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1 – 10 of 16Jordan L. LeBel and Nathalie Cooke
The purpose of this research is to examine the nature of consumers' relationships with branded spokescharacters by drawing upon brand personality theory and reader‐response…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to examine the nature of consumers' relationships with branded spokescharacters by drawing upon brand personality theory and reader‐response theory, focusing specifically on food trade characters. We aim to show that the persuasive power of these characters resides not only in their appearance, but also in the complex narratives consumers project (sometimes unwittingly) onto the spokescharacter.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reports the results of a survey – blending quantitative and qualitative methodologies – designed to document consumer perceptions, affective responses and spontaneous associations to different characters (i.e. Aunt Jemima, Robin Hood, Betty Crocker, Uncle Ben, Poppin' Fresh the Pillsbury's Doughboy, and M. Felix and Mr Norton, characters created by a Montreal‐based cookie company).
Findings
The results revealed that consumers associate spokescharacters with distinct personality profiles. Also, a connection was found between spokescharacters and narrative: a relationship where the characters become part of a larger narrative paradigm and more importantly, a relationship where the consumer is cast in a specific role vis‐à‐vis the spokescharacter.
Practical implications
These results should invite brand managers to stay current with the variety of associations that consumers form and how these associations influence the perception of their brand's personality. The results further underscore the need to understand the role into which consumers are cast vis‐à‐vis a branded character. Future research should examine cross cultural differences in the perception and narratives of branded characters, especially since many multinational companies use branded characters across cultural divides.
Originality/value
The paper shows how consumers play an active role in rendering a spokescharacter likeable, credible, and even memorable and documents the narratives that engage consumers and are both constructed collaboratively with them and propagated by them.
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Monique Aubry, Hélène Sicotte, Nathalie Drouin, Hélène Vidot‐Delerue and Claude Besner
The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical framework and the preliminary results from a research programme on organisational project management. It aims at exploring…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical framework and the preliminary results from a research programme on organisational project management. It aims at exploring how organisational project management can be conceptualised as a function within the organisation.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodological framework is based on a constructivist epistemology. This research programme contains two sequential phases based on a robust mixed method. The first phase of the qualitative approach, which is the focus of this paper, includes 20 interviews with executives and middle managers.
Findings
This approach is expected to be helpful in assessing the fit between organisational context, project management implementation and organisational strategy. The proposed theoretical framework draws from the exploration of organisational project management as a function. Preliminary results confirm that organisational project management can be best understood as a function within the organisation. Future research includes the second phase of this research programme based on a quantitative approach.
Research limitations/implications
This research situates project management within the theoretical field of organisational design. It borrows from innovation literature the concept of function that serve as a foundation piece in the proposed framework, to integrate the various activities undertaken to manage multiple projects.
Practical implications
This research provides some evidence for the organisation design that serves articulating different activities undertaken for the management of multiple projects into a coherent function throughout the organisation.
Originality/value
This research explores what organisations really do when they face the challenges of managing multiple projects while at the same time pursuing their operations. Interviews with executives and middle managers clearly justify the identification of a function dedicated to the overall project management.
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K.C. Fung and Nathalie Aminian
In this paper, the authors aim to examine some characteristics of the innovation system and policy in France and China. For comparison, they also highlight some high technology…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors aim to examine some characteristics of the innovation system and policy in France and China. For comparison, they also highlight some high technology features of Silicon Valley and California.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors study the characteristics of innovation in France and in China. The authors examine the technology systems and policies in both countries and compare their features with those in Silicon Valley.
Findings
As far as France is concerned, it can be stated that the innovation system and policy are under transformation, going from a strong state involvement to a more decentralized framework. This evolution leads to a multi-level governance of the innovation system and to the emergence of new actors. For China, the most interesting development in China is the evolution of its internet-related sector. The authors argue here that the internet-driven economy is a radical, systemic technological change and it is rapidly growing in China.
Originality/value
One of the earliest papers comparing the innovation policies and activities in France, China and Silicon Valley.
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Nathalie Drouin and Claude Besner
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers comprising a special issue of the journal. The central theme of this special issue is “Projects and organisations: adding…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers comprising a special issue of the journal. The central theme of this special issue is “Projects and organisations: adding rungs to the ladder of understanding project management and its relationship with the organisation”. It is dedicated to research that explores and proposes different avenues to contribute to the development of the field of project management from this perspective of projects and organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
The Guest Editors solicited academics and collaborators of the Project Management Research Chair at the École des sciences de la gestion, Université du Québec à Montréal (ESG UQAM). Following a call for papers, five were selected that underwent a double‐blind peer‐review process.
Findings
The five selected articles each provide unique perspectives and insights. Viewed as a set, their contributions view projects and organisations from three main perspectives: project management governance issues; management of innovative and IT projects; and processes, practices and tools. The set brings new empirical data, ideas and theoretical frameworks to bear that justify the extension of the current project management paradigm, and suggest that project management be viewed as a critical function of the organisation.
Practical implications
The set of papers encourages scholars to continue to examine organisational concerns related to project management with the goal of explaining and enhancing important relationships among organisational phenomena and the project management field.
Originality/value
By bringing this special issue together, the Editor played an important role in adding rungs to the ladder of understanding project management and its relationship with the organisation.
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Nathalie Schieb-Bienfait and Sandrine Emin
The policies in creative and cultural industries (CCIs) are often based on an implicit assumption that work in the cultural and creative sectors is ‘good work’ and dominant…
Abstract
The policies in creative and cultural industries (CCIs) are often based on an implicit assumption that work in the cultural and creative sectors is ‘good work’ and dominant discourses tend to over-celebrate entrepreneurship. The authors argue that enough attention has been paid to the real work in CCIs. The stake is to better address the symptoms observed for a sustainable and inclusive economy in the CCIs. Through the entrepreneurship-as-practice perspective, the authors document the professionalisation difficulties in music sector, with a qualitative study in a French city, with a particular focus on the marginalisation experienced by the young artists. With the identification of their work specificities and the tendencies for the twenty-first century, the authors point out the diversity of the tasks, the multi-activity and collective practices and the need for some innovative support organisational forms to develop training and skilling (both artistic and entrepreneurial).
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In 2018, Ontario regulations pertaining to principal and vice-principal performance appraisals were amended in order to explicitly require that principles of human rights and…
Abstract
In 2018, Ontario regulations pertaining to principal and vice-principal performance appraisals were amended in order to explicitly require that principles of human rights and equity (1) be upheld in Performance Plan goals regarding student achievement and well-being and (2) be a focus of leadership competency development in their Annual Growth Plan. These changes were instituted to support the stated aim of identifying and addressing systemic barriers and biases. For these measures to lead to systemic change rather than mere “performative” equity exercises, those in supervisory roles require a relevant framework to guide and support this aspect of the professional development and performance of principals and vice-principals. Existing provincial educational leadership frameworks are limited in this respect. This chapter draws on foundations in Adult Development to propose how fostering an expanding capacity to hold complexity is key to socially-just leadership and the sought-after systemic change.
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Shenja van der Graaf and Carina Veeckman
The purpose of this study is yield insight into how cities can optimize citizen involvement in the co-development of citizen services by providing the rights tools, knowledge and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is yield insight into how cities can optimize citizen involvement in the co-development of citizen services by providing the rights tools, knowledge and resources.
Design/methodology/approach
By conducting a case study analysis of the city of Ghent, this study investigates how users are engaged in the development of mobile applications on a city-hosted platform.
Findings
Findings show that public service delivery, related to the urban space, can be co-designed between the city and its citizens, if different toolkits aligned with the specific capacities and skills of the citizens are provided.
Research limitations/implications
Data were collected between August 2012 and December 2013. Some preliminary findings are presented on the (design of the) dynamic co-creation ecosystem and the citizens’ capacities to participate on the city-hosted platform. In addition, while the examination is still ongoing some insights can be offered in the learning dynamics underpinning how the cities are setting up such a bottom-up process and how local participation for different citizen groups can be optimized in the context of design capabilities and the design space.
Originality/value
This study yields relevant insights for policymakers, city administrations, as well as Living Lab practitioners into how public service delivery, supported by an inclusive participatory governance by design framework at the local level, can be co-designed between the city and citizens, if different toolkits aligned with the specific capacities and skills of the users are provided. By providing tailored tools, even ordinary citizens can take a much more active role in the development and appropriation of their urban space and generate solutions from which both the city and citizens’ everyday life can possibly benefit.
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Nathalie Brender, Marion Gauthier, Jean-Henry Morin and Arber Salihi
While the three lines model (TLM) provides an organizational structure to execute risk and control duties, research and practice show limitations in the model's implementation…
Abstract
Purpose
While the three lines model (TLM) provides an organizational structure to execute risk and control duties, research and practice show limitations in the model's implementation. These limitations result in governance issues. Such issues, together with control weaknesses, could be addressed by leveraging properties of distribution, transparency, and immutability of blockchain technology. To this end, in this paper the authors propose a conceptual control framework based on blockchain technology to augment control practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The design of the resulting blockchain-based control framework (BBCF) and its prototype, based on the design science research methodology (DSRM), is presented and discussed in terms of the potential impact in the context of the identified problems within the TLM.
Findings
One potential outcome of BBCF could be to redefine the scope and boundaries of some of the activities in audit and control practices from a more static to a more dynamic and prospective role. In a larger context of improving governance practices, the BBCF could set the path for a more inclusive and participatory interaction between the different governance actors of an organization.
Research limitations/implications
However, this assumes that blockchain is more widely adopted despite its complexity and rigidity.
Practical implications
BBCF covering both a conceptual model design and a reference implementation provides an innovation in audit and control. BBCF could include all relevant stakeholders who have an interest in corporate governance and control activities, including the regulators.
Originality/value
The contribution intends to serve both as a starting point for discussing the evolution of audit and control practice based on blockchain technology, as well as an initial actionable prototype for experimentation and further development.
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Chiara Fantauzzi, Nathalie Colasanti, Gloria Fiorani and Rocco Frondizi
This study aims, first of all, to analyze the extent to which Italian higher education institutions declare their mission statements in their official documents; then, to examine…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims, first of all, to analyze the extent to which Italian higher education institutions declare their mission statements in their official documents; then, to examine their content; and finally, to investigate whether mission statements include considerations on sustainability dimensions.
Design/methodology/approach
After a theoretical background on the new strategic approach adopted by higher education institutions and the related disclosure of their mission statements, the study deepens their sustainable perspective presenting the concepts of social engagement and knowledge transfer from a literary point of view. Then, a documentary analysis on the content of Italian universities’ official mission declarations will be conducted, to understand the role they play in society, by individuating their actual interest in sustainable dimensions.
Findings
Findings suggest that 36% of the 98 Italian universities state their engagement in societal issues, but only 3 of them mention sustainability targets in their mission declarations.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited, exclusively based on what higher education institutions share and, in terms of future perspective, the aim can be to investigate further official documents, especially for what concerns sustainability reports.
Practical implications
Practical implications regard the denounce of weak attention paid by Italian universities to sustainability, with the aim to foster them to increase connections with the external world, aware of the centrality of their role within society.
Originality/value
In a context that is not yet completely investigated, the originality of the paper regards the intent to study the sustainable propensity that characterizes the Italian higher education system.
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THERE has recently sprung up a great interest in antiques, probably due to Arthur Negus and his TV and broadcast programmes, and perhaps it is this which has made county…
Abstract
THERE has recently sprung up a great interest in antiques, probably due to Arthur Negus and his TV and broadcast programmes, and perhaps it is this which has made county librarians also, think about their past and their beginnings. Gloucestershire was the first to become aware of the fact that its library was fifty years old, and that a genuine antique, in the shape of its first librarian, still existed and could be questioned about the early days. So in December, 1967, the Gloucestershire Library Committee staged a most successful 50th birthday party, and invited me to cut the birthday cake, on which were 50 candles! And a very great occasion it was.