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1 – 10 of 153
Article
Publication date: 5 September 2016

Brogan Rylands, Tillmann Böhme, Robert Gorkin, Joshua Fan and Thomas Birtchnell

Company pressure for manufacturers is mounting from two angles: increasing pressure of global competition, and rapid advancements in technology such as additive manufacturing (AM…

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Abstract

Purpose

Company pressure for manufacturers is mounting from two angles: increasing pressure of global competition, and rapid advancements in technology such as additive manufacturing (AM) that are altering the way that goods are manufactured. The purpose of this paper is to explore the adoption process of AM within a manufacturing system and its business impact.

Design/methodology/approach

Research was conducted to collect empirical data at two manufacturing case companies in the North West England. Both cases are located in areas of industrial recovery using AM engineering innovation for value creation.

Findings

Early findings showed that the implementation of AM caused a shift in value propositions and the creation of additional value streams (VSs) for the case study companies. AM was shown to compliment and strengthen traditional manufacturing VSs rather than replacing them.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include the generalizability due to the number and location of case companies included in this research.

Practical implications

It is worthwhile to explore the opportunities that AM brings with the existing customer base as it has the potential to add unexplored and untapped value. However, managers need to be mindful of the capability and resources required to put the VS into practice.

Social implications

Both cases resulted in skill retainment and development due to the implementation of AM. Hence, the innovation contributed to regional economic recovery and business survival.

Originality/value

This empirical research is one of the early field explorations focussing on the impact of AM on VS structures. Hence, this paper contributes to the area of technology enhanced manufacturing systems.

Details

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, vol. 27 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-038X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 July 2023

Tillmann Boehme, Joshua Fan, Thomas Birtchnell, James Aitken, Neil Turner and Eric Deakins

Delivering housing to resource-constrained communities (RCCs) is a complex process beset with difficulties. The purpose of this study is to use a complexity lens to examine the…

Abstract

Purpose

Delivering housing to resource-constrained communities (RCCs) is a complex process beset with difficulties. The purpose of this study is to use a complexity lens to examine the approach taken by a social enterprise (SE) in Australia to develop and manage a housebuilding supply chain for RCCs.

Design/methodology/approach

The research team used a longitudinal case study approach from 2017 to 2022, which used mixed methods to understand the phenomenon and gain an in-depth understanding of the complex issues and problem-solving undertaken by an SE start-up.

Findings

Balancing mission logic with commercial viability is challenging for an SE. The supply chain solution that evolved accommodated the particulars of geography and the needs of many stakeholders, including the end-user community and government sponsors. Extensive and time-consuming socialisation and customisation led to a successful technical design and sustainable supply chain operation.

Practical implications

Analysing supply chain intricacies via a complexity framework is valuable for scholars and practitioners, assisting in designing and developing supply chain configurations and understanding their dynamics. Meeting the housing construction needs of RCCs requires the SE to place societal focus at the centre of the supply chain rather than merely being a system output. The developed business model complements the engineering solution to empower a community-led housing construction supply chain.

Originality/value

This longitudinal case study contributes to knowledge by providing rich insights into the roles of SEs and how they develop and operate supply chains to fit with the needs of RCCs. Adding a contextual response dimension to an established complexity framework helped to explain how hybrid organisations balance commercial viability demands with social mission logic by amending traditional supply chain and governance practices. The case provides insights into supply chain configuration, needed changes and potential impacts when an SE as a focal actor inserts into a traditional for-profit construction supply chain.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 4 June 2019

Rosemary Overell

In this chapter, the author considers how Melbourne’s grindcore metal scene produces itself as coherent, authentic and masculine through the discursive positioning of Sydney’s…

Abstract

In this chapter, the author considers how Melbourne’s grindcore metal scene produces itself as coherent, authentic and masculine through the discursive positioning of Sydney’s scene as lacking, inauthentic and feminine and/or homosexual. The way Melbourne scene-members talk about Sydney in ethnographic interviews and online, indicates how Melbourne’s grindcore scene identity rests on a particular striving towards – and fantasy of – a bounded, comprehensible masculine identity anchored in Symbolic/linguistic signifiers of homophobia. Building on my previous research on Melbourne’s scene, the author utilises a Lacanian perspective to argue that the masculinist talk of Melbournians works as a response to the affective experience of enjoying grindcore music. Here, the author departs from my earlier work, where the author used Deleuzian/Massumian understandings of affect to suggest that affect works to construct community belonging in grindcore scenes (2014). Instead, the author uses Lacan’s approach to affect to suggest that Melbourne grindcore fans construct their identity via furiously producing a fantasy of Sydney fans as ‘Other’. They Symbolically construct Sydney as a ‘cultural wasteland’ populated by ‘poofter[s]’ (Melbourne Grind Syndicate, 2016) who are imagined, and positioned as, inauthentic due to their affective enthusiasm for grindcore. Here, affect works to exclude and Other grindcore fans rather than as a force for collectivity.

Details

Australian Metal Music: Identities, Scenes, and Cultures
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-167-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2018

Joshua M. Lupinek

The purpose of this paper is to add a needed sport foundation for the brand community conversation evolution within the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to add a needed sport foundation for the brand community conversation evolution within the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship (Popp et al., 2016; Richelieu, 2008; Trail et al., 2016) from the spark of Gladden and Funk’s (2001) brand association and loyalty in sport.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper traces the evolution of brand community research from its beginnings in the general business literature to the current brand community research in sport marketing today. Muniz and O’Guinn (2001) define brand communities as a specialized and non-geographically bound community based around a set of structured social relationships amongst admirers of a brand and are often recognized as the most integral relationship component of consumers to brands (Muge and Ozge, 2013).

Findings

Media transcends geography and brand communities will continue to transcend geography to the boundaries of mass media.

Practical implications

With this growing importance on attachment to brand community (ABC) through mass media, or attachment team in the sport context, further exploration on attachment variables is critical for the success of the next evolutionary stage of brand communities.

Originality/value

An ABC framework in the sport setting is proposed through multidisciplinary variables gathered in a review of brand community literature to address the unique attachment perspectives of sport consumers.

Details

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, vol. 20 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1464-6668

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 January 2017

Kate Westberg, Constantino Stavros, Aaron C.T. Smith, Joshua Newton, Sophie Lindsay, Sarah Kelly, Shenae Beus and Daryl Adair

This paper aims to extend the literature on wicked problems in consumer research by exploring athlete and consumer vulnerability in sport and the potential role that social…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to extend the literature on wicked problems in consumer research by exploring athlete and consumer vulnerability in sport and the potential role that social marketing can play in addressing this problem.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper conceptualises the wicked problem of athlete and consumer vulnerability in sport, proposing a multi-theoretical approach to social marketing, incorporating insights from stakeholder theory, systems theory and cocreation to tackle this complex problem.

Findings

Sport provides a rich context for exploring a social marketing approach to a wicked problem, as it operates in a complex ecosystem with multiple stakeholders with differing, and sometimes conflicting, objectives. It is proposed that consumers, particularly those that are highly identified fans, are key stakeholders that have both facilitated the problematic nature of the sport system and been rendered vulnerable as a result. Further, a form of consumer vulnerability also extends to athletes as the evolution of the sport system has led them to engage in harmful consumption behaviours. Social marketing, with its strategic and multi-faceted focus on facilitating social good, is an apt approach to tackle behavioural change at multiple levels within the sport system.

Practical implications

Sport managers, public health practitioners and policymakers are given insight into the key drivers of a growing wicked problem as well as the potential for social marketing to mitigate harm.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to identify and explicate a wicked problem in sport. More generally it extends insight into wicked problems in consumer research by examining a case whereby the consumer is both complicit in, and made vulnerable by, the creation of a wicked problem. This paper is the first to explore the use of social marketing in managing wicked problems in sport.

Details

Journal of Social Marketing, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6763

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 June 2019

Chinedu James Obiegbu, Gretchen Larsen and Nick Ellis

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the act of expressing criticism against a music brand fits with the identity and practices associated with being a loyal fan of that…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the act of expressing criticism against a music brand fits with the identity and practices associated with being a loyal fan of that brand.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on insights from theories of brand loyalty and fandom, this interpretive inquiry makes use of data from an online forum dedicated to the band, U2, and interviews with forum members. A combination of online ethnography and discourse analysis is employed.

Findings

The findings reveal how interpretations of the act of expressing criticism within a space that ostensibly functions as a place to celebrate all things U2 related, shape the construction of loyalty to the b(r)and in diverse ways. The apparent in-group tensions between being loyal and being critical pose a challenge to the taken for granted nature of brand loyalty and fandom, highlighting the nuanced ways with which they manifest.

Originality/value

By examining the role of criticality within otherwise loyal spaces, the authors contribute to brand loyalty theory by revealing the malleability of the concept, as meaning is constantly being reshaped depending on individual realities.

Details

Arts and the Market, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4945

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 November 2020

Thomas Pittz, Joshua S. Bendickson, Birton J. Cowden and Phillip E. Davis

Owners of the US-based sport teams are seeing consistent gains on their financial investments, no matter the success of their teams on the playing field or their impact on the…

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Abstract

Purpose

Owners of the US-based sport teams are seeing consistent gains on their financial investments, no matter the success of their teams on the playing field or their impact on the surrounding community. Sports teams are a part of an ecosystem comprised of primary and secondary stakeholders. The authors explore this phenomenon using a stakeholder perspective to understand how different business models and ownership structures optimize stakeholder value.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employ an evaluative conceptual approach to examine the dominant model in the US, European ownership structures and public-private partnerships (PPPs). T finalize these comparisons by exploring a fourth business model and ownership structure – a relatively unique option in the US deployed by the Green Bay Packers – which we refer to as the maximized value partnership (MVP). These comparisons are followed by practical advice for owners in regard to these governance mechanisms.

Findings

The MVP ownership model has the potential to level the playing field between public and private actors. This potential is realized by fusing some of the best practices from European football clubs, in particular aspects of the stock market and supporter trust models.

Originality/value

By evaluating the most common ownership structures for sports teams, t provide an alternative model as well as practical advice for owners.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 28 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2008

Jessica R Braunstein, Joshua I. Newman and Adam S. Beissel

This paper expands upon existing sports sponsorship 'match-up' research by offering an interview-driven, empirically-grounded, 'thick' description of the decision-making processes…

Abstract

This paper expands upon existing sports sponsorship 'match-up' research by offering an interview-driven, empirically-grounded, 'thick' description of the decision-making processes of sports organisations in developing athlete-sponsor-team relationships. By focusing on a particular NASCAR (The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) organisation (BAM Racing), the study offers an in-depth interpretation of the sometimes 'messy' methods employed by executives in grafting an effective, synergistic match-up. The paper concludes with a discussion on the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Details

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, vol. 9 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1464-6668

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Article
Publication date: 9 May 2016

Diane Rasmussen Pennington

– The purpose of this paper is to explore how both producers and consumers of user-created music videos on YouTube communicate emotional information.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how both producers and consumers of user-created music videos on YouTube communicate emotional information.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 150 filmic documents containing fan-generated versions of U2’s “Song for Someone” were purposively collected. The author used discourse analysis to understand the types of videos created, the communication of emotional information from both the producers and the consumers, the social construction of emotion in the filmic documents, and elements of intertextuality that represented emotion.

Findings

Fans created videos containing cover versions, original versions of the song with new visual content, and tutorials about how to play the song. Producers of cover versions communicated emotional information, especially tenderness, through facial expression, their surroundings, and corresponding musical elements. Producers’ visual content expressed emotion through meaningful photographs and sad stories. Producers’ descriptions revealed emotion as well. Emotions were individually experienced and socially constructed. Consumers conveyed emotion through likes, dislikes, and expressive positive comments. Intertextuality communicated passion for U2 through tour references, paraphernalia displays, band photographs, imitating the band, and musical mashups.

Practical implications

Information science can work towards a new generation of multimedia information retrieval systems that incorporate emotion in order to help users discover documents in meaningful ways that move beyond keyword and bibliographic searches.

Originality/value

This is one of the earliest research papers in the area of emotional information retrieval (EmIR).

Book part
Publication date: 3 April 2018

Sonia Coman and Damon J. Phillips

We propose that the ambiguity of discourse around a category – rather than being problematic – improves the longevity of that category. This is especially true in the creative…

Abstract

We propose that the ambiguity of discourse around a category – rather than being problematic – improves the longevity of that category. This is especially true in the creative industries. Using methods and theories drawn from sociology and art history, we tested this thesis using swing as a case study. Based on three years of archival research we found 70 co-existing definitions of swing and 89 different uses of the term. These multiple meanings enabled various understandings to come in and out of focus over time, contributing to swing’s longevity. Our findings extend to other categories within the creative industries.

Details

Frontiers of Creative Industries: Exploring Structural and Categorical Dynamics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-773-9

Keywords

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