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The purpose of this paper is to consider value as individual and experiential, based on the relationships between conceptions of value, rather than attempting to identify a common factor. The authors use the term “family” to represent the relationships between conceptions of value and provide a philosophical basis that underpins this. The authors also propose an appropriate method for researching value as family resemblances.

In this conceptual paper, the authors propose a new approach to understanding the nature of value in terms of family resemblances. In many marketing studies, value is described as being phenomenologically based, with an increasing number also emphasizing its experiential nature. Attempts to conceptualize value phenomenologically lead to tension between the search for an essence and the qualitatively different ways in which value is experienced by individuals. The authors propose phenomenography as a research approach that accommodates value based on differences rather than essences.

Recognizing that there is no necessary condition or essence by which value may be defined resolves the tension that has arisen from the simultaneous search for a common feature and the assertion that value is experientially created by individuals. The research also highlights that the nature of value may differ between people, time and place or some aspects of it may be the same. Regarding value in terms of family resemblances accommodates actors’ different conceptions of value. Phenomenography is an appropriate approach to operationalize conceptions of value in terms of family membership.

Understanding value as a family, and using phenomenography as method, provides methodological clarity to a long-standing research issue. Using the approaches outlined in this study will enable empirical studies of the nature of value in any context to be conducted soundly and relatively quickly. It will also provide a more inclusive and holistic set of values based on the experiences of individuals.

The research provides important insights for practitioners through clearer conceptions of value. These include the ability to plan and deliver business outcomes that are more closely aligned with customer values. Understanding the conceptions of value experienced by actors in marketing, as determined through family resemblances, has clear implications for researchers and practitioners.

Understanding actors’ conceptions of value through the lens of family resemblances resolves a long-standing research issue. Using phenomenography as method is an approach seldom used in marketing that addresses the need for increased use of qualitative research in marketing.

Organisations need to have a profound level of understanding of their supply chains if they are to successfully find sources of competitive advantage within them. Current methodologies for analysing supply chains, such as the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model, are not sufficiently comprehensive, particularly when it comes to understanding the complex social and political factors that are an integral part of any supply chain. This paper aims to use a case study of a supply chain from the public utility industry sector in Australia to develop an integrated framework for analysing supply chains within a multi‐disciplinary and multi‐method research paradigm.

The case study supply chain was mapped with the SCOR modelling tool which provided insights into the physical characteristics and value points along the supply chain.

Analysis of the SCOR model map also helped identify 31 key “actors” in the chain, who were then interviewed in depth. These interviews provided insights into the social and political factors which determined the supply chain performance.

The outcome of this study is a framework that provides two primary benefits. First, it shows the relationships between relevant variables from different disciplines (i.e. corporate governance, infrastructure, operations knowledge, social climate and innovation), and how they impact on performance. Second, the framework provides a way forward in synthesising multi‐disciplinary and multi‐method research into a coherent whole.

The field of supply chain management (SCM) has historically been informed by knowledge from narrow functional areas. While some effort towards producing a broader organizational perspective has been made, nonetheless, SCM continues to be largely eclectic with little consensus on its conceptualization and research methodological bases. This paper seeks to clarify aspects of this emerging perspective.

A total of 100 randomly selected refereed journal articles were systematically analyzed.

A number of key findings emerged: the field is a relatively “new” one; several disciplines claim ownership of the field; consensus is lacking on the definition of the term; contextual focus is mostly on the manufacturing industry; predominantly “process” conceptual framing prevails; research methods employed are mostly analytical conceptual, empirical surveys or case studies; the positivist research paradigmatic stance is prevalent; and theories related to transaction cost economics and competitive advantage dominate.

This review identifies various conceptual and research methodological characteristics of SCM. From a philosophy of knowledge perspective, it is suggested that SCM be framed as a Lakatosian Research Program, for this has the best potential to assist in the development of SCM body of knowledge in a sustainable way into the future.

Uses Wenger’s learning architecture as a conceptual framework for analysing the design and support of a Web‐based continuing professional development (CPD) course. Describes the key elements of the learning architecture and discusses their relevance to Web‐based CPD. In particular notes the importance of a design paradigm that focuses on social networks and the support necessary for their development. Using empirical data from a Web‐based course for professionals in health and social care to illustrate aspects of Wenger’s learning architecture, evaluates successful CPD learning against this theoretical framework. The course drew heavily on the participants’ ongoing workplace practice and was significant in shaping that practice. Concludes, on the basis of experience gained through the course, that Wenger’s concepts provide a useful evaluation framework and design paradigm for Web‐based CPD.

Technology is changing more rapidly than most companies can implement it. This chapter presents a digitized Human Resource Development (dHRD) Framework Model that organizational leaders can use to meet the needs of current and future workforces via avatar-mediated learning in 3D virtual learning environments (VLEs). The dHRD Framework Model leverages 3D VLE technology as a tool to engage employees and achieve strategic objectives in an efficient and cost-effective manner for managing people. The dHRD Framework Model can inform practice and advance employee engagement outcomes for effective HR decision-making, which includes legal and ethical considerations for mitigating risks in the 3D VLE. The Theory of Gamification, including psychological theories, provides the lens to explain dynamic learning and relationship building using the dHRD Framework Model to engage employees in the 3D VLE.

The complexity and uncertainty of healthcare operations increasingly require agility to safeguard a high quality of care. Using a microfoundations of dynamic capabilities perspective, this study investigates the effects of nurses' implicit voice theories (IVTs) on the behaviors that influence their individual agility.

This research uses quantitative survey data collected from 2,552 Canadian nurses during the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the fall of 2021. Structural equation modeling is used to test a conceptual model that hypothesizes the effects of three different IVTs on nurses' creativity, spontaneity, agility and the quality of care they deliver to patients.

The results reveal that voice-inhibiting cognitions (like “suggestions are criticisms for higher-ups”, “I first need a solution or solid data”, and “speaking up has negative repercussions”) negatively impact nurses' creativity and spontaneity in crafting solutions to problems they face daily. In turn, this affects nurses' individual agility as they attempt to adapt to changing circumstances and, ultimately, the quality of care they provide to their patients.

Even if organizations have little control over employees' pre-held beliefs regarding voice, they can still reverse them by developing and nurturing a voice-welcoming culture to boost their workers' agility.

This study combines two theoretical frameworks, voice theory and dynamic capabilities theory, to study how individual-level factors (cognitions and behaviors) contribute to nurses' individual agility and the quality of care they provide to their patients. It answers the recent calls of scholars to study the mechanisms through which healthcare operations can develop and sustain dynamic capabilities, such as agility, and better face the “new normal”.