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The purpose of this paper is to apply a postcolonial perspective on the findings from ethnographic research in a multi-national corporation in Shanghai and shed light on the ways that western creativity narratives are deployed as a means to mobilise and transform workers into self-governing, obedient corporate subjects.

The research applied ethnographic approaches to understand how creativity narratives are enacted in cross-cultural settings.

Creativity discourses in China often provoke anxieties around national capacity, economic growth and indigenous innovation. Locally trained knowledge workers in China are often assessed as less creative than their western counterparts and the reason attributed to cultural, pedagogical and political differences. However, these factors are not static in China’s fluid economic landscape and neither do Chinese workers uniformly accept that they are less creative.

This paper sheds light on a previously unexamined aspect of dominant western creativity discourses, which may be useful in future work amongst practitioners in international business settings.

Urban typogenetics investigates the use of machine intelligence for the evaluation of performance measures as a decision support system (DSS) with a focus on urban aesthetics evaluation. This framework allows designers to address performance measures, urban measures and aesthetic criteria in an adaptive, interactive generative design approach. The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of the structure and the nature of the framework and the application of human-in-the-loop design systems to urban design.

Significant literature reviewed lead to the identification of an application potential in the decision-making process. This potential is situated around the use of AI for the evaluation of subjective performance criteria in a DSS. Recognising that the key decisions about urban aesthetics are based on the individual evaluation of the designer, an HITL approach for computational design software to support creative decisions is presented in this paper.

Urban typogenetics for interactive generative urban design allows the exploration of complex design spaces by using a human-in-the-loop design system in the context of urban aesthetics. Hybrid aesthetic evaluation allows the designer to analyse morphological features and urban aesthetics during exploratory search and reveal hidden aspects of the urban context by visualisation of the results of the aesthetic evaluation. Integrating performance measures and urban aesthetics in urban typogenetics addresses major criteria of urban design at the beginning of the creative process.

The use of a broad interactive approach to typogenetic design in an application to urban scenarios is a novel conceptual approach to the design of urban configurations. The suggested adaptive mechanism would allow the user of a typogenetic tool to subjectively evaluate solutions by sight and reason about aesthetic, social and cultural implication of the reviewed design solutions.

Studies that capture sex workers’ experiences, as activists in collectives and unions, are scarce. In India, the Karnataka Sex Workers’ Union (KSWU) materialized as a direct response to the violation of sex workers’ rights. The goal of this qualitative study was to review KSWU’s journey through the years. Forty-eight respondents participated in eight focus group discussions. Findings revealed the complexity of addressing the disparate needs of the heterogeneous group of sex workers in Karnataka. KSWU’s experiences suggest the potential for hybrid models of organizing that integrate activism with service provision.

The purpose of this paper is to explain how an organization’s performance measurement system can influence the appropriateness of an organization’s responses to threats.

Inductive and deductive reasoning, drawing on major theories and on empirical findings in the management literature.

An organization’s performance measurement system can influence the effectiveness of the organization’s detections of threats and the appropriateness of the organization’s responses to threats and, in these ways, contribute to the organization’s robustness and sustainability.

Formation of an appropriate performance management system can prove critical to both detection of and responses to organizational threats. As such, an organizational performance management system can contribute to organizational robustness and sustainability.

The idea, that an organization’s performance measurement system can influence the effectiveness of the organization’s detections of threats and the appropriateness of the organization’s responses to threats, is not articulated in the management literature. Thus, the research reported here is original and would seem to have value to the research community, the organization design community (as an organization’s control systems are an important component of its architecture), and the management community.

Technological and cultural changes of the past decade have revealed new ways to use the object of the car as demand responsive yet not private. Cars are increasingly able to fulfil the aims of demand responsive transport (DRT), by providing equitable access to flexible, yet sustainable, transport. This chapter outlines the conceptual and empirical case for this increasingly dynamic form of DRT and labels it ‘cars on demand’.

A review of literature and practice is used to detail characteristics of cars on demand, and the reasons for its emergence. Key features are illustrated using examples from around the world.

Cars on demand is a rapidly changing field. New economic models of provision are emerging, yet not all are designed to fulfil the aims of DRT by making transport more sustainable or equitable. These models do, however, contribute to making cars on demand work by encouraging transition from a culture of private-car ownership, to one where the car is an object ‘just’ for use. Cars on demand can therefore contribute to the fracturing of the powerful system of private-car use. Its relationship with decreased vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) and transport disadvantage is, however, complex and vulnerable to erosion. This vulnerability can be mitigated by regulation and better understanding through research.

This chapter provides a novel conceptualisation of the way the object of the car is used in a demand responsive way. It contributes to understandings of regulatory issues surrounding shared mobility, and provides directions for future research.

This paper aims to uncover characteristics of physical spaces that evoke feelings of welcome and belonging in a diverse student population in an academic library.

The photovoice method was used to allow research participants an active role in shaping research questions and collecting and analyzing data.

The research reveals that space design significantly influences students' feelings of physical safety, emotional well-being and safety and ownership (or sense of belonging) in academic library spaces, thereby emphasizing the importance of considering space design in promoting student well-being and inclusiveness.

This research used photovoice methodology to engage underrepresented student communities in providing input into the design of library spaces.

Through undertaking qualitative research within different industrial contexts, the study aims to address the following: How do practitioners in non-service organisations interpret internal market orientation (IMO); How is IMO practiced within an eastern cultural context; and What are the outcomes of its implementation?

The study examines three organisations from three different industries and draws on nine in-depth interviews with people across various levels within each organisation.

The study reveals that: a) senior management commitment should be included in the design of IMO at the strategic level; b) effective responsiveness to internal information collected is crucial to its success; c) creative ways to meet internal customers’ needs and expectations are contextualised; and d) cultural nuances need to be considered when applying IMO.

Choosing a multiple-case study approach provides in-depth explanations; however, such an approach may lead to less generalisability.

The study advocates that a) some degree of resources are needed to ensure that IMO can be fully implemented and employee welfare enhanced; b) creativity is required for each organisational context responding to employees’ needs, expectations, complaints or ideas; and c) removing unnecessary barriers can help to foster better interdepartmental relationships and, thus, improve work procedures and employee satisfaction.

This study contributes to the literature by developing a framework to signal the importance of IMO as a facilitator for better firm communication and performance. Contextualised IMO practices from the cases may shed further light on specific best practice.