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Article
Publication date: 27 February 2024

Alan S. Marcus, Katherine A. Griffith and Francis Gary Powers Jr

In this article, we use the film Bridge of Spies – which depicts the case of U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers – and relevant primary sources, particularly Powers' letters from…

Abstract

Purpose

In this article, we use the film Bridge of Spies – which depicts the case of U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers – and relevant primary sources, particularly Powers' letters from prison, to provide teachers with a case that can engage students with the complexity of the Cold War. Understanding USA–Russia relations is as important today as ever as we watch the tragedy unfold in Ukraine. Using primary sources to reflect on the Cold War can help secondary students understand the historical context of the war in Ukraine as well as how to evaluate and critique sources of information about the war.

Design/methodology/approach

The film and personal letters provide insights often not available or obvious when we focus on the political or military history of an event or time period. The Cold War is frequently defined by the rhetoric of the USA and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) governments – but everyday people and citizens had a wider range of views and experiences. The film and letters bring out the humanity of the Cold War.

Findings

This article supports secondary teachers in incorporating film and primary sources as teaching tools to study the Cold War while more broadly thinking about these sources as ways to understand the past. The letters used, including those from U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers, help us understand his time in a Soviet prison as well as the behind-the-scenes work to free him as part of a prisoner exchange.

Originality/value

The U-2 Incident and other events of the Cold War provide important context for understanding the Cold War-like tensions between the USA and Russia today. The distrust between these countries has a long history. However, documents like the film and letters discussed here show that there is much more to the bluster of political leaders and the military chess game. There is an important human element to these events and an impact on individuals who are much more than pawns in international diplomacy.

Details

Social Studies Research and Practice, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1933-5415

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 July 2024

Mohammad A. Ali, Faiza Abbas and Rhoda Joseph

This paper intends to argue against the idea of an asocial business arena by reiterating the original philosophical underpinnings of theories on the creation of society, societal…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper intends to argue against the idea of an asocial business arena by reiterating the original philosophical underpinnings of theories on the creation of society, societal institutions and the relationship between society and societal institutions. This paper posits that business and ethics, though initially aligned, have been systematically maligned and distorted. The authors present a theoretically justified argument that business and ethics can and should seamlessly exist in the same realm.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a theoretical study that endeavors to go back to the original theories on business and society to challenge the view that business ethics is an oxymoron. For this purpose, the authors survey and interpret the scholarly works of Adam Smith, Aristotle and John Locke.

Findings

Given the economic debacles faced by the USA and the world economy in the past two decades, this study argues that one significant factor for these financial disasters could be that the original ideas about self-interest, societal interest, the free market system and the relationship between society and its constituting components, i.e. individuals, groups and institutions, have been distorted over time. Based on the interpretation of the original ideas around business and society, the authors find that some distortion of the original theories have indeed occurred.

Originality/value

This study is going against a well-established prevalent idea that business ethics is an oxymoron. It is claimed that the endoxa about business and its place in society often represents misinterpretations of the original ideas on the relationship between business and society. The originality of this work lies in challenging this dangerous idea by revisiting by journeying back in philosophical history to cut through the ideological scar tissue and reach the original arguments surrounding society and societal institutions.

Details

Society and Business Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5680

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 May 2024

Krishna Venkitachalam, Birgitta Schwartz and Sten Söderman

The motivation for this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of some of the important and trending topics in the sport industry. Besides this, to consider the changing…

Abstract

Purpose

The motivation for this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of some of the important and trending topics in the sport industry. Besides this, to consider the changing landscape of ownership, strategies and organisation of several types of sports in the contemporary environment, there is a need for deeper contextual knowledge of how different sport/s, leagues, clubs, associations, teams etc. own, organise and strategise at local to national to regional to international contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper introduces the special issue on the sport industry that welcomes three interesting contributions of focusing on the important themes related to the sport industry. They include (1) digital transformation and needed capabilities, (2) fan engagement in a digital way using social media and finally (3) the relevance and relation of social capital in the organisational strategy of sports organisations.

Findings

Four generic insights related to the themes and emerging trends in marketisation, ownership and digitalisation strategies in the sport industry are introduced in this paper. The first insight is that sports digitalisation and politicisation significantly impact the strategising, organising and networking activities of sports owners to foster value capture. Secondly, owners’ performance duality of marketisation of their sports clubs and vested business interests unravels the paradoxes of idealism and profit-maximisation. Thirdly, individual sports stars position themselves as an influential platform of value creation through on-field performance, social engagement and self-interests. Finally, the fourth insight is that the dual aims of sporting on-field success and profit making of large capital-funded sports clubs endanger the autonomy and governance of sports bodies/associations and an equitable sporting competition environment.

Originality/value

This paper provides an overview and reflections on the contributions of the papers in this special issue. The papers give different perspectives on how sport has been influenced by the development in society (1) with increasing digitalisation influencing organising of sport clubs and strategies for engaging fans, and (2) the influence of marketisation and politics in ownership strategies. As such, four insightful reflections are developed based on the originality of the contributions and the related extant literature presented on the themes of marketisation, ownership and digitalisation of the sport industry.

Details

Journal of Strategy and Management, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-425X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 31 May 2024

Jade Levell

Abstract

Details

Music, Mattering, and Criminalized Young Men: Exploring Music Elicitation as a Feminist Arts-Based Research and Intervention Tool
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-768-6

Book part
Publication date: 9 September 2024

Reham ElMorally

Abstract

Details

Recovering Women's Voices: Islam, Citizenship, and Patriarchy in Egypt
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83608-249-1

Article
Publication date: 7 April 2023

Arindam Bhattacharjee and Anita Sarkar

Cyberloafing is an organization-directed counterproductive work behavior (CWB). One stream of literature deems cyberloafing to be bad for organizations and their employees, while…

Abstract

Purpose

Cyberloafing is an organization-directed counterproductive work behavior (CWB). One stream of literature deems cyberloafing to be bad for organizations and their employees, while another suggests cyberloafing is a coping response to stressful work events. Our work contributes to the latter stream of literature. The key objective of our study is to examine whether cyberloafing could be a means to cope with a stressful work event-abusive supervision, and if yes, what mediating and boundary conditions are involved. For this investigation, the authors leveraged the Stressor-Emotion-CWB theory which posits that individuals engage in CWB to cope with the negative affect generated by the stressors and that this relationship is moderated at the first stage by personality traits.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a multi-wave survey design, the authors collected data from 357 employees working in an Indian IT firm. Results revealed support for three out of the four hypotheses.

Findings

Based on the Stressor-Emotion-CWB theory, the authors found that work-related negative affect fully mediated the positive relationship between abusive supervision and cyberloafing, and work locus of control (WLOC) moderated the positive relationship between abusive supervision and work-related negative affect. The authors did not find any evidence of a direct relationship between abusive supervision and cyberloafing. Also, the positive indirect relationship between abusive supervision and cyberloafing through work-related negative affect was moderated at the first stage by the WLOC such that the indirect effect was stronger (weaker) at high (low) levels of WLOC.

Originality/value

This work demonstrates that cyberloafing could be a way for employees to cope with their abusive supervisors.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 37 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 June 2023

Yanghao Zhu, Lirong Long, Yunpeng Xu and Yannan Zhang

The purpose of this study is to investigate the phenomenon of knowledge transfer between employees and coworkers. That is, when and why employees engage in knowledge seeking or…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the phenomenon of knowledge transfer between employees and coworkers. That is, when and why employees engage in knowledge seeking or knowledge sabotage when confronted with coworkers with higher relative overqualification.

Design/methodology/approach

This study collected survey data from 315 employee-coworker pairs in East China at three-time points.

Findings

The results showed that when the cooperative goal interdependence between employee and coworker is high, the perception of coworker’s relative overqualification will cause benign envy of employees, which in turn promote employees to engage in knowledge seeking from coworker. However, when the competitive goal interdependence between employee and coworker is high, the perception of coworker’s relative overqualification will cause malicious envy of employees, which in turn promote employees to engage in knowledge sabotage toward coworker.

Originality/value

This research not only expands the theoretical perspective and outcomes of relative overqualification but also enriches the mechanism of knowledge seeking and knowledge sabotage. Meanwhile, this study also provides practical guidance for enterprises to reduce knowledge sabotage.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 28 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 August 2024

Joseph Roh, Morgan Swink and Judith M. Whipple

This research examines the long-held belief in the adaption-related literature that a firm’s ability to adapt organizational structure to changing environments is related to…

Abstract

Purpose

This research examines the long-held belief in the adaption-related literature that a firm’s ability to adapt organizational structure to changing environments is related to superior performance. We create and test a construct that reflects an organization’s ability to change structure, which we call Supply Chain Structural Adaptability (SCSA), rather than relying on proxies (e.g. structural form or organizational modularity) used in prior studies.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative data was collected from 218 firms to test our conceptual model.

Findings

We find that SCSA has a mixed effect on profitable growth under various environmental conditions.

Originality/value

We find evidence that refutes two widely held assumptions in organization research, namely, that structural form serves as a reasonable proxy for structural adaptability and that the benefits of adaptive capabilities always increase as environmental dynamism increases.

Details

The International Journal of Logistics Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-4093

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 January 2024

Chengchuan Yang, Chunyong Tang, Nan Xu and Yanzhao Lai

This study aims to draw on social exchange theory and reciprocity norm to examine the direct effects and mechanisms through which developmental human resources (HR) practices…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to draw on social exchange theory and reciprocity norm to examine the direct effects and mechanisms through which developmental human resources (HR) practices influence employee knowledge hiding behaviors. Additionally, the authors investigate the mediating role of psychological collectivism and the moderating role of affective organizational commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the research model, the authors employed a three-stage time-lagged study design and surveyed a sample of 302 employees in China. The authors utilized confirmatory factor analysis, hierarchical regression analysis and the bootstrapping method using statistical product and service solutions (SPSS) and analysis of moment structures (AMOS) to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The findings indicate the following: (1) Developmental HR practices are negatively associated with playing dumb and evasive hiding, but positively linked with rationalized hiding; (2) Psychological collectivism serves as a mediating factor in the relationship between developmental HR practices and knowledge hiding; (3) Affective organizational commitment not only moderates the relationship between developmental HR practices and psychological collectivism, but also reinforces the indirect impact of developmental HR practices on knowledge hiding.

Originality/value

This study offers a fresh perspective on previous research regarding the impact of developmental HR practices on employee behavior. Furthermore, it provides practical recommendations for organizations to enhance knowledge management by fostering stronger emotional connections between employees and the organization.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 37 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 July 2024

Sergio Palacios-Gazules, Gerusa Giménez and Rudi De Castro

In recent years, the emergence of Industry 4.0 technologies as a way of increasing productivity has attracted the attention of the manufacturing industry. This study aims to…

Abstract

Purpose

In recent years, the emergence of Industry 4.0 technologies as a way of increasing productivity has attracted the attention of the manufacturing industry. This study aims to investigate the relationship between Industry 4.0 technologies and lean tools (LTs) by measuring how the internalisation of LTs influences the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and how the synergy between them helps improve productivity in European manufacturing firms.

Design/methodology/approach

Results from 1,298 responses were used to analyse linear regression and study the correlation between the use of LTs and Industry 4.0 technologies.

Findings

Results show that the companies analysed tend to implement more Industry 4.0 technologies when their level of lean internalisation is high.

Originality/value

This study provides useful information for managers of manufacturing firms by showing the correlation between LT internalisation and Industry 4.0 technologies, corroborating that optimal implementation of these technologies is preceded by a high level of LT internalisation. Furthermore, although there are studies showing the relationship between LTs and Industry 4.0 technologies, none consider the intensity of their implementation.

Details

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, vol. 15 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-4166

Keywords

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