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1 – 10 of 60Saša Baškarada and Jamie Watson
The purpose of this paper is to explain how leaders balance exploitation (incremental innovation) and exploration (discontinuous innovation).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explain how leaders balance exploitation (incremental innovation) and exploration (discontinuous innovation).
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study with 11 senior leaders in Australian Defence Force.
Findings
The study identifies a number of factors that leaders take into account when deciding whether to focus on exploitation or on exploration.
Originality/value
The study concludes that transactional leadership is appropriate in the context of exploitation, while transformational leadership is appropriate in the context of exploration.
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Saša Baškarada, Jamie Watson and Jason Cromarty
This paper aims to explore how situational variables jointly affect the choice of leadership style.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how situational variables jointly affect the choice of leadership style.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study is based on semi-structured interviews conducted with 11 senior leaders in the Australian Defence, including with the Chief of Defence Force.
Findings
The paper identifies four organizational factors (human capital, performance, time orientation and risk appetite) and two environmental factors (risk and stability) that are considered to have an effect on leader’s choice of transactional versus transformational styles. Furthermore, organizational human capital and leader’s training and experience are identified as prerequisites of leadership ambidexterity.
Originality/value
The findings explain how the choice of leadership style is contingent on internal and external factors, identifies several new contributing factors and explains how such factors may jointly affect the choice of leadership style.
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Saša Baškarada, Jamie Watson and Jason Cromarty
The purpose of this paper is to answer calls for more research on how leaders may promote organizational ambidexterity (i.e. exploitation and exploration), and how such…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to answer calls for more research on how leaders may promote organizational ambidexterity (i.e. exploitation and exploration), and how such behaviors relate to transactional and transformational leadership styles.
Design/methodology/approach
The findings presented in this paper are based on semi-structured interviews with 11 senior leaders in Australian Defence.
Findings
This paper identifies three organizational mechanisms that leaders rely on to promote exploitation, and five behaviors that leaders rely on to promote exploration. These mechanisms and behaviors closely match transactional and transformational leadership styles, respectively.
Originality/value
This paper provides support for the leadership ambidexterity construct, and for the thesis that transformational leadership is appropriate in the context of exploratory innovation, while transactional leadership is appropriate in the context of exploitative innovation.
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Supermax prisons have proliferated in the United States since their contemporary introduction in the early 1980s and have developed a more recent trajectory in the war…
Abstract
Supermax prisons have proliferated in the United States since their contemporary introduction in the early 1980s and have developed a more recent trajectory in the war prison. Drawing on the work of Giorgio Agamben and Zygmunt Bauman as well as ethnographic research in Washington state prisons, this article considers the internal dynamics and history of the supermax prison in terms of bare life, exception, indifference, and “choice.” Contradictory relationships within and around the supermax are contextualized in terms of the extreme and technologically sophisticated methods that make up contemporary incarceration.
The purpose of this paper is to advocate for greater use of ethnographic research methods in entrepreneurship studies to produce more contextualized research. An argument…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to advocate for greater use of ethnographic research methods in entrepreneurship studies to produce more contextualized research. An argument for getting “up-close” and “hands-on” is presented to better understand how context shapes action in entrepreneurship than is presently achieved under the present entrepreneurship research orthodoxy. The need for contextualized research is particularly acute in the domain of social innovation. For its maturation as a field of research, it also requires stronger critical perspectives into the agendas and impacts of practitioners and other field-shaping actors. Ethnographic approaches are potentially powerful methods for revealing truths of this nature. Ethnographic methods are, however, problematic for professional researchers. The challenges of conducting such research are discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual paper regarding research methods in social innovation and social entrepreneurship studies.
Findings
Social entrepreneurship that happens within established organizations is a hybrid social innovation activity that is informed, constrained, and compelled by idiosyncratic social contexts which are fashioned by institutional logics, identities, organizational culture, and history. With its contestable conceptualizations, priorities, models, purposes, and approaches, it arguably defies researchers’ ability to build a deep understanding, from arm’s length, of how the activity is undertaken for theory building purposes. Ethnographic methods enable deeper insight than traditional entrepreneurship research methods, and this research illustrates the differences between the espoused intentions, beliefs, and attitudes of managers and the lived experience of staff.
Originality/value
Social entrepreneurship is a micro-level, hybrid social innovation activity that challenges embedded social, structural, and cultural norms when undertaken within established organizations. Ethnographic methods are under-utilized in exploring this and other forms of entrepreneurial action. This paper illustrates the value of ethnography for contextualizing social innovation research and that eschewing “arm’s length” objectivity for “hands-on” insight is a powerful approach to empirically contextualizing social innovation and contributing to more critical perspectives and sophisticated theory building.
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Like the Pied Piper, Jamie Oliver ‐ followed by a growing throng of parents and teachers ‐ has forced government action and purse‐strings to raise the financing and…
Abstract
Like the Pied Piper, Jamie Oliver ‐ followed by a growing throng of parents and teachers ‐ has forced government action and purse‐strings to raise the financing and therefore the quality of school meals in England. With £280m of new money, it looks as though at last, and at least, children will take in some nutritious food in the course of their young lives. But the reasons for and challenges presented by childhood obesity are multi‐factorial and demand a multi‐disciplinary response. This article considers the various causes of the rise in childhood obesity, and looks at past and planned initiatives aimed at tackling it. It also looks ahead to the potential for future developments that might take the baton carved by Jamie Oliver and pass it on through a range of services.
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Ted Brown, Stephen Isbel, Alexandra Logan and Jamie Etherington
Academic integrity is the application of honest, ethical and responsible behaviours to all facets of students’ scholarly endeavours and is the moral code of academia. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Academic integrity is the application of honest, ethical and responsible behaviours to all facets of students’ scholarly endeavours and is the moral code of academia. The international literature reports the prevalence of academic dishonesty in higher education across many disciplines (including the health sciences), and there is evidence linking academic dishonesty in health professional students with future unprofessional behaviour in the workplace. International students are reported to be a particularly vulnerable group. This paper aims to investigate the factors that may be predictive of academic honesty and performance in domestic and international occupational therapy students.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 701 participants (603 domestic students; 98 international students) were recruited from five Australian universities, and data were collected via a two-part self-report questionnaire. ANOVA and multi-linear regression analyses with bootstrapping were completed.
Findings
Tendency towards cheating and self-perception tendency towards dishonesty in research, gender, age and hours spent in indirect study were found to be statistically significant predictors of academic integrity and performance.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of this study were the use of convenience sampling and self-report scales which can be prone to social desirability bias. Further studies are recommended to explore other potential predictors of academic honesty and performance in occupational therapy students.
Originality/value
A range of predictors of academic honesty and success were found that will assist educators to target vulnerable domestic and international occupational therapy students as well as address deficiencies in academic integrity through proactive strategies.
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Sheikh Zuhaib, Richard Manton, Magdalena Hajdukiewicz, Marcus M. Keane and Jamie Goggins
There is profound demand for higher skills and expertise in retrofitting the existing building stock of Europe. The delivery of low- or nearly zero-energy retrofits is…
Abstract
Purpose
There is profound demand for higher skills and expertise in retrofitting the existing building stock of Europe. The delivery of low- or nearly zero-energy retrofits is highly dependent on technical expertise, adoption of new materials, methods of construction and innovative technologies. Future Irish national building regulations will adopt the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive vision of retrofitting existing buildings to higher energy efficiency standards. Construction industry stakeholders are key for the achievement of energy performance targets. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to assess the attitudes, approaches and experiences of Irish construction professionals regarding energy efficient buildings, particularly nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEBs).
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a series of quantitative and qualitative methods, including a survey, a workshop and detailed interviews with professionals in the retrofit industry. The structure of this approach was informed by preliminary data and information available on the Irish construction sector.
Findings
There is a substantial amount of ambiguity and reluctance among the professionals in reaching the Irish nZEB targets. The growing retrofit industry demonstrates low-quality auditing and pre/post-retrofit analysis. Basic services and depth of retrofits are compromised by project budgets and marginal profits. Unaligned value supply chain, poor interaction among nZEB professionals and fragmented services are deterrents to industry standardisation.
Practical implications
This study will enable construction industry stakeholders to make provisions for overcoming the barriers, gaps and challenges identified in the practices of the retrofit projects. It will also inform the formulation of policies that drive retrofit uptake.
Social implications
This study has implications for understanding the social barriers existing in retrofit projects. Support from clients/owners has a diverse impact on energy performance and retrofit decisions. Community-based initiatives are key to unlock the promotion of nZEBs.
Originality/value
This paper provides an overview of current activities of retrofit professionals and analyses the barriers, gaps and challenges in the industry.
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