Search results

The purpose of this paper is to provide readers with research findings based on qualitative data that describe the benefits of executive coaching from a sample of 70 senior business executives, all of whom have a personal executive coach. In addition, the paper provides readers with specific questions concerning their organizations’ approach to executive leadership development and the application of these potential benefits to their enterprise.

The findings of this study are based on personal interviews with 30 executives and ten four-person focus groups in which both sets of participants were asked to describe personal and organizational benefits associated with their experiences in using executive coaches.

Interviews and focus group findings converged around a number of benefits associated with effective executive coaching. These benefits included improved executive focus, better alignment of key leadership behaviors, candid and ongoing feedback, accountability for appropriate leader behaviors, improved emotional intelligence and ego control and personal support and encouragement, among others.

This qualitative study provides empirical evidence of the benefits of executive coaching from the perspective of senior business leaders. These findings provide researchers with specific criteria that can be tested and measured on a larger scale. The primary limitation of the study is the small sample size of only 70 executives.

The findings of this research provide a compelling set of benefit trends that individual executives, boards of directors and organizations need to consider in the development of their senior leaders. Specific questions are included to guide practitioner’s thinking concerning executive coaching and its role in their organizations.

These findings make a compelling case that senior leaders can become more effective and can experience great benefits when they properly make use of an effective executive coach. The development of senior leaders using this tool can have a powerful impact on organizational performance and organization’s culture.

A review of the literature will reveal that anecdotal evidence abounds, but there is limited empirical research chronicling the true benefits of executive coaching.

This paper aims to explore how accounting is entwined in the cultural practice of popular music. Particular attention is paid to how the accountant is constricted by artists in art and the role(s) the accountant plays in the artistic narrative. In effect this explores the notion that there is a tension between the notion of the bourgeois world of “the accountant” and the world of “art for art's sake”.

This paper draws on the cultural theory of Pierre Bourdieu to understand how the character of the accountant is constructed and used by the artist. Particular attention is paid in this respect to the biography and lyrics of the Beatles.

Accounting and accountants play both the hero and the villain. By rejecting the “accountant villain”, the artist identifies with and reinforces artistic purity and credibility. However, in order to achieve the economic benefits and maintain the balance between the “art” and the “money”, the economic prudence of the bourgeois accountant is required (although it might be resented).

The analysis focuses on a relatively small range of musicians and is dominated by the biography of the Beatles. A further range of musicians and artists would extend this work. Further research could also be constructed to more fully consider the consumption, rather than just the production, of art and cultural products and performances.

This paper is a novel consideration of how accounting stereotypes are constructed and used in the field of artistic creation

Buildings have a considerable impact on the environment being responsible for a substantial proportion of global energy consumption, thus contributing significantly to the anthropogenic CO2 emissions, which evidence suggests is the main cause of climate change. Mitigation and adaptation measures are required to tackle the challenges of climate change. Adaptive measures – structural and behavioural strategies – are the focus of this paper. Structural strategies include flexible and adaptive structural systems; while behavioural strategies cover the spatial, personal, and psychological control measures which may influence the design and operations of buildings. The study explores the adaptive thermal comfort of occupants and examines the design strategies for adapting buildings to climate change in the tropical context, with a view to determine the effectiveness of these strategies as observed in the case study. The study was conducted during the rainy and dry seasons in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria, located in a warm humid climate zone.

The Institute of Venture Design student hostel was used as case-study to conduct the survey on a sample of 40 respondents by means of structured questionnaire. The respondents' thermal sensation and access to thermal controls were determined, and their thermal sensation and thermal adaptability in both seasons comparatively analyzed. Indoor environmental parameters including air temperature, mean radiant temperature, relative humidity and air velocity were also measured. The data were analyzed using relevant descriptive and inferential statistics. The study discussed the effectiveness of design strategies available for building adaptation in an era of climate change within the warm humid environment, concluding on the need for greater synergy between the techno-structural and socio-behavioural dimensions of building adaptation.

Uncertain times [e.g. coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)] require service businesses to respond in creative, flexible and resilient ways. This paper aims to develop and test the theoretical relationship between digital transformation and organizational resilience (OR), and the consequences of OR on organizations and employees during turbulent times.

A scale development was first conducted with an expert panel. Later, 474 participants who work as employees in small and medium-sized service enterprises were recruited for structural equation modeling (SEM). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and path analysis were conducted to test the relationship between dimensions of digital maturity, dimensions of OR and two consequential variables: organizational performance and employees’ state optimism.

Strategic technology investment helps organizations to develop systematic control sustain operations in crises but may not directly contribute to employees’ capabilities of accurately understanding external turmoil, actively seeking available resources and rapidly developing adaptive solutions. Transformation management intensity equips an organization with transformative vision, governance and culture, and such transformative built-in leadership enables the organization to embrace employees with talents and innovativeness and help employees grow their capabilities when facing crises. The dimensions of OR have different influences on the organization and employees.

This research develops and tests the dimensions and measurement items of OR for the services domain and empirically tested how the dimensions of digital maturity influence the dimensions of OR, and how OR influences the organization’s performance and employees’ state optimism.

This research aims to explore in detail aspects of the role and character of student unions as venues for live music in post‐war Britain. Guiding questions ask: what part have student unions, entertainment officers and the wider body of students – in their role as consumers – played in the economics of the live music business? What is specific to the business of live music in student unions? How is this sector of activity related to national and local scenes, promoters, non‐student audiences and the wider popular music culture and economy?

The research draws upon formal and informally archived sources to formulate definitions and scope for research, tracing the historical emergence and fortunes of popular music programming in universities.

The research traces a history of professionalization of music provision by students, a result of co‐ordination efforts by the National Union of Students. It outlines the specific character of live music business in student unions as determined by its subsidized nature.

Sources for research are unevenly preserved and the scope of activity – historical and contemporary is considerable. Further empirical research is required in order to fully explore this important, if neglected area of cultural and economic activity.

The role and character of student unions in the economy of the music industry is rarely considered and this paper offers set of concepts for further research and detailed historical insights into this sector of business.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the life of the musician Brian Wilson from five different perspectives.

The authors used a mixed method of collaborative autoethnography, psychobiography and digital team ethnography to try and better understand the life and contributions of Brian Wilson.

Each of the five contributors provides different insights into the life and music of Brian Wilson.

While the focus of this paper is on a single individual, a case study, the long and distinguished life of Brian Wilson provides much material for discussion and theorising.

Each individual presenting to mental health services has a complex biography. The five different contributions articulated in this paper could perhaps be taken as similar to the range of professional opinions seen in mental health teams, with each focusing on unique but overlapping aspects of the person’s story.

This account shows the importance of taking a biological-psychological-social-spiritual and cultural perspective on mental illness.

This multi-layered analysis brings a range of perspectives to bear on the life and achievements of Brian Wilson, from developmental, musical, psychological and lived experience standpoints.

The purpose of this article is to investigate sports branding at the personal level by focusing on the evolvement, growth and sustainability of the ANNIKA BRAND – an extension of Annika Sörenstam's success on golf courses worldwide.

A qualitative case study method inspired by “symbolic interactionist” aspects and focusing on Annika Sörenstam's commercial success with personal sports branding and its interdependence with sports branding at the product and corporate levels. Data collection was conducted in accordance with interpretative research traditions and hence based on qualitative semi‐ structured research interviews.

The “hybrid” nature of sports brands draws highly on “emotional capital” and “social currency”. Personal sports branding acts as a “hybrid”, which facilitates “hybrid” branding relationships between personal sports brands and sports brands at the product and corporate levels – often underlining good ROIs for all involved parties if the sports branding process is executed well strategically. This article presents personal sports branding as a hybrid phenomenon, which is dynamic by heart and part of a well‐coordinated process engaging several partners.

The practices and activities of the ANNIKA BRAND is a showcase for sports branding practitioners thinking about sustainable business models.

This paper is unique in offering a roadmap for how personal sport stars may approach brand development and growth while discussing key points of the interdependence between sports brands at the personal, product and corporate levels.

Toward achieving a better guest experience, the current study aims to use the word frequency comparison technique to evaluate the types of attributes and services that are used most frequently in guests’ five- and one-star reviews on TripAdvisor. The working-paper also aims to investigate the differences between reviews written by men and women.

A combined sentiment and text analysis was applied to 329,849 UK hotel reviews from UK TripAdvisor to identify factors that influence customer satisfaction, including those with gender differences.

The present findings reveal important differences between the male- and female-produced terms. The results show that female travelers pay more attention to the hotel’s core products and their comfort compared to male travelers. In terms of food and beverage, men’s comments tended to focus on pubs, beer and certain types of food. In contrast, women’s comments were more likely to be related to healthy eating, such as homemade, vegan and vegetarian foods, as well as fruits and healthy breakfasts. Women also pay more attention to the soft skills of staff such as friendliness, helpfulness and welcoming messages.

While core attributes of a hotel stay remain crucial for all guests, disparities exist between the language men and women use to describe them. For core products, women pay more attention to the room’s cleanliness, comfort and features such as bed, pillow, blanket, towel, toiletries and decoration, whereas men pay more attention to the layout, size and type of room. Hotels may use gender as a segmentation variable and use these findings in their marketing campaigns.

This is one of the first studies offering insights into the differences between the male and female reactions to and preferences for hotel services at a national level. Following a novel method, this study has listed and ranked attributes and differentiated them based on gender.

The purpose of this paper to report on the role of luxury value perceptions and ethical concerns in consumers’ environmentally significant behaviour and purchase intent for genuine leather products.

Non-probability sampling was done and 429 South African males and females, aged 26 years and older and who fell in a household income bracket that allowed them to purchase genuine leather products, completed a structured questionnaire during September 2016.

The study determined that South African consumers’ strong functional and individual luxury value perceptions drive their above-average purchase intent for genuine leather products. Strong individual value perceptions correlated negatively with their purchase intent. Respondents’ expressed strong ethical concerns but almost never participate in environmentally significant behaviour.

Findings have implications for the leather industry and retailers and brands who would like to enter the South African luxury leather market. Due to the sampling method, findings can, however, not been generalised to the total population.

The leather industry and leather brands should market themselves with the message that the highest pro-environmental and ethical standards have been maintained and that their products should therefore fulfil important individual and functional value perceptions.

This study was the first of its kind about the multi-cultural South African leather market’s luxury value perceptions, ethical concerns and environmentally significant behaviour.