneurs to small firms

This paper presents research with small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners who have participated in a leadership development programme. The primary focus of this paper is on learning transfer and factors affecting it, arguing that entrepreneurs must engage in ‘action’ in order to ‘learn’ and that under certain conditions they may transfer learning to their firm. This paper draws on data from 19 focus groups undertaken from 2010 to 2012, involving 51 participants in the LEAD Wales programme. It considers the literatures exploring learning transfer and develops a conceptual framework, outlining four areas of focus for entrepreneurial learning. Utilising thematic analysis, it describes and evaluates what (actual facts and information) and how (techniques, styles of learning) participants transfer and what actions they take to improve the business and develop their people. This paper illustrates the complex mechanisms involved in this process and concludes that action learning is a method of facilitating entrepreneurial learning which is able to help address some of the problems of engagement, relevance and value that have been highlighted previously. This paper concludes that the efficacy of an entrepreneurial learning intervention in SMEs may depend on the effectiveness of learning transfer.     

Food labels as boundary objects: how consumers make sense of organic and functional foods

This paper considers how consumers make sense of food labeling, drawing on a qualitative, empirical study in England. I look in detail at two examples of labeling: 1) food certified as produced by organic methods and 2) functional food claimed to be beneficial for human health, especially probiotic and cholesterol-lowering products. I use the concept of "boundary objects" to demonstrate how such labels are intended to work between the worlds of food producers and food consumers and to show how information is not merely transferred as a "knowledge fix" to consumer ignorance. Rather, consumers drew on a binary of "raw" and "processed" food and familiarity with marketing in today's consumer culture to make sense of such labeling.     

"It's cheesy when they smile:" what girl athletes prefer in images of female college athletes

Building on previous research in which we provided an opportunity for female college athletes to construct their own photographic portrayals, this study explored young female athletes' perceptions of the college athlete photographs. Fifty-two girls participated in focus group interviews where they viewed and discussed the images. The young athletes particularly liked images they perceived to show authentic athletes (e.g, in athletic settings, with appropriate sport attire), images they could relate to due to personal experiences, and images that reflected competent and passionate sportswomen. Images perceived as revealing a lack of motivation, poor sporting attitudes, and nonathletic poses generally were disliked. Images depicting multiple social identities (e.g., an athlete in a dress) were controversial and generated much discussion.     

Gambling on sport sponsorship: A conceptual framework for research and regulatory review

Commercial gambling providers (CGPs) have recently intensified the promotion of their products and services through sport sponsorship. Consequently, gambling products and services now gain substantial exposure to large audiences via media broadcasts of sport. Due to the mainstream appeal of some sports, television audiences and fan-bases can include youth, at-risk and problem gamblers, who may be prompted to gamble, or to increase their gambling, by the direct marketing, alignment of gambling with a ‘healthy’ activity and increased normalisation of gambling. Therefore, sport sponsorship by CGPs promotes a potentially risky behaviour and may exacerbate the public health issue of problem gambling. Regulatory measures have been implemented by governments and private organisations in relation to sport sponsorship by tobacco companies in recognition of the potential harmful impacts of this form of marketing. Subsequently, the involvement of ‘unhealthy products’ including alcohol, junk food and gambling in sport sponsorship has been publicly questioned. This may lead to further regulatory changes that would directly affect the management of sport organisations. Few studies have examined these issues and there is little knowledge of the impacts that sport sponsorship arrangements have on society. Research is needed to inform prudent decision-making about the appropriate regulation of sport sponsorship. This paper reviews the current gambling sport sponsorship landscape and proposes a conceptual framework aimed at facilitating a systematic, interdisciplinary research agenda for examining corporate social responsibility issues pertinent to the sponsorship of sport by CGPs.     

The role of culture in program improvement

In this article, we draw on work in three Head Start programs over three years to consider how “culture” plays a role in program improvement. Through close attention to discourse we attempt to show how culture takes shape through dynamic interactions in particular contexts, constituting identities, structuring social relations, and privileging particular forms of knowledge. We argue for the importance of illuminating the forces that shape our lives and bringing our own ideologies to conscious awareness, in order to become actors in our social milieus. Articulation between general mandates and local needs and goals would then entail ongoing dialogue in a “culturally situated model of school/program effectiveness” (Fuller & Clarke, 1994, p. 121).     

Observational,physiological, and self-report measures of children's anger: relations to reactive versus proactive aggression

The goal of this study was to examine the relations of reactive versus proactive aggression to children's anger, as assessed using observational, physiological, and self-report measures. Anger was hypothesized to be related to reactive aggression, but not to proactive aggression. Children (N = 272 second-grade boys and girls) participated in a procedure in which they lost a board game and prize to a confederate who cheated. Skin conductance reactivity and heart rate reactivity were measured throughout the procedure. Following the interaction, children viewed a videotape of the game and self-reported on their level of anger after each turn of the game. Observational coding of children's angry facial expressions and angry nonverbal behaviors was conducted. Reactive aggression, but not proactive aggression, was positively related to skin conductance reactivity and angry nonverbal behaviors, both at an aggregated level and in terms of rate of increase over the time span of the game.     

Defining Early Number Sense: A participatory Australian study

Recent publications in Australia focus on “number sense” as an important component of mathematics instruction. The current study attempted to tap into local expert knowledge in the area of early mathematics in an effort to establish a consensus on which skills reflect the number sense typically acquired by school entry. A modified Delphi procedure was employed whereby participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement with a variety of skills as indicators of number sense in young children. The study raised questions about the efficacy of this type of participatory research when used in relation to an ill‐defined construct. It also revealed a lack of consensus among the group of academics who agreed to participate in the study.