NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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Mobile channel as a strategic distribution channel in times of crisis: a self-determination theory perspective
No full textThe Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly disrupted the worldwide
economy, particularly the restaurant sector. To face these challenges, the multi- and omni-channel approaches have been
embraced by several firms, especially with the integration of mobile
channels and social media. However, no research is conducted to
investigate how this integration can be successful in times of crisis,
such as pandemic. Therefore, drawing upon the self-determination
theory, the present study aims at addressing this research gap by
exploring, from both the restaurant owners’ and customers’ perspectives, how an anti-food waste mobile app called Too Good To
Go (TGTG) – the largest social case in Europe, is perceived as
a strategic distribution channel in the time of pandemic. Based on
18 in-depth interviews with restaurant owners and 22 with customers in Paris, findings highlight the success factors for restaurants
to achieve their digital strategies. Theoretical and practical implications, and future research perspectives are presented
Markets and institutional fields: foundational concepts and a research agenda
No full textWe borrow the notion of field from institutional theory to think through how markets and their ‘outsides’–or at least one particular manifestation of an ‘outside’–stand in a dynamic and interactive relationship. We distinguish the field and the market
in terms of issues versus exchange and identity versus position. We argue that the lack of clarity as to how fields and markets
differ, relate, overlap, and are bounded, jeopardizes our ability to address important societal debates concerning the roles of
markets within and across other areas of social life. It also hinders a consolidation of insights across different approaches
to studying markets, even though researchers from different disciplines often address similar concerns. Key questions for
which both conceptual and analytical clarity are essential include how markets and their ‘outsides’ (here: Fields) intersect;
whether and how diverse sets of actors interact, work, and migrate between fields and markets; and what dynamics may be
observable between field and market. We provide four illustrative examples of field/market relationships and a theoretical,
methodological, and empirical research agenda for future research into markets and their ‘outsides’
The quest for CSR: Mapping responsible and irresponsible practices in an intra-organizational context in Ghana’s gold mining industry
No full textThis paper explores the positive and negative social impact of business relationships in the Ghanian gold mining industry. We adopted an in-depth longitudinal case study approach to explore the responsible and irresponsible behaviour of dominant stakeholders in Ghana’s mining sector. Exploiting unique primary data collected from various stakeholders allowed us to identify and map the evolution of CSR behaviour through the theory of planned behaviour over three distinct time periods since Ghana’s independence of 1957. Findings from our study suggest that the state and multinational enterprises as key stakeholders in the network of business relationship played a critical role in paving the way for the indigenous people to participate more fully in the mining business. We argue that local participation in the industry’s activities has direct social impact, but there is further need to explore the dynamics underpinning a network of relationship
DACE Equity of ACCESS Submission to the National Access Plan 2022-2026
No full textBased on our research and experience including survey feedback from our students, we recommend that a systemic approach to access is taken in new policies and that this leads to the adoption of support mechanisms before during and after higher education, related to the following five key themes:
• Theme 1. Fees and financial resources
• Theme 2. Further Education and Training (FET) (including Community Education).
• Theme 3. Listening to learners
• Theme 4. Socio-cultural, economic and other barriers
• Theme 5. Appropriate data collection and measuremen
Offices and Officers of the Constitution, Part 1: An Introduction
No full textIn this Essay, we introduce our planned ten-part series that provides the
first comprehensive examination of the offices and officers of the
Constitution. This series will explain the original public meaning of twelve
clauses of the Constitution that refer to six categories of offices and officers.
First, the phrase "Officers of the United States" refers to appointed positions
in the Executive and Judicial Branches. Second, the phrase "Office ... under
the United States" refers to appointed positions in the Executive and Judicial
Branches and also includes non-apex appointed positions in the Legislative
Branch. Third, the phrase "Office under the Authority of the United States"
includes all "Office[s] . . . under the United States," and extends further to
include a broader category of irregular positions. Fourth, the phrase "Officer"
of "the Government of the United States" refers to the presiding officers
identified in the Constitution. Fifth, the word "Officer," as used in the
Succession Clause, refers to those who hold "Office . . . under the United
States" and those who are "Officer[s]" of "the Government of the United
States." Sixth, the phrase "Office or public Trust under the United States"
encompasses two categories of positions: "Office[s] . . . under the United
States" and "public Trusts under the United States." The former category
includes appointed positions in all three branches; the latter category includes
federal officials who are not subject to direction or supervision by a higher
federal authority in the normal course of their duties
‘What Kind of Education System are We Offering’: The Views of Education Professionals on School Refusal
No full textIn recent years, there has been a growing concern about the issue of school refusal,
particularly given the adverse effects on young people’s social, emotional and
educational development. School refusal is understood differently within
contemporary literature; as a symptom of an underlying mental illness or disorder, or
alternatively, as a signal that all is not well in the young person’s world. These varying
construal’s have important implications for education responses to school refusal.
This study explores education professionals' views and experiences of school refusal
within second level schools in Ireland. The findings from seventeen in-depth
interviews highlight the complex nature of school refusal and unique challenges it
presents for professionals, young people and parents. Key themes include emotional
and psychological distress experienced by young people and their exposure to adverse
childhood experiences and trauma; the influence of family socio economic status and
unequal access to support services and resources; the pressures for academic
achievement and resulting conflictual relationships within the school environment and
between home and school. This study highlights the need for trauma-informed
approaches in schools and urges future research to consider school refusal within
wider debates on social justice and the goals and purposes of education
An enviro-economic optimization of a hybrid energy system from biomass and geothermal resources for low-enthalpy areas
No full textIn this paper, a combined biomass-geothermal system, intended to supply heat in low enthalpy areas with an
extremely cold climate, is optimized based on a nonlinear optimization methodology. A Multiple Criteria Decision-Making technique is coupled with a two-step optimization to achieve the most exploitable energy with the least
pollution and cost possible. Three nonlinear objective functions for optimization with three criteria for decision-making were used to minimize the heat generation cost and pollution for a modeled building in Kuujjuaq, Canada.
The biomass-geothermal system is split into two parts, surface, and subsurface parts. Twelve scenarios, including
three wood pellet types, in four distance ranges from pellet mills, are first defined. Then, via modeling a building
for heat demand analysis, the required heat is yielded. Afterward, in the first step of optimization, the cost and
pollution functions for surface parts are developed and optimized using the genetic algorithm and screened by
the MCDM technique, called TOPSIS, to size the biomass and geothermal subsystems. In the second step, using
the sizing from the first step as a constraint, the cost of the geothermal ground heat exchanger is minimized.
Twelve scenarios are optimally configured in this way with minimum cost and pollution in relation to operational
parameters, such as utilization time and rated powers. The research proposes a methodology that sizes the biomass
geothermal (bio-geo) system and can be extended to other technologies, such as turbines, energy storages, or fuel.
Furthermore. It provides a correlation between cost and heat generation from biomass-geothermal systems for
Kuujjuaq, Canada, and twelve optimal scenarios with system operating parameters. A basis for system sizing
and system selection for baseload and peak demand shaving is also considered. Geothermal- and biomass-rated
capacities vary with scenarios from 44% to 56% of the total rated capacity
An Overview of Ocean Climate Change Indicators: Sea Surface Temperature, Ocean Heat Content, Ocean pH, Dissolved Oxygen Concentration, Arctic Sea Ice Extent, Thickness and Volume, Sea Level and Strength of the AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation)
No full textGlobal ocean physical and chemical trends are reviewed using seven key ocean climate change indicators: (i) Sea
Surface Temperature, (ii) Ocean Heat Content, (iii) Ocean pH, (iv) Dissolved Oxygen concentration, (v) Arctic Sea
Ice extent, thickness and volume (vi) Sea Level and (vii) the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning
Circulation (AMOC). The globally averaged ocean surface temperature shows a mean warming trend of 0.062 ±
0.013oC/decade over the last 120 years. During the last decade the rate of ocean surface warming has accelerated
to 0.280 ± 0.068oC/decade (4.5 times higher). Ocean Heat Content in the upper 2000m shows a warming rate of
0.35 ± 0.08W/m2 in the period 1955-2019. The mean increase rate of OHC during the last decade is twice as high
(0.70 ± 0.07W/m2) as the long term mean. Global surface ocean pH has declined by approximately 0.1 since the
industrial revolution. By the end of this century ocean pH is projected to decline additionally by 0.1 to 0.4 pH units.
The time of emergence of the signal varies from 8 to 15 years for open ocean sites, and 16 to 41 years for coastal
sites. Global dissolved oxygen levels have decreased by 4.8 petamoles or 2% in the last 5 decades, with profound
impacts on local and basin scale habitats. Arctic sea ice extent is declining by -13.1% per decade during summer
and by -2.6 % per decade during winter. The combined trends of sea ice extent and sea ice thickness indicate that
the volume of non-seasonal Arctic Sea Ice has decreased by 75% since 1979 to 2020. Global mean sea level has
increased in the period 1993-2019 at a mean rate of 3.15 ± 0.3 mm/yr and is experiencing an acceleration of ~ 0.084
(0.06-0.10) mm/yr2. Satellite altimetry also reveals strong regional variability in the rates of sea level change.
Proxies of the evolution of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation indicate that AMOC is at its weakest for
several hundreds of years and has been slowing down during the last century. A final visual summary of key ocean
climate change indicators is provided
Loving the Stranger: Mixed Couples and Mixed Emotions
No full textThis paper brings together two of the key theoretical concepts attributed to
Georg Simmel – the notion of the ‘stranger’ (the person who is not indigenous to a social
context and perpetually seen as possibly not belonging) and ‘love’ as socially constructed
which has the potential to turn an individual love into a notion of ‘super individual
couplehood’ unifying two individuals and transforming them in the process. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews with 35 people in ‘mixed’ couples, this paper examines how
loving the stranger is constructed, maintained and challenged across cultures, languages,
races, and nationalities
A systematic exploration of a perinatal wellbeing framework through women's experiences of lumbo-pelvic pain
No full textBackground: Women’s wellbeing during the perinatal period has received increasing attention in research, policy
and practice, but is often poorly defined and conceptualised. We have developed a framework of perinatal well-being (PWB) which we will refine further in this review, using the example of lumbo-pelvic pain (LPP). Perinatal
LPP, which includes lower back pain (LBP) and pelvic girdle pain (PGP), is common and can significantly affect
women’s wellbeing.
Aim: The aims of this review are (1) to synthesise research into women’s experiences of LPP and (2) to use these
findings to contribute further to developing our framework of PWB.
Designs and methods: A systematic search of online databases was conducted for qualitative studies exploring
women’s experiences of LPP linked to the perinatal period; 15 papers describing 11 studies were identified. A
framework synthesis approach (Carroll et al., 2011; Carroll et al., 2013) was used to synthesise studies, using the
PWB framework as the a priori framework.
Findings: The review highlights the impact of LPP on all areas of women’s lives and their functioning at every level,
as well as the impact of a range of factors on women’s experiences. Only one study explored women’s experiences
of LBP, all others focused on PGP. Findings illustrate how multi-faceted women’s wellbeing is in the context of
LPP, particularly the importance of relationships and support, but also the role played by wider socio-cultural
discourses of pregnancy and motherhood and by women’s individual circumstances and characteristics. Findings
underline the interconnectedness of physical, emotional and psychological experiences. The review largely confirmed, and further elaborated, the domains of the original framework, but also led to some changes, notably the
inclusion of an ‘individual factors’ domain describing women’s individual circumstances and characteristics. The
limited discussion of LPP during labour and birth was notable.
Conclusions and implications: Findings support the framework, but also provide evidence for some changes, thus
further refining the framework. Women’s wellbeing in the perinatal period (with regards to LPP, other issues, or
generally) should not be considered in isolation, but needs to take account of women’s life context. The perinatal
period should be considered a continuum, rather than seeing each part in isolation. For clinical practice, the
review underlines the importance of distinguishing between PGP and LBP and offering appropriate, individualised
support