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1 – 10 of over 10000Harry Arne Solberg, Denis Mike Becker, Jon Martin Denstadli, Frode Heldal, Per Ståle Knardal and Thor Atle Thøring
This paper sought to determine how a major sport event can become trapped in a winner's curse, in which the fierce competition to host the event forces organisers to spend more on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper sought to determine how a major sport event can become trapped in a winner's curse, in which the fierce competition to host the event forces organisers to spend more on acquiring and hosting it than what it is worth in economic terms.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a combination of document analysis and 47 in-depth interviews with 51 individuals representing various private and public organisations involved in the implementation of the UCI 2017 Road Cycling World Championship. Snowball sampling and a semi-structured interview guide were used to ensure coverage of all relevant information.
Findings
The organiser and the host municipal lacked the necessary experience with events of this size and character. Information from previous championships events was not transferred, and the municipality administration did not utilise experiences from hosting previous events. Limited financial resources prevented the organiser from hiring enough employees with the necessary competence. Lack of communication between the stakeholders who contributed in hosting the event reduced the quality of planning and preparations. A dubious culture and lack of seriousness within the Norwegian Cycling Federation, which was the owner of organising company, seemed to have been transferred to organiser.
Originality/value
The research identifies some of the reasons why major sports events so often turns out to be more problematic than expected in economic terms, not only for the organiser but also for actors in the public sector in the host city. The novelty is that it goes into depth on the underlying reasons and the dynamic forces behind these problems.
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Jenny Kwai‐Sim Leung, Kieran James, Razvan V. Mustata and Carmen Giorgiana Bonaci
The purpose of this paper is to document key elements of union strategy at Sydney (Lidcombe) branch of Australia's Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to document key elements of union strategy at Sydney (Lidcombe) branch of Australia's Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in an attempt to document and critique its branch level strategy in the year immediately after the removal of the Howard‐Costello Government.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach is used in analysing data obtained from internal CFMEU documents and correspondence; interviews with the New South Wales State Secretary of the CFMEU Andrew Ferguson, union organisers, one former organiser who worked for a number of years at Western Sydney but is now with a white‐collar union in the education sector, and construction workers; CFMEU official publications; news media stories and a series of building site visits. The authors use a theory framework of Roman Catholic social teaching to frame the discussions and analyze the case study findings.
Findings
In focus groups with construction workers, the authors find one challenging external constraint for the CFMEU: reaching out to and meeting effectively the needs of younger workers especially those from families hostile to unionism. However, younger workers seem to hold a mix of individualistic and collectivist philosophies. The final case shows the CFMEU organiser Tulloch to be adaptable and flexible in the heat of industrial disputation. Finally, the fact that building workers brought the asbestos issue to CFMEU's attention in the final case study shows union willingness to pursue issues not initiated by the union.
Originality/value
The paper documents the fact that the CFMEU has the ability and potential to rebuild its influence on building sites in Sydney and win further favourable outcomes for exploited and vulnerable workers within its sphere of influence. Through the theoretical framework, the authors point that as it does so it will assist in bringing to fruition the Roman Catholic social teaching that presents strong trade unions as a valid form of collective voice for workers and a way for collective and individual labour to retain in practice the dignity that God has already clothed them with.
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Examines the historical role of marketing within the British electoral process. Based on historical research and drawing on a voluminous amount of documentary analysis, seeks to…
Abstract
Examines the historical role of marketing within the British electoral process. Based on historical research and drawing on a voluminous amount of documentary analysis, seeks to assess how and when marketing thinking and techniques first began to gain currency within the British Labour Party between 1918 and 1939. Demonstrates how Labour, an organisation traditionally regarded as being resistant to change, contained influential people keen to experiment with new campaign techniques and ideas.
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The Psion organiser is a small hand‐sized computer about the size of a (thick) pocket diary. Despite its size, it is a complete computer by any reasonable definition, with…
Abstract
The Psion organiser is a small hand‐sized computer about the size of a (thick) pocket diary. Despite its size, it is a complete computer by any reasonable definition, with processor, 16–32Kbyte memory, operating system, programming language, resident software, and the ability to communicate with peripherals such as printers and light pens, as well as with other microcomputers. The resident programs are an electronic diary, a personal database system, a calculator, a clock, an alarm facility and a programming facility. The programming facility allows programs to be created, edited, saved, compiled and inserted into the main menu in such a way that they may be run with a single keystroke.
Sabine Elisabeth Töppig and Miguel Moital
To establish how and why exhibition managers manage circulation, this study explores the techniques (specific activities used to influence circulation), outputs (tangible…
Abstract
Purpose
To establish how and why exhibition managers manage circulation, this study explores the techniques (specific activities used to influence circulation), outputs (tangible enhancements in the performance of the exhibition resulting from changes in circulation dynamics) and outcomes (benefits of those enhancements to exhibitors, attendees and the exhibition organiser) of circulation management.
Design/methodology/approach
In face-to-face interviews, 10 exhibition managers were asked how and why they manage attendee circulation, which also involved a card-sorting exercise to elicit tacit circulation management knowledge. Four different experienced exhibitions managers from three continents were asked to validate the findings.
Findings
Four types of techniques were identified: magnet, layout, curiosity and playfulness and guiding techniques, with these implemented to achieve five outputs: greater footfall, better exposure to exhibits, enhanced navigation, greater buzz and managing congestion levels. The results further show that circulation was managed to achieve a variety of organiser-, exhibitor- and attendee-related outcomes. The study uncovered a large range of factors influencing the employment of circulation management techniques. Conflicts in outputs resulting from several techniques are highlighted, requiring the exhibition manager to establish which outputs and resulting outcomes take priority over others.
Originality/value
This exploratory study is the first study to propose a circulation management model for the exhibition context, equipping exhibition managers with knowledge to strategically manage attendee circulation.
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Edmund Heery, Rick Delbridge, Melanie Simms, John Salmon and David H Simpson
As trade unions have continued to decline in membership and influence across the developed economies, so academic attention has turned to the prospects for renewal and a search…
Abstract
As trade unions have continued to decline in membership and influence across the developed economies, so academic attention has turned to the prospects for renewal and a search for the conditions under which it might plausibly occur (Fairbrother, 2000; Martin & Ross, 1999; Turner, 1999). One leg of this search has been directed towards the changing context which unions face and has resulted in the prescription that unions must change their policies, structures and culture to accommodate a “new workforce” (Cobble, 1994; Heckscher, 1988; Wever, 1998). A second leg has been directed within unions themselves and has been concerned more with the internal processes through which renewal can take place (Fiorito et al., 1995; Hurd, 1998; Pocock, 1998). In the U.K., two distinctive theories of change in trade unions have emerged along this second line of inquiry, one of which, the “rank and file” model, holds that significant change occurs from the bottom-up and requires the mobilisation of members against a conservative leadership (Fairbrother, 1996). The other, the “managerial” model, claims the opposite is true and that renewal is conditional on effective systems of union management and occurs from the top–down (Willman et al., 1993). Both theories are venerable and in Britain their roots can be traced on the one hand to the Webbs and their conviction that effective unions required professional leadership and on the other to the apostles of industrial syndicalism (Fox, 1985, pp. 66, 256–260). They continue to structure debate, however, and the purpose of this article is to provide an empirical examination of each with regard to an issue, which seemingly is critical to the internal renewal of unions, the development of organising activity.
This paper is aimed at describing and analysing what school organisers express when they network to expand the access and application of digital technologies in educational…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper is aimed at describing and analysing what school organisers express when they network to expand the access and application of digital technologies in educational systems. Digital technologies develop rapidly in society, creating challenges and opportunities in people’s lives. Schools have an important task: to prepare young people for a future permeated by digital technology.
Design/methodology/approach
Participant observations and semi-structured interviews were used to describe and analyse how school organisers describe digitalisation work in the educational system.
Findings
The findings show that school organisers describe digital competence and providing support to schools as being important for expanding the access and application of digital technologies in the educational system. They also talk about equality connected to digitalisation work, changes in organisations, the importance of a holistic perspective, and a gold thread. They furthermore explain that networks, a sharing culture, good relations, and good communication enable digitalisation work. In addition, they point out that the lack of time, attitudes towards digital technologies, the lack of digital competence, and resistance to change are some of the constraints for digital technologies in the educational system.
Practical implications
School organisers need to implement digitalisation policies, which can be problematic because they work strategically to support operational activities.
Originality/value
This paper contributes knowledge about school organisers’ work to expand the access and application of digital technologies in the educational system.
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This paper aims to explore how music festival organisers negotiate diversity and inclusion in marketing and promotion practices through symbolic and social boundaries.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how music festival organisers negotiate diversity and inclusion in marketing and promotion practices through symbolic and social boundaries.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on semi-structured interviews with 18 festival organisers in Rotterdam and participant observation with six festival photographers I show that symbolic and social boundaries are employed in three areas: (1) boundaries in festival format (i.e. [partially] free or ticketed), (2) boundaries in distribution partners and technologies and (3) boundaries in promotional content.
Findings
Symbolic and social boundaries are intentionally used by festival organisers to build and delineate festival audiences. Implications are drawn on current understandings of the accessibility of music festival spaces, arguing that festival research should move beyond within-space dynamics to grasp the negotiation of diversity and inclusion at festivals more fully.
Originality/value
While music festivals are often marketed as celebratory spaces that are “welcoming to everyone”, few studies have investigated diversity and inclusion nor marketing and promotion practices at music festivals. This study shows how festival audiences are shaped through marketing and promotion practices.
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Felice F. Martinello and Charlotte Yates
Cluster analysis is applied to the union and employer tactics used in a sample of Ontario organising campaigns to identify the combinations of tactics or strategies that are used…
Abstract
Cluster analysis is applied to the union and employer tactics used in a sample of Ontario organising campaigns to identify the combinations of tactics or strategies that are used most often. Seven union organising strategies and five employer resistance strategies are revealed. Contingency table analysis shows that the union and employer strategies are not independent of one another. More active campaigns by one side (in terms of more tactics used) are met by more active campaigns by the other side. Regression analysis is used to estimate the effects of the strategies on the outcome of the organising campaign. The most active strategies, including intensive communication with workers and worker committees, work best for the employers. For unions, strategies emphasising personal communication through house calls are the most effective.
The purpose of this paper is to consider perceptions of sustainability, information communication technologies (ICTs)-enhanced performances, authenticity, COVID-19 and performance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider perceptions of sustainability, information communication technologies (ICTs)-enhanced performances, authenticity, COVID-19 and performance futures in relation to digital content for use on-site and off-site at music festivals/events. It responds to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 9 – Industries, Innovation and Infrastructure. The research analyses existing literature to inform a dialogue among music festival organisers, consultants and performers. It addresses the thesis that: industry gatekeepers’ opinions on the authenticity of environmentally sound ICT-generated live content will influence its adoption at music festivals.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary research was carried out using purposive sampling of 50 live music industry professionals to collect and interpret expert empirical evidence through informed narrative. Using a mixed-methods approach, respondents completed a structured e-mail questionnaire comprising closed questions, a five-point Likert scale and additional qualitative open questions.
Findings
Predominantly positive quantitative responses relating to the live music industry's role in advocating sustainability contrasted with negative responses to virtual festivals. Responses adopting and rejecting environmentally sound ICT for live content were evident in qualitative results, with significant proportions of undecided or uncertain respondents. The prevalence of postponement and rejection responses around authenticity may prevent adoption at some music festivals.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of this research include the relatively small sample size and limited scope in terms of the artform.
Originality/value
The “snapshot” of digital aspects of sustainability at music festivals within this research is of particular value due to the paucity of research in this area, rapid change in virtual music festival provision prompted by COVID-19 and its narrative from varied industry professionals. The paper makes recommendations to artists, music festival organisers, consultants, academics and public funders to attempt to advance sustainability.
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