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Signalling theory in operations and supply chain management: Systematic literature review and future research agenda
No full textSignalling theory offers a powerful lens for understanding how supply-chain actors reduce information asymmetry through observable, meaningful, and costly signals. However, Operations and Supply Chain Management (OSCM) research using signalling theory remains dispersed across contexts. This paper provides a systematic literature review of signalling theory in OSCM, synthesising 133 peer-reviewed papers from 25 leading OSCM journals. Using an abductive, theory-modification approach, we extend the traditional five-element model (signaller, signal, receiver, feedback, environment) to a seven-element framework by adding signalling process: how signals are generated and conveyed, and signalling outcome: what signalling ultimately produces. We show that OSCM studies broaden receivers to cover various stakeholders such as buyers, suppliers, retailers, customers, shareholders, and employees, while surfacing OSCM-specific signaller attributes such as supply chain position and power. We also synthesise how digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain, reshape what counts as a signal and how credibility is built via traceability and verifiability. Building on industry priorities around digitalisation and sustainability, we propose a future research agenda, including technology-enabled signals, public feedback, penalty costs, and shifting signalling environments (e.g., geopolitical turbulence). Finally, we offer three tests as a foundational checklist for theory development using signalling theory
Twice a missed chance: On citizenship, agency and movement in Commission v. Malta (citizenship for sale)
Get PDFBoth awaited and criticized, the Court of Justice's judgment in Commission v. Malta reflects a broader disquiet surrounding citizenship and its delicate task of sorting the ‘us’ and ‘them’. Amid this disquiet, the judgment delivers a seemingly straightforward message: money cannot ground the bonds of citizenship. The message however rests on shaky foundations. The Court deploys a vast array of concepts but leaves many underused or overstretched. In the haste to conclude that the Maltese investor citizenship scheme is in breach of the Treaties, the judgment ultimately misses two opportunities: first, to engage with the value of agency in the construction of citizenship; and second, to clarify how the relationship between citizenship and mobility has evolved in the penumbra of European citizenship
Solution Focused Practice Delivered by Teachers, School Staff and Student Peers: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis
Get PDFSolution focused approaches are strengths-based interventions that have improved student outcomes in schools. This study aimed to systematically review the evidence for solution focused practice delivered in schools by non-specialist school staff and student peers.
Methods
PRISMA 2020 guidelines were followed. Ten electronic and two grey literature databases were searched in April 2023 and December 2024, restricted to school settings and children aged 4-18. Two independent researchers screened titles, abstracts and full texts against predefined selection criteria. Quality appraisal and risk of bias assessment was conducted using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. A narrative synthesis was undertaken.
Results
Twenty studies were included; most were from the U.K. and U.S. Only one randomised controlled trial (RCT) was identified. The Working on What Works intervention was most frequently implemented. Most studies reported student- and teacher-rated improvements in classroom behaviour and relationships, and some showed reduced school-related behaviour problems. Improvements in academic attainment and school attendance were mixed. Few studies included student peer-led interventions or assessed staff outcomes.
Conclusions
School staff can be trained to deliver solution focused practice in schools. Preliminary evidence supports potential benefits, including improving classroom relationships and behaviour. However, studies of higher methodological quality are needed
“There’s no escape”: a qualitative analysis of the workplace experiences of menopausal women working in low-paid roles
Get PDFPurpose
There is substantial evidence that menopause can have major implications for women at work, yet limited research has focused on the experiences of women in low-paid roles. This study draws on the psychology of working theory (PWT) to help explain the work-related experiences of menopausal women working in low-paid roles.
Design/methodology/approach
This was a qualitative study underpinned by critical realism. Participants were 20 menopausal women in low-paid roles who were interviewed about their experiences and coping strategies at work. The data were analysed with a critical realism-informed thematic analysis.
Findings
We describe two themes, illustrating (1) the experience of low status as low-paid workers and as menopausal women and (2) the nature of low-paid work, which was found to exacerbate their menopause symptoms and diminish their access to coping strategies. The findings provided support for the PWT to help explain the experiences of this group of workers, finding, as the PWT predicts, that their experiences of marginalisation and their low economic resources contributed to a lack of decent work, in part through reducing their work volition.
Originality/value
This is the first study, to our knowledge, where the primary focus is on the experiences of women in low-paid roles during menopause in the UK, using the PWT to shed light on their experiences
Habermas and the Tasks of Contemporary Philosophy
No full textThe main purpose of this chapter is to reflect on Habermas’s account of the tasks of contemporary philosophy. To this end, the inquiry focuses on central issues raised by Habermas in his essay ‘Critique of Reason’ (2018 [2009]). In this piece, Habermas offers a comprehensive analysis of the competing—and, at some levels, conflicting—tasks of contemporary philosophy, notably with respect to postmetaphysical thinking. The chapter is divided into two parts. The first part examines twelve key issues arising from Habermas’s interpretation of the tasks of contemporary philosophy. The second part not only offers some reflections on the most important limitations and shortcomings of Habermas’s approach but also seeks to provide some ideas as to how these can be overcome. By way of conclusion, the chapter posits that Habermas has made a valuable contribution to our understanding of the tasks of philosophy in the twenty-first century, especially in terms of sharpening our awareness of recent trends and developments in the—constantly evolving—relationship between the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences
Improving outcomes in adult patients who self-harm—evaluating a brief psychological intervention in emergency departments (ASSURED): protocol of a randomised controlled clinical trial
Get PDFBackground
Patients with self-harm and suicidal ideation are increasingly presenting in emergency departments (ED) in the UK. Self-harm is the strongest risk factor for suicide. Currently, there are no evidence-based interventions for self-harm offered in the context of general hospitals in the UK. This trial, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NIHR), aims to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the ASSURED intervention. The ASSURED intervention includes up to five rapid follow-up contacts, comprising a narrative interview and enhanced safety planning session and three solution-focused sessions. The trial is sponsored by Devon Partnership NHS Trust and City St George’s, University of London.
Methods
ASSURED is a multicentre, two-arm, parallel-group, individually randomised, controlled trial comparing the ASSURED intervention with usual care. The primary outcome is whether study participants re-attend ED and are referred to liaison psychiatry within 18 months from the date of randomisation. Secondary outcomes include suicidality, self-reported self-harm, psychological wellbeing, social outcomes, experiences of attending the ED, and suicide. The study will also evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the intervention. The aim of this study was to recruit and randomise 620 patients across 14 acute hospital sites in London, Devon, Somerset, and the Midlands. Participants are invited to complete research assessments at baseline and 3, 9, and 18 months. The first participant was enrolled in the study in August 2022, and the recruitment target was met in December 2024.
Discussion
This will be the first UK trial to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a rapid intervention for patients presenting to EDs with self-harm and suicidal ideation and has the potential to improve outcomes for these patients
Editorial: Racial and ethnic inequalities in multiple long-term conditions: current trends and viable solutions
Get PDFTeaching qualitative interviewing
No full textDrawing upon over a decade of experience in teaching a course on Qualitative Interviewing at the Essex Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis (UK), we present here a series of structured steps to teach qualitative interviewing to students through practical and reflexive tasks. This chapter offers insights into why qualitative interviewing has become so popular in Sociology and outlines a five-stage approach for teaching students to develop their qualitative interviewing skills. We loosely follow Gibbs’ ‘reflective learning cycle’ by supporting students to plan, carry out, and reflect on practice interviews, before having them repeat the cycle and apply what they have learned to their ongoing practice
Radical historicism and the uses of history in Marxist IPE
No full textInternational Political Economy (IPE) has long positioned itself against the ahistoricism of mainstream economics. Yet IPE scholarship itself is not immune to putting theoretical commitments over historical specificity. This article engages with this tension within Marxist IPE. We examine a prominent ‘Open Marxist’ tradition that has made important recent interventions within IPE on state capitalism, industrial policy, financialisation, and social reproduction. While sharing the Open Marxist commitment to a critical and historically informed IPE, we argue their framework prioritises theoretical coherence over accounting for the political construction of capitalism. In contrast, we propose a ‘radical historicist’ approach for IPE. Building on a sympathetic critique of one prominent synthesis of Open Marxism as the ‘politics of governing alienation’, we outline how an alternative Hegelian-Marxist perspective on alienation underpins a novel methodological basis for IPE that can live up to the discipline’s historicist ambitions. To demonstrate this, we show how a radical historicist approach can provide a fresh depiction of a core issue that has long focused IPE attention – the contradictions of the neoliberal state
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