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1 – 10 of 45Thailand has seen waves of youth-led protests over the past three years. Pro-democracy youth activists have vociferously criticised authority figures: teachers, parents and…
Abstract
Thailand has seen waves of youth-led protests over the past three years. Pro-democracy youth activists have vociferously criticised authority figures: teachers, parents and political leaders, especially the king. Drawing on vignettes assembled over a 14-year ethnographic work with young people in Thailand, as well as on current research on youth (online and offline) activism in Bangkok, I examine the multi-layered meaning of kinship in Thai society. The chapter reveals the political nature of childhood and parenthood as entangled modes of governance that come into being with other, both local and international cultural entities. I argue that Thai youth activists are attempting to rework dominant tropes that sustain “age-patriarchy” in the Buddhist kingdom. Their “engaged siblinghood” aims to reframe Thailand's generational order, refuting the moral principles that establish citizens' political subordination to monarchical paternalism and, relatedly, children's unquestionable respect to parents. As I show, Thai youth activists are doing so by engaging creatively with transnational discourses such as “democracy” and “children's rights,” while simultaneously drawing on K-pop icons, Japanese manga and Buddhist astrology. In articulating their dissent, these youths are thus bearers of a “bottom-up cosmopolitanism” that channels culturally hybrid, and politically subversive notions of childhood and citizenship in Southeast Asia's cyberspace and beyond. Whatever the outcome of their commitment, Thai youth activism signals the cultural disarticulation of the mytheme of the Father in Thailand, as well as the growing political influence of younger generations in the region.
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This chapter employs analytic autoethnography to explore and reflect on the author's quest for meaning and whether this redefines or undermines the concept of authenticity as…
Abstract
This chapter employs analytic autoethnography to explore and reflect on the author's quest for meaning and whether this redefines or undermines the concept of authenticity as interpreted by the primary advocates of authentic leadership. The data start from author's studies in the Air Force Engineering Military Academy. Turcan develops the typology of search for meaning and its four types: dreamlanding; self-actualising; missing out; and self-transcending. The meaning of life is conspicuously absent from the authentic leadership literature and yet if a leader does not address it how can they function effectively as a leader? This typology may guide future research at this intersection.
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Justyna Bekier and Cristiana Parisi
Existing performance assessment frameworks, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), struggle to incorporate diverse voices and representations of heterogeneous contexts…
Abstract
Purpose
Existing performance assessment frameworks, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), struggle to incorporate diverse voices and representations of heterogeneous contexts. Cities, in particular, present a challenging context for sustainability performance assessment as they pursue new forms of governance based on the multiplicity of actors and inter-organisational collaboration. This study explores how sustainability performance accounts are created at the urban level within collaborative forms of governance and amidst the plethora of available devices for performance assessment.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a case study approach. Qualitative methods are mobilised to study a large European project focused on the urban transition to a circular economy in six participating cities. The construction of sustainability performance accounts is studied via the Actor-Network Theory lens.
Findings
The study highlights that when it comes to sustainability assessment in city initiatives, existing performance assessment devices are adapted and modified to fit local needs and other sources of performance information are spontaneously mobilised to address the different dimensions of sustainability.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the public sector accounting literature by explaining the process of modifying existing devices for performance assessment to allow for the co-creation of accounts and by illuminating the spontaneous way in which performance information is generated and combined.
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Ana Isabel Jiménez-Zarco, M Dolores Mendez-Aparicio and Alicia Izquierdo-Yusta
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the life history of the Spanish Generation X over the last five decades.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the life history of the Spanish Generation X over the last five decades.
Design/methodology/approach
Considering that the generational cohort concept can be identified from the marketing side as a market segment, this paper proposes to analyze the socio-economic and cultural context that has marked the different life stages of Generation X, and how they have related to brands according to their needs, desires and aspirations.
Findings
The results show that the customer journey can be considered a circular concept. The customer’s relationship with the brand can begin in childhood and continue into adulthood, such that the emotional relationship established with the brand as a child influences purchase decisions in adulthood.
Research limitations/implications
Although limited to the analysis of Generation X and its relationship with brands, this paper shows the importance of knowing the socio-economic, legal and cultural context of a generation.
Practical implications
As a business implication, the importance of remarketing is evident as a business strategy that reinforces the emotional connection between the brand and the different generations.
Social implications
From a social point of view, this paper shows the power of brands as an element of self-expression of the needs, tastes or preferences of individuals is evident.
Originality/value
This paper offers a different and innovative vision of the customer journey, taking into account the individual’s life cycle, and the way in which at each stage of life, he/she relates to brands in a different way.
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Mohammad Imtiaz Hossain, Boon Heng Teh, Mosab I. Tabash, Mohammad Nurul Alam and Tze San Ong
Manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are heading towards smart manufacturing despite growing challenges caused by globalisation and rapid technological…
Abstract
Purpose
Manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are heading towards smart manufacturing despite growing challenges caused by globalisation and rapid technological advancement. These SMEs, particularly textile SMEs of Bangladesh, also face challenges in implementing sustainability and organisational ambidexterity (OA) due to resource constraints and limitations of conventional leadership styles. Adopting paradoxical leadership (PL) and entrepreneurial bricolage (EB) is important to overcome the challenges. However, these dynamics are less explored in academia, especially in the Bangladeshi textile SMEs context. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the adoption of smart technologies (ASTs), PL and OA, EB on sustainable performance (SP) of textile SMEs in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional and primary quantitative survey was conducted. Data from 361 textile SMEs were collected using a structured self-administrated questionnaire and analysed by partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The statistical outcome confirms that ASTs and PL significantly influence SP and OA. OA plays a significant mediating role for PL and is insignificant for ASTs, and EB significantly moderates among ASTs, PL and SP.
Research limitations/implications
As this study is cross-sectional and focussed on a single city (Dhaka, Bangladesh), conducting longitudinal studies and considering other parts of the country can provide exciting findings.
Practical implications
This research provides valuable insights for policymakers, management and textile SMEs in developing and developed countries. By adopting unique and innovative OA, PL and EB approaches, manufacturing SMEs, especially textile companies, can be more sustainable.
Originality/value
This study has a novel, pioneering contribution, as it empirically validates the role of multiple constructs such as AST, PL, OA and EB towards SP in the context of textile SMEs in a developing country like Bangladesh.
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Mansoor Ahmed and Lorenzo Lucianetti
The research study provides empirical insights on the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership (EL), entrepreneurial passion for founding (EPF), entrepreneurial bricolage…
Abstract
Purpose
The research study provides empirical insights on the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership (EL), entrepreneurial passion for founding (EPF), entrepreneurial bricolage (EB) and project success (PS), in the case of freelancers. The study aims to get a better understanding of whether freelancers, who behave like entrepreneurial leaders, can successfully complete projects through EB.
Design/methodology/approach
The study collected data from 209 freelancers through snowball sampling, in two waves, with a time-lag of fourteen days, to better examine the causality of variables. Data were analyzed by Model No. 4 and 7 (i.e. mediation and moderation, respectively) of Process macro.
Findings
Drawing on the effectuation theory, the results show that EB mediates the relationship between EL and PS and EPF moderates this relationship.
Practical implications
The freelancers can formally establish businesses later, after knowing whether they can complete these new types of projects. These online freelancing platforms can provide special services to freelancers who first want to test their skills on unrelated projects. In sum, the paper suggests that freelancers can be successful entrepreneurial leaders.
Originality/value
The EL, EPF, EB and PS are studied in the context of the informal sector, i.e. freelancing, which is the emerging working style in the world. It provides an in-depth understanding of phenomena in freelancers that lacks background literature.
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Álvaro Nicolás-Agustín, Daniel Jiménez-Jiménez, Francisco Maeso Fernandez and Christian Di Prima
This study presents a model for assessing the effects of employee ICT training on organizations’ results. It also introduces digital transformation as a mediator between the two…
Abstract
Purpose
This study presents a model for assessing the effects of employee ICT training on organizations’ results. It also introduces digital transformation as a mediator between the two concepts and studies the role of organizational commitment and human capital in terms of digital transformation.
Design/methodology/approach
Surveys were completed by the CEOs of 184 Spanish companies, and their responses were analyzed with Partial Least Squares.
Findings
The results empirically analyze the proposed theoretical model and highlight the fact that human capital and organizational commitment partially mediate the link between ICT training and digital transformation. Furthermore, there is a direct relationship between ICT training and company performance.
Practical implications
Directors and managers should invest more resources in the human capital of their company through ICT training. In fact, it can improve organizational commitment, encouraging employees to adopt innovative behaviors, thus allowing for the necessary digital transformation.
Originality/value
Despite heavy theoretical emphasis on the study of the conditions necessary for the digital transformation of companies, few studies have empirically analyzed the effects of adopting certain practices for its implementation. This paper focuses on analyzing the effect of ICT training, which is configured as a tool capable of improving staff knowledge and increasing employee commitment. This is essential for adopting organizational change such as digital transformation.
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