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1 – 10 of 179Claudia Elisabeth Henninger, Panayiota J. Alevizou and Caroline J. Oates
This paper aims to analyse the practical applicability of integrated marketing communications (IMC) to micro-organisations operating in the UK’s fashion industry, focusing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse the practical applicability of integrated marketing communications (IMC) to micro-organisations operating in the UK’s fashion industry, focusing specifically on the use of online platforms.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative methodological tools including semi-structured interviews, semiotics, Twitterfeed and Facebook analysis are used to examine to what extent micro-organisations apply IMC.
Findings
The findings suggest that these micro-organisations have a limited understanding of IMC. Although they utilise various channels, including social media, there is a disconnect between reaching the audience, understanding their needs and linking these aspects. External factors influence the use of various communication channels, leading to further fragmentation of sent messages.
Research limitations/implications
This research focuses on five micro-organisations within the fashion industry and thus may be seen as limited in nature. Whilst implications of the findings are discussed in terms of their impact to the wider industry and other sectors, this needs to be further researched.
Practical implications
Micro-organisations are underdeveloped in terms of both IMC and social media and require practical advice.
Originality/value
This study investigates two under-researched areas, IMC in micro-organisations and the use of social media within IMC, thereby moving forward our understanding of IMC in practice.
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Claudia E. Henninger, Panayiota J. Alevizou and Caroline J. Oates
The purpose of this paper is to examine what the term sustainable fashion means from the perspective of micro-organisations, experts, and consumers.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine what the term sustainable fashion means from the perspective of micro-organisations, experts, and consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is qualitative in nature, utilising a multi-methods case study approach (semi-structured interviews, semiotics, questionnaires). Grounded analysis was applied to analyse the data.
Findings
Findings indicate that interpretation of sustainable fashion is context and person dependent. A matrix of key criteria provides the opportunity to find common elements.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the nature of this research the sample size is limited and may not be generalised. Data were collected in the UK and are limited to a geographical region.
Practical implications
An important implication is that defining sustainable fashion is vital in order to avoid challenges, such as greenwashing, which were faced in other industries that have a longer history in sustainable practices. Micro-organisations should take advantage of identifying key sustainable fashion criteria, which will enable them to promote their fashion collections more effectively.
Social implications
The criteria identified provide assurance for consumers that sustainable fashion is produced with social aspects in mind (fair wages, good working conditions).
Originality/value
The paper proposes a matrix that allows micro-organisations to clearly identify their collections as sustainable.
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Alex Kevill, Kiran Trehan, Mark Easterby-Smith and David Higgins
The purpose of this paper is to provide small business and entrepreneurship researchers with insights to help them undertake life story interviewing, in order that this can…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide small business and entrepreneurship researchers with insights to help them undertake life story interviewing, in order that this can subsequently advance understanding within the field.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors describe, and reflect upon, the use of a life story interview approach that formed part of the data collection process for a research study into dynamic capabilities in micro-organisations.
Findings
The life story interview approach the authors utilised can generate benefits for both the purposes of the research study and the interviewee. Nevertheless, “unexpected lack of time” and “owner-managerial control”, two common contextual factors within micro-organisations, are factors that may raise challenges for successfully undertaking life story interviewing in such organisations. Ultimately the interviewer needs to respond to such challenges by making “stick or twist” decisions with regard to the interview format being used.
Research limitations/implications
The authors provide an example of an interview approach that researchers can use for future research within the field of small business and entrepreneurship. The authors also prepare interviewers for challenges they may experience within the field and the potential need for them to make “stick or twist” decisions.
Originality/value
The authors explicate a specific life story interview approach which is new to the field of small business and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the authors highlight potential complexities in undertaking this interview approach within micro-organisations. Prior work within the field has tended to give little consideration to challenges of undertaking life story interviews.
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Amira Mukendi, Iain Davies, Sarah Glozer and Pierre McDonagh
The sustainable fashion (SF) literature is fragmented across the management discipline, leaving the path to a SF future unclear. As of yet, there has not been an attempt to bring…
Abstract
Purpose
The sustainable fashion (SF) literature is fragmented across the management discipline, leaving the path to a SF future unclear. As of yet, there has not been an attempt to bring these insights together or to more generally explore the question of “what is known about SF in the management literature and where could the SF field go from there?”. The purpose of this paper is to bring together the field to identify opportunities for societal impact and further research.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review was conducted from the first appearances of SF in the management literature in 2000 up to papers published in June 2019, which resulted in 465 included papers.
Findings
The results illustrate that SF research is largely defined by two approaches, namely, pragmatic change and radical change. The findings reveal seven research streams that span across the discipline to explore how organisational and consumer habits can be shaped for the future.
Research limitations/implications
What is known about SF is constantly evolving, therefore, the paper aims to provide a representative sample of the state of SF in management literature to date.
Practical implications
This review provides decision makers with insights that have been synthesised from across the management field.
Originality/value
This review identifies knowledge gaps and informs managerial decision making in the field, particularly through serving as a foundation for further research.
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Trevor Hopper, Mathew Tsamenyi, Shahzad Uddin and Danture Wickramasinghe
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate management accounting research in developing countries and formulate suggestions for its progression.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate management accounting research in developing countries and formulate suggestions for its progression.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a desk based study of existing literature analysed through a framework of management control transformation in developing countries derived from the authors' research.
Findings
Research is growing, especially on accounting in state‐owned and privatised enterprises but more is needed on small and micro enterprises, agriculture, non‐governmental organisations, and transnational institutions.
Originality/value
This is the first review of this area and thus should help intending and existing scholars.
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Timothy John Mavin and Wolff-Michael Roth
– This study aims to contribute to current research on team learning patterns. It specifically addresses some negative perceptions of the job performance learning pattern.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to contribute to current research on team learning patterns. It specifically addresses some negative perceptions of the job performance learning pattern.
Design/methodology/approach
Over a period of three years, qualitative and quantitative data were gathered on pilot learning in the workplace. The instructional modes included face-to-face classroom-based training; pilots assessing pre-recorded videos in classroom-based training; pilots assessing videos with fellow pilot of similar rank (paired training); pilots undertaking traditional 4-hour simulator session with 1-hour debriefing using a variety of technologies for replaying the simulator session; and pilots undertaking 2-hour simulator sessions with extended 3-hour debriefing utilizing simulator replay video.
Findings
Although traditional classroom-based, face-to-face instruction was viewed as acceptable, pilots who critically assessed the practice of other pilots in pre-recorded videos felt empowered by transferring classroom instruction to the workplace. The study also establishes a need to determine the correct balance between high-workload simulator training and low-workload debriefing.
Research limitations/implications
A move towards developing a typology for workplace learning patterns was viewed negatively if job performance was the focus. However, pilot practitioners felt empowered when provided with the right mix of performance-oriented learning opportunities, especially when these provided an appropriate mix of high-fidelity simulations with time for reflection on practice.
Practical implications
By focusing on one learning pattern – job performance – the paper demonstrates the benefits of learning via a variety of instructional modes. Whereas aviation has a unique workplace environment, many other high- and low-risk industries are acknowledging the impact of technical and non-technical skills on job performance. This may suggest that findings from this study are transferable across a broader range of workplace settings.
Originality/value
The findings demonstrate that broadening research across many professional workplace settings may assist in developing a more robust framework for the micro-organization of each workplace learning pattern.
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Yuncai Zhao, Fei Yang and Yongming Guo
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the tribological properties of a textured lubricating wear-resistant coating modified by nano-SiC at a high temperature. Its aim is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the tribological properties of a textured lubricating wear-resistant coating modified by nano-SiC at a high temperature. Its aim is to explore the influence of a new composite method on the organisation and structure of sprayed coatings as well as the evolution rules governing their high-temperature tribological properties.
Design/methodology/approach
A KF301/WS2 lubricating, wear-resisting, coating was prepared on matrix material GCr15 by applying supersonic plasma spraying technology. On the basis of this sample, using nano-SiC particles as a filler, the KF301/WS2 nano-modified coating with its round, pit-type texture was prepared by laser re-melting technology and a surface texturing technique. Two kinds of coating micro-organisations and structures were examined by scanning electron microscopy, and the tribological properties of both the modified and conventional coatings were studied at a high temperature.
Findings
Results showed that nano-particles could effectively improve the coating micro-structure, and make the structure denser and more uniform, thus significantly increasing the wear resistance of the coating. When the friction and wear processes were stable, the friction coefficient decreased by 13 per cent, while the wear loss decreased by 45.9 per cent.
Originality/value
This research concentrating on the study of the process and performance of coatings doped with nano-particles by laser re-melting incorporating simultaneous surface texturing, and studies of their high-temperature tribological properties. That is because applying nano-particle modification technology to the development of wear-resistant coatings, and by applying the nano-particles to such coatings by thermal spraying technology, they can achieve a modification of the coating which makes the structure denser and more uniform.
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Deemah Alassaf, Marina Dabić, Dara Shifrer and Tugrul Daim
The purpose of this paper is to fill a significant research gap in academic literature pertaining to open innovation (OI). To do so, this paper empirically tests the impact of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to fill a significant research gap in academic literature pertaining to open innovation (OI). To do so, this paper empirically tests the impact of organizational culture, employees’ knowledge, attitudes and rewards as antecedents and mediators of OI adoption in organizations, facilitating a more thorough understanding by using an empirical multi-level approach.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyzes the results of the “Identification of Industrial Needs for Open Innovation Education in Europe” survey through a quantitative analysis using logistic regression models. This survey includes 528 employees working in 28 different industrial sectors in 37 countries, most of which are in Europe.
Findings
The results suggest a positive impact of organizational characteristics on the adoption of OI (i.e. including the adoption of outside-in and inside-out OI activities in participating organizations), showing that the openness of an organization’s culture increases its likelihood of adopting an OI paradigm. More importantly, the results highlight the positive mediating effect of employees’ knowledge and rewards on this relationship.
Research limitations/implications
The data set that was the basis of this paper was generated in European countries, the results of the analysis are limited and appropriate for this region and may vary when applied to other regions of the world.
Practical implications
The proposed multi-level approach offers new insight into organizational knowledge. It enables the improvement of OI and knowledge management practices in organizations by assisting practitioners and academics in recognizing the relationship between organizational culture; employees’ knowledge, attitudes and rewards; and the adoption of the OI paradigm.
Social implications
This paper offers a possible explanation on why open-border cultures are more likely to have a successful OI adoption, by relating it to factors that advance in the presence of an open-border culture, such as active participation of OI relative departments in knowledge sourcing and knowledge exchange, and rewarding employees for OI activities.
Originality/value
This paper presents a new framework which links organizational culture to OI, moving on from merely examining culture in terms of its positive or negative impact on OI adoption. It contributes to research on the OI paradigm and knowledge management by highlighting the significance of antecedents and mediators from a multi-level perspective using multiple units of analysis. Most previous studies focus on a single unit of analysis.
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Transformational and transactional leadership have become a fascinating issue for research since the work of Burns (1978) and Bass (1990). The purpose of this paper is to evaluate…
Abstract
Purpose
Transformational and transactional leadership have become a fascinating issue for research since the work of Burns (1978) and Bass (1990). The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usefulness of the concept of transformational leadership using examples of political leadership from South Asia. It is argued that the construct of transformational leadership is practically non-existent. And, if the concept of transformational leadership exists, it cannot be specifically applied to the leaders who gain popularity and achieve their goals. It is also argued that positive and negative connotation with transformational and transactional leadership, respectively, is false. The popular leadership may be good for “one-point agenda,” but not necessarily transform the system.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative methods, historical analysis, and discourse analysis have been employed to understand the leaders’ actions and behaviors.
Findings
The discussion around the empirical examples show that the popular-successful leadership does not necessarily a transformational leadership even though the leadership achieves the goals.
Originality/value
The popular or so-called transformational leadership may be good to achieve one-point agenda, but it may not bring the required change and fruitful results to all stakeholders if it is not backed by a transactional strategy. Future research may turn the attention in three directions: whether or not the achieved goals were transformational or transactional; evaluation of leaders’ behavior from the perspective of consequential leadership; and the role of transactional leaders in the growth and strengthening of micro and macro organizations.
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Antonella Bilotto and Maria Guercio
The archival communitys interest in building records management programs has known a recent development at international level and in various sectors. This is increasingly…
Abstract
The archival communitys interest in building records management programs has known a recent development at international level and in various sectors. This is increasingly relevant in the area of corporate records, where the RM principles and methods have been seriously neglected – specifically in the Italian tradition, investigated here. This new interest has many causes – among others, the improvement of business procedures whose efficiency and effectiveness are strictly required in the information society – but presents also contradictions usually not discussed enough within each tradition. The article tries to analyse both the problems and advantages connected with the organization of a RM system in a corporate environment, including as a basic component a summary of the theory and practice developed in Italy in this area and recently updated for digital resources.
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