Developing a research framework for understanding the social realities, with special reference to Sri Lankan entrepreneurs

This paper identifies and examines issues of relevance for increasing effectiveness of entrepreneurial management research. These issues emerged from research into entrepreneurial behaviour and underlying motivations in Sri Lanka. Understanding of socially- and culturally-bound social actors, social actions and social outputs in entrepreneurial activity requires context-sensitivity, expressed through cognisance of institutional characteristics, the interface between cultural values and business, and historical and cultural forces which impact on entrepreneurship. We suggest that this requires exploration through bottom-up translations of actions consistent with the beliefs and values of the actors involved, employing qualitative methodology to ground the reality of human behaviour in deep-rooted cultural and social contexts. Thorough interpretation of holistic case studies that are capable of capturing the actors' viewpoints brings appropriate insights to the field of entrepreneurship.

Customers as spatial and social influencers on other customers in the social-servicescape

In marketing, considerable attention has been devoted both to the understanding of consumer behaviour and the impact of the physical environment on the behaviour of consumers within these settings. Yet surprisingly, little attention has been given to the influence of customers on other customers in such settings. But within the environment it could be argued that social stimuli are likely to receive more attention than non-social or physical stimuli (Guerin, 1993). Psychologists have asserted that the mere presence (or absence) of people will affect the behaviour of others. Thus we argue in this paper that customers impact on other customers within the social servicescape. This paper presents the findings of an observational study of 225 episodes which took place within a selected servicescape - four cafes. We found that the presence of other customers appeared to positively influence duration of the stay (social influence), and that customers appeared to exhibit a desire for the presence of other customers in this social setting in that customers appeared to be drawn spatially to where customers were already seated (spatial influence). We draw from psychology, in particular, social facilitation theory (Platania and Morin, 2001; Zajonc, 1965), affiliative conflict theory (Argyle and Dean 1965; Knowles 1980, 1989) and from psychology and sociology in terms of the basic emotional need for a “sense of belonging” (Hagerty, Williams and Oe 2002) in order to develop the conceptual framework for this study. Theoretical and managerial implications of our findings are discussed, as well as directions for further research.

Corporate Citizenship: What are the Social Responsibilities of Australian Business? School of Social Work and Applied Human Sciences Occasional Paper Series No. 6

Corporate Citizenship: What are the Social Responsibilities of Australian Business? School of Social Work and Applied Human Sciences Occasional Paper Series No. 6

The social construction of sleep and work in the British print news media

This article presents a sociological study of sleep issues in the British print news media, with particular focus on the relationship between sleep, work and the changing demands of ‘flexible capitalism’. Drawing on over 1000 newspaper articles from 1984 to 2005, we explore how and why sleep is framed or constructed in terms of continuity and change (in British working life and work cultures) and, equally, viewed as a neglected component of our social lives which is too easily sacrificed to the demands of the 24/7 society, long hours culture and the struggle to create a harmonious work-life balance. This is particularly the case for certain British work cultures in which sleep has conflicting and contrasting associations. Finally, we reflect on the broader class-based discourses and debates that arise from certain workers having their sleep patterns increasingly scrutinized and regulated, and the role of the media in any ensuing sleep/work ‘crisis’.

Medicalisation and beyond: the social construction of insomnia and snoring in the news

What role do the media play in the medicalization of sleep problems? This article, based on a British Academy funded project, uses qualitative textual analysis to examine representations of insomnia and snoring in a large representative sample of newspaper articles taken from the UK national press from the mid-1980s to the present day. Constructed as ‘common problems’ in the population at large, insomnia and snoring we show are differentially located in terms of medicalizing—healthicizing discourses and debates. Our findings also suggest important differences in the gendered construction of these problems and in terms of tabloid and ‘broadsheet’ newspaper coverage of these issues. Newspaper constructions of sleep, it is concluded, are complex, depending on both the ‘problem’ and the paper in question.