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1 – 9 of 9The purpose of this paper is to present a reflexive review of ANTi-History written as a reply to a critique by James Reveley, published in the Journal of Management History…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a reflexive review of ANTi-History written as a reply to a critique by James Reveley, published in the Journal of Management History, called “Firm objects: new realist insights into the sociohistorical ontology of the business enterprise.”
Design/methodology/approach
Reveley’s critique of ANTi-History focuses on three aspects, namely, matters of ontology, actors and relationalism. Using the logic of ANTi-History, the author reviews each and offers a reply.
Findings
This paper demonstrates that ANTi-History is inspired by amodern thought. This condition negates the need and desire to classify social and physical objects in the study of history. Drawing on Actor-Network Theory, ANTi-History assumes that historical actors are heterogeneous, and the consequence is that both human and nonhuman actors should feature in the study of history. The focus, in using ANTi-History, should be in-between the human and nonhuman actors that make up the past and history. This is the premise of using a relational lens.
Originality/value
The review of ANTi-History is structured as a reply to critiques of the approach. In reflecting on these criticisms, the author realizes that ANTi-History has gotten beyond its originators. As one of those originators, the author inspired to continue to develop its strange potential.
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Pragmatism is very relevant to workplace management and performance measurement, yet in the accounting literature, it is a term used loosely and in a colloquial manner. By drawing…
Abstract
Purpose
Pragmatism is very relevant to workplace management and performance measurement, yet in the accounting literature, it is a term used loosely and in a colloquial manner. By drawing on a framework based on classical pragmatism, this study aims to examine how a pragmatic perspective is discernible in the form and use of management control (MC) practices.
Design/methodology/approach
This study collects data using a case study of a firm in the green energy construction sector.
Findings
Building on the analytical framework, this study provides evidence that a pragmatic perspective is discernible in both form and use of MC practices, through a clear focus on targets rather than variance analysis, the presence of mutable local MC practices characterised by interaction and problem-solving and the absence of other common MC practices with no clear links to ends-in-view. This study also provides evidence of the potential limitations of a pragmatic perspective including myopia and an exacerbation of the inherent bias in organisations towards exploitation.
Originality/value
This research brings analytical clarity to the study of pragmatism in the accounting literature and insights into how a pragmatic perspective is discernible in the form and use of MC practices. Further, the study shows the potential limitations of a pragmatic perspective for management.
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V. Namratha Prasad and Vinod Babu Koti
The case was written using information and data from secondary sources. It describes real people and the situations experienced by them. It does not use any fictitious names…
Abstract
Research methodology
The case was written using information and data from secondary sources. It describes real people and the situations experienced by them. It does not use any fictitious names, scenarios or organizations.
Case overview/synopsis
The case study “Melanie Perkins: Poised to Redesign Canva from Tech Unicorn to Tech Giant?” describes the entrepreneurship journey of Melanie Perkins (she) (Perkins), the CEO of Australia-based tech unicorn and graphic design company, Canva Pty Ltd. (Canva). The case starts with a brief look into Perkins’ background and documents her entrepreneurial spirit, which, at the age of 19, led her to identify a hitherto unserved market (yearbooks) in the graphic design industry and offer an online design system through her venture, Fusion Books (Fusion). Fusion was completely bootstrapped and became a runaway success within five years. That encouraged her to envision setting up a one-stop-shop design site that would make design accessible to everyone.
However, when she tried to raise funds, Perkins encountered multiple rejections from venture capitalists. She persevered and continually refined her strategy. Eventually, she managed to raise venture capital funding and establish her design startup, Canva, in 2013. Canva then went on to disrupt the graphic design industry. The case describes in detail the reasons for Canva’s success, which went on to be one of the few profitable unicorn start-ups. The case also throws light on how Perkins used Canva as a tool to change society with her two-step plan. Despite its market success, Canva faced heavy competition in the design and publishing space from well-established players. Can Perkins challenge the competition and ultimately make Canva a software giant in the future?
Complexity academic level
The case is intended for use in teaching the subjects “Entrepreneurship Development,” “Business Strategy,” “Leadership Skills and Change Management” and “Positive Psychology for Managers” in both graduate and post-graduate programs.
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Nonprofit organisations (NPOs) are an increasingly fundamental part of our society. Meeting rising demand requires NPOs to attract enough resources, especially volunteers, to…
Abstract
Purpose
Nonprofit organisations (NPOs) are an increasingly fundamental part of our society. Meeting rising demand requires NPOs to attract enough resources, especially volunteers, to enable service delivery. This paper aims to adopt a novel theoretical lens to reframe this marketing challenge to inform practice and extend theory.
Design/methodology/approach
Practice-based exploration of a volunteer-enabled NPO, parkrun, through in-depth interviews and secondary source analysis.
Findings
The research identified that the brand community connects volunteers through three inter-connected levels. The big idea of parkrun, the focal brand, resonated with people through being “on their wavelength”, something they believed in. The local, physical event meant engagement was “on their patch”, anchored in place. Finally, the brand community enables people to volunteer “on their terms”, with fluid roles and flexible levels of commitment.
Research limitations/implications
Not all NPOs have service beneficiaries who are able to volunteer, services with different volunteering roles, or operate through a local physical presence. However, taking a focal brand approach to consider the brand community through which people volunteer for an NPO, the practices that reinforce that community, and how to offer volunteers significantly greater flexibility in both role and commitment presents an opportunity for NPOs to rethink how volunteering works for them in the future.
Practical implications
Clear recommendations for practice include the opportunity to integrate service beneficiary with service delivery enabler (volunteer) to strengthen the implicit social contract, increasing participation to deepen the social identity felt towards the brand, and key practices that reduce barriers to volunteering.
Originality/value
The paper extends volunteering theory from the traditional individual needs approach to a focal brand community perspective. The marketing challenge of attracting volunteer resources to NPOs is understood through rethinking the boundaries between service beneficiaries and service enablers, anchored in social identity theory. It provides clear recommendations for practice through reframing the recruitment challenge.
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N. Nurmala, Jelle de Vries and Sander de Leeuw
This study aims to help understand individual donors’ preferences over different designs of humanitarian–business partnerships in managing humanitarian operations and to help…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to help understand individual donors’ preferences over different designs of humanitarian–business partnerships in managing humanitarian operations and to help understand if donors’ preferences align with their actual donation behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
Choice-based conjoint analysis was used to understand donation preferences for partnership designs, and a donation experiment was performed using real money to understand the alignment of donors’ preferences with actual donation behavior.
Findings
The results show that partnering with the business sector can be a valuable asset for humanitarian organizations in attracting individual donors if these partnerships are managed well in terms of partnership strategy, partnership history and partnership report and disclosure. In particular, the study finds that the donation of services and products from businesses corporations to humanitarian organizations are preferable to individual donors, rather than cash. Furthermore, donors’ preferences are not necessarily aligned with actual donation behavior.
Practical implications
The results highlight the importance of presenting objective data on projects to individual donors. The results also show that donors value the provision of services and products by business corporations to humanitarian operations.
Originality/value
Partnerships between humanitarian organizations and business corporations are important for the success of humanitarian operations. However, little is known about which partnership designs are most preferable to individual donors and have the biggest chance of being supported financially.
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Amy Duxfield and Chern Li Liew
This study aims to examine the imagining of libraries and the depiction of library services in contemporary science fiction novels. Analyses of libraries in contemporary science…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the imagining of libraries and the depiction of library services in contemporary science fiction novels. Analyses of libraries in contemporary science fiction may reveal expectations of libraries and the roles they play in future societies. These may, in turn, be used by the library profession to innovate and to discover opportunities to design and improve library services that meet the expectations of library users now and in the future.
Design/methodology/approach
This research applied a content analysis approach to examine references to libraries in a purposeful sample of science fiction novels published between 2009 and 2019. The sample consists of 29 novels selected from the 2010–2020 winners of the Hugo Award for Best Novel, The Nebula Award for Best Novel, the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, The Philip K Dick Award and the Arthur C Clarke Award.
Findings
This research finds that libraries are a common feature within contemporary science fiction novels, primarily as part of the background setting of the narratives. Libraries are particularly common in peri-apocalyptic novels, often as “reinvented” libraries. This research identifies considerable differences in the way libraries and information access and use are depicted and documented in science fiction worlds of plenty, compared to those of scarcity. Other key themes discussed include freedom of access to information, and the supposedly common negative stereotyping of libraries.
Originality/value
Existing literature indicates anxiety about the future of libraries which the findings of this research do not support. The insights gained suggested instead, the emergence of an image of libraries as being embedded in the fabric of societies. This indicates the expectation of the place and role of libraries in contemporary societies. Libraries and their services must be adeptly placed and woven into the many facets of the societies they serve.
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Veronika Šlapáková Losová and Ondřej Dvouletý
The resource crisis in healthcare can be alleviated by engaging external stakeholders and resources in healthcare delivery. The authors use value and open innovation concepts to…
Abstract
Purpose
The resource crisis in healthcare can be alleviated by engaging external stakeholders and resources in healthcare delivery. The authors use value and open innovation concepts to understand what motivates the stakeholders to join the healthcare innovation ecosystem and what value such an ecosystem brings to healthcare.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review following the PRISMA framework method was applied to reach the research objective. Out of a total of 509 identified articles published till 2021, 25 were selected as relevant for this review.
Findings
Six categories of actors were identified, including innovation intermediaries, which were so far neglected in the healthcare innovation literature. Furthermore, patients, healthcare providers, innovation suppliers, investors and influencers were described. The authors also distinguished internal and external stakeholders. The authors show why and how open innovation projects contribute to involving external stakeholders and resources in healthcare delivery by contributing to patient autonomy, relationship building, knowledge transfer, improving collaborative mindset and culture, advancing know-how and bringing additional finances.
Originality/value
This article is the first one to systematically describe the value of open innovation in healthcare. The authors challenge the positivist approach in value presented by value-based healthcare. The authors show how openness contributes to addressing the resource crisis by involving new stakeholders and resources in the care delivery process.
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Kunle Akingbola, Sephora Kerekou and Aurelas Tohon
The study draws on social exchange theory and theoretical perspectives on engagement to examine the multidimensional relationship between employee perception of HR practices…
Abstract
Purpose
The study draws on social exchange theory and theoretical perspectives on engagement to examine the multidimensional relationship between employee perception of HR practices (PHRP), organizational culture (POC) and engagement in nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in a sample of nonprofits in Canada.
Design/methodology/approach
This study examines the relationship between PHRP, POC and engagement in NPOs. The authors employed a quantitative research design (Creswell, 1998) involving data from a sample of NPOs in Ontario, Canada.
Findings
The findings suggest that PHRP has a direct effect on the level of both job and organization engagement. Employee perception of the value, relevance and importance of the job and membership in the organization induce the investment of physical, cognitive and emotional energy. The study emphasizes the importance of PHRP at individual and organizational levels as antecedents of engagement.
Research limitations/implications
The findings highlight the need to examine the contextual drivers of HR practices and engagement to better understand the multidimensional context of NPOs (Borzaga and Tortia, 2006).
Practical implications
The evidence reiterates the need for nonprofit managers to develop and implement HR practices that advance engagement.
Originality/value
Although what is known about nonprofit employee engagement is limited but growing (Park, Kim, Park, and Lim, 2018), the question of engagement and perception of HR in NPOs is yet to be examined.
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