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1 – 10 of 12Bertus de Jager, Chris Minnie, Johan de Jager, Marita Welgemoed, John Bessant and Dave Francis
Widespread recognition of the strategic imperative posed by a turbulent external environment has brought into focus a key challenge for firms – that of increasing involvement in…
Abstract
Widespread recognition of the strategic imperative posed by a turbulent external environment has brought into focus a key challenge for firms – that of increasing involvement in innovation by the staff in the organisation. Much research has suggested that organisations that mobilise a large proportion of their staff to participate in innovation can make significant gains. Achieving this depends on a systematic process of organisational development in which the facilitative patterns of behavioural routines are extended and reinforced, so that they become a major culture change. This paper reports on progress with this organisational development methodology using a detailed case study of its use within a major mining company in South Africa. It makes use of a reference model framework to help structure and direct the change process towards enabling higher involvement in innovation. In particular it explores practical issues involved in moving a large organisation along a path of high involvement innovation.
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Yassmeen El Maohub, Natalie Rangelov and L. Suzanne Suggs
Islamophobia is a growing social problem that leads to the discrimination of Muslims. Using Group Conflict Theory and the Integrated Threat Theory as the theoretical frameworks…
Abstract
Purpose
Islamophobia is a growing social problem that leads to the discrimination of Muslims. Using Group Conflict Theory and the Integrated Threat Theory as the theoretical frameworks, this study aims to measure the presence of Islamophobia in the hiring practices of the most southern state of Switzerland.
Design/methodology/approach
An experimental formative research study was conducted with employees. Based on CVs for two positions, back-office and front-office, candidates were selected for interviews and reasons were provided. Two variables were manipulated to represent the “Muslim appearance” on the CVs: the picture and the name. A content analysis of reasons was conducted in addition to descriptive statistics of survey responses.
Findings
A negative perception of Muslim candidates emerged from the answers with a clear difference between the two scenarios: candidates perceived to be Muslim were not rejected from the back-office position, but they were from the front-office position.
Social implications
Results demonstrate that hiring practices in Ticino Switzerland are, in some cases, based on a prejudicial attitude. As long as Muslims were “not seen as Muslims to the customers,” they were judged as acceptable for the job. This has implications for social marketing research and practice aimed to change this discrimination behavior. A next step could be to understand if it is fear of Muslims or fear of what the public might think of Muslims that cause the selection difference between the two jobs. Systems-wide and macro level social marketing research is well suited to investigate such problems and test solutions, in a local context, following the methodology used in this study.
Originality/value
A disturbing escalation of the phenomenon of Islamophobia has emerged across the globe. This paper examines a fundamental issue in equity and prosperity, which is equal opportunity for employment. Using experimental design, the authors find that discrimination exists in hiring practices, which is a problem that social marketing is well equipped to address.
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The purpose of this paper is to identity the prevalence and kinds of financial crime in seventeenth and eighteenth century Roman‐Dutch law.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identity the prevalence and kinds of financial crime in seventeenth and eighteenth century Roman‐Dutch law.
Design/methodology/approach
The object is achieved by a legal and historical analysis of the available legal sources especially of the main Roman‐Dutch and other institutional authorities.
Findings
It is found that the general crime of falsity in Roman‐Dutch law had a much greater ambit than the present‐day fraud and had it survived, would have been very valuable to combat present‐day financial crime more effectively.
Research limitations/implications
Further research on other Roman‐Dutch sources on falsity.
Originality/value
The paper shows there is much to learn from legal history in that the recognition of a general crime of falsity will very valuable to combat present‐day financial crime much more effectively. Of value to everybody engaged in the battle against financial crime.
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Johan Lilliestam, Saskia Ellenbeck, Charikleia Karakosta and Natàlia Caldés
This paper aims to analyse reasons for the absence of renewable electricity (RE) imports to the European Union, for which the authors develop a multi-level heuristic.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse reasons for the absence of renewable electricity (RE) imports to the European Union, for which the authors develop a multi-level heuristic.
Design/methodology/approach
The heuristic covers three sequential acceptance levels: political attractiveness (macro-level), the “business case” (micro-level) and civil society perspectives (public discourse level).
Findings
Numerous factors on all three levels determine the success/demise of renewables trade. So far, trade has failed on the macro-level, because European policymakers perceive that targets can be achieved domestically with significant co-benefits and because exporter countries have rapidly increasing electricity demand, limiting the realisable exports. As policymakers deemed it unattractive, they have not implemented policy-supported business cases. Public opposition against trade has not been an issue as no concrete plans or projects have been proposed.
Research limitations/implications
The authors show that the factors determining whether a RE programme is successful are plentiful and extend far beyond potential cost savings. This suggests that future research and the energy policy debate should better account for how cost savings are weighed against other policy aims and explicitly include the perspectives of investors and the public.
Originality/value
This paper adds the first holistic analysis of success/failure factors for RE trade to Europe. The three-level, sequential framework is new to energy policy analysis.
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Johan Hagberg and Anna Jonsson
The paper aims to clarify how an incumbent retail organisation explores digitalisation for its existing business.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to clarify how an incumbent retail organisation explores digitalisation for its existing business.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws from an in-depth case study of home-furnishing retail giant, IKEA conducted with semi-structured interviews, participant observations and document analyses.
Findings
In the exploration phase of digitalisation, three major activities – interpreting, interrelating and integrating – illuminate how the exploration process can be organised in practice.
Originality/value
Although digitalisation ranks amongst the most significant ongoing transformations in retail businesses, research on how incumbent retail organisations have engaged in exploring digitalisation in practice has remained scarce. The paper contributes insights into digitalisation processes in retail businesses that may also apply to other trends affecting the retail industry.
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Yos Sunitiyoso, Johan Prabandono Mahardi, Yudo Anggoro and Agung Wicaksono
The purpose of this paper is to apply a systems thinking methodology to analyse Indonesia’s new and renewable energy (NRE) electricity sector to describe the complex…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to apply a systems thinking methodology to analyse Indonesia’s new and renewable energy (NRE) electricity sector to describe the complex interrelations between its actors and variables, identify the systemic patterns and formulate recommendations for the policymakers.
Design/methodology/approach
Systems thinking methodology is used to observe the NRE electricity system and compile the corresponding data into a meaningful diagram to describe and recommend solutions for the sector’s issues. Causal loop diagram is used as the main method in this study with a deeper analysis of system archetypes to uncover the system behaviour. Soft system methodology and critical system heuristic are used partially to clarify the system boundaries, cultivate the perspective of the involved actors and problem categorization.
Findings
A comprehensive diagram is developed to present interrelation between all the components within the NRE electricity sector in Indonesia and the expected impact of any act or change to the entire system. Based on the causal interrelations between variables, typical systemic patterns or archetypes are used to identify unproductive patterns towards achieving the NRE electricity sector objectives.
Originality/value
The findings provide an initial outlook on the variables and systemic patterns within the system as a critical consideration in the decision-making process and policy development for the NRE electricity sector.
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Johan Gaddefors and Alistair R. Anderson
The purpose of this paper is to examine theories of marketing and entrepreneurship and compare these with entrepreneurial marketing practices.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine theories of marketing and entrepreneurship and compare these with entrepreneurial marketing practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a case study to explore the social constructions of narratives.
Findings
The paper reveals how interactions based around meanings, purpose and identities work to create products, customers, entrepreneurs and even the market. Here the emphasis on signs, symbols and images redirects attention to create space for expectations to grow.
Research limitations/implications
The paper develops its argument that merely modifying existing theory is conceptually inadequate; a new framework is introduced which enables the understanding of how entrepreneurship and marketing combine. The paper shows how this fertile dynamic produces not only new products, but also may actually create new markets.
Originality/value
This case study demonstrates how entrepreneurship and marketing become inseparable in the co‐production of identity and future.
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R. Blancquaert, Bob Turnbull, G. Forster, Lorna Cullen, Boguslaw Herod, Steve Muckett and James Lawson
ISHM‐Benelux held its 1987 Autumn Conference on 29 October, at the Antwerp Crest Hotel. This one‐day meeting focused on applications of hybrid circuit technology in various fields…
Abstract
ISHM‐Benelux held its 1987 Autumn Conference on 29 October, at the Antwerp Crest Hotel. This one‐day meeting focused on applications of hybrid circuit technology in various fields of electronic and related industries.
Annette Cerne and Johan Jansson
In this paper, the authors challenge traditional views of project management and sustainable development as purportedly complementing each other. Rather, the authors apply a…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors challenge traditional views of project management and sustainable development as purportedly complementing each other. Rather, the authors apply a projectification perspective from a multi-disciplinary approach to sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how we can better understand the interface between projects and sustainable development through the study of its practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors do this by outlining the global and the local dimensions of sustainable development as a business objective. For that reason, the authors also make a distinction between sustainability in projects and sustainable development through project coordination.
Findings
From the framing of sustainable development as projectification, the authors contribute with a set of research implications on how to proceed towards a better understanding of sustainable development through project coordination.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to a growing field of interest regarding the interfaces between project management and sustainable development.
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I. Introduction For over forty years, a model for Third World development has gained widespread acceptance. Three key premises underpin the traditional development model: (1) the…
Abstract
I. Introduction For over forty years, a model for Third World development has gained widespread acceptance. Three key premises underpin the traditional development model: (1) the identification of “development” with the maximization of the rate of national economic growth; (2) the quest to achieve Western living standards and levels of industrialization which require the transfer of labor from the agricultural to the industrial sector as well as increased consumerism; and (3) the integration into the interdependence of Third World nations in the global economy and the global marketplace. Increasing the demand for a Third World nation's exports (in other words, export‐led growth) is viewed as leading to the maximization of a nation's Gross National Product (GNP).