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1 – 10 of over 4000
Article
Publication date: 8 December 2020

Chethan D. Srikant and Patrick Donovan

Companies may spend capital and effort to ensure the survival within their niche but have limited capacity to expand into other niches or broaden their target segment. This paper…

341

Abstract

Purpose

Companies may spend capital and effort to ensure the survival within their niche but have limited capacity to expand into other niches or broaden their target segment. This paper aims to provide insights into how they can overcome this niche entrapment – companies becoming trapped in the very niche they have cultivated, the weight and inertia of their investment shackling them to its continued existence.

Design/methodology/approach

Cedar Fair’s acquisitions and its organizational structure are carefully examined to illustrate the need for considering niche entrapment as a concept. To understand the complexities that firms face in their attempts to overcome the niche entrapment, this paper analyzes Cedar Fair using the concepts of categories and inherited identities.

Findings

The following important lessons are elaborated for helping business organizations overcome niche entrapment: embrace the organizational complexity; use gateway and complementary identities; consider brand disassociation; and achieve ambidexterity through a portfolio of offering.

Originality/value

This paper deviates from the traditional treatment of niches as a focus strategy that firms can select to build competitive advantages but instead provides insights into how those very niches can become constraints. It also conceptually evaluates the attempts to overcome these constraints from an organizational perspective instead of an industry perspective. Apart from using categories in a novel way, it also introduces a new concept of inherited identities, which are the organizational identities that firms inherit as they acquire and assimilate other firms.

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2006

Gerard Lemos and Francis Bacon

Support for homeless people is best provided within a social ethic that stresses similarity and connection. A good life, for those currently without homes as for everyone else, is…

Abstract

Support for homeless people is best provided within a social ethic that stresses similarity and connection. A good life, for those currently without homes as for everyone else, is built on a positive identity, family and friends, relationships, and home and work. The article describes an online network and a new report that offer help in providing support of this kind to enable people to regain control of their lives.

Details

Housing, Care and Support, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-8790

Article
Publication date: 22 March 2019

Debadutta Kumar Panda

The purpose of this study is to understand the business ecosystem through the “identity” construct. “Identity” is a well-researched subject in sociology and psychology but as a…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to understand the business ecosystem through the “identity” construct. “Identity” is a well-researched subject in sociology and psychology but as a construct, its application is limited in management and organization studies, especially in the ecosystem context. This study used “identity” to examine the management and organization of stone carving microenterprise clusters in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The examination followed classical grounded theory approach for data collection and data analysis. Data collection was made by a mixture of focus group discussions, informal discussions, personal observations, etc., and it followed a series of thematic analysis under the qualitative technique. Further, a structured questionnaire was used to collect information, and the data analysis was done through structural equation modelling and confirmatory factor analysis.

Findings

The study identified and established ten identities of the producers, two identities of the suppliers and two identities of the customers. There were identity-interlinkages within each stakeholder, and among the stakeholders, creating a solid, static and rigid ecosystem for ages.

Originality/value

This paper made a new and significant contribution to the literature on the business ecosystem.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 February 2022

Syafizal Shahruddin, Mohd Zairul, Ahmad Tarmizi Haron and Meor Mohammad Fared

Interpreting the meaning structure of architects' actions, behaviours and performances enacted in a building information modelling (BIM) environment is implausible by returning to…

Abstract

Purpose

Interpreting the meaning structure of architects' actions, behaviours and performances enacted in a building information modelling (BIM) environment is implausible by returning to the classic and ideal imagery of an architect as a natural leader. Yet, little has been empirically explored on how architects perceive their identity and most critically, how they act, behave and perform their way into it in such an environment. Consequently, architects' failing to adapt their core identity to the varying circumstances may lead to their irrelevance and being side-lined merely as aesthetic building surgeons. The current study therefore seeks a better understanding of their perceptions and experiences in manifesting their identities in the phenomenon.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing upon the interpretive phenomenological approach, ten architectural trained individuals were selected for in-depth, semi-structured interviews, and written accounts exercise to disclose their lived experience. The study was conducted in a Malaysian architectural consultancy practice (ACP) setting.

Findings

The data analysis resulted in the following five performance identity themes that revolve around the core identity of a successful designer: “performing as a design strategist”, “performing as a design translator”, “performing as a design facilitator”, “reinstating the identity of a design coordinator” and “performing as a design innovator”.

Practical implications

The study serves as groundwork for professional institutional bodies to further reconstruct a career road map alongside the professional development framework towards elevating, developing and facilitating the hybridity of architects' performance identities in such environment.

Social implications

The study serves as a groundwork for professional institutional bodies to reconstruct the existing continuing professional development (CPD) programmes, materials and framework so that they reflect the performances of future architects practicing in a BIM environment. The elicited experiences may also inform architectural curriculum designers of the appropriate approaches of teaching and learning in architecture that could promote the hybridity of architects' performance identities in such an environment.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the identity literature by yielding valuable new insights about the experiences and behaviour of architects practicing in a BIM environment. Understanding such complexity would not be possible merely based on the theoretical lenses of professional identity and organisational identification as adopted in previous studies.

Details

Open House International, vol. 47 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 September 2011

Christina Öberg, Christina Grundström and Petter Jönsson

The purpose of the paper is to discuss whether or not an acquisition changes the network identity of an acquired firm and, if so, how. This study aims to bring new insights to the…

2102

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to discuss whether or not an acquisition changes the network identity of an acquired firm and, if so, how. This study aims to bring new insights to the corporate marketing field, as it examines corporate identity in the context of how a company is perceived because of its relationships with other firms. The focus of this research is acquired innovative firms.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts a multiple case study approach. Data on four acquisitions of innovative firms were collected using 41 interviews, which were supplemented with secondary data.

Findings

Based on the case studies, it can be concluded that the network identity of the acquired firms does change following an acquisition. The acquired firms inherited the acquirers' identity, regardless of whether or not the companies were integrated. Previous, present and potential business partners regarded the innovative firms as being more solvent, but distanced themselves. In addition, some of them regarded the innovative firms as competitors.

Practical implications

Changes in the way a firm is perceived by its business partners, following an acquisition, will influence the future business operations of the firm. Expected changes to business relationships should ideally be considered part of due diligence. Acquirers need to consider how they can minimise the risks associated with business partners' changed perceptions of acquired firms.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the research on identity, through discussion of the consequences of an acquisition for the identity and relationships of a firm. It also contributes to the existing corporate marketing literature, through consideration of perceptions at a network level. Furthermore, this paper contributes to merger and acquisition literature, by highlighting the influence of ownership on relationships with external parties.

Book part
Publication date: 13 November 2018

Norbert Alter

Abstract

Details

The Strength of Difference: Itineraries of Atypical Bosses
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-582-5

Article
Publication date: 24 October 2023

Chad S. Seifried, Milorad M. Novicevic and Stephen Poor

This study aims to use a theoretical-based case study of two distinct ownership groups of the Jack Daniel’s brand to explore how rhetorical history (i.e. malleability of the past…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to use a theoretical-based case study of two distinct ownership groups of the Jack Daniel’s brand to explore how rhetorical history (i.e. malleability of the past for strategic goals) may evoke and capitalize on different forms of nostalgia. Within, the authors configure four forms of nostalgia (i.e. personal, historical, collective and cultural) from the individual or collective interaction and level of direct experience one has with the past as lived or happened.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses an historical research approach which involved the identification of primary and secondary sources, facility tour, source criticism and triangulation to create themes of rhetorical history infused with nostalgic narratives using compelling evidence through rich description of this fusion.

Findings

The findings reveal how nostalgia-driven narratives reflecting different collective longing for the re-creation of an American Paradise Lost used by Jack Daniel (i.e. the man) and later but differently by Brown-Forman. This study uncovers how the company’s inherited past was used rhetorically throughout its history, beginning with the nostalgic story of Jack Daniel and the distillery’s nostalgically choreographed location in Lynchburg, Tennessee. This study delves into this setting to highlight the importance of symbols, details, emotional appeals and communications for collective memory and identity development and to showcase the ways in which they are influenced by different types and forms of nostalgia.

Originality/value

This study adds to a limited number of studies focused on understanding the impact of founders on an organization’s brand and how that is malleable. This study responds to scholarly calls to study the influence of sequenced historical rhetoric on an organization and highlight the relevance of social emotions such as nostalgia for rhetorical history. Finally, the theoretical contribution involves the advancing and construction of a theory typology of nostalgia previously proposed by Havlena and Holak in 1996.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 December 2020

Flavia Mabel Rinaldi, Lucía Maglio, Iliana Pisarro and Laura Basterrechea

This presentation intends to illustrate through the example of a few specific cases of urban actions and projects, those instances in which the existence of built heritage leads…

Abstract

Purpose

This presentation intends to illustrate through the example of a few specific cases of urban actions and projects, those instances in which the existence of built heritage leads to the recognition of identity and valuable contribution as a tool to regenerate, promote residence and economic development.

Design/methodology/approach

Introducing a conceptual framework for identity and culture it is possible to start the recognition of buildings, spaces, stories that configure own particularity to cities. And those would be the elements that would be configured as tools to involve the actions and transformation of the area. Studying each one of the heritage elements detected it is possible to trace a chorus line that impulse the new activity proposal.

Findings

Cases presented in this article were really astonishing in terms of impact and provoked many favorable externalities around them. It is possible to confirm that history and stories as good as buildings and determined places can help regeneration with its own promotion and new ideas applied for better results.

Originality/value

In fact, heritage as a concept, cultural tangible and intangible, is a powerful tool to regenerate cities, to promote economical activity and bind communities toward social development.

Details

Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-1266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 May 2020

Marwa M. El-Ashmouni and Ashraf M. Salama

The purpose of this paper is to develop an analytical account on the contemporary architecture of Cairo with emphasis on the past three decades, from the early 1990s to the…

540

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop an analytical account on the contemporary architecture of Cairo with emphasis on the past three decades, from the early 1990s to the present. The paper critically analyses narratives of the plurality of “isms”, within architectural vocabulary and discourse, that resulted from the contextual particularities that shaped it.

Design/methodology/approach

Three lines of inquiry are envisioned as overarching aspects of architecture: the chronological, the interventional and the representational. These discussions are underpinned by the discourse of decolonialisation and cosmopolitanism, posited sequentially by Frantz Fanon in The Wretched of the Earth (1961), and Ulrich Beck in The Cosmopolitan Vision (2004). The analysis expands to interrogate these two notions as prelude for reflecting on representations of selected projects: The Smart Village (2001); the Great Egyptian Museum (2002), Al-Azhar Park (2005), American University in Cairo New Campus (2008/2009), and the New Administrative Capital (2018).

Findings

The investigation on the interventional and the representational levels via aspects of discursivity and contradictions highlights that decolonisation and cosmopolitanism are two inseparable facets in the architectural practice in Egypt’s 21st century. These indivisible notions are based on idiosyncratic core to human experience, which emerged from concurrent overturning historical and secular everyday life striving to suppress ideological supremacy.

Research limitations/implications

Further detailed examples can be developed to offer discerning elucidations relevant to both notions of cosmopolitanism and decolonialisation.

Originality/value

The paper offers novel theoretical analysis of Cairo’s most recent architecture. The reflection on the notions of decolonialisation and cosmopolitanism is a timely example of the complex cultural encounters that have shaped the Egyptian architecture, given the recent interventions by the “Modern State” that legitimised such notions.

Details

Open House International, vol. 45 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 January 2019

Iain McPhee, Chris Holligan, Robert McLean and Ross Deuchar

The purpose of this paper is to explore the hidden social worlds of competent clandestine users of drugs controlled within the confines of the UK Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, which…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the hidden social worlds of competent clandestine users of drugs controlled within the confines of the UK Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, which now includes NPS substances. The authors explore how and in what way socially competent drug users differ from others who are visible to the authorities as criminals by criminal justice bureaucracies and known to treatment agencies as defined problem drug users.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative research utilises a bricoleur ethnographic methodology considered as a critical, multi-perspectival, multi-theoretical and multi-methodological approach to inquiry.

Findings

This paper challenges addiction discourses and, drawing upon empirical evidence, argues the user of controlled drugs should not be homogenised. Using several key strategies of identity management, drug takers employ a range of risk awareness and risk neutralisation techniques to protect self-esteem, avoid social affronts and in maintaining untainted identities. The authors present illicit drug use as one activity amongst other social activities that (some) people, conventionally, pursue. The findings from this study suggest that punitive drug policy, which links drug use with addiction, crime and antisocial behaviour, is inconsistent with the experience of the participants.

Research limitations/implications

Due to the small sample size (n=24) employed, the possibility that findings can be generalised is rendered difficult. However, generalisation was never an objective of the research; the experiences of this hidden population are deeply subjective and generalising findings and applying them to other populations would be an unproductive endeavour. While the research attempted to recruit an equal number of males and females to this research, gendered analysis was not a primary objective of this research. However, it is acknowledged that future research would greatly benefit from such a gendered focus.

Practical implications

The insights from the study may be useful in helping to inform future policy discourse on issues of drug use. In particular, the insights suggest that a more nuanced perspective should be adopted. This perspective should recognise the non-deviant identities of many drug users in the contemporary era, and challenge the use of a universally stigmatising discourse and dominance of prohibition narratives.

Social implications

It is envisaged that this paper will contribute to knowledge on how socially competent users of controlled drugs identify and manage the risks of moral, medical and legal censure.

Originality/value

The evidence in this paper indicates that drug use is an activity often associated with non-deviant, productive members of the population. However, the continuing dominance of stigmatising policy discourses often leads to drug users engaging in identity concealment within the context of a deeply capitalist Western landscape.

Details

Drugs and Alcohol Today, vol. 19 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1745-9265

Keywords

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