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Article
Publication date: 1 December 2001

Tom Cockburn, Peter Treadwell and Cheryl Cockburn‐Wootten

We compare and contrast two paradigms of the digitalisation of HE. One is the British Government‐sponsored University for Industry (Ufi) which is based on a distributed campus…

668

Abstract

We compare and contrast two paradigms of the digitalisation of HE. One is the British Government‐sponsored University for Industry (Ufi) which is based on a distributed campus with multiple hubs connecting individual puchaser‐learners to HE providers. This is contrasted with a sociable paradigm, based at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC). The first is based on an isolating and less empowering conception, alienating the learning from the community. The second aims to socialise the learning in the community of practice. The UWIC GROWTH network project underpins a regenerative project for SMEs in South Wales. It is seeking to facilitate a self‐organising, stakeholder‐community of SMEs committed to economic regeneration and capital anchoring in the South Wales area and is funded by the EU. We also refer to the EU‐sponsored Intelligent Information Interfaces (I3) project to demonstrate an alternative, sociable use of ICT.

Details

Campus-Wide Information Systems, vol. 18 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1065-0741

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 9 May 2024

Tom Cockburn

190

Abstract

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Book part
Publication date: 30 May 2022

Tom Cockburn and Cheryl Cockburn-Wootten

This chapter considers how social capital is evolving in the era of globalization today especially under COVID-19 pandemic conditions globally. Definitions of social capital have…

Abstract

This chapter considers how social capital is evolving in the era of globalization today especially under COVID-19 pandemic conditions globally. Definitions of social capital have varied: some broad others narrow. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), for example, currently has a broad research project on social capital. These researchers have defined social capital as comprising four key areas. These areas are:

  • Personal relationships, referring to the structure of people’s social networks.

  • Depth and breadth of social network support available to each person in their networks.

  • Civic engagement activities such as volunteering and community action.

  • Beliefs, attitudes, and action frames of reference such as trust and cooperative norms, of reciprocity.

Personal relationships, referring to the structure of people’s social networks.

Depth and breadth of social network support available to each person in their networks.

Civic engagement activities such as volunteering and community action.

Beliefs, attitudes, and action frames of reference such as trust and cooperative norms, of reciprocity.

Thus, there are tacit as well as explicit aspects of social capital though some of these may seldom if ever be articulated and delineated for others.

As Claridge (2020) indicates, there are distinct, but dynamically interrelated, levels of social capital. These levels range between the micro- or individual level. That is personal “habitus” – which Bourdieu (1977) describes as a person’s “taken-for-granted” – ways of being, thinking, and reacting to events and to other people. Then, the next level above the individual is the meso-level, which is “how things are done here amongst us,” that is, the level of a group’s social capital (such as a team, or an organizational or local community level). Lastly, and wider still, the top level is the macro- or cultural-societal structural level of the nation.

The social capital systems in any location encompasses sets of acceptable or culturally legitimated behavioral norms and rules of engagement between community members which include types of greetings, forms of cooperation, communications, and signaling between diverse members. Thus, social capital may be present in the tacit, or unspoken/taken-for-granted assumptions as much as in explicit or formalized codes of behavior. The forms of social interactions at each of the levels may have norms for specific types communication and address in particular sets of circumstances such as social gatherings at home or in public or when attending communal gatherings or ceremonial occasions, or between people of different social status. Social capital generates trust and social cohesion and some level of cultural and attitudinal consensus and interest, which in turn delivers a stable environment for the local community or larger society, business, or the economy.

  • (1)

    Social capital is the development of relationships that help contribute to a more efficient production of goods and services as there is embedded trust, embodied in practice, that is, in behaviors regarded as trustworthy and socially helpful.

  • (2)

    There are three types of social capital at each level of interaction – bonding, bridging, and linking. Bridging and linking are similar though they operate in different directions socially. Bonding social capital describes the connections between people in similar social levels or groups of people who share the same characteristic norms and beliefs, whereas linking social capital facilitates connects between different groups.

  • (3)

    Social capital can therefore make or break businesses, especially small businesses or start-ups as those with the right kind and amount of social capital, such as good connections and contacts in the trade or profession, can usually thrive as they are able to get work done more quickly, effectively, and efficiently. Conversely, a lack of social capital denoting some distrust between groups can undermine social stability.

Social capital is the development of relationships that help contribute to a more efficient production of goods and services as there is embedded trust, embodied in practice, that is, in behaviors regarded as trustworthy and socially helpful.

There are three types of social capital at each level of interaction – bonding, bridging, and linking. Bridging and linking are similar though they operate in different directions socially. Bonding social capital describes the connections between people in similar social levels or groups of people who share the same characteristic norms and beliefs, whereas linking social capital facilitates connects between different groups.

Social capital can therefore make or break businesses, especially small businesses or start-ups as those with the right kind and amount of social capital, such as good connections and contacts in the trade or profession, can usually thrive as they are able to get work done more quickly, effectively, and efficiently. Conversely, a lack of social capital denoting some distrust between groups can undermine social stability.

The meso- or macro-levels of bridging type social capital ensures acceptance of established social roles locally and linking forms of social capital boost levels of acceptance of other roles such as those of leaders and followers.

All three forms of social capital and the three levels are not mutually exclusive but instead are mutually inclusive and interrelated. That is, they co-evolve, each impacting the other while dynamically interacting with the social capital anchored as it is emerging from the complex and interwoven fields of tacit and explicit norms of social interaction underpinning each of the levels of interaction over time.

Details

Contestations in Global Civil Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-701-2

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 June 2017

Tom Cockburn, Khosro Jahdi and Cheryl Cockburn-Wootten

Specifically, this chapter reviews practical issues concerning how ethical values are developed to generate a sense of common purpose across two SME organizations, one in South…

Abstract

Specifically, this chapter reviews practical issues concerning how ethical values are developed to generate a sense of common purpose across two SME organizations, one in South America and the other in Spain. We used a survey questionnaire covering 12 thematic areas for the pilot study based upon two private language schools. We also critically reviewed literature on other business sectors and on SME clusters to discuss some emerging trends in preparing to be both “Right 4 Market” as well as “Right 2 Market.” This chapter provides information about each SME and its context, indicating what can be found there and how the information can help diverse SME across for-profit and not-for-profit sectors such as NGOs in both regions. It’s a first stage pilot for a yet to be completed study and it is based upon a very small convenience sample. Challenging the traditional business paradigm requires key factors embedded and embodied in organizational learning, systems, and innovation. Ethical capital accumulation relies on effective communications, culture, and evolving workplace custom and practice, as well as demographic factors. This chapter fulfils an identified information/resources need and offers some initial practical advice for SME and some insights for future researchers.

Details

Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-411-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 May 2022

Tom Cockburn

Civil society is increasingly digitized and virtual in many parts of the globalized world of today. The networked society and the invisible “second economy” (Arthur, 2011) which…

Abstract

Civil society is increasingly digitized and virtual in many parts of the globalized world of today. The networked society and the invisible “second economy” (Arthur, 2011) which powers the developed and developing countries generate debates about the degree to which the benefits outweigh the potential hazards. Artificial intelligence (AI) powered by its machine learning underpin much of the digital networked systems, and “free” services such as search engines, paid for by the “tailored advertising” we get when we view webpages. Most now recognize that the helpful “suggestions” on the web are simply adverts personally targeted at individuals who have searched for information on a topic or visited a webpage with sponsored material and cookies.

There have been cases of major political misuse of data such as the voter manipulation by the Cambridge Analytica company. We are not just referring to the hacking and “fake news” used by some governments to influence the affairs of another country. Some organizations have used AI to cynically target consumers’ weaknesses, for example, in financial management (Larsson, 2018).

Perhaps more significantly the network technology is often promoted as having potential for improving civil society through “failsafe” or default forms of regulation using the embedded Apps in domestic equipment and algorithms in much the same manner it is suggested that automatic self-driving vehicles help to improve road safety by cautious driving and sticking to speed limits and so on (Cockburn, Jahdi, & Wilson, 2015, pp. 6–7). However, algorithms and the associated machine technology have also been described as a “black box” technology where even those people running the algorithms cannot always fully understand or explain how decisions are reached in diverse systems used to evaluate many things from medical care to credit rating and finance (Danaher et al., 2017). There are issues of the budding “surveillance society” emerging from the proliferating “intelligent” apps enabling corporate “spying” on our everyday lives as some hackers have done by tapping into baby monitoring systems in homes. In addition to hacking there are large power asymmetries involved as between commercial data users and the lay public who are often the data suppliers as their personal data are harvested each time the web is used.

Therefore, it is hardly surprising that, according to the Pew Research Center report by Aaron Smith, released in November 2018, over half of Americans surveyed found it unacceptable to use algorithms to make decisions with real-world consequences for humans. In the age of connectedness and the emergent internet of things many people are not yet ready to cede more control of their currently offline lives to current online technology. This chapter reviews arguments for and against algorithmic governance.

Machine learning systems may be efficient to a high degree without being unbiased in impact across different segments of society. AI may also be fully effective in its operation without even being fully understood because the decision-making is so arcane. Importantly, though, even for those systems that have some human mediation or supervision, societal regulation is aimed at ensuring ends and means are aligned with human social, political and economic justice and thus socially effective as well as being technically efficient. Consequently, these systems have to require socio-emotional as well as cognitive safeguards. Although levels of implicit trust may vary demographically as between say millennials and baby boomers, high levels of trust, accountability and a culture of moral integrity must still form the bedrock for societal benefits.

Details

Contestations in Global Civil Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-701-2

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 30 May 2022

Abstract

Details

Contestations in Global Civil Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-701-2

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2007

Tom Cockburn

This paper aims to review some trends in global corporate citizenship branding stories and consumer values. The focus is on the triple bottom line and teamwork in organisations.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to review some trends in global corporate citizenship branding stories and consumer values. The focus is on the triple bottom line and teamwork in organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

Some implications for the individual employee's occupational citizenship and the development of emotional regimes in teams are considered. A suggested alternative triple bottom line is proposed. The other elements of the “triple bottom line” are not neglected but nested within the typical interpretation of three Ps as an emergent alternative triple bottom line.

Findings

This alternative triple bottom line involves a set of emotional and identity issues spiralling around the nature of the emotional relationship that various stakeholders have with any particular organisation's brand story. It is suggested that there is a convergence of values around key issues of consumer ethics, corporate citizenship and sustainability relating to personal as well as product image.

Practical implications

This paper suggests that in the twenty‐first century sustainability will be better secured when organizations begin to seriously address their own emotional ecologies. A set of ten practical steps that could be taken are briefly outlined.

Originality/value

This paper considers the relatively under‐researched topic of emotional aspects of sustainability and specifically applies this to work carried out on MBA teams.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 3 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1997

Tom Cockburn and Cheryl Wootten

Presents a good example of how management sometimes tries to control the workforce and how employees can retaliate. Another theme is the misuse of technology as a form of control…

260

Abstract

Presents a good example of how management sometimes tries to control the workforce and how employees can retaliate. Another theme is the misuse of technology as a form of control over the employees.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2009

Sarah Neal‐Smith and Tom Cockburn

The purpose of this paper is to examine cultural sexism in the UK aviation industry through the experiences women commercial pilots have encountered with their male colleagues and…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine cultural sexism in the UK aviation industry through the experiences women commercial pilots have encountered with their male colleagues and management.

Design/methodology/approach

Interviews were carried out with 20 women commercial airline pilots: 17 women were currently airline pilots, or were previously airline pilots and resigned and three women were flying instructors. There were nine different UK airlines for which the women airline pilots worked.

Findings

Women pilots face cultural sexism where their male colleagues expect them to be different based on their assumptions about women in general but expect their female colleagues to adapt to the current social and cultural system in the UK industry.

Research limitations/implications

Further research is needed to explore ways to combat cultural sexism. Limitations include a focus on UK airlines only, plus the methodology relied upon women who were open to discussing their experiences rather than a random sample of pilots.

Practical implications

Research in this paper highlights how change is needed to produce a more inclusive culture to improve the working culture for women pilots and to appreciate the diversity that women bring to organizations.

Originality/value

This paper provides insights into an under researched area of women's employment and the existence of cultural sexism.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 October 2023

Rachel Berman, Patrizia Albanese and Xiaobei Chen

In keeping with the long-standing focus on cities and urbanism in sociology, the researchers in this volume contribute to our knowledge of children, youth, and the city. These…

Abstract

In keeping with the long-standing focus on cities and urbanism in sociology, the researchers in this volume contribute to our knowledge of children, youth, and the city. These scholars take up ideas connected to agency, belonging, citizenship, identity, participation, power, and relationality and explore both historical and contemporary ways children and youth co-construct, contribute to, are constructed by, navigate, negotiate, and resist their urban social worlds and urban relationships.

Details

Sociological Research and Urban Children and Youth
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-444-2

Keywords

1 – 10 of 52