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A study of the collectivist model of entrepreneurship in the Global South: The case of the Ecuadorian Coast
Get PDFPoverty and limited state support, combined with the collectivism of societies in the Global South, have led necessity-driven entrepreneurs to create businesses by pooling resources. However, there are doubts about the limited capacity of this type of entrepreneurship to create value and generate growth. Due to the heterogeneity of the phenomenon in the region, these views are insufficient to fully understand the entrepreneurial process; hence, this thesis explores the effects of collectivism on the entrepreneurship model in the context of necessity of the Global South. Situated in the interpretivism paradigm and using a qualitative design, the research involved a community in Ecuador as a case study. Twenty-one in-depth interviews were conducted with local entrepreneurs, which were analysed through thematic analysis. Data analysis indicated collectivism at three levels of the social structure: the community, the family, and the individual. At the community level, the findings evidenced a robust "associativity" process, which organised the group and achieved social cohesion, a cornerstone for the region's entrepreneurship development. The effects of collectivism were also manifested at the family level, with the creation of intergenerational and family businesses closely interrelated. At the individual level, the effects of collectivism were evident in peer-to-peer entrepreneurial imitation facilitation as a strategy to create ventures and collectively grow a single industry, creating a previously non-existent market process. Drawing on these remarks, this thesis has contributed to entrepreneurship research by determining the role of entrepreneurial imitation, resource development and collective growth in necessity-driven entrepreneurship in the Global South
Using digital technologies to build connections between families and schools as children transition to school
Get PDFThis paper reports research that investigated how digital technologies were used to develop and maintain home–school connections and develop positive relationships when children transition to nursery schools and schools. School case studies, comprising four purposively selected schools with nursery provision in Northern Ireland and four primary schools in New Zealand, provided the context and evidence to enable a small-scale comparative study of how digital technologies enabled the development of relationships between homes and schools over time. In this paper, the findings were analysed using a conceptual model and framework derived from earlier studies in this field. However, given the contemporary social and technological context, it was found that the framework could be reviewed and elaborated, enabling the creation of a new conceptual framework that is offered here. Our findings reveal methods of employing digital technologies to positively support parental engagement when children transition to nurseries and schools. From the analysis of our findings using the framework developed, points to consider for future practice, policy, and research are highlighted, with an emphasis on understanding and integrating parents’ aspirations into the transition process. Opportunities that use existing and emerging methods for home–school–community connections need to be made known to teachers and schools. While the digital technologies used must be capable of maintaining appropriate regular communication, additionally, supporting ways for involving parental voice in reviews of existing practices and exploring new opportunities should be shared with teachers and schools. Future research should explore how the use of digital technologies in developing wider and deeper engagement and participation of parents and carers with nurseries and schools might lead to a longer-term and positive engagement in later years beyond nursery schools and initial transition to school
Labour unions, wellbeing, and individual differences: How are unions related to global and domain-specific wellbeing, and who tends to join them?
No full textLabour unions have been instrumental in the institution and maintenance of what many in the Western world would now consider basic business practices, from the forty-hour working week to stringent health and safety regulations. Despite their historical influence and contemporary resurgence in popularity evincing their importance to many members of the past, present, and future working class, unions are a disproportionately large blind spot in the industrial-organisational psychology literature. While several studies have found correlations between union membership or level of participation in one’s union and positive and negative economic, health, and psychological outcomes, we do not know how unions affect their members’ subjective sense of wellbeing. We also do not know who those members tend to be in terms of personality or sociopolitical characteristics—a significant oversight given the relationships between these individual differences, workplace outcomes, and wellbeing. This thesis sought to connect and address both gaps.
Unionised (n = 307) and non-unionised (n = 162) academic staff from public secondary and tertiary schools in New Zealand (n = 287) and Australia (n = 182) were recruited via email to participate in an online survey from June 25th to September 14th, 2023. Unionised staff were further classified as casual (n = 152) or dedicated (n = 155) members, depending on their willingness to participate in union activities. The survey assessed union attitudes and beliefs (study-specific questions, Kelly and Kelly (1994) questionnaire, New Zealand Worker Representation & Participation Survey), personality characteristics (HEXACO-60, HEXACO Interstitial Altruism Scale, Goldberg’s (1999) 10-item International Personality Item Pool Representation of the NEO-PI-R Neuroticism Domain, Authenticity Scale), sociopolitical characteristics (Auckland Individualism-Collectivism Scale, study-specific questions), and global and domain-specific wellbeing (I COPPE).
Two-way ANOVAs comparing total I COPPE scores between members and non-members, and casual and dedicated members, in Australia and New Zealand, found no statistically significant differences in wellbeing; notably, mean wellbeing scores were relatively high in all groups. Logistic regression models using demographics and personality and sociopolitical characteristics significantly predicted variance in union membership (member/non-member) and participation level (casual/dedicated) in New Zealand (22.50%, 25.00%) and Australia (28.20%, 48.70%); the individual differences that served as significant predictors were different in each of the four models. Finally, a linear regression model (collapsed between countries) using demographics, individual differences, and union membership significantly predicted variance in total global wellbeing (15.60%); union membership was not a significant predictor.
Although union membership was not a significant correlate of wellbeing, most members and many non-members attributed improvements in working conditions and wellbeing to the influence of unions. We believe that, rather than having no significant beneficial or detrimental effect on wellbeing, unions positively affect the standards of the education industry holistically. Additionally, education unions seem to attract different people in different countries. It seems unlikely, then, that differences in the wellbeing of members can be attributed to correlations between individual differences and wellbeing. We conclude that future research should investigate wellbeing and individual differences in unions in different countries, industries, states of industrial relation, and time periods
“It was… like a fight and rape club”: A foucauldian discourse analysis of New Zealand’s abuse in care inquiry, exploring child sexual abuse in residential care
No full textChildren and adolescents brought to the attention of New Zealand care and protection authorities are sometimes removed from their homes and placed into State-run residential care facilities. While the aim placing young people into residences is to improve their wellbeing, child sexual abuse is common in this setting and more pronounced than in the general population. There are many psychological theories, perspectives and movements which have attempted to explain child sexual abuse spanning from the 1800s to the present day. These partial and, at times, unsupported understandings of abuse have been shaped by socio-cultural and socio-political conditions. This has had serious implications for our collective (mis)understanding of child sexual abuse and the ways in which we respond to abuse with dominant discourse often transcending into policy, law, and the courtroom where social (in)justice occurs. In addition, despite there being three centuries of child sexual abuse research, to-date there has been limited exploration of the phenomenon in residential care settings both globally and within Aotearoa. However, the opportunity to explore child sexual abuse in this setting has availed itself with the New Zealand Government launching a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care in 2018 to better understand abuse across State and faith-based settings between 1950 and 1999. This thesis aims to provide additional insights to the inquiry by exploring the different ways in which child sexual abuse in residential care is understood as well as the conditions which legitimise or silence these understandings.
A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis was used to analyse 47 publicly available documents from the inquiry including statements, transcripts, and evidence briefs from survivors, survivor advocates, counsel, and representatives from institutions that provide care and protection for young people. Analysis found six discourses: control and punishment, fabrication, harmful, power and oppression, shameful, and State and institutional failure. These discourses reaffirm previous findings in sexual abuse research including sexual abuse as shameful and notions of fabrication. New insights were also found and include the use of sexual abuse as a method of controlling and punishing young people; predatory sexual behaviour in young people as a method of self-protection; cultural genocide and intergenerational care placement as victim sequelae; and the development of adaptive survival behaviours in residents in response to the State’s failures to protect them. In addition, systemic failures were uncovered including inadequacies in internal and external monitoring, failures in vetting, poor investment in professional capabilities of frontline workers, and a culture of tolerance toward abuse. Overall, the analysis found cultures of sexual violence and cultures of tolerance toward abuse within residential care, which emerge from the young person’s status as a State Ward
Perceptions of hard sell and soft sell vocal styles across countries: Lessons from France and New Zealand
No full textThis study explores soft sell and hard sell vocal appeals across two different countries, France and New Zealand. We use quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze consumers’ familiarity with, and attitudes towards, hard sell (fast, loud, high to mid pitch, upbeat voice conveying energy and enthusiasm) and soft sell (slow, soft, low to mid pitch voice conveying warmth and allure) vocal advertising messages. Our results indicate that consumers’ vocal preference depend on their previous experiences and culture, thus global marketers should take into consideration cultural idiosyncrasies when designing advertising vocal strategies
Disability and assistive technology advancements in disability sport: Understanding the embodied experiences of disabled athletes
No full textThe World Health Organisation estimates that one billion disabled people currently rely on assistive technology in their day-to-day activities. Yet, the participation of disabled people in sports remains significantly low, often due to inadequate access to assistive technology needed to participate, train and compete. Meanwhile, the use of assistive technology in sport has raised critical questions about disability, access, and equity in culture and society. In disability sports, the use of assistive technology by athletes has often been simplified with notions of ‘cyborgification’, and popular discourses positioning them as ‘superhuman’, or ‘posthuman’. While this is problematic, little is known about how one’s impaired experience, self, and mind impact the use of assistive technology in disability sport.
Given this, in this research, I sought to enhance the understanding of the role of assistive technology for disabled athletes with a focus on embodied experiences. Particularly, the various ways that disabled people use, interact with and embody assistive technology throughout their engagement in disability sport. Using embodiment as a theoretical lens, the research drew on a critical qualitative framework, encompassing ethnographic fieldwork, semi-structured interviews and photo-elicitation. I used these methods to complement each other to deeply explore the embodied experiences of twelve disabled athletes with various physical impairments who use assistive technology across different sports.
In this research, assistive technology was fundamentally woven into the lives of disabled individuals and plays a crucial role in shaping an identity that challenges traditional norms and perceptions in disability sport. By becoming socially embodied, assistive technology transformed physical impairments and self-perceptions, enabling athletes to achieve technological competency in their athletic pursuits. The findings revealed that athletes experience a sense of embodied freedom, positioning themselves as active agents in their sport. This was facilitated by the high level of customization of their assistive devices and their proactive approach to seeking adjustments and modifications to enhance their performance. Importantly, using assistive technology involved an embodied knowledge and learning process that addressed pain, fatigue, and impairment limitations. These experiences helped normalise the subjectivities of the disabled athletic body, illustrating how assistive technologies can symbolize and support integration and a sense of belonging in sport.
Broadly, this research challenged discursive accounts that theorised the blurry boundaries of using assistive technologies by centralising the lived experience, voices and accounts of disabled athletes. Doing so enabled me to challenge the dualist or binary notions (i.e. human-nonhuman and artificial-biological) that dominate discussion about how disabled athletes incorporate assistive technology into their bodily experience of sport. By thinking with and through embodiment, the research illustrated the unique, hybrid identity of disabled athletes; skilful, athletic, fluid and the constant shift between the empowering and at times restrictive nature of assistive technology. Despite this positivity, disabled athletes still face inequitable access to assistive technology, and the research highlights the importance of embodied belonging and community in learning how to participate, train and compete with assistive technologies. Taken together, the implications of this research demonstrate the need for better opportunities, provision, services and policies for disabled people to access assistive technology as a means of participating in sport. Importantly, we can understand how the relationship between disability and assistive technology can be perceived, felt, and embodied as one being
Learning to be: Acculturation as a learning process a case study of international chinese PhD students at a New Zealand university
No full textIt is challenging to transition from a Master’s level of education to a PhD level, more so when students complete their PhD education in an unfamiliar academic and societal environment. PhD education undertaken internationally can, at the same time, provide tremendous learning opportunities. Accordingly, acculturation to the doctoral journey seems to be important for successful doctoral research. Due to the focus of the adopted theories, previous scholars have concentrated either on the cognitive, psychological, or social aspects of academic acculturation. In addition, the focus on more narrow ways of development or adjustment has not adequately captured the process of academic acculturation. This study adopts Illeris's Comprehensive Learning Theory (CLT) to shed light on academic acculturation. It aims to integrate the cognitive, emotional and interaction aspects of academic acculturation to explore the possible processes by which Chinese PhD students are acculturated to their doctoral journeys in New Zealand. The research was guided by the overarching research question: How do international Chinese PhD students learn to acculturate academically in a New Zealand university?
Given its exploratory nature, this study embraced a qualitative research paradigm. To gain in-depth insight into academic acculturation, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with Chinese PhD students enrolled at a New Zealand university. The interviews employed critical incident techniques and were supported by follow-up interviews. In total, eleven students took part in the semi-structured interviews. Each participant was encouraged to share their memorable doctoral experiences and to elaborate on their understanding and emotions of doctoral experiences.
Through thematic analysis, this study identified forms of learning content, incentives and social interactions that were embedded in the process of academic acculturation. Besides the research itself, Chinese PhD students encountered various contents to learn in order to guarantee the success of their doctoral journey. These students demonstrated diverse motivations, which served as incentives for their pursuit of a doctoral degree. To ensure success, Chinese PhD students also engaged in interactions, including observations, learning initiatives, and interactions with various people. Furthermore, Chinese PhD students demonstrated four processes to academic acculturation: assimilation, multiple identities construction, accommodation and transformation. Yet, their previous educational experiences could potentially lead to misunderstandings and defence against acculturating to their doctoral journey. Combined, the findings underscored the intricacies of an academic acculturation process, which need to be investigated through content, incentive and interaction dimensions as a comprehensive whole. Four academic acculturation processes underscored the situational nature of the acculturation process, influenced by both Chinese students' prior educational backgrounds and their specific doctoral journeys. This strengthens the notion that individuals could experience different academic acculturation pathways, and any single process (such as knowledge acquisition, transformation or adjustments) is inadequate to encompass the entirety of potential acculturation processes.
This study contributes a holistic perspective that helps doctoral supervisors and administrators provide relevant support to international Chinese doctoral students, as well as other international students. The research encourages Chinese PhD students to enrich their research skills and experiences before their doctoral journey. The students should also be aware that the doctoral journey in all likelihood will not take place as they expected, as their pre-established experiences might not guarantee a smooth doctoral journey and even cause challenges. Yet, challenges also contain great opportunities for enhancing knowledge, academic capacities, adaptability and even personal growth. This study also suggests that the process of academic acculturation can be enhanced through observations and active participation in diverse activities, as well as engage during interactions with a variety of individuals. These interactions collectively contribute to enriching students' knowledge and facilitating necessary adjustments for successful acculturation to the new academic environment
Approaches to benefit sharing
No full textThis information sheet provides successful examples of different approaches to benefit sharing across a range of industries, from around the world and within Aotearoa. It highlights what works and where challenges and gaps exist in current approaches. Finally, a spectrum of Indigenous sharing approaches is provided, based on the OECD framework of benefit sharing and type of benefit (direct and collective) to Indigenous peoples
Walking into the past to explore the future: Utulizing larval densities to measure the effects of two climate change factors, temperature and salinity on Poorohe (common smelt, Retropinna retropinna) abundance in Te Puuaha o Waikato
No full textPoorohe (common smelt, Retropinna retropinna) are a highly valued kai species in Te Puuaha o Waikato (the lower 66 km of the Waikato River). Fisher whaanau have observed changes in the amount Poorohe that are harvested during annual fish harvests. Since Poorohe are particularly vulnerable to environmental changes, whaanau are particularly concerned about the how climate change might impact Poorohe populations. Climate change vulnerability assessments (CCVA) currently exist for several native New Zealand fish freshwater species; however, one does not yet exist for Poorohe. Previous larval distribution studies in the lower Waikato River only sampled as far downstream as Tuakau bridge (approximately 45km from the river mouth). These studies indicated that important spawning habitats likely existed downstream of Tuakau bridge. Temperature increases and saltwater intrusion have been identified as two climate change factors that will likely impact Poorohe in Te Puuaha o Waikato, because ambient temperatures have increased since the industrial revolution and the proximity of the study area to the ocean. A literature review was used to explore the experiences of fisher whaanau through the past, present and how the experiences will continue to change in a changing climate. The effects of temperature and saltwater intrusion on Poorohe populations were explored through replicating the methods of past research carried out in the 1980s and 2010s. Current river temperatures are in the optimal temperature range (12°C - 18°C) for Poorohe spawning. The saltwater wedge was suppressed by the high river flow during the eight-week sampling period, and it is unclear whether saltwater intrusion has an impact on Poorohe spawning. Larval densities did not significantly increase down river, which suggests large spawning habitat is not found downstream of Tuakau bridge. Furthermore, there were no decreases in larval densities in the two saltwater sites. This study has contributed to the available literature necessary to develop a CCVA for Poorohe and explored the cultural heritage of traditionally significant practices in Te Puuaha o Waikato relating to Poorohe