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The purpose of this paper is to identify sensing, seizing and reconfiguring routines of dynamic capabilities that enable digital transformation in firms.

A qualitative approach is used. Representatives from a firm going through digital transformations are interviewed, and focus groups have been carried out with a consultancy firm experienced in giving advice to firms going through digital transformation.

Six routines identified as relevant specifically for digital transformation are identified. These are cross-industrial digital sensing, inside-out digital infrastructure sensing, digital strategy development, determination of enterprise boundaries, decomposition of digital transformation into specified projects and creation of a unified digital infrastructure.

The authors provide direction for managers on how to approach digital transformation. In relation to previous research, the authors provide more specific guidance regarding how to reconfigure the organization in digital transformation.

The paper uses a novel context for digital transformation and complements the very few studies available using dynamic capabilities to understand digital transformation.

Who will lead Ambridge in the years to come? Theories rooted in psychology and political science, when applied to family dynamics in The Archers, allow for some educated guesses. Social learning theory suggests that children who see their parents vote, run for office and participate in other civic activities are more likely to do the same in adulthood. Emma Grundy did just that when she followed in the footsteps of her father, Neil Carter, in winning a seat on the parish council. Previous research has found that birth order also can shape future leaders, with the eldest child more likely to benefit developmentally from parents' undivided attention in the early years, and also more likely to establish a hierarchy of power over younger siblings. With these factors in mind, who are the most probable contenders to lead Ambridge in the spheres of politics, business and civic affairs? The extant research points to Pip Archer, Lily Pargetter, Phoebe Aldridge and George Grundy. The unique circumstances of Ruairi Donovan's childhood suggest he may also be a formidable candidate. And, as is the case in so many contexts, one would be wise not to overlook Molly Button.

The purpose of this paper is to present a preliminary psychometric evaluation of the electronic mobile shower commode assessment tool (eMAST) 1.0.

A cross-sectional validation study was undertaken with 32 adults with spinal cord injury (SCI), aged 18 years or older, who use mobile shower commodes for toileting and/or showering. The eMAST 1.0, Quebec user evaluation of satisfaction with assistive technology, Version 2.0 (QUEST 2.0), and modified system usability scale (SUS) were administered online via SurveyMonkey. The eMAST 1.0 was re-administered approximately seven days later. Psychometric properties of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity were assessed.

As hypothesised, the eMAST 1.0 demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=0.73, N=32); acceptable test-retest reliability (intra-class coefficient (3, 1)=0.75 (0.53-0.88, 95 per cent confidence interval) (n=27)); and strong, positive correlations with the QUEST 2.0’s devices subscale and modified SUS (Pearson’s correlation coefficients 0.70 and 0.63, respectively).

The sample was not fully representative of Australian data in terms of gender, or state of residence, but was representative in terms of SCI level. Age data were not assessed. The sample size was small but adequate for a preliminary psychometric evaluation.

The preliminary psychometric evaluation indicates the eMAST 1.0 is a valid and reliable instrument that measures usability of MSCs for adults with SCI. It may be useful for exploring relationships between usability and satisfaction of MSCs.

People with developmental disorders are significantly more likely to experience adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), although the impact of ACEs on this population is not well understood. Furthermore, considerably less is known about the exposure to, and impact of, ACEs in detained adolescents with complex developmental disorder needs. This paper aims to explore the exposure to ACEs in an adolescent population detained in a secure specialist developmental disorder service.

A retrospective file review was used to explore ACEs and placement histories within a specialist developmental disorder inpatient service. Data was collated for a convenience sample of 36 adolescents, 9 of whom were female, aged 13–20 years (M = 17.28 years).

A total of 33 participants (91.7%) had experienced at least 1 ACE, with 58% experiencing 4 or more ACEs and 36% experiencing 6 or more ACEs. The most common ACEs reported were physical abuse (61.6%), parental separation (58.3%) and emotional abuse (55.6%). The majority of participants had also experienced high levels of disruption prior to admission, with an average of four placement breakdowns (range 1–13, standard deviation = 3.1). ACEs held a significant positive association with the total number of placement breakdowns and total number of mental health diagnoses.

Adolescents detained in specialist developmental disorder secure care had, at the point of admission, experienced high levels of adversities and had been exposed to high levels of experienced and observed abuse. The level of exposure to adversity and ongoing disruptions in care suggests that Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services’ developmental secure services should consider adopting dual treatment frameworks of developmental disorder and trauma-informed care.

This study explored the early-life and placement experiences of a marginalised and understudied population.

The purpose of this paper is to qualitatively evaluate the impact of therapeutic horticulture (TH) on social integration for people who have mental health problems.

A qualitative grounded theory approach captured the perceptions about TH from people with mental health problems. Data were collected using semi-structured focus group and interviews from a purposive sample (n=7) and were analysed using a constant comparative approach.

Four key themes emerged from the analysis: “a space to grow”, “seeing the person”, “learning about each other through nature” and “connecting to nature and others”. The findings suggest that TH enabled participants to integrate socially, engage with nature and develop confidence.

TH is a potential approach that can help combat social isolation. The findings from this research have implications for people working towards supporting people who are socially excluded. However, this was a pilot study with a small sample size of seven people with mental health problems, whilst four key themes emerged, the saturation of concepts rather than the sample size were saturated to provide an emic perspective of the phenomena.

TH provides a person centred approach that enables people with mental health problems to re-engage and connect with their fellow human beings. Using TH could help improve the public health and well-being of local communities through re-connecting people to the environment and reduce social isolation.

TH embody the principles of empowerment, person centeredness and can support people with mental health problems to integrate socially.

There is limited evidence about the influence that TH have on mental health and social integration. The use of TH is an area that is gathering evidence and this small study highlights the perceived potential benefits of this approach.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of the underlying rationale for why companies participate in mega‐events in general, and in mega‐events in emerging economies – such as the 2010 Shanghai Expo – in particular. Of particular interest are the ways that companies use an event to advance their own purposes, and how experiences are created that use aspects of an event setting such as Expo 2010.

The study is based on a participatory, ethnographic and longitudinal field study focusing on the VIP section of the Swedish Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, using additional data from other national pavilions and respondents with insight into Expo 2010 and its organization.

The study indicates that even though companies operationally used the World Expo and the VIP section in many different ways, an underlying element appears to be to use the event for the “practice of communification”.

The study provides practitioners with a conceptual framework and tools to manage the co‐creation process of experiences at events. This is done by supplying an empirical example from World Expo 2010 and the VIP area of the Swedish pavilion. This is a needed addition to the current knowledge on how customers engage in co‐creation of experiences and how companies manage the co‐creation process.

The “communification” concept is used to denote the simultaneous building of community while communicating business‐related issues to strengthen and build relationships with customers over time, with exclusivity and co‐creation of experiences as important components.

This paper calls for a reconsideration of standard narratives regarding the role of small, independent retailers for twentieth‐century urban communities. The paper aims to discuss the issues.

Taking the German city of Bremen as an example, the paper problematizes the nostalgic treatment of independent “Aunt Emma” (or “mom‐and‐pop”) stores in Germany during the last quarter of the century, by recounting the often conflict‐laden history of small retailers within the urban community. It draws on primary documents from retail associations, the chamber of commerce, municipal administrations, as well as media coverage.

The romanticization of the corner grocer overlooked the often divisive role of small store‐keepers in the interwar years as well as the social considerations behind some forms of retail modernization.

Beyond the particular examples of Bremen or even Germany, the paper urges historians of modern retailing to critically analyze the everyday role shops and shopkeepers have played within their communities without at the same time embracing a market‐liberal narrative of retail modernization as a function of consumer demand.

In this volume we will present nine articles from the third conference of the European SSSI which was held on July 4–6 in Rotterdam in 2012. They come from a diverse range of countries such as Poland, Sweden, The Netherlands, and Germany. This collection shows a wide variety of qualitative methods and themes, such as sex-work in Poland, urban public places in the Netherlands, dancing during lunch break in Sweden, self-change in Papua New Guinea, immigration in Malta and the body online. When we look at the studies in this volume, it becomes clear that European scholars have been inspired by the SI tradition in various ways, which will be discussed briefly in this introduction.