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    Applying the entrepreneurial ecosystem concept to regional entrepreneurship policy analysis – a critique

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    This chapter applies the Stam (2015) entrepreneurial ecosystems concept to analysing policy levers for improving regional economic and innovation performance in five case regions, three in Poland and two in the UK. It uses primary and secondary data from the two countries to identify barriers and enablers for entrepreneurship and how these vary between regions. It also considers what methods can provide information on ecosystem quality and the strengths and weaknesses of the qualitative and quantitative approaches adopted. It finds that the entrepreneurial ecosystems concept is a useful empirically- and theoretically-informed framework to assess the influences on entrepreneurship at regional level. However, it highlights four issues that have not been well addressed by the framework. These are the role of anchor organisations; sector variations in ecosystem conditions; a lack of attention to equality, diversity and inclusion, and possible difficulties in disentangling which elements of the ecosystem drive system performance, hence it may be hard to identify and test a key policy lever

    Why health care employers should promote health: the costs of ill health at work

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    Book synopsis: This important new book provides the first comprehensive compilation of strategies for promoting physical and mental wellbeing, specifically for nurses and midwives. Written by experts on workforce health and wellbeing in conjunction with the Florence Nightingale Foundation, the book emphasises the importance supporting the wellbeing of self and others, even during times of extreme stress such during winter or when dealing with COVID-19. It covers multiple aspects of self-care, including how to tackle shift work, prevent dehydration and cope with moral injury and guilt – all illustrated with real-life case studies from nurses and midwives working at the coalface. Health and Wellbeing at Work for Nurses and Midwives is suitable for students right through to Chief Nursing Officers and is applicable to readers from all countries. It is sure to stand the test of time as a trusted guide to this crucial aspect of the professional lives of nurses and midwives

    Slow-mo: the violent art of Oscar Murillo

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    This essay explores Afro-Colombian artist Oscar Murillo’s practice and process as an instance of ‘fantastic critique’. Animated by an ongoing exchange between the artist and the author about art & human rights, trade and place, protest and action, including the 2021 General strike in Colombia, it aims to situate emerging notions of justice in the intersection between artistic practices and ethical-political acts, asking if and how art can engage with questions of the violence of race and class in the twenty-first century

    Successful everyday decision making: combining attributes and associates

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    How do people make everyday decisions in order to achieve the most successful outcome? Decision making research typically evaluates choices according to their expected utility. However, this research largely focuses on abstract or hypothetical tasks and rarely investigates whether the outcome is successful and satisfying for the decision maker. Instead, we use an everyday decision making task inwhich participants describe a personally meaningful decision they are currently facing. We investigate the decision processes used to make this decision, and evaluate how successful and satisfying the outcome of the decision is for them. We examine how well analytic, attribute-based processes explain everyday decision making and predict decision outcomes, and we compare these processes to associative processes elicited through free association. We also examine the characteristics of decisions and individuals that are associated with good decision outcomes. Across three experiments we found that: 1) an analytic decision analysis of everyday decisions is not superior to simpler attribute-based processes in predicting decision outcomes; 2) contrary to research linking associative cognition to biases, free association generates valid cues that predict choice and decision outcomes as effectively as attribute-based approaches; 3) contrary to research favouring either attribute-based or associative processes, combining both attribute-based and associates best explains everyday decisions and most accurately predicts decision outcomes; and 4) individuals with a tendency to attempt analytic thinking do not make more successful everyday decisions. Instead, frequency, simplicity, and knowledge of the decision predict success. We propose that attribute-based and associative processes, in combination, both explain everyday decision making and predict successful decision outcomes

    The significance of the many property problem

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    One of the most influential traditional objections to Adverbialism about perceptual experience is that posed by Frank Jackson’s ‘many property problem’. Perhaps largely because of this objection, few philosophers now defend Adverbialism. We argue, however, that the essence of the many property problem arises for all of the leading metaphysical theories of experience: all leading theories must simply take for granted certain facts about experience, and no theory looks well positioned to explain the facts in a straightforward way. Because of this, the many property problem isn’t on its own a good reason for rejecting Adverbialism; and nor is it a puzzle that will decide amongst the other leading theories

    Intersectional stigma for Autistic people at work: a compound adverse impact effect on labor force participation and experiences of belonging

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    Background: Little research addresses the experiences of autistic people at work, yet employment prospects remain bleak. The extant literature takes a largely remedial perspective and does not focus on harnessing this population's considerable talents. In global organizational practice, several programs purposefully target autistic people for their abilities. However, preliminary evidence suggests that such programs are inadvertently attracting mainly White males, to the exclusion of other demographics. Therefore, stigma surrounding autism at work remains, creating potential compound adverse impacts by marginalizing identities, including gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and socioeconomic status. We explored the intersection of autism with other marginalizing identities in the context of work. The research focused on labor force participation for autistic people and, for those in employment, perceptions of exclusion and inclusion. We compared the aforementioned variables by gender identity, racial identity, sexuality, socioeconomic background, and geographic origin. Methods: We undertook a global cross-sectional survey, advertised through various social media platforms and promoted directly to relevant organizations. The survey included a range of validated measures as well as demographic information. We analyzed the data with frequencies, cross tabulations, chi-square tests, and non-parametric, group-wise comparisons. Results: We found preliminary evidence of reduced rates of employment participation by race and geographic location. Females and non-binary people had lower perceptions of inclusion and belonging at work. The perception of accommodation provision had a strong association with inclusion and belonging; more so than incidental provision of flexibility in environment and scheduling not framed as a specific accommodation. Conclusions: The findings highlight the relational aspects of accommodation and a more universal inclusion perspective. We urge practitioners and researchers to monitor employment participation and levels of inclusion/exclusion using intersectional demographic identification. We appeal for cross-cultural collaboration with academic institutions outside the anglosphere to improve our knowledge of global programs and their impact

    An introduction to prison and drugs in Europe

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    Book synopsis: This publication provides an overview of current knowledge and the latest developments in the field of drug use and prison in Europe. The report explores in depth the epidemiology of drug use and drug-related problems among the prison population, the available social and health service responses to drug-related problems in prison, including the most recent evidence of effectiveness, and the drug supply and markets inside prison. It also discusses recent and future challenges in this area. The report will be of interest to policymakers and their advisors, specialists and practitioners, researchers and scientists and all those concerned with the issue of prison and drugs

    Review of strategic agility: a holistic framework for fresh produce supply chain disruptions

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    The influence of the rapidly changing business environment due to the COVID-19 global pandemic presents an important organizational challenge to fresh produce export supply chains in developing countries such as Ghana. Such an inimical supply chain problem highlights the relevance of supply chain agility as a potent methodological framework to measure, monitor and evaluate these challenges in stable as well as turbulent times. This review paper focuses on the applicability of a framework for Supply Chain Agility as a methodological framework in stable (pre-COVID-19) versus turbulent (COVID-19) business environments. We argue and propose that Supply Chain Agility Framework is a holistic framework which is efficacious in both stable and unstable supply chain environments. This is amply supported by the central plank of our proposition that the Supply Chain Agility Framework offers an adaptable tool that can serve as a panacea to fresh produce supply chain challenges not only in a stable (pre-COVID-19) business environment but also effective and applicable in a turbulent business environment, such as experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The implications of this proposition for the fresh produce export supply chain industry and relevant stakeholders are duly presented

    Infants’ sense of approximate numerosity: heritability and link to other concurrent traits

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    The ability to perceive approximate numerosities is present in many animal species, and emerges early in human infants. Later in life, it is moderately heritable and associated with mathematical abilities, but the etiology of the Approximate Number System (ANS) and its degree of independence from other cognitive abilities in infancy is unknown. Here, we assessed the phenotypic specificity as well as the influence of genetic and environmental factors on the ANS in a sample of 5-month-old twins (N = 514). We found a small-to-moderate but statistically significant effects of genetic factors on ANS acuity (heritability = .18, 95% CI: .02, .33), but only when differences in numerosity were relatively large (1:4 ratio). Non-verbal ability assessed with the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) was found to be heritable (.47; 95% CI: .34, .57) and the phenotypic association between ANS acuity and non-verbal ability performance was close to zero. Similarly, we found no association between ANS acuity and general attention during the task. An unexpected weak but statistically significant negative association between ANS auity and scores on the receptive language scale of the MSEL was found. These results suggest that early ANS function may be largely independent from other aspects of non-verbal development. Further, variability in ANS in infancy seems to, to some extent, reflect genotypic differences in the population

    Feminism, adult education and creative possibility: imaginative responses

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    This book argues that feminist aesthetics as practices of adult education can inform our responses to gendered, racial, class and ecological injustices. It illustrates the critical, creative, and provocative pedagogical theorising, research, and engagement work of feminist adult educators and researchers who work in diverse community, institutional, and social movement contexts across North America and Europe. This book captures the complexity, diversity, energy, and imagination of those who theorise, decolonise, facilitate, investigate, visualize, story, and create within the politics of gender (in)justice and radical change

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