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Organizational sociology and organization studies have a long history together, while also sharing a proclivity to self-diagnose crises. Instead of taking these assessments at face value, this paper treats them as an object of study, asking what conditions have fueled them. In the case of organizational sociology, there are indications of a connection between rising levels of discontent and community building: self-identified organizational sociologists have progressively withdrawn from general debates in the discipline and turned their attention to organization studies, which, they suspect, has seen dramatic levels of growth at their expense. Organization studies, on the other hand, are still haunted by “a Faustian bargain”: leaning heavily on the authority of the social sciences, business school faculty were able to facilitate the emergence of a scholarly field of practice dedicated to the study of organizations, which they control. However, in doing so, they also set organization studies on a path of continued dependence on knowledge produced elsewhere: notably, by university disciplines such as sociology.

This chapter presents a study of ‘floral ethics’, defined as a set of standardized practices for handling flowers shared among members of the florist occupation. Drawing on 36 months of ethnographic fieldwork in flower shops in Switzerland and Chicago, it contributes to the sociology of work and professions by providing a nuanced understanding of the tensions that can arise between the professional expertise of florists and the aesthetic preferences of customers. The findings on the micro-level reveal that adherence to floral ethics serves as a strategy for protecting and maintaining occupational legitimacy. By uncovering divergent conceptions of what constitutes ‘work well done’ among florists, this chapter offers a broader argument on the power asymmetry inherent in service relationships.

Psychosocial problems, including social isolation and loneliness, are prevalent in rural communities and can impact the use of health services and health outcomes. Current approaches to managing patients with predominantly psychosocial issues may not be the most appropriate. Social prescribing (SP) is a relatively new way of linking patients with sources of non-medical support within the community. Emerging literature suggests that community-based, non-medical activities are an effective and preferred approach to managing psychosocial problems. However, there is little evidence describing the attitudes of general practitioners (GPs) towards formal SP pathways.

This research will occur in a general practice in a rural area of Tasmania, Australia. The project will deliver an education module to rural GPs to highlight the benefits of SP and provide a streamlined pathway for referring patients to community support hubs. Existing community organisations will act as “link workers” to connect patients with suitable community activities. GPs will complete a baseline and follow-up survey to measure their perception of SP and the acceptability, feasibility and appropriateness of such an intervention.

The acceptability, feasibility and appropriateness of the pathway will be assessed using published measures. Free-text responses to open-ended questions will be used to complement the quantitative data. A hybrid effectiveness-implementation method will be used to gather information about the rate of uptake and quality of the SP referral process and identify barriers and facilitators of the process in a real-world setting.

While qualitative data for SP programmes is predominantly positive, quantitative data is lacking. Although the planned project is relatively short, it will provide a basis for future SP programme implementation and guide the approach to data collection and implementation assessment.

The barriers to and facilitators of introducing a SP programme in a rural general practice setting may be used to guide the development and implementation of future large-scale SP interventions. This research is both timely and relevant as the problem of social isolation and loneliness, especially in rural areas of Australia, is becoming more well-recognised as a driver of poor health and unnecessary health service usage.

Using SP to address psychosocial risks may reduce healthcare burden and costs. Few SP programmes have been delivered and formally assessed in Australia, and the best way to implement SP locally remains unclear. By delivering a SP intervention in a rural setting and assessing GPs’ responses, future SP projects will be better able to design and integrate social and medical care services.

This paper identifies the value of Indigenous processes in developing a reciprocal working relationship between a Pasifika grass roots community organisation, Pasifika Church and an Australian university. The focus is on the capacity of Indigenous methodologies to authentically attain equity, diversity and inclusion, during the development of stakeholder partnerships, particularly when there are power and resource imbalances between parties.

This paper is about the process of how Pasifika methodologies, namely talanoa, e-talanoa and teu le va, were used to create positive reciprocal relationships in a culturally grounded manner. The outcome was an agreement of the three stakeholders, the Pasifika Church, the Pasifika organisation and a tertiary institute to work together on a community educational and training project.

The agreement by all parties to adopt Indigenous methodologies from inception enabled the process to be community-led in a culturally safe manner. Critically, these cultural processes established a foundation of trust, expanding possibilities for shared work and projects. For migrant communities, the advocacy and employment of cultural methodologies can empower them through negotiations to maintain their sovereignty over their Indigenous knowledge and priorities. Similarly, it is important for universities and mainstream organisations not only to acknowledge power imbalances and to support community-led priorities but also to cede power around processes of negotiation and discussion.

This is an experience of four organisations working together. It is uncertain whether the same outcome could be attained with other organisations, personalities and cultural groups.

The same principles may be harnessed for other migrant communities, allowing for their cultural practices to inform the ways in which stakeholders work together as opposed to the often-dominant euro-centric practices of the West. It is a deliberate effort that privileges Indigenous ways of being, knowing and doing.

Migrant communities that perhaps may be subject to the more Western dominant environment are empowered to use their cultural frameworks to create an equal ground with government, tertiary and not-for-profit stakeholders.

This article is one of the first in Australia to document how talanoa, e-talanoa and teu le va were used to develop a working partnership in a culturally grounded manner to uphold the sovereignty of grassroots Indigenous organisations. This strengthens relationships between migrant communities and mainstream organisations. It outlines Pasifika protocols and successful use of equitable decision-making, led by a grassroots community organisation, a Pasifika Church, whilst liaising with a multi-campus university.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the life and work, both fiction and nonfiction, of the American author Upton Sinclair, for the purposes of better understanding his impact on management theory and practice.

Critical biography is a historiographical approach that analyzes aspects of an individual’s life events and the context that surrounds those events to better understand the contributions of an individual. In this case, this paper analyzes Sinclair’s biography, his work-related fiction and nonfiction and his interactions with business leaders and management thinkers of the day, including scientific management founder Frederick Winslow Taylor, auto industry leader Henry Ford and safety razor magnate King Gillette.

This paper identified four themes which are related to management and workplace history that pervade his fiction and nonfiction writing and link these events to the events of his life as well as the context of the times.

Although others have cited certain aspects of Sinclair’s work for specific purposes, this paper presents a systematic review of Sinclair’s broad oeuvre and its relevance to management and workplace history using a critical biography approach.

The purpose of this paper is to explore this process through reviewing key reports and literature through an Indigenous standpoint lens. We identify three key challenges facing the Yoorrook Commission in its journey. First, the continued resistance of influential sections of the Australian community to look backwards and accept responsibility for the violence of the colonial project. Second, the trauma facing those who speak out and remember and the real danger of expectations dashed. Third, the continuance of the colonial pandemic and underlying and invisible racism that infects and poisons all Australians.

This paper has drawn on key literature and secondary data through an Indigenous Lens.

We identify three challenges facing Yoorrook. First, the resistance of influential sections of the Australian community to accept responsibility for the violence of the colonial project. Second, the trauma facing those who speak out and remember and the danger of expectations dashed. Third, the continuance of underlying and invisible racism that infects and poisons the hearts and minds of non-Indigenous Australia. Despite these challenges we argue that the ability of Yoorrook to capture the lived experience of First Peoples in Victoria and the ability to hold key government officials to account presents a unique opportunity to advance the self determination of all First Peoples in Australia.

This is the first Treaty in Victoria and there has been no study of it before.

The purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive systematic literature review using bibliometric approach to investigate the academic structure of World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement research.

The study examines the bibliographic information for 1,858 articles from Scopus and the Australian Business Deans Council-indexed journals published between 1995 and 2024 using Dimensions.ai and Google Scholar search engines. Exploratory-cum-descriptive research design with bibliometric approach is used to answer the stated literature review research questions.

The data shows a gradual decline in WTO-Dispute Settlement System (WTO-DSS) research relative to the total international business area in the three decades. Developed countries appear as key contributors to the research, with the USA and the UK standing out as the most productive and influential research countries. The study shows a significant change in the focus of this research corpus from legalized to non-legalized approaches, with a greater emphasis on transparency and environmental sustainability. The research identifies global politics and international trade law as influential subjects in the discipline.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is a first of its kind where bibliometric approach has been used to study the evolution of WTO-DSS literature. The study adds to the understanding of WTO Dispute Settlement research patterns and recommends future research options.

This paper aims to compare the mission statements of Indian and Singaporean firms in the healthcare sector, and define the main components of Indian and Singaporean mission statements.

The study was based on a network analytic approach and content analysis. The research was performed on 200 companies (100 Indian companies and 100 Singaporean companies). For each company, we searched for a mission statement published in the company website. Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) in Python programming language was utilized to obtain the differences in the components of mission statements between Indian and Singaporean firms.

The study results indicate a similarity and variation between Indian and Singaporean mission statements. Both countries are more concerned about patients, service, community, quality, and healthcare in their mission statements, but Indian mission statements emphasize quality, affordable price, and technology more than Singaporean firms. In contrast, Singaporean mission statements tend to highlight innovation and company value. This research will assist strategic managers in identifying the mission statement components and choosing the right strategy for the organization.

This study contributes to the literature and ethos theory by identifying and distinguishing the paramount differences between the Indian and Singaporean mission statement components in the healthcare sector.

This study examines the existing literature on generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) and its impact across many sectors. This analysis explores the potential, applications, and challenges of Gen AI in driving innovation and creativity and generating ideas.

The study adopts a comprehensive literature review approach, carefully assessing current scientific articles on Gen AI published from 2022 to 2024. The analysis examines trends and insights derived from research.

The review indicates that Gen AI has significant potential to augment human creativity and innovation processes as a collaborative partner. However, it is imperative to prioritize responsible development and ethical frameworks in order to effectively tackle biases, privacy concerns, and other challenges. Gen AI is significantly transforming business models, processes, and value propositions in several industries, but with varying degrees of effect. Findings indicate also that despite the theory-driven approach to investigating Gen AI's creative and innovative potential, cutting-edge applications research prioritizes examining the possibilities of Gen AI models.

Although this review offers a picture of great possibilities, it concurrently underlines the necessity for a deep knowledge of Gen AI nuances to fully harness its capabilities. The findings indicate that continuous research and exploration efforts are required to address the challenges of Gen AI and assure its responsible and ethical implementation. Therefore, more study is needed on enhancing human-AI collaboration and defining ethical norms for varied circumstances.

This study presents a relevant analysis of Gen AI's transformational potential as an innovation catalyst. It emphasizes major potential, applications across industries, and ethical issues for responsible integration.

This study aims to examine whether country of residence, sex trafficking attitudes, complainant gender, juror gender and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) influenced juror decision-making within a sex trafficking case.

Jury-eligible participants from the USA and the UK participated in an online juror experiment in which an independent group design was used to manipulate the complainant’s gender. Participants completed the juror decision scale, the sex trafficking attitudes scale and the RWA scale.

Sex trafficking attitudes predicted the believability of both the defendant and complainant. Greater negative beliefs about victims predicted greater defendant believability and lower complainant believability. US jurors reported greater believability of both the complainant and defendant, and RWA was associated with greater defendant believability. However, none of the other factors, including complainant and juror gender, predicted participants’ verdicts. The findings suggest juror verdicts in sex trafficking cases may be less influenced by extra-legal factors, although further research is needed, especially with a more ambiguous case.

This is one of the few cross-cultural comparison studies in the area of jury decision-making, specifically regarding sex trafficking cases. The findings indicated that US participants held more problematic attitudes about sex trafficking than their UK counterparts, although all participants held problematic attitudes about sex trafficking. However, those attitudes did not affect verdict formation about either a male or female complainant. Participants who were more knowledgeable about sex trafficking reported greater complainant believability, suggesting that educational interventions may provide greater support for victims in court.