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This chapter shares work carried out to use the discipline of Informing Science as a lens to carry out an analysis of the discipline of entrepreneurship. Focusing first at the level of the entrepreneurship discipline itself, recently advanced frameworks for practice-as-entrepreneurial-learning and for the scholarship of teaching and learning for entrepreneurship (SoTLE) are built upon using Gill’s work on academic informing systems to develop a framework that encourages viewing the entrepreneurship discipline as a system that informs entrepreneurial practice. While this may sound self-evident, we will explore how it implies something quite different from the teaching–research–scholarship paradigm to which most of us are accustomed.

This commentary argues that social marketing and the application of behavioural sciences to policy constitute two converging paths towards better policies. It highlights points of convergence and divergence between both disciplines and the potential benefits of further embedding social marketing principles and methods within the recent trend of applying behavioural sciences to policy.

The commentary relies on a review of the behavioural sciences and social marketing literatures and on an analysis of institutional reports reviewing cases of behaviourally informed policies.

Behavioural sciences are increasingly informing policies to promote societal well-being. Social marketing has seldom been explicitly considered as being part of this phenomenon, although it is de facto. Both disciplines share similar end-goals, inform similar policy applications and are rooted in behavioural analysis. They diverge in their theoretical frameworks, their relative emphasis on behaviour change and the span of interventions they generate. Several benefits of embedding social marketing principles and methods within the current way of applying behavioural sciences to policy are identified.

Scholars applying behavioural sciences to policy are encouraged, when appropriate, to use the insights and methods from social marketing. Social marketing can engage in a dialogue with behavioural sciences to explore how to pilot the convergence of both approaches in practice.

The novelty of this contribution lies in providing the first comparison of the application of behavioural sciences to policy with social marketing, and in using the policy-making cycle framework to map the contributions and complementarities of both disciplines.

To claim for communication professionals the ethical responsibility of contributing to the public debate within the realm of their function in scientific and technological organizations, giving people the power to analyze the information available to them and based on that make better-informed decisions on issues that affect their lives, is the sole purpose of this exercise. Departing from a focus on the messages – information, misinformation and disinformation – we defend to refocus on relations to enable people to make the distinction between them, and then fulfilling communication’s purpose of reflexion.

Through a review of literature, we set out to delimitate and contextualize the role of communication professionals in scientific and technological organizations in today’s social and political environments. We conclude that communication professionals in scientific and technological organizations do need to embrace the responsibility to contribute to the empowerment of citizens regarding their access to information and ability to navigate through the overwhelming amount of data they have access to daily.

As we witness the rise and expansion of populist movements throughout the globe, it is not of lesser importance to reflect on the role of scientific and technological organizations in the public debate. As it is here that public opinion forms, it is important that organizations involved in the scientific and technology development call on themselves and embrace it as part of their identity, the responsibility to inform the decision-making process of citizens with the purpose of bettering it.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a preliminary analysis of the role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in state climate science assessment (CSA) and state climate adaptation plan (CAP) development in the USA.

This study uses a content review of US state government and land grant (LG) university websites, including 36 CSAs and CAPs. These data informed the development of a tiered conceptual model of HEI engagement in state climate action planning. The conceptual model is evaluated through the lens of coproduction within knowledge networks.

HEI contributions to state-level climate action planning in the USA are highly variable, ranging from minimal engagement to defined roles in the development and implementation of robust state CAPs. Novel approaches to optimize effective exchange between scientists and decision-makers that also increase the engagement of academia are needed.

This study advocates for and provides a replicable example of HEI engagement in the development of mechanisms that increase the connectivity of in-state climate networks. Such mechanisms optimize information sharing and engagement, consequently building sustained capacity for in-state collaboration at the science–policy interface.

HEIs, particularly LG universities, are a stable source of state-specific climate science and expert assistance that persist beyond national and state political cycles. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to examine their unique contributions to climate science policy development and implementation. It investigates specifically the relationships and interactions between HEIs and state governments in the USA and offers a detailed case study from the state of Maine.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework that uses complexity as a means of better understanding the role that case studies can play in the classroom and in building bridges between research and practice.

The paper synthesizes complexity theory and the practical classroom and case writing experiences of the author into a framework.

A narrow view of the impact of case studies severely limits their widespread adoption. Rather than treating a case study as a document of very limited value to an academic career, the author needs to recognize their role in building relationships between research and practice. Through these relationships, opportunities for students and two-way flows of knowledge between academia and practice can be achieved.

The framework developed assumes that domain of study is complex – involving many interacting elements taking place in a context where an objectively “right” or “best” answer is unlikely to be realized. It is less clear that it is applicable to situations where optimal procedures are available and can be taught or learned.

A key implication of the framework is that separating the use of case studies in the classroom (i.e. case facilitation) from the development of case studies in the field (i.e. case writing) can greatly diminish their value.

The proposed framework argues for greater interaction between the academic and practitioner communities.

The paper offers a comprehensive perspective on cases that is rarely expressed. It should be of particular value to faculty and administrators seeking to justify the development and use of case studies.

In addressing the future trajectory of knowledge management systems, this paper uses the psycho-social notion of generativity which recently stimulated contributions in technology and innovation for a holistic systemic knowledge management (KM) review. The purpose of this study is to identify current shortcomings and fixations together with their ramifying affordances, all enveloped within a novel KM concept and prototype-system-under-development.

It follows up on prior publications using design science research (DSR) methodologies in compliance with theory effectiveness, a principle expecting system designs to be purposeful in terms of utility and communication. The KM perspective taken prioritizes a decentralizing agenda benefiting knowledge workers while also aiming to foster a fruitful co-evolution with traditional organizational KM approaches.

The notions of generative fit and capacities in their technical, informational and social interpretations prove able to accommodate diverse KM models and to cumulatively synthesize a wide range of related concepts and perspectives. In the process, Nonaka’s renowned socialize, externalize, combine, internalize and Ba model is repurposed and extended to suggest a corresponding complementing seize, imbed, collate, encompass, effectuate workflow embedded in distinct digital ecosystems fully aligned to the diversity of the generative attributes introduced.

Although the prototype development is still in progress, the study conforms to the DSR practice to report on early visions of technology impact on users, organizations and society and also refers to and reflects on aspects of feasibility, suitability, acceptability and the system’s prospect as a general-purpose technology or disruptive innovation.

The paper transdisciplinarily integrates the well-established psychological notions of generativity into its newer digital and systemic KM dimensions. The resulting new insights transparently inform the concept and prototype design, present a holistic framework for individuals and organizations and suggest avenues for new KM applications and KM research directions inspired by the adopted and adapted novel generativity contexts.

This research examines the influence of parents on students studying the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and entering STEM careers. Participating youths were awarded scholarships from large funded US grant programmes. Cases of two graduate students (one female, one male) and one undergraduate student (male) are featured. The first two students in the convenience sample are biology and physics majors in a STEM teacher education program; the third is enrolled in computer science. National reports emphasizing the importance of parents on their children's education are presented, along with diverse international literature. The use of narrative in STEM curriculum and narrative inquiry in STEM research are also documented. Experience, story, and identity form the study's conceptual frame. The narrative inquiry research method employs broadening, burrowing, and storying and restorying to elucidate the students' academic trajectories. Incidents of circumstantial and planned parent curriculum making surfaced when the data were serially interpreted. Other noteworthy themes included: (1) relationships between (student) learners and (teacher) parents, (2) invitations to inquiry, (3) modes of inquiry, (4) the improbability of certainty, and (5) changed narratives = changed lives. While policy briefs provide sweeping statements about parents' positive effects on their children, narrative inquiries such as this one illuminate parents' inquiry moves within home environments. These actions became retrospectively revealed in their adult children's lived narratives. These small stories, while not generalizable, map how students, shaped by their parents' nurturing, enter the STEM disciplines and STEM-related careers through multiple pathways in addition to the identified pipeline.

Māori (Indigenous New Zealanders) and Pacific students tend not to attain the same levels of educational success as New Zealanders of European descent. Addressing this problem is a particular challenge at tertiary level in science, engineering, and architecture and design (SEAD). Te Rōpū Āwhina (Āwhina), an initiative at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW), aims to produce Māori and Pacific professionals who contribute to Māori and Pacific development and leadership. The objective of this analysis was to summarise quantitative results from the first 11 years of Āwhina and to show they are consistent with an Āwhina ‘effect’; that is, a positive influence on (combined) Māori and Pacific success in the SEAD disciplines. Individual-level records held in the VUW student database were used to generate smoothed trends in SEAD and non-SEAD graduate and postgraduate degree completions since 1991. Substantial improvements in SEAD Māori and Pacific completions occurred between 1999 and 2010, including a 50%- increase in Māori and Pacific postgraduate completions relative to all SEAD postgraduate completions. In the same period, non-SEAD Māori and Pacific postgraduate completions increased at a similar rate to all non-SEAD postgraduate completions. Results were consistent with a strong Āwhina effect, which has important implications for the nature of tertiary institutions, their cultural and social disconnection with Indigenous and minority students, and their social obligations and responsiveness. This analysis did not account for students who did not complete a qualification or include key confounders such as entry qualifications and gender. Definitive confirmation of an Āwhina effect is the subject of ongoing research.

Background: The concept of the ideas-informed society represents a desired situation in which: (1) citizens see value in staying up to date, and (2) citizens regularly keep themselves up to date by actively engaging with new ideas, developments and claims to truth, doing so both openly and critically. As a result, individuals become ever more knowledgeable, are better able to make good decisions, as well as find themselves in better position to re-align their values in response to new progressive norms and beliefs. Given these potential benefits, of primary interest are those who do not value staying up to date, nor attempt to do so.

Methods: With this systematic review we have sought to identify ways to consider how such “ideas refusers” might be switched-on to engaging with new ideas. We have done so by exploring: (1) the factors which act as barriers to and enablers of the actualisation of the ideas-informed society; (2) interventions/programmes and community-led activities developed to actualise the ideas-informed society; and (3) other non-empirically tested/verified suggestions for how the ideas-informed society might be actualised. Our findings derive from 25 research outputs (from a total of 631 originally identified) as well as examine case studies of “bottom-up” analogous activities.

Results: Our review highlights the presence of seemingly impactful approaches to enabling citizens to engage with new ideas, including science cafés and museum exhibitions. Other more bottom-up approaches include community-based events and festivals; social networks (and discussion within these networks) are also key to whether and how individuals engage with ideas, and the breadth of ideas they engage with.

Conclusions: We conclude by suggesting development and rigorous testing is now needed of interventions that seek to: (1) pique citizens’ curiosity; (2) establish connections to social networks and; (3) arm citizens with essential ideas-related dispositions.

Data science lacks a distinctive identity and a theory-informed approach, both for its own sake and to properly be applied conjointly to the social sciences. This paper’s purposes are twofold: to provide (1) data science an illustration of theory adoption, able to address explanation and support prediction/prescription capacities and (2) a rationale for identification of the key phenomena and properties of data science so that the data speak through a contextual understanding of reality, broader than has been usual.

A literature review and a derived conceptual research model for a push–pull approach (adapted for a data science study in the management field) are presented. A real location–allocation problem is solved through a specific algorithm and explained in the light of the adapted push–pull theory, serving as an instance for a data science theory-informed application in the management field.

This study advances knowledge on the definition of data science key phenomena as not just pure “data”, but interrelated data and datasets properties, as well as on the specific adaptation of the push-pull theory through its definition, dimensionality and interaction model, also illustrating how to apply the theory in a data science theory-informed research. The proposed model contributes to the theoretical strengthening of data science, still an incipient area, and the solution of the location-allocation problem suggests the applicability of the proposed approach to broad data science problems, alleviating the criticism on the lack of explanation and the focus on pattern recognition in data science practice and research.

The proposed algorithm requires the previous definition of a perimeter of interest. This aspect should be characterised as an antecedent to the model, which is a strong assumption. As for prescription, in this specific case, one has to take complementary actions, since theory, model and algorithm are not detached from in loco visits, market research or interviews with potential stakeholders.

This study offers a conceptual model for practical location–allocation problem analyses, based on the push–pull theoretical components. So, it suggests a proper definition for each component (the object, the perspective, the forces, its degrees and the nature of the movement). The proposed model has also an algorithm for computational implementation, which visually describes and explains components interaction, allowing further simulation (estimated forces degrees) for prediction.

First, this study identifies an overlap of push–pull theoretical approaches, which suggests theory adoption eventually as mere common sense, weakening further theoretical development. Second, this study elaborates a definition for the push–pull theory, a dimensionality and a relationship between its components. Third, a typical location–allocation problem is analysed in the light of the refactored theory, showing its adequacy for that class of problems. And fourth, this study suggests that the essence of a data science should be the study of contextual relationships among data, and that the context should be provided by the spatial, temporal, political, economic and social analytical interests.