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1 – 10 of 14Pia Wäistö, Juhani Ukko and Tero Rantala
Organisational strategy becomes reality by connecting organisation’s resources and capabilities in daily operations, and physical workspace is one of the environments in which…
Abstract
Purpose
Organisational strategy becomes reality by connecting organisation’s resources and capabilities in daily operations, and physical workspace is one of the environments in which this takes place. This study aims to explore to what extent factors required for successful strategy implementation are considered when designing, using and managing workspaces of knowledge-intensive organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
For the study, managers in 25 large and medium-sized knowledge-intensive organisations were interviewed. The semi-structured interviews focused on organisation’s strategy, strategy implementation practices and workspace design and management. To form a comprehensive framework of strategy implementation success factors for the study, the factors of 11 frameworks were analysed, grouped and renamed.
Findings
Current workspace design, usage and management mainly support human-related strategy implementation factors. However, both organisation- and human-related factors are needed for the strategy implementation to be successful. Therefore, the organisations studied may have unused potential in their workspaces to ensure strategy-aligned operations and behaviour.
Practical implications
Due to the potential imbalance between organisation- and human-related strategy implementation factors, a more holistic, organisational-level approach to workspace design, usage and management is recommended to ensure the success of strategy implementation.
Originality/value
Workspaces have extensively been studied from individual strategy implementation factors’ as well as employees’ perspectives. Prior to this work, there are only few studies exploring workspace in the holistic, strategy implementation context.
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Eman Abowardah, Wafa Labib, Samaher A. Fallatah, Amal Abdelsattar and Rouaa Atyah
The role of women in the architecture and design industry is aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to increase the participation of women in the Saudi construction…
Abstract
Purpose
The role of women in the architecture and design industry is aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to increase the participation of women in the Saudi construction sector. Saudi female graduates from architectural and design schools are currently working in most of the mega projects underway in Riyadh; however, they face certain challenges at the beginning of their working lives due to the gap between the skills acquired during an architectural and design education and those needed for employability.
Design/methodology/approach
This study evaluates the employability skills of Saudi female cooperative education (COOP) students and graduates from architectural schools in Riyadh. A quantitative approach is taken, and two questionnaires are administered: one for female COOP students and graduates from the college of architecture and design in one of the private universities in Riyadh and the other for employers from different architectural firms and governmental organizations in Riyadh. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the research data.
Findings
The research findings suggest that practical experiences and on-site observation activities should be provided, and sustainability solutions and applications should be incorporated into the curriculum to bring architecture education closer to the architectural profession and highlight the role of universities in supporting graduates' skills development.
Research limitations/implications
It is worth mentioning that the results of this study were based on the survey distributed to architecture and interior female students in a private university in Saudi Arabia. The number of students surveyed in this study is not large enough to generalize the survey results to the entire population of architecture and interior design students in the kingdom and in the world. The study will be extended to include more participants from male and female students in other universities in Saudi Arabia to investigate the gaps in employability skills in the field of architecture and interior design in the Kingdom.
Practical implications
The study has practical and policy implications for further development and upcoming challenges as the labor market seems to improve and innovate every day. The study suggests providing practical experiences and onsite observation activities and incorporating sustainability solutions and applications into the curriculum.
Originality/value
The originality of this study is that it focuses on the importance of some employability skills, such as research and budgeting aspects, Sustainability solutions and applications for students that have not been mentioned in the previous studies.
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The move comes as regulators scrutinise the competition implications of large tech companies' ability to lock in customers by bundling their products, creating dependencies. The…
Details
DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB286313
ISSN: 2633-304X
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Geographic
Topical
Edoardo Trincanato and Emidia Vagnoni
The lean startup approach (LSA) is extensively utilized by early-stage entrepreneurs, with “pivot” serving as a key pillar. However, there is a research gap concerning the…
Abstract
Purpose
The lean startup approach (LSA) is extensively utilized by early-stage entrepreneurs, with “pivot” serving as a key pillar. However, there is a research gap concerning the boundary conditions impacting LSA and pivot decisions, especially when addressing societal challenges, as in the context of transformational entrepreneurship. In this regard, the healthcare sector, further compounded by a lack of research on startups and scale-ups, presents an embraced opportunity to provide multiple contributions for both theory and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The present investigation employs a grounded approach to explore the experiences of the co-founders of a fast-growing Italian e-health startup. A narrative strategy was employed to organize conditions and evolving strategic action/interactions into three different pivoting phases of the startup – before the pivot, its enactment and aftermath – with primary and secondary data collected over a period of one year.
Findings
Pivoting in digital healthcare unfolded as a liminal experience marked by factors such as high regulation, multiple stakeholders, technological and symbolic ambivalence, resource-intensive demands and institutional actors acting as pathway pioneers, leading to an information overload and unforeseeable uncertainty to manage. These factors challenge entrepreneurs' ability to attain optimal distinctiveness, presenting the paradoxical need for vertical flexibility for scaling up.
Social implications
By uniquely illuminating the sector’s constraints on entrepreneurial phenomena, this study provides a valuable guide for entrepreneurs and institutional actors in addressing societal challenges.
Originality/value
This study introduces a process model of transformational information crafting when pivoting, highlighting the role of entrepreneurs' transformational stance and platform-mediated solutions as engines behind strategies involving information breaking and transition, preceding knowledge-driven integration strategies.
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Agata Mirowska and Tuba Bakici
The purpose of this study is to investigate existing and emerging technology-driven stressors using the transactional model of stress and coping (TMSC).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate existing and emerging technology-driven stressors using the transactional model of stress and coping (TMSC).
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth semi-structured interviews with 36 professionals were performed to obtain qualitative data to explore emerging techno-stressors. The findings were validated a year into the pandemic with human resource (HR) professionals.
Findings
The authors identify a previously unreported techno-stressor, Techno-Isolation (TIS), which arises from a heavy dependence on information communication technologies for professional social interactions. Additionally, several considerations of interaction characteristics are identified that, based on the platform used, affect the experience of TIS, further expanding the TMSC with the addition of medium-interaction compatibility. The authors present a testable model and discuss implications.
Originality/value
This study identifies three new information communication technology (ICT)-based antecedents leading to a new techno-stressor, as well as the importance of medium-interaction compatibility in the experiences of stressors as strains. The authors discuss how these elements fit with and extend the existing stress literature.
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John Aliu, Ayodeji Emmanuel Oke, Abiola Oluwasogo Oyediran, Rislan Abdulazeez Kanya and Samuel Ukaha Onyeukwu
Although social media has gained prominence as a communication and marketing tool in various sectors, its adoption and utilization within the construction industry remain…
Abstract
Purpose
Although social media has gained prominence as a communication and marketing tool in various sectors, its adoption and utilization within the construction industry remain relatively underexplored. Therefore, this study fills this gap by evaluating the level of awareness and the extent of adoption of social media within the Nigerian construction industry, shedding light on its current status and potential impact.
Design/methodology/approach
This objective was attained via a quantitative research approach that utilized a structured questionnaire to obtain responses from construction professionals such as architects, builders, engineers, quantity surveyors and estate managers. Frequencies and percentages and the mean item score (MIS) were used to analyze the questionnaire responses and assess the overall awareness and adoption of social media among construction professionals. Additionally, the Kruskal–Wallis H-test provided valuable insights into the variations in social media adoption levels among different professional categories within the construction industry.
Findings
The results indicate that construction professionals possess a generally high level of awareness regarding various social media platforms. However, despite this awareness, the extent of adoption does not align with the level of awareness, suggesting that adoption rates are not as widespread as anticipated.
Practical implications
The findings of this study underscore the importance of not just awareness but also effective adoption and utilization of social media platforms. While awareness is a crucial first step, construction firms should focus on implementing strategies to encourage greater adoption and integration of these platforms into their daily operations. This can go a long way in bridging the awareness – adoption gap which was revealed in this study.
Originality/value
While the limited existing research on social media in the construction industry has predominantly concentrated on areas such as marketing, addressing the root causes of fatalities, data environment tools and business branding, none have undertaken a thorough evaluation of social media awareness and adoption within the sector. This study fills a critical gap by narrowing its focus to the adoption dynamics and the technology’s potential impact on communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing among construction professionals.
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My-Linh Thi Nguyen and Tuan Huu Nguyen
This study examines the evidence of the impact of climate change on the financial performance of basic materials companies in Vietnam.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the evidence of the impact of climate change on the financial performance of basic materials companies in Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
The research sample includes eighty-two basic materials companies listed on the Vietnamese stock market from 2003 to 2022. This study used one-way and two-way fixed-effects feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) estimation methods.
Findings
Climate change, measured through variables including changes in temperature, average rainfall, greenhouse gas emissions and rising sea levels, has a negative impact on the financial performance of companies in this industry. The study also found that, with rising temperatures, the financial performance of steel manufacturing companies decreased less than that of coal mining and forestry companies, but increasing greenhouse gases and rising sea levels reduced the financial performance of steel companies. We did not find evidence of any difference in the impact of climate change on the financial performance of basic materials companies before and after the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 21). This is a new finding, which is consistent with empirical studies in Vietnam and different from previous studies in that it provides new evidence on the impact of climate change on the financial performance of basic materials companies in the Vietnamese market and cross-checks the impact of climate change by sector and over time.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first articles on climate change and the financial performance of basic materials companies.
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A sense of collective free-thinking with tangible goals makes co-creation an enlightening experience. Yet despite the freedom and organic flow of the methodology, there remain…
Abstract
Purpose
A sense of collective free-thinking with tangible goals makes co-creation an enlightening experience. Yet despite the freedom and organic flow of the methodology, there remain barriers to deploying co-creation in the real-world context. The aim was to understand the barriers and solutions to co-creation, reflect on applying co-creation in practice and co-create an applicable framework for co-creation.
Design/methodology/approach
These reflections and conceptual developments were completed using a Participatory Action Research Approach through the co-creation of the Erasmus+ funded Co-creating Welfare course.
Findings
Results presented are centric to the experiences in the United Kingdom but led to application at an international level. Problem formulation led to solutions devised about who should co-create, what co-creation aims to achieve, how to receive management buy-in, co-creating beyond the local face to face context and evaluation.
Originality/value
The Three Co’s Framework is proposed using the outline of: Co-Define, Co-Design and Co-Refine. Those who take part in co-creation processes are recommended to be called co-creators, with less focus on “empowerment” and more about facilitating people to harness the power they already have. Utilising online and hybrid delivery methods can be more inclusive, especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of co-creation needs to be evaluated more moving forwards, as well as the output co-created.
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Yu Wang, Daqing Zheng and Yulin Fang
The advancement of enterprise social networks (ESNs) facilitates information sharing but also presents the challenge of managing information boundaries. This study aims to explore…
Abstract
Purpose
The advancement of enterprise social networks (ESNs) facilitates information sharing but also presents the challenge of managing information boundaries. This study aims to explore the factors that influence the information-control behavior of ESN users when continuously sharing information.
Design/methodology/approach
This study specifies the information-control behaviors in the “wall posts” channel and applies communication privacy management (CPM) theory to analyze the effects of the individual-specific factor (disposition to value information), context-specific factors (work-relatedness and information richness) and risk-benefit ratio (public benefit and public risk). Data on actual information-control behaviors extracted from ESN logs are examined using multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression analysis.
Findings
The study's findings show the direct effects of the individual-specific factor, context-specific factors and risk-benefit ratio, highlighting interactions between the individual motivation factor and ESN context factors.
Originality/value
This study reshapes the relationship of CPM theory boundary rules in the ESN context, extending information-control research and providing insights into ESNs' information-control practices.
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Omaima Hajjami and Oliver S. Crocco
The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influenced employee engagement in the context of remote work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and compare them…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influenced employee engagement in the context of remote work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and compare them with antecedents of employee engagement in traditional workplaces.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted an integrative literature review design of 27 empirical and conceptual peer-reviewed journal articles from a host of academic databases. Data were analyzed via a matrix and mapped onto individual and organizational antecedents of employee engagement.
Findings
This study identified 18 antecedents of remote work, which were categorized into individual antecedents, for example, mindfulness and digital literacy, as well as organizational antecedents, for example, job autonomy and supportive leadership. These findings were compared with antecedents of employee engagement in traditional workplaces to generate new knowledge about the impact of remote work on employee engagement as a result of the large shift to remote work in 2020.
Originality/value
This study synthesizes the most recent literature on antecedents of employee engagement in remote work settings as the result of the pandemic and contrasts these new approaches with previously identified antecedents of employee engagement in traditional workplaces.
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