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The working relationship between people in marginalised situations and street outreach workers

A good working relationship between clients and professionals increases the chances of better intervention outcomes for clients. A longitudinal cohort study was carried out amongst clients who were in touch with professionals from a Dutch social street work (SSW) organisation. We used a questionnaire to examine client perspectives (n = 332) on the relational and goal-oriented part of the working relationship after a minimum of 8 months of contact with SSW. We furthermore examined to what extent both parts of the working relationship were influenced by client characteristics and SSW metrics. Clients were asked to reflect on the relational part and the goal-oriented part of the working relationship. Clients who only met SSW professionals in public areas perceived a weaker working relationship in both aspects. A stronger relational and goal-oriented working relationship was perceived when receiving more practical support. Clients who had been in contact with an SSW professional for a long period of time perceived a weaker goal-oriented working relationship. This study shows that a working relationship, with both relational and goal-oriented aspects, can be established between workers and marginalised people in their daily environment. Frequent contact and providing practical support can improve both parts of the working relationship. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

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The working relationship between people in marginalised situations and street outreach workers

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Social exchange and common agency in organizations

We study the relation between formal incentives and social exchange in organizations where employees work for several managers and reciprocate a manager’s attention with higher effort. To this end we develop a common agency model with two-sided moral hazard. We show that when management attention is not contractible, the first-best can only be achieved by granting autonomy to employees together with incentive pay for both managers and employees. When neither attention nor effort are contractible, an ‘attention race’ arises, as each manager tries to sway the employee’s effort his way. While this may result in too much social exchange, the attention race may also be a blessing because it alleviates managers’ moral-hazard problem in attention provision. Lastly, we show how organizational structure can be used to motivate managers and employees in the absence of formal incentives.

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In-store interactive advertising screens

PurposePhysical stores are increasingly dependent on impulse visits and the impulse purchases of passers-by. Interactive advertising screens in store windows could help retailers increase impulse-visit urges and impulse-buying urges. However, the effects of interactive screens in physical surroundings have not been studied before. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effect of interactive screens on impulse urges and gain insight into the underlying mechanism that explains the possible effect.Design/methodology/approachAn interactive screen was placed in a store window. Using three field experiments, we studied the effect of interactivity-level (high vs low) on the impulse-visit and impulse-buying urges of passers-by, and the mediating role of self-agency in these effects.FindingsHighly interactive (compared to less interactive) advertising screens in store windows positively affect impulse-visit and impulse-buying urges through self-agency. Retailers can therefore use interactive advertising screens to increase the number of impulse purchases if feelings of self-agency are activated.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine the extent to which interactive screens in a store window enhance the impulse-visit and impulse-buying urges of passers-by and the mediating factor of these effects. By conducting three field experiments, we achieved a high external validity and managed to share very reliable results owing to the replication of the findings.

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In-store interactive advertising screens

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Working on sustainable development in International MSc Programmes

This article discusses some characteristics of the educational framework of the programme and tries to compare the results of the programme as reported by graduates with the 'professional competencies for Sustainable Development’, as formulated by DHO (the organisation for Sustainable Higher Education in the Netherlands). Because of the strong international character of the programme (students from more than 50 different countries in all continents of the world graduated since 1996), a specific issue of concern is the applicability of the Dutch Sustainable Competences in an international setting, and the implications for the teaching and learning approach. The experiental learning theory and the learning styles as defined by Kolb (1984) and the cultural dimensions as described by Hofstede (2009) are used to check this. Results from short online interviews with graduates all over the world illustrate the results of this comparison.

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Working on sustainable development in International MSc Programmes

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“Nano” regeneration

This article provides a nano (hyperlocal) view of climate change mitigation by viewing regenerative organizing through the eyes (as well as bodies and senses, etc.) of the households engaged in community-based energy projects. By showing what humans make up for in the largely absent relationship between nature and technology in these projects, we envision an incremental extension of the literature on community-based energy. The radically different contribution we aim to make is a tripartite imbrication that brings in natural agency alongside the human and the technical but specifies precisely how nano (smaller than micro) embodied practices afford mis- and realignments. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026619886841 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/

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The role of imagination in emergent career agency

Western societies are quickly becoming less coherent (Giddens, 1991). As a result it is increasingly unclear how individuals should act in a range of situations or how they may understand themselves. To a certain extent this development towards more diverse perspectives and a broader range of ways to act is a positive one, as cultures can only develop as they are confronted with different perspectives. A uniform culture would simply reach a standstill. That said, current society now demands of its citizens that they become increasingly self-reliant and by extension develop a capacity to be self-governing. On the labour market self-reliance and self-determination have been considered par for the course even longer. It is no surprise then that terms like self-direction, self-governing teams, employability and resilience are considered part of the standard repertoire of politicians and employers (Van der Heijden & De Vos, 2017). Within the social sciences, an ability to be self-governing and self-reliant are terms that are associated with the concept “agency”. However, the latter is a fairly vague, multidimensional concept (Arthur, 2014) that refers to the ‘scope of action’ an individual has in a fluid society (Bauman, 2000). In this article we would like to explore the concept of ‘agency’ further whereby we focus on the role of imagination in enacting it. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416218777832 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reinekke-lengelle-phd-767a4322/

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The role of imagination in emergent career agency

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Working apart together

Het handelen van docententeams heeft grote invloed op de kwaliteit van het onderwijs en het succes van studenten. Toch wordt in het hoger beroepsonderwijs relatief weinig aandacht besteed aan de vraag of en onder welke omstandigheden teams van docenten goed functioneren. In dit artikel worden aan de hand van twee praktijkcases uit een longitudinaal actie-onderzoek de totstandkoming van het handelingsvermogen van teams verkend. We richten ons daarbij op de invloed van de kenmerken van het team zelf en van de organisatiestructuur. We sluiten af met de vraag hoe het vermogen tot handelen van docententeams versterkt kan worden en wat de rol van HRM daarin is.

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The girls work method: what is the role of empowerment in building girls’ agency?

Girls Work, as one of the methods used by professional youth work, focuses on helping vulnerable girls to shape their own lives (a capacity also referred to as ‘agency’). In this study, it is hypothesised that the methodical principles (i.e. the guiding principles of the methodical actions of the youth worker) contribute to the empowerment process of girls, which in turn leads to the development of girls’ agency. Serial mediation was used to test this hypothesis. Results indicate that all of the methodical principles, with the exception of the use of context, are important in helping girls develop agency. Four of the methodical principles contribute to both empowerment and agency, while the other methodical principles contribute to agency only through empowerment. This paper also addresses the importance of focusing on the empowerment of girls, as empowerment is positively linked with agency. All of the components of individual empowerment are important when helping girls develop their agency.--Meidenwerk, een specifieke methodiek van het jongerenwerk, richt zich op het ondersteunen van meiden in kwetsbare posities bij het (leren) vormgeven aan hun eigen leven (ook bekend als agency). In dit onderzoek wordt verondersteld dat de methodische principes (uitgangspunten in het methodisch handelen van de jongerenwerkers) bijdragen aan het proces van empowerment, dat op zijn beurt weer leidt tot de ontwikkeling van agency bij meiden. Om dit te toetsen is een mediatie-analyse uitgevoerd. De resultaten wijzen erop dat alle methodische principes, met uitzondering van ‘werken met de omgeving’, bijdragen aan hoe meiden agency ontwikkelen. Vier van de methodische principes dragen bij aan zowel het empowermentproces als de ontwikkeling van agency, terwijl de andere methodische principes alleen via het empowermentproces bijdragen aan de ontwikkeling van agency. Dit artikel wijst op het belang om aandacht te hebben voor de empowerment van meiden in kwetsbare situaties, omdat er een positieve relatie is tussen het empowermentproces en de ontwikkeling van agency. Hierbij is het belangrijk dat er aandacht is voor alle drie de componenten van psychologische empowerment.

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Student agency

Sustainability transitions are not hindered by technological barriers but above all by the lack of well-qualified people. Educating the next generation of engineers and product designers is therefore more important than ever. However, a traditional widely used model of instruction and evaluation is not sufficient to prepare this next generation for the demands of society. It is appropriate that curricula should be adapted. If necessary, in a disruptive way. The question was how to develop an education module in which students are agents in their learning. In which students decide what and how they will learn, and in which they can prepare for a role in society that is in shock. To propel them in a new direction a disruptive education innovation has been designed and tested. This new method turns the traditional education model upside down. Students and lecturers are transformed in equal partners in aninnovation consultancy firm with a passion for engineering, product design, and with a focus on sustainability transition. Students explore their emotionally intrinsic values that enables them to accomplish great things, to experience meaning in their lives and work, and leads to a significant learning experience.Purpose of this paper is to give individuals and organisations involved in higher education insight into a new method of education based on new values such as student agency, equal partnership, partnership learning communities, significant learning experience, and the strong belief students have the capacity and the willingness to positively influence their own lives and environment

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The working relationship between people in marginalised situations and street outreach workers