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1 – 10 of 10Barbara Neuhofer, Krzysztof Celuch and Ivana Rihova
Focussing on the perspective of business event leaders, this study aims to explore the future of transformative experience (TE) events, recognising a paradigm shift from…
Abstract
Purpose
Focussing on the perspective of business event leaders, this study aims to explore the future of transformative experience (TE) events, recognising a paradigm shift from organising conventional events to designing and guiding TEs in the meetings, incentives and conferences as exhibitions (MICE) context.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a qualitative interview-based design, insights from 20 international business events industry leaders were gathered and analysed by using thematic analysis through a multi-step process with MAXQDA.
Findings
The findings discuss the future of transformative events by identifying the paradigm shift towards TE in business events and outline key dimensions of the leader’s and team’s mindset and skills. Five design principles for TE events in the MICE sector are identified: design for change; emotionally experiential environments; personal engagement; responsibility; and transformative measurement.
Practical implications
The study offers a snapshot of how transformative events of the future could be designed and suggests a series of practical insights for MICE event leaders and organisers seeking to leverage events as a catalyst for intentional transformation, positive impact and long-lasting change.
Originality/value
The study adds to the emerging body of knowledge on TEs and contributes to an extended stakeholder perspective, namely, that of business event leaders and their teams who are instrumental in facilitating transformative events. An original framework for designing TE MICE events is offered as a theoretical contribution.
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Raewyn Lesley Hills, Deborah Levy and Barbara Plester
Meetings with colleagues are an essential activity in workplace collaboration. The iterative nature of collaborative work demands spaces that team members can access quickly and…
Abstract
Purpose
Meetings with colleagues are an essential activity in workplace collaboration. The iterative nature of collaborative work demands spaces that team members can access quickly and easily. Creating suitable meeting spaces will become more critical if the hybrid work model continues and the workplace environment becomes the hub for face-to-face collaborative time, learning and training. Workspace and fit-out is expensive so it is crucial that the investment in meeting spaces supports employees’ collaboration activities.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a case study of a corporate organisation undertaken in New Zealand to investigate how employees from two business units use their workspace to collaborate within their own team and across other teams in their organisation. The study uses ethnographic techniques, including participant observation and in-depth face-to-face interviews.
Findings
The findings show that the frequency and nature of small group work in collaboration was underestimated in the initial planning of the new workspace. Although participants found the design and fit-out of the formal meeting rooms supportive of collaborative work, the meeting rooms were in high demand, and it was difficult to find a room at short notice. The breakout spaces were confusing because they lacked key design attributes identified by the participants as conducive to small group work. Design shortfalls together with fit-out features perceived as supportive of collaborative work are identified.
Originality/value
The research reports on employees’ perceptions and experiences across two functionally diverse business units, reflecting their different needs and concerns.
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Irene Lopatovska and Celia Coan
The study explored how information institutions can support the resilience of parents of adolescents affected by the Russia–Ukraine war. Ukrainian parents are facing major…
Abstract
Purpose
The study explored how information institutions can support the resilience of parents of adolescents affected by the Russia–Ukraine war. Ukrainian parents are facing major challenges of supporting their teenagers through a difficult developmental phase while also “buffering” their war-related hardships. By supporting parents, information institutions can also support children.
Design/methodology/approach
Fifteen parents were interviewed about mental health challenges and resources that are helpful and/or missing from their support systems. Recordings of participant narratives were analyzed using the qualitative thematic analysis technique.
Findings
The findings indicate that both teens and parents rely on internal resilience skills, family, friends and community resources to support themselves. However, a number of additional resources could be offered by information institutions, including content for (1) teens on developing skills in communication, interpersonal relationships, problem solving and academic pursuits; (2) parents on child development and opportunities in their host countries; both groups on (3) both groups on mental health first aid and safe spaces to meet peers. The study recommendations will be of interest to information professionals working with families, especially families affected by disasters.
Research limitations/implications
The study relied on a small convenience sample of participants.
Practical implications
Study recommendations would be of interest to information professionals who develop and provide services to families affected by natural and manmade disasters.
Social implications
Study recommendations improve understanding of the (potential) role of information institutions and libraries in strengthening family and community resilience.
Originality/value
The study offers a rare insight into experiences of war-affect families and provides evidence-driven recommendations for information institutions to support family and community resilience.
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Edgar Rogelio Ramírez-Solís, Bárbara I Mojarro-Durán and Veronica Ilian Baños-Monroy
The type of social capital among families involved in business, or family social capital, has both positive and negative effects on family firms. This paper aims to investigate…
Abstract
Purpose
The type of social capital among families involved in business, or family social capital, has both positive and negative effects on family firms. This paper aims to investigate the mediating role of social relationships of family business members between socioemotional wealth (SEW) and firms' entrepreneurial orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors applied a survey conducted in the four main cities in Mexico. The sample consisted of 360 small and medium enterprise (SMEs). This study's research framework and hypothesis were tested using regression analysis and the structural equation modeling technique.
Findings
This study finds that not only does SEW strongly influence the entrepreneurial orientation of family firms, but this influence is also mediated by the capability of such families to develop their social capital.
Research limitations/implications
The results show the perspective of one person in the company. Though it is the person with the highest rank and presumably the person who thoroughly knows the company, there is always a possibility of bias, which may inflate the results presented in this paper.
Practical implications
Based on this study's results, family firms should continuously improve their entrepreneurial abilities to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. In addition, their unique family-related characteristics further enhance these strategic approaches' positive effects on relational capital development.
Originality/value
This work contributes to the academic literature on entrepreneurship and social capital. As a mediator between SEW and entrepreneurial orientation, family relational capital has been under-researched. The results of this study reveal significant implications for networking management and relational capital strategies for SMEs.
Propósito
Las relaciones y conexiones de las familias involucradas en los negocios, o capital social familiar, tienen efectos tanto positivos como negativos en las empresas familiares. Este artículo investiga el papel mediador de las relaciones sociales de los miembros de la empresa familiar entre la riqueza socioemocional y la orientación empresarial de las empresas.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Se aplicó una encuesta realizada en las cuatro principales ciudades de México. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 360 pymes. El marco de investigación y la hipótesis de este estudio se probaron mediante análisis de regresión y la técnica Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).
Hallazgos
Nuestro estudio encuentra que la riqueza socioemocional no solo influye fuertemente en la orientación emprendedora de las empresas familiares, sino que este factor también está mediado por la capacidad de dichas familias para desarrollar su capital social.
Originalidad/Valor
Este trabajo contribuye a la literatura académica sobre emprendimiento y capital social. Como mediador entre la riqueza socioemocional y la orientación emprendedora, el capital relacional familiar ha sido poco investigado. Nuestros resultados revelan implicaciones significativas para la gestión de redes y las estrategias de capital relacional para las Pymes.
Objetivo
As relações e conexões das famílias envolvidas nos negócios, ou capital social familiar, têm efeitos positivos e negativos nas empresas familiares. Este artigo investiga o papel mediador das relações sociais dos membros da empresa familiar entre a riqueza socioemocional e a orientação empreendedora das empresas.
Desenho/metodologia/abordagem
Foi aplicado um inquérito realizado nas quatro principais cidades do México. A amostra foi constituída por 360 PME. A estrutura de pesquisa e a hipótese deste estudo foram testadas usando análise de regressão e a técnica de Modelagem de Equações Estruturais (SEM).
Resultados
Nosso estudo conclui que a riqueza socioemocional não apenas influencia fortemente a orientação empreendedora das empresas familiares, mas que esse fator também é mediado pela capacidade dessas famílias de desenvolver seu capital social.
Originalidade/Valor
Este trabalho contribui para a literatura acadêmica sobre empreendedorismo e capital social. Como mediador entre a riqueza socioemocional e a orientação empreendedora, o capital relacional familiar tem recebido pouca pesquisa. Nossos resultados revelam implicações significativas para a gestão de rede e estratégias de capital relacional para PMEs.
Details
Keywords
- Family social capital
- Social capital
- Socioemotional wealth
- Entrepreneurial orientation
- Family firms
- Capital social familiar
- Capital social
- Riqueza socioemocional
- Orientación emprendedora
- Empresas familiares
- Capital social familiar
- Capital social
- Riqueza socioemocional
- Orientação empreendedora
- Empresas familiares
Chrystalla Vassou, Antonis L. Theocharous and Anastasios Zopiatis
The importance of inclusive leadership has been recognized by scholars and practitioners alike. However, the ways in which inclusive leadership can be achieved and implemented in…
Abstract
Purpose
The importance of inclusive leadership has been recognized by scholars and practitioners alike. However, the ways in which inclusive leadership can be achieved and implemented in hospitality seem to be unclear. In order to answer how inclusive leadership can be put into practice in hospitality, this paper explores (1) employees' and managers' perceptions of inclusion and (2) diversity practices in hotel organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
By espousing a qualitative methodology, semi-structured interviews with management representatives, as well as local and foreign employees of 4- and 5-star hotel organizations, were utilized in order to identify what inclusive leadership looks like in theory and in practice. Data were analyzed via thematic analysis and the utilization of the NVivo software.
Findings
Findings suggest that an inclusive leader should be caring and respectful, pursue fair treatment, support employee development, express employee appreciation and recognize their role in social inclusion more widely.
Originality/value
This original work reduces the research-practice gap in the field of diversity management by providing succinct recommendations to hospitality managers in the form of an adaptable best practice framework. The diagrammatic framework includes the values related to inclusive leadership as they emerged, as well as the practices through which each theme could be enacted.
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Vikki McCall, Kenneth Gibb and Yang Wang
The ageing and disabled population is fast growing, which emphasises the need to effectively modify current homes and environments to support healthy ageing and increasingly…
Abstract
Purpose
The ageing and disabled population is fast growing, which emphasises the need to effectively modify current homes and environments to support healthy ageing and increasingly diverse health needs. This paper aims to bring together findings and analyses from three adaptations-focussed projects, drawing on perspectives from key stakeholders alongside the lived experiences of service users acquiring adaptations.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an Adaptations Framework developed from interviews and focus groups with older people and key stakeholders, the paper discusses barriers experienced by older people and front-line workers in receiving and delivering adaptations through all stages of the process.
Findings
This paper reveals how experiences around adaptations might diverge with unseen, hidden investment and need amongst individuals, and how conceptual and cost-focussed evidence gaps impact wider understandings of adaptations delivery. In so doing, this paper highlights how the adaptations process is perceived as a “fight” that does not work smoothly for either those delivering or receiving adaptations services.
Research limitations/implications
The paper suggests a systematic failure such that the adaptations process needs to be rehauled, reset and prioritised within social and public policy if the housing, health and social care sectors are to support healthy ageing and prepare for the future ageing population.
Originality/value
The paper brings together insights from key stakeholders alongside service users' experiences of adaptations to highlight key policy drivers and barriers to accessing and delivering adaptations.
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Dongyuan Zhao, Zhongjun Tang and Fengxia Sun
This paper investigates the semantic association mechanisms of weak demand signals that facilitate innovative product development in terms of conceptual and temporal precedence…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the semantic association mechanisms of weak demand signals that facilitate innovative product development in terms of conceptual and temporal precedence, despite their inherent ambiguity and uncertainty.
Design/methodology/approach
To address this challenge, a domain ontology approach is proposed to construct a customer demand scenario-based framework that eliminates the blind spots in weak demand signal identification. The framework provides a basis for identifying such signals and introduces evaluation indices, such as depth, novelty and association, which are integrated to propose a three-dimensional weak signal recognition model based on domain ontology that outperforms existing research.
Findings
Empirical analysis is carried out based on customer comments of new energy vehicles on car platform such as “Auto Home” and “Bitauto”. Results demonstrate that in terms of recognition quantity, the three-dimensional weak demand signal recognition model, based on domain ontology, can accurately identify six demand weak signals. Conversely, the keyword analysis method exhibits a recognition quantity of four weak signals; in terms of recognition quality, the three-dimensional weak demand signal recognition model based on domain ontology can exclude non-demand signals such as “charging technology”, while keyword analysis methods cannot. Overall, the model proposed in this paper has higher sensitivity.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a novel method for identifying weak demand signals that considers the frequency of the signal's novelty, depth and relevance to the target demand. To verify its effectiveness, customer review data for new energy vehicles is used. The results provide a theoretical reference for formulating government policies and identifying weak demand signals for businesses.
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Lynsey Anne Burke and Duncan Mercieca
This paper offers a reflection of a research process aimed at listening to young children's voices in their everyday school life through a play-based context in a Scottish school…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper offers a reflection of a research process aimed at listening to young children's voices in their everyday school life through a play-based context in a Scottish school. Throughout the research process, the complexity of conducting this research was kept in mind as listening to children's voices presents methodological and conceptual difficulties and tensions. Reflecting on the research process after the data was collected, the process was critiqued using Deleuze-Guattarian ideas. The critique aims at opening and challenging each researcher, allowing them to think-again about the next research project aimed at listening to children's voices.
Design/methodology/approach
The research involved an observation study that took place over one week in a primary school in Central Scotland. As part of the educators' approach to play-based pedagogy, children had the opportunity to engage in free play throughout the day. Observations were chosen as the main approach to “capture” children's voices in their natural settings.
Findings
The empirical research brought forth two main ideas, that of children as agents, and how children amplify their voices through play. The reflective part offers the possibility of understanding the intensities and forces when conducting such research and the possibilities of engaging with these.
Originality/value
This paper offers a critique of research aimed at listening to children's voices. The aim is not to limit engagement in researching children's voices but to open, or make complex, such processes.
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Ellie Norris, Shawgat Kutubi, Steven Greenland and Ruth Wallace
This research aims to examine the performativity of corporate reports as an example of an accounting inscription that can frame the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to examine the performativity of corporate reports as an example of an accounting inscription that can frame the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entities and their stakeholders. The framing and overflow effects of these reports have been explored to consider whether they strengthen or undermine the reputation and capability of these community-controlled entities.
Design/methodology/approach
Aligned with actor–network theory and a decolonising research protocol, qualitative interviews were conducted with senior managers and directors of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entities and their key stakeholders to explore their experiences of corporate reporting. Additional analysis of these organisations' annual reports was conducted to corroborate key reporting themes.
Findings
This research has identified a dual role for corporate reporting, simultaneously framing performance against an expectation of failure, but with the potential for accounting inscriptions to highlight positive contributions to cultural and community priorities. It also indicates the need for sector specifics within the reporting frameworks and adequate resourcing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entities to meet reporting obligations.
Practical implications
This research makes policy-based recommendations in terms of user-driven and culturally informed performance measures. It also highlights the importance of adequate funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entities to carry out meaningful performance evaluations beyond the preparation of financial statements.
Originality/value
One of the few empirical studies to capture the performativity of accounting inscriptions from the perspective of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entities. This sector has received minimal attention within the accounting discipline, despite significantly contributing to community well-being and cultural protection. There is emancipatory potential via policy frameworks that resonate with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural beliefs and practices.
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Thomas Vogl, Marko Orel and Rianne Appel-Meulenbroek
This study aims to enrich our understanding of the characteristics of non-urban coworking spaces (CSs) that focus on corporate users, as well as the benefits that companies expect…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to enrich our understanding of the characteristics of non-urban coworking spaces (CSs) that focus on corporate users, as well as the benefits that companies expect to gain from incorporating those CSs into their corporate real estate (CRE) portfolios.
Design/methodology/approach
This study leverages a series of in-depth interviews with owners and managers of CSs in non-urban locales that focus on serving corporate clients.
Findings
The research reveals various CS characteristics and forms within non-urban areas, focusing on corporate clients. It suggests that implementing a CS in corporate premises is perceived to enhance CRE use-value strategies with a focus on the employee's well-being, innovation and the attraction of talents. Moreover, exchange-value strategies with a focus on portfolio flexibility may benefit from the implementation of a CS. However, strategies related to life-cycle cost optimization or gains are not perceived to be supported. Social events for the surrounding neighborhood and the choice of location emerge as critical success factors for non-urban CSs. Besides infrastructure and connectivity, non-urban corporate-centric CSs built their location decisions rather on a personal connection to the location and place of residence of potential users than on lower rental prices.
Originality/value
This research pioneers in providing a comprehensive understanding of non-urban CSs, particularly in the context of their perceived implications for corporate real estate management. The nuanced perspectives it offers are invaluable for stakeholders looking to leverage CSs as part of their corporate strategies.
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