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Article
Publication date: 3 November 2021

Susan Rayment-McHugh, Dimity Adams and Nadine McKillop

Intervention for young people engaging in harmful sexual behaviour has been largely based on individual-level conceptualisations and assessment. Prevention efforts reflect this…

Abstract

Purpose

Intervention for young people engaging in harmful sexual behaviour has been largely based on individual-level conceptualisations and assessment. Prevention efforts reflect this individual-focus, relying primarily on offender management and justice responses. Risk of sexual abuse, however, is often situated outside the individual, within the broader social and physical systems in which young people are embedded. Lack of recognition for how contextual factors contribute to sexual abuse narrows the focus of prevention and intervention, overlooking the very contexts and circumstances in which this behaviour occurs. This paper aims to demonstrate the utility of contextual practice with young people who sexually harm, and implications for prevention.

Design/methodology/approach

An Australian case study is used to showcase the “why”, “what” and “how” of a contextual approach to assessment and treatment of young people who sexually harm.

Findings

Contextual approaches extend the focus of clinical practice beyond the individual to include the physical and social contexts that may contribute to risk. Adding a contextual lens broadens the approach to assessment, affording new opportunities to tailor the intervention to local contextual dynamics, and identifying new targets for primary and secondary prevention.

Originality/value

This is the first known attempt to extend understanding of contextual approaches to clinical assessment and intervention for young people who sexually harm, using a case study method. The case study showcases contextual assessment and intervention processes that challenge traditional thinking and practice in this field. Importantly, the case study also reveals new opportunities for primary and secondary prevention that emerge through this contextual clinical practice.

Details

Journal of Children's Services, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-6660

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 October 2008

J. Roland Ortt and Patrick A. van der Duin

In recent decades, innovation management has changed. This article provides an overview of the changes that have taken place, focusing on innovation management in large companies…

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Abstract

Purpose

In recent decades, innovation management has changed. This article provides an overview of the changes that have taken place, focusing on innovation management in large companies, with the aim of explaining that innovation management has evolved toward a contextual approach, which it will explain and illustrate using two cases.

Design/methodology/approach

The basic approach in this article is to juxtapose a review of existing literature regarding trends in innovation management and research and development (R&D) management generations, and empirical data about actual approaches to innovation.

Findings

The idea that there is a single mainstream innovation approach does not match with the (successful) approaches companies have adopted. What is required is a contextual approach. However, research with regard to such an approach is fragmented. Decisions to adapt the innovation management approach to the newness of an innovation or the type of organization respectively have thus far been investigated separately.

Research limitations/implications

An integrated approach is needed to support the intuitive decisions managers make to tailor their innovation approach to the type of innovation, organization(s), industry and country/culture.

Originality/value

The practical and scientific value of this paper is that is describes an integrated approach to contextual innovation.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 April 2022

Nhlanganiso Nyathi

This paper aims to argue that contextual safeguarding complements existing theoretical models and approaches. Its successful integration with dominant thinking and practice in…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to argue that contextual safeguarding complements existing theoretical models and approaches. Its successful integration with dominant thinking and practice in safeguarding potentially offers new insights to improve system-wide practice.

Design/methodology/approach

A theory synthesis design was used to purposively identify, summarise and compare selected safeguarding theoretical models and approaches to establish both convergence and divergence.

Findings

The arguments provided in this paper suggest that synthesising theory offers a confluence of perspectives that promise to develop a more eclectic and holistic approach to safeguarding practice. The paper demonstrates how contextual safeguarding can be integrated with existing theoretical models and approaches.

Research limitations/implications

This is a conceptual paper and therefore is not based on empirical data.

Practical implications

This paper's conceptual insights include that integrating contextual safeguarding with existing theoretical models and approaches can broaden the knowledge base to whole system-wide safeguarding practice in the UK. The paper also confirms that the methodology used is feasible, although more work is required to test its efficacy on a larger scale. The conceptual paper argues for synthesis of contextual safeguarding and commonly used child safeguarding theoretical models and approaches to deal with both intra and extra familial forms of risk of harm to children effectively.

Social implications

The neglect and abuse of children is a topical issue; hence, this paper has social implications regarding understanding of how the issue child abuse and neglect in the UK and globally should be dealt with.

Originality/value

There is a dearth of studies that have gone beyond binary comparisons of contextual safeguarding and other theoretical models and approaches, which leaves a significant knowledge gap that has prompted the purpose of this paper.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 September 2020

Joakim Hans Kembro and Andreas Norrman

Recent studies have highlighted the importance of adopting a contingency approach to configuring omnichannel warehouses. Nonetheless, research on how various contextual factors…

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Abstract

Purpose

Recent studies have highlighted the importance of adopting a contingency approach to configuring omnichannel warehouses. Nonetheless, research on how various contextual factors influence the selection of warehouse configuration is scarce. This study fills this knowledge gap by exploring how and why certain configurations fit in different omnichannel contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study is conducted with six leading Swedish omnichannel retailers. Focusing on outbound warehouse configurations, data are collected through interviews, on-site observations, and secondary sources. A multistep analysis is made, including both pattern matching and explanation building.

Findings

The qualitative analysis reveals 16 contextual factors, of which assortment range, requested online order fulfillment times, goods size and total transactions are the most influential. The study shows how contextual factors create different challenges, thereby influencing the choice of the configurations. In addition to market dynamics and task complexity, the study describes four categories of the factors and related challenges that are particularly important in omnichannels: speed, space, economies of scale and tied-up capital.

Research limitations/implications

The findings highlight the importance of understanding context and imply that multiple challenges may require trade-offs when selecting configurations, for example, regarding what storage, processes and resources to integrate or separate. To confirm, extend, challenge and further operationalize the ideas and observations put forward in this paper, an agenda with future research issues is given for this accelerating, contemporary phenomenon.

Practical implications

Managers could leverage the frameworks proposed for the contextual profiling of their current and future positions. The frameworks provide support for understanding the important challenges and potential trade-offs and developing aligned configurations.

Originality/value

This study is original in the way it provides in-depth, case study findings about contextual factors and their influence on omnichannel warehouse configuration.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 51 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-0035

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 December 2021

Neetika Jain and Sangeeta Mittal

A cost-effective way to achieve fuel economy is to reinforce positive driving behaviour. Driving behaviour can be controlled if drivers can be alerted for behaviour that results…

Abstract

Purpose

A cost-effective way to achieve fuel economy is to reinforce positive driving behaviour. Driving behaviour can be controlled if drivers can be alerted for behaviour that results in poor fuel economy. Fuel consumption must be tracked and monitored instantaneously rather than tracking average fuel economy for the entire trip duration. A single-step application of machine learning (ML) is not sufficient to model prediction of instantaneous fuel consumption and detection of anomalous fuel economy. The study designs an ML pipeline to track and monitor instantaneous fuel economy and detect anomalies.

Design/methodology/approach

This research iteratively applies different variations of a two-step ML pipeline to the driving dataset for hatchback cars. The first step addresses the problem of accurate measurement and prediction of fuel economy using time series driving data, and the second step detects abnormal fuel economy in relation to contextual information. Long short-term memory autoencoder method learns and uses the most salient features of time series data to build a regression model. The contextual anomaly is detected by following two approaches, kernel quantile estimator and one-class support vector machine. The kernel quantile estimator sets dynamic threshold for detecting anomalous behaviour. Any error beyond a threshold is classified as an anomaly. The one-class support vector machine learns training error pattern and applies the model to test data for anomaly detection. The two-step ML pipeline is further modified by replacing long short term memory autoencoder with gated recurrent network autoencoder, and the performance of both models is compared. The speed recommendations and feedback are issued to the driver based on detected anomalies for controlling aggressive behaviour.

Findings

A composite long short-term memory autoencoder was compared with gated recurrent unit autoencoder. Both models achieve prediction accuracy within a range of 98%–100% for prediction as a first step. Recall and accuracy metrics for anomaly detection using kernel quantile estimator remains within 98%–100%, whereas the one-class support vector machine approach performs within the range of 99.3%–100%.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed approach does not consider socio-demographics or physiological information of drivers due to privacy concerns. However, it can be extended to correlate driver's physiological state such as fatigue, sleep and stress to correlate with driving behaviour and fuel economy. The anomaly detection approach here is limited to providing feedback to driver, it can be extended to give contextual feedback to the steering controller or throttle controller. In the future, a controller-based system can be associated with an anomaly detection approach to control the acceleration and braking action of the driver.

Practical implications

The suggested approach is helpful in monitoring and reinforcing fuel-economical driving behaviour among fleet drivers as per different environmental contexts. It can also be used as a training tool for improving driving efficiency for new drivers. It keeps drivers engaged positively by issuing a relevant warning for significant contextual anomalies and avoids issuing a warning for minor operational errors.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the existing literature by providing an ML pipeline approach to track and monitor instantaneous fuel economy rather than relying on average fuel economy values. The approach is further extended to detect contextual driving behaviour anomalies and optimises fuel economy. The main contributions for this approach are as follows: (1) a prediction model is applied to fine-grained time series driving data to predict instantaneous fuel consumption. (2) Anomalous fuel economy is detected by comparing prediction error against a threshold and analysing error patterns based on contextual information.

Details

International Journal of Intelligent Computing and Cybernetics, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-378X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2002

Kathleen E. McKone and Roger G. Schroeder

While research has identified potential benefits of specific technology development practices, the literature has largely failed to identify the contextual issues that influence…

Abstract

While research has identified potential benefits of specific technology development practices, the literature has largely failed to identify the contextual issues that influence these practices. This paper explores the contextual differences of plants to better understand what types of companies place more emphasis on process technology and have a more disciplined approach to product development. We propose a theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between the context in which a plant operates and the process technology and the product development practices used within the plant. We test this framework using data from 163 plants to determine what types of companies are most likely to emphasize process technology and product development at the plant level. Our results indicate that environmental, organizational and strategic contextual factors are important to the technology practices of a plant.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 22 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 July 2022

Daniele Binci, Corrado Cerruti, Giorgia Masili and Cristina Paternoster

The purpose of this study is to explore the agile project management (APM) approach through the contextual ambidextrous lens by overcoming the traditional perspective that…

1954

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the agile project management (APM) approach through the contextual ambidextrous lens by overcoming the traditional perspective that separates projects within the opposite planned-exploitation- and emergent-exploration-oriented forms.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a grounded approach to five different agile-oriented companies for discovering how agile adoption shows both emergent (exploration-oriented) and planned (exploitation-oriented) tensions in a perspective that connects, rather than separates, them.

Findings

This study discovers five main categories, namely, approach, objectives, boundaries, leadership and feedback, that capture the tensions between planned and emergent issues of agile projects. The identified variables interact with different intervening conditions of the APM attributes (i.e. road map, product backlog, team backlog and solution delivery), activating different response actions (“exploitation embedded in exploration” and vice-versa), requiring, as a consequence, the need for contextual ambidexterity.

Research limitations/implications

This study identifies different implications based on real project contexts, as the importance of a more complete picture of the APM approach, which also considers the combination of planned and emergent aspects of projects and, as consequence, the needs for dual capacities (T-shaped skills) both at project management and team levels.

Practical implications

This study identifies, in real project contexts, the relevance of integration between the corporate level and the agile project team. This implies the search for constant dialogue, with feedback exchange spread across all levels, also enabled by an integrated leadership approach.

Originality/value

This study highlights agile tensions in a real-world project context by describing how APM connects both explorative and exploitative aspects of change within the same APM initiative, in order to manage such tensions, which differs from previous studies that consider APM in alternation with a linear project management approach as stage-gate.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 35 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1999

Wai‐sum Siu and David A. Kirby

Though the authors propose the use of an integrative approach ‐ blending the process model and the contingency approach ‐ to build and advance small firm marketing theory, they do…

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Abstract

Though the authors propose the use of an integrative approach ‐ blending the process model and the contingency approach ‐ to build and advance small firm marketing theory, they do not describe the research methodology issues in detail. Thus, this paper reviews the relevant literature on research methodology for small firm marketing and suggests the adoption of a contextual stepwise approach ‐ adopting a co‐ordinated programme of research adjusted in accordance with the situational factors ‐ to examine small firm marketing in more depth. The article outlines a three‐stage contextual stepwise approach to the study of small firm marketing in Hong Kong which is resulting in the addition of new knowledge on the subject and the formulation of a tentative new model of small firm marketing in a non‐western context.

Details

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-2752

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 January 2023

Ana M. Arboleda, Luciana C. Manfredi, Giuseppina Marcazzo and Christian Arroyo

This research aims to reach meaningful insights into fruit consumption motives. The study articulates contextual motives observed through inherent fruit characteristics (i.e…

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to reach meaningful insights into fruit consumption motives. The study articulates contextual motives observed through inherent fruit characteristics (i.e. attributes and benefits) with personal motives that transcend the situation (i.e. emotions and cultural values).

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study used the focus group technique comprising eight groups of eight to 10 subjects (n = 94). The participants were frequent fresh-fruit consumers.

Findings

The analysis differentiates contextual motives from transituational ones. Older participants are motivated by taking care of health matters. They value fruit as an expression of their determination to take action and care for others. Younger participants are motivated by the experience of pleasure. Fruits have a hedonic value related to joy, being refreshing and tasteful.

Practical implications

Results serve marketers and decision-makers to better target motivations for fruit consumption enhancement. These motivations could be implemented by communicating specific fruit attributes that respond to short-term needs. In the long run, marketers could create fruit consumption campaigns that respond to deeper consumer values.

Social implications

Designing fruit consumption campaigns aligned with individuals' motives could effectively strengthen the adoption of a healthy lifestyle. This study is helpful from the aspect of a public-policy approach expected to improve public health.

Originality/value

Consumers' fruit preference transcends tangible product characteristics to motives aligned with their goals, emotions and human values. This path merges two approaches: contextual motivations and the Means-end chain model. The first approach recognises short-term observable product characteristics, whereas the latter works on long-term values.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 125 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 June 2022

Nessma A. Q. Al-Hammadi and Kokan Grchev

Adopting Mapping Literature, the purpose of this study is to notice the tendency in defining contextualism through extrinsic aspects neglecting the intrinsic ones generating three…

Abstract

Purpose

Adopting Mapping Literature, the purpose of this study is to notice the tendency in defining contextualism through extrinsic aspects neglecting the intrinsic ones generating three theoretical gaps in understanding contextualism, especially in terms of (1) physical/cultural aspects (P/C); (2) traditional vs contemporary architecture (T/C); and (3) place identity (PI).

Design/methodology/approach

A directed systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to investigate the Web of Science and Google Scholar engines for the related studies, resulting in 66 texts of book chapters, conferences, articles and practitioners’ texts. Using the PRISMA reporting method, the study presented the SLR procedure that narrowed the related studies to 66 texts of book chapters, conferences, articles and practitioners’ texts. Both consensus and debates in understanding the relation between contextualism and (T/C, P/C and PI) were re-visited (see Appendix).

Findings

According to the findings, the studies tend to address contextualism through either extrinsic or intrinsic values. The undefined balance between extrinsic and intrinsic aspects in understanding and creating contextual architecture seems to be the common reason why the three theoretical gaps exist.

Originality/value

This paper did not only conduct an SLR investigation on the topic, which is limited in the field, but it also highlighted the need for further and constant discussions despite the previous one to improve the understanding of contextual architecture.

1 – 10 of over 51000