Search results
1 – 10 of 818During everyday work, individuals often engage in unplanned conversations that help them develop relationships, share information and coordinate tasks. Unfortunately, the…
Abstract
Purpose
During everyday work, individuals often engage in unplanned conversations that help them develop relationships, share information and coordinate tasks. Unfortunately, the work-from-home mandates issued due to the pandemic have reduced the frequency of unplanned conversations among employees. So, as businesses reopen, organizations are considering post-pandemic workplace solutions that can facilitate unplanned conversations. To aid these efforts and move research and theory on unplanned conversations forward, this study proposes and tests a multi-factor model of the antecedents of unplanned conversations.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a multi-methodological approach and collected data using automated sensing technology, structured observations and cross-sectional survey methods. A total of 5,297 unplanned conversations among 61 employees were recorded using the custom mobile application and structured observations. Cross-sectional survey data about these employees' work contexts were also collected.
Findings
The study results showed that the model significantly predicted the frequency of unplanned conversations. Notably, technical expertise, perceived time pressure and team psychological safety significantly predicted the frequency of unplanned conversations. The study findings have both theoretical and practical significance.
Originality/value
Previous research studies have primarily focused on the influence of workplace designs on unplanned conversations. However, this study demonstrates that several other factors facilitate unplanned conversations. This research theorizes and empirically tests the relationship between unplanned conversations and several individual, team and organizational factors.
Details
Keywords
Vladislav Valentinov and Constantine Iliopoulos
Transaction cost economics sees a broad spectrum of governance structures spanned by two types of economic adaptation: autonomous and cooperative. Stakeholder theorists have drawn…
Abstract
Purpose
Transaction cost economics sees a broad spectrum of governance structures spanned by two types of economic adaptation: autonomous and cooperative. Stakeholder theorists have drawn much inspiration from transaction cost economics but have not paid explicit attention to the centrality of the idea of adaptation in this literature. This study aims to address this gap.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop a novel conceptual framework applying the distinction between the two types of economic adaptation to stakeholder theory.
Findings
The authors argue that the idea of cooperative adaptation is particularly useful for describing the firm’s collaboration with primary stakeholders in the joint value creation process. In contrast, autonomous adaptation is more relevant for firms interacting with secondary stakeholders who are not directly engaged in joint value creation and may not have formal contractual relationships with the firm. Accordingly, cooperative adaptation can be seen as vital for resolving team production problems affecting joint value creation, whereas autonomous adaptation addresses how the firm maintains legitimacy within the larger stakeholder environment.
Originality/value
Similar to its significance for transaction cost economics, the distinction between the two types of adaptation equips stakeholder theory with a new systematic understanding of a potentially broad spectrum of firm–stakeholder collaboration forms.
Details
Keywords
Raphael Lissillour and Minelle E. Silva
Despite the growing interest in the field of supply chain sustainability (SCS), little exploration of new theories exists. Therefore, this paper aims to introduce practice…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the growing interest in the field of supply chain sustainability (SCS), little exploration of new theories exists. Therefore, this paper aims to introduce practice theories to SCS studies through a practice turn.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper in nature. Hence, based on theoretical arguments, the authors elaborate on how the practice turn can arise in the SCS field.
Findings
The theoretical elaboration is rooted in the understanding that sustainability is not limited to the materiality of environmental and social issues, as often observed. Instead, there is a need to include immaterial, emotional and intangible elements to better comprehend SCS practice. The authors argue that a continuum exists for a practice turn, including practice-based view, practice-based studies and critical practice theory.
Research limitations/implications
The authors provide a research agenda with a comprehensive perspective of understanding the application and implications of practice theories to SCS.
Practical implications
The practice turn in SCS studies can support managers to better understand their practices not only through recognizing explicit activities but also mainly by reflecting on hidden elements that affect their performance.
Social implications
SCS studies can better engage with grand challenges through a practice turn, which helps increase its contribution to solving social problems.
Originality/value
Unlike previous literature, the paper elaborates on how practice theories are powerful in supporting both scholars and practitioners in moving away from an extremely economic focus to genuinely embrace sustainability practice. In doing so, the practice turn appears as an important phase for SCS field maturity.
Details
Keywords
This study aims to examine the role of blockchain technology (BCT) in trust in financial reporting (TFR) and the use of smart contracts (USC). It aims to ascertain the mediating…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the role of blockchain technology (BCT) in trust in financial reporting (TFR) and the use of smart contracts (USC). It aims to ascertain the mediating role of USC in the relationship between BCT and TFR, thereby contributing to the limited empirical literature in this domain.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a sample of the accountants’ familiarity with BCT, a structural equation model was constructed and analyzed using AMOS 24. The model proposes and tests relationships between BCT, USC and TFR.
Findings
The study highlights BCT’s significant positive influence on TFR, with USC mediating this effect. It provides empirical evidence that supports the transformative potential of BCT and USC in enhancing TFR.
Practical implications
These findings have significant implications for practitioners, regulatory bodies and policymakers. By highlighting the effectiveness of BCT and USC in fostering TFR, the study makes one aware of strategies to mitigate financial malpractices. It promotes the adoption of BCT in accounting practices.
Originality/value
This study addresses a gap in the literature by investigating the complex interplay of BCT, USC and TFR. It offers a unique perspective by exploring the mediating role of USC, thereby enhancing our understanding of the mechanisms through which BCT can foster TFR.
Details
Keywords
This study aims to investigate the association between cognitive moral development (CMD) and unethical pro-organizational behaviour (UPB) by taking purchasing employees as…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the association between cognitive moral development (CMD) and unethical pro-organizational behaviour (UPB) by taking purchasing employees as research subjects. The moderating effect of perceived leader’s UPB is also explored.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a two-stage questionnaire survey on purchasing employees in companies across a spectrum of industries in Taiwan, and 492 purchasing employees were analysed in the study.
Findings
Research findings reveal that employees at the conventional level of CMD are more likely to conduct UPB than those at the pre-conventional and post-conventional levels. Perceived leader’s UPB will moderate the association between CMD and UPB. Employees’ UPB is strongly associated with their CMD when they perceive their leaders as being likely to perform UPB.
Originality/value
Although a variety of factors influencing UPB have been proposed in the literature, none of them have analysed the association between CMD and UPB. However, CMD is one important factor affecting ethical decision-making. The present study can promote further understanding of the role of CMD in UPB and contribute to a growing body of research on CMD and UPB.
Details
Keywords
Juhari Noor Faezah, M.Y. Yusliza, T. Ramayah, Adriano Alves Teixeira and Abdur Rachman Alkaf
The present work investigated the effect of corporate social responsibility and top management support on employee ecological behaviour (EEB) with the mediating role of green…
Abstract
Purpose
The present work investigated the effect of corporate social responsibility and top management support on employee ecological behaviour (EEB) with the mediating role of green culture and green commitment. Social identity theory (SIT) was used to describe the association between green culture, green commitment and EEB. Further, a conceptual model that summarises the interaction between perceived corporate social responsibility, top management support, green commitment, green culture and the adoption of ecological behaviour was developed.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper opted for a quantitative design using convenience sampling by collecting the data through a structured questionnaire gathered from 308 academics working in five Malaysian higher education institutions.
Findings
Corporate social responsibility and top management support positively influence green culture and commitment. Moreover, green commitment positively influenced EEB and fully mediated the relationship between corporate social responsibility and EEB and between top management support and EEB.
Research limitations/implications
The academic staff of universities was the target population of this research. Nevertheless, universities have a diverse population with complex activities that can affect the implementation of a sustainable workplace within the campus. Future research should also examine non-academic staff, including administrative, technical and operational staff, due to different employees' perceptions.
Originality/value
As far as the authors know, this is the first study to assign the mediator role to green culture in a relationship between top management support and EEB amongst academic staff in the Malaysian context. Future research should consider other intervening variables that influence adopting ecological behaviour.
Details
Keywords
Miriam Alzate, Marta Arce Urriza and Monica Cortiñas
This study aims to understand the extent of privacy concerns regarding voice-activated personal assistants (VAPAs) on Twitter. It investigates three key areas: (1) the effect of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand the extent of privacy concerns regarding voice-activated personal assistants (VAPAs) on Twitter. It investigates three key areas: (1) the effect of privacy-related press coverage on public sentiment and discussion volume; (2) the comparative negativity of privacy-focused conversations versus general conversations; and (3) the specific privacy-related topics that arise most frequently and their impact on sentiment and discussion volume.
Design/methodology/approach
A dataset of 441,427 tweets mentioning Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2021 were collected. Privacy-related press coverage has also been monitored. Sentiment analysis was conducted using the dictionary-based software LIWC and VADER, whereas text mining packages in R were used to identify privacy-related issues.
Findings
Negative privacy-related news significantly increases both negativity and volume in Twitter conversations, whereas positive news only boosts volume. Privacy-related tweets were notably more negative than general tweets. Specific keywords were found to either increase or decrease the sentiment and discussion volume. Additionally, a temporal evolution in sentiment, with general attitudes toward VAPAs becoming more positive, but privacy-specific discussions becoming more negative was observed.
Originality/value
This research augments the existing online privacy literature by employing text mining methodologies to gauge consumer sentiments regarding privacy concerns linked to VAPAs, a topic currently underexplored. Furthermore, this research uniquely integrates established theories from privacy calculus and social contract theory to deepen our analysis.
Details
Keywords
This paper introduces a new approach to theorising and learning from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women’s experiences of inequality in academia. It offers a versatile…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper introduces a new approach to theorising and learning from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women’s experiences of inequality in academia. It offers a versatile model with which the structure of a particular racist-sexist inequality regime can be theorised from empirical evidence.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents composite, fictionalised accounts of intersectional discrimination which are then analysed through critical realist frameworks, employing critical race feminist theory insights. This novel “whisper network” method centres the knowledge of BAME women in academia, and is translatable to other marginalised actors, offering a more protective means by which to access their knowledge as a foundation for organisational change.
Findings
Through theorising the ontological arrangement of key causal mechanisms responsible for the reproduction of inequality regimes, the paper illuminates links between micro-level intersectional discrimination and meso-level institutional inequality.
Research limitations/implications
In order to preserve anonymity and reduce potential backlash, the vignettes in this paper are not intended to precisely capture specific empirical realities, but instead reflect wider patterns from the author's own whisper network knowledge. Nonetheless, the analytical method developed here could be applied to rigorously collected empirical data, with clear implications for improving organisational practice.
Practical implications
The paper offers a structured and systematic process by which qualitative data on institutional inequality can be analysed and stakeholders engaged to develop and propose solutions, even by individuals new to the field.
Social implications
A methodical basis for strategic action addressing the issues revealed through such an analysis can be developed in order to galvanise and steer organisational change.
Originality/value
The novelty of the paper is twofold: in its original synthesis of critical realist depth ontology and ontological insights from critical race feminist theory about social structures of oppression, and in the development of the innovative “whisper network” method based upon a critical race theory counter-storytelling epistemology, in conversation with the emergent stream of literature within feminist organisation studies regarding the importance of “writing differently”.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to explore teacher candidates’ response to young adult literature (prose and comics) featuring fat identified protagonists. The paper considers the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore teacher candidates’ response to young adult literature (prose and comics) featuring fat identified protagonists. The paper considers the textual and embodied resources readers use and reject when imagining and interpreting a character’s body. This paper explores how readers’ meaning making was influenced when reading prose versus comics. This paper adds to a corpus of scholarship about the relationships between young adult literature, comics, bodies and reader response theory.
Design/methodology/approach
At the time of the study, participants were enrolled in a teacher education program at a Midwestern University, meeting monthly for a voluntary book club dedicated to reading and discussing young adult literature. To examine readers’ responses to comics and prose featuring fat-identified protagonists, the author used descriptive qualitative methodologies to conduct a thematic analysis of meeting transcripts, written participant reflections and researcher memos. Analysis was grounded in theories of reader response, critical fat studies and multimodality.
Findings
Analyses indicated many readers reject textual clues indicating a character’s body size and weight were different from their own. Readers read their bodies into the stories, regarding them as self-help narratives instead of radical counternarratives. Some readers were not able to read against their assumptions of thinness (and whiteness) until prompted by the researcher and other participants.
Originality/value
Although many reader response scholars have demonstrated readers’ tendencies toward personal identification in the face of racial and class differences, there is less research regarding classroom practices around the entanglement of physical bodies, body image and texts. Analyzing reader’s responses to the constructions of fat bodies in prose versus comics may help English Language Arts (ELA) educators and students identify and deconstruct ideologies of thin-thinking and fatphobia. This study, which demonstrates thin readers’ tendencies to overidentify with protagonists, suggests ELA classrooms might encourage readers to engage in critical literacies that support them in reading both with and against their identities.
Details
Keywords
Research on artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential effects on the workplace is increasing. How AI and the futures of work are framed in traditional media has been examined…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential effects on the workplace is increasing. How AI and the futures of work are framed in traditional media has been examined in prior studies, but current research has not gone far enough in examining how AI is framed on social media. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining how people frame the futures of work and intelligent machines when they post on social media.
Design/methodology/approach
We investigate public interpretations, assumptions and expectations, referring to framing expressed in social media conversations. We also coded the emotions and attitudes expressed in the text data. A corpus consisting of 998 unique Reddit post titles and their corresponding 16,611 comments was analyzed using computer-aided textual analysis comprising a BERTopic model and two BERT text classification models, one for emotion and the other for sentiment analysis, supported by human judgment.
Findings
Different interpretations, assumptions and expectations were found in the conversations. Three subframes were analyzed in detail under the overarching frame of the New World of Work: (1) general impacts of intelligent machines on society, (2) undertaking of tasks (augmentation and substitution) and (3) loss of jobs. The general attitude observed in conversations was slightly positive, and the most common emotion category was curiosity.
Originality/value
Findings from this research can uncover public needs and expectations regarding the future of work with intelligent machines. The findings may also help shape research directions about futures of work. Furthermore, firms, organizations or industries may employ framing methods to analyze customers’ or workers’ responses or even influence the responses. Another contribution of this work is the application of framing theory to interpreting how people conceptualize the future of work with intelligent machines.
Details