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1 – 10 of 25Dave Whittington and Tammy Dewar
This short paper will introduce some tools and processes that can be used to develop a more strategic approach to organisational learning. They were developed over a two‐year…
Abstract
This short paper will introduce some tools and processes that can be used to develop a more strategic approach to organisational learning. They were developed over a two‐year action research project carried out by Business Lab (www.businesslab.co.uk) in Aberdeen, Scotland, involving dozens of UK and international companies, government agencies, and educational institutions. The toolset, called LearningEdge, evolved out of the best practices of these organisations and learning organisation theory. Calliope Learning has been using the toolset in the North American market since 2003.
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Research within the fields of youth sexuality and safeguarding, and ethical governance more broadly, has traditionally prioritised risk aversion over the rights of young people to…
Abstract
Purpose
Research within the fields of youth sexuality and safeguarding, and ethical governance more broadly, has traditionally prioritised risk aversion over the rights of young people to participate in and shape research. This excludes younger people from setting agendas and directly communicating their lived experience to those in power. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper describes and draws upon findings from an innovative two year participatory action research study exploring sexual consent with young people through embedded and participatory research across seven sites. The project was designed with young people and practised non-traditional approaches to research consent. As well as co-producing research data, the findings highlight how methods of co-enquiry and being explicit about the research consent process enabled young people to develop competence that can be applied in other contexts.
Findings
The paper addresses ethical tensions between young people’s rights to participation and protection. It argues that alongside robust safeguarding procedures, there is equal need to develop robust participation and engagement strategies with an explicit focus on young people’s competence, agency and rights to participate regardless of the perceived sensitivity of the topic.
Originality/value
The paper concludes with proposals for future youth-centred research practice. These relate to research design, ethical governance processes around risk and sensitive topics, emphasis on working collaboratively with young people and practitioners, a greater focus on children and young people’s rights – including Gillick competence and fluid models of consent. In doing so, it presents an essential point of reference for those seeking to co-produce research with young people in the UK and beyond.
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James J. Kirk, Bridget Downey, Steve Duckett and Connie Woody
The first section of the article provides readers with an overview of the most widely used career development interventions including alternative career paths, assessment centers…
Abstract
The first section of the article provides readers with an overview of the most widely used career development interventions including alternative career paths, assessment centers, career coaching/counseling, cross‐training, flexitime, job enlargement, job enrichment, job rotation, job sharing, phased retirement, sabbaticals, and temporary assignments. Each intervention is described and accompanied with an example. The second section of the article presents three case studies: When woodworkers won’t; How do we keep going from here? and Opportunity in scarce resources. Each case is accompanied with a series of discussion questions and answers. Managers, trainers, and/or consultants can use the article and its case studies to facilitate discussions among employees regarding the potential benefits and drawbacks of various career development interventions.
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Shiv Chaudhry, Dave Crick and James M. Crick
The objective of this chapter is to help unpack the performance-enhancing role of certain capabilities that influence the decision of female immigrant entrepreneurs to rapidly…
Abstract
The objective of this chapter is to help unpack the performance-enhancing role of certain capabilities that influence the decision of female immigrant entrepreneurs to rapidly internationalise. It employs a capabilities perspective of the broader resource-based theory and contributes to existing research involving capabilities that facilitate or inhibit rapid internationalisation. One strand of earlier literature highlights a potential ‘double disadvantage’ among particular female immigrant entrepreneurs associated with gender and ethnicity. An alternative strand of prior research identifies certain gender and ethnic resources/capabilities like cultural knowledge that can provide potential advantages. Findings from interviews with 11 female immigrant entrepreneurs that migrated to the UK, and selected secondary data, form an instrumental case study. New insights emerge regarding the potential role of appropriate stakeholders in transforming operational capabilities to those of a threshold or potentially dynamic nature. The findings suggest that generalisation should not occur regarding earlier literature investigating practices in other sectors.
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Cathy Burgess, Anne Hampton, Liz Price and Angela Roper
Hotel groups have expanded extensively over recent years, with keyplayers now operating on a global basis. Presents a critical evaluationof the literature relating to the…
Abstract
Hotel groups have expanded extensively over recent years, with key players now operating on a global basis. Presents a critical evaluation of the literature relating to the internationalization of hotel groups and previous success studies and prescriptive strategic management models in relation to multinational hotel groups. Addresses issues which include the measurement of internationalization, overreliance of profitability as a single measure of success and the dominance of western business cultures. Forwards proposals for a research framework designed specifically to investigate success in international hotel groups and to emphasize the need for “holistic” approach. Recognizes the need to research success using a multidisciplinary framework.
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Sascha Friesike, Leonhard Dobusch and Maximilian Heimstädt
Many early-career researchers (ECR) are motivated by the prospect of creating knowledge that is useful, not just within but also beyond the academic community. Although research…
Abstract
Many early-career researchers (ECR) are motivated by the prospect of creating knowledge that is useful, not just within but also beyond the academic community. Although research facilities, funders and academic journals praise this eagerness for societal impact, the path toward such contributions is by no means straightforward. In this essay, we address five common concerns faced by ECRs when they strive for societal impact. We discuss the opportunity costs associated with impact work, the fuzziness of current impact measurement, the challenge of incremental results, the actionability of research findings, and the risk of saying something wrong in public. We reflect on these concerns in light of our own experience with impact work and conclude by suggesting a “post-heroic” perspective on impact, whereby seemingly mundane activities are linked in a meaningful way.
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Stuart Winby, Christopher G. Worley and Terry L. Martinson
This chapter integrates organization design and sustainability concepts to describe an accelerated transformational change at the Fairview Medical Group (United States).
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter integrates organization design and sustainability concepts to describe an accelerated transformational change at the Fairview Medical Group (United States).
Design/methodology/approach
A case study of the transformation at Fairview Medical Group’s primary care clinics was developed from interviews and first-person accounts of the change. Objective data regarding outcomes was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the redesign process.
Findings
The Fairview Medical Group developed an innovation and change capability to transform 35 primary care clinics in six months. All of the clinics were certified by the state of Minnesota as complying with their healthcare standards. Clinical outcomes, costs, and employee and physician engagement also increased. All of the improved measures are sustained.
Originality/value
Healthcare reform in the United States struggles because the organization design challenges are great and the change difficulties even greater. Fairview’s experience provides important evidence and lessons that can help advance our understanding of effective healthcare and create more sustainable healthcare systems. This chapter provides healthcare system administrators evidence and alternatives in the pursuit of implementation.
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Jim Rooney and Suresh Cuganesan
The purpose of this study is to examine how managers in financial institutions satisfy themselves of the effectiveness of risk mitigation strategy and management control. It…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how managers in financial institutions satisfy themselves of the effectiveness of risk mitigation strategy and management control. It studies the co-opting of accounting tools within a single financial institution case study, examining the recursive and emergent characteristics of risk management practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting a field study approach within the strategy-as-practice perspective, the paper provides insights into the role of actor perceptions of risk and accounting as a calculative practice in the adaptive enactment of risk strategy.
Findings
Results highlight the interactions between risk management strategy, management controls and actor interests at Lehman Brothers. The actions and reactions of risk management decision-makers such as Executive Committee and Board members are examined to better understand the role of accounting and leadership.
Research limitations/implications
Results of this study may not be generalised beyond this single case study.
Practical implications
The paper emphasises that concern for the social relations and the performative interests of actors in a risk management network needs to be understood and considered in accounting research. It is argued that the market prices of tradable financial asset will continue to be opaque without these insights.
Originality/value
This study explores an under-researched topic in the accounting literature in examining how management controls are affected by and, in turn, affect risk strategising.
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Rob Gray, Colin Dey, Dave Owen, Richard Evans and Simon Zadek
Addresses three related, though not entirely congruent, aims. Seeks, first, to initiate moves towards a “normative theory” ‐ a conceptual framework ‐ for the developing of social…
Abstract
Addresses three related, though not entirely congruent, aims. Seeks, first, to initiate moves towards a “normative theory” ‐ a conceptual framework ‐ for the developing of social accounting by organizations. Second, aims inductively to draw out best practice from a range of social accounting experiments, illustrated, in particular, by reference to two short cases from Traidcraft plc and Traidcraft Exchange. Third, draws from the conclusions reached in the exploration of the first two aims and attempts to identify any clear “social accounting standards” or “generally acceptable social accounting principles” which can be used to guide the new and emerging social accounting practice. Presents a number of subtexts which attempt to link back to the accounting literature’s more trenchant critiques of social accounting; to address the tension between academic theorizing and engaging with practice; to synthesize different approaches to social accounting practice; and to respond to the urgency that the recent upsurge in interest in social accounting places on the newly formed Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability. An ambitious paper which means that coverage of issues must be thinner than might typically be expected ‐ exploratory, rather than providing answer, offers a collective view from experience and encourage engagement with the rapidly evolving social accounting agenda.
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Reetesh K. Singh and Simple Sethi Arora
The purpose of this paper is to study the adoption of balanced scorecard (ABSC) as performance management system (PMS). It also proposes a framework for empirically validating the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the adoption of balanced scorecard (ABSC) as performance management system (PMS). It also proposes a framework for empirically validating the antecedents and consequences of the ABSC as PMS.
Design/methodology/approach
Through the extensive review of BSC literature, the antecedents and consequences factors of BSC adoption as PMS are explored. A conceptual model is derived which hypothesises the relationship between the antecedents and consequences of the ABSC. The data collected by surveying perception of 128 bank employees is empirically tested. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to test the validity of the proposed measurement model, and hypothesised relationships are tested using structural equation modelling.
Findings
The findings confirmed the hypothesised conceptual model. They indicate that top management involvement and interdepartmental communication are the two prime antecedent factors which significantly lead to ABSC as PMS. In addition to this, the findings validate a strong causal relationship between ABSC and three consequence factors, namely, employees’ behaviour, organisational capabilities and perceived performance.
Research limitations/implications
The current study broadens the understanding of the notion of BSC as PMS in a considerable manner. It overcomes the inadequacy of the previous studies which failed to explore the antecedents and consequences of ABSC in a comprehensive way. The studies’ key limitation is that it is based on the perception of employees which can be overcome by using multiple methods to collect data in future studies.
Originality/value
The current study makes a significant contribution to the BSC literature. It is a first of its kind study to provide empirical validation to the conceptual model of antecedents and consequences of the ABSC as PMS. The research finding offers key implications for both researchers and practitioners.
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