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Students develop knowledge through an ongoing process of learning embodied in their daily experiences. As citizens, they develop an identity in their communities as they build relationships through recurrent interactions, thus constructing citizenship by strengthening stable interactions. This paper aims to examine the development of student active citizenship within a Jean Monnet module summer school that uses a participative approach and experiential learning.

The research provides a multi-level systems perspective on the learning experience in a Jean Monnet module. It combines state-of-the-art analysis of the Jean Monnet modules reports, analysis of a selected module’s activities and delayed participants feedback analysis. The methodology addresses complexity at multiple levels and leaves sufficient variance to invite readers to test the approaches themselves.

First, opportunities and gaps in the development of active citizen abilities were identified within the Jean Monnet modules. Second, it was established that the use of a participative approach and experiential learning aligned activities in the learning process yielded positive results in participant engagement. Third, long-term effects in the form of an improved understanding of active citizenship and the execution of activities in real life were also observed. The authors point to the need for active communication in the development of a full-cycle experiential learning process. Additionally, the multi-level monitoring model contributed positively towards the continual improvement of the learning process, and thus, provided a learning experience for teachers.

The research is limited regarding the clear articulation of the research results, rendering comparison with other learning experience reports challenging.

For lecturers, the importance of integrating the participative approach into the student learning process is documented; the effects of experience learning on students’ active participation are presented; and the importance of systems perspective on multiple aspects of the learning process is reinforced. For students, an example of the importance of being active in the learning process and using available resources is provided. For policymakers, the paper attests to the importance of learning programmes expanding the limitations of the regular curricula and the need to support additional programmes and the benefits of a participative approach and experience learning in the process of developing active citizens.

The authors point to the need for authentic situational-context experience and active communication in the learning process. Additionally, the authors provide an example of systems investigation of the learning process.

The paper identifies the gap between the Jean Monnet modules and active citizen abilities and provides a potential approach towards reducing them. It also provides a multi-level method for monitoring and adjusting the learning process.

A suitable leadership approach and multiple dimensions of performance (operational and social dimensions contributing to financial performance – the effectiveness of international agri-food supply chain coordination) are important because of significant linkages between them. However, there has been no such empirical research to explore the linkages in five selected New Zealand-UK international agri-food supply chains (dairy, meat, vegetables and fruits). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to address this knowledge gap.

Before applying covariance-based structural equation modelling (a path analysis) on the data collected from 112 chain coordinators (CCs) (chief executive officers, managing directors and head of departments) of the selected agri-food supply chains, a comprehensive process of exploratory factor analysis, reliability and validity tests is used to develop the constructs.

The findings suggest that CCs’ participative leadership approach is highly significantly (β=0.60; p=0.00) associated with the effectiveness of international agri-food supply chain coordination. Directive leadership does not have a significant relationship and its interaction effect with participative leadership resulted in a significant negative relationship with the effectiveness of agri-food supply chain coordination. Moreover, social (satisfaction with and trust in supply chain partners) and operational (service and product quality) dimensions are the major determinants of financial performance (profit, sales and market share) with β=0.44 (p=0.00) and β=0.44 (p=0.05), respectively. These variables jointly explain 70 per cent of the variance in financial performance, and leadership explains 36 per cent of the variance in coordination effectiveness.

In order to understand the multiple dimensions of performance and their linkages, the study enhances the understanding of CCs and contributes to determine the best practices for modern agri-food supply chains.

This study is the first step in developing and confirming complicated linkages with the specific characteristics of selected international agri-food supply chains. As a result, the empirical evidence also clarifies the earlier ambiguous results on the topic raised from other industries or countries.

This paper aims to examine managerial decision-making approaches, their antecedents and consequences in the Arabian Gulf context. Using recent survey data, the study offers a critical assessment of prevailing myths about decision-making styles in the Arabian Gulf.

Survey data were collected from a sample of 432 managers working in public and private sector companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A combination of statistical techniques including confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and hierarchical regression analysis was used to test research hypotheses.

The findings of this study question the myth that UAE or Gulf managers mostly pursue consultative and participative styles of management. Most UAE managers continue to practice an autocratic and a pseudo-consultative style of decision-making, undermining the value of employee input in the decision-making process. The data revealed a strong negative relationship between autocratic management style and a range of personal and organizational outcomes such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, performance and innovative human resource management practices pertaining to work-family life balance and diversity programs. Most employees perceived autocratic management style as a major source of job stress, absenteeism and turnover. Socio-demographic characteristics of managers and their work organizations, considered as antecedents of decision-making styles, played a limited role in shaping decision-making approaches or their consequences. Globalization and associated socio-cultural changes that UAE and other Gulf region countries have experienced over the past two decades seem to have only a marginal impact on decision-making styles.

Use of perceptual survey data places some constraints on the generalizability of our findings. Future research may address this issue with multiple data sources including an in-depth case study.

The findings of this research should be of special interest to both domestic and multinational companies in seeking alignment of their management approaches with the emerging competitive business environment in UAE and other Gulf countries. Theoretically, the paper documents the value of the continuum theory of managerial behavior in UAE and the Arabian Gulf context.

The study represents a first major effort to develop and test a comprehensive conceptual model of antecedents and consequences of managerial decision-making styles in UAE, which may be extended to other countries in the Arabian Gulf region. The value-added contribution of the study may be seen in its critical analysis of prevailing beliefs and assumptions about management practices in the Arabian Gulf.

Social scientists have developed a number of ontological paradigms, including realism to describe their own perspective of the worldview under investigation where each is linked to an epistemology that deals with how the world is perceived and the relationship between the researcher and the known view. This paper aims to propose the use of a Participative phemenological paradigm in qualitative research for an empirical inquiry to compare developed theory to practise.

The paper reviews the epistemological belief elements of deductive, inductive and abductive paradigms applied to supply chain and distribution management research. It develops the participative approach, derived from realism as a valid methodology for gaining a greater understanding of the applied management subject area.

This paper addresses the validity of the participative paradigm in phemenological social science research, suggesting it is a valid and rigorous research activity to gain greater knowledge and understanding in these subject areas.

Contemporary global supply chain and distribution management issues have been addressed from a detailed understanding and comprehension of the dynamic and responsive fashion textiles sector. The participative paradigm, which sees human beings as co‐creating their reality through participation such as their experience, imagination, intuition, thinking and action can contribute to a better understanding of influencing factors.

The paper contributes to the development of qualitative research in supply chain and distribution management. It has extended the theory‐based epistemological discussion to gain validity of this adopted approach.

Given the complexity of societal, technological, and economic challenges encountered by schools and teachers, one may wonder whether and how teachers can still optimally motivate their students. To adopt a motivating role in today’s ever-changing, even stormy, educational landscape, teachers need more than a checklist of motivating practices. They also need a fundamental theoretical perspective that can serve as a general source of inspiration for their everyday classroom practices across various situations and in interaction with different students. Herein, we argue that self-determination theory represents such a valuable perspective. In Part I, we discuss the satisfaction of learners’ psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness as a source of student motivation, engagement, and resilience. We also present a recently developed circular model involving a broad variety of motivating (i.e., need-supportive) and demotivating (i.e., need-thwarting) teaching practices appealing to these three needs. In Part II, we discuss several implications of this circular model, thereby discussing the diverse pathways that lead to student need satisfaction, motivation, and engagement as well as highlighting teachers’ capacity for calibration to deal with uncertainty and change. We conclude that school principals and teachers do well to invest in both students’ and teachers’ psychological need experiences, such that they become skilled in flexibly adjusting themselves to diversity, uncertainty, and change.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical discussion on the nature of research into people's information behaviour, and in particular the contribution of the phenomenological approach for the development of information solutions.

The approach takes the form of a conceptual analysis drawing on the research literature and personal research experience.

The paper brings to the foreground the relative value of different conceptual approaches and how these underpin and relate to the development of information solutions.

The paper, due to the breadth and complexity of the subject, serves to highlight key issues and bringing together ideas. Some topics deserve further explanation. However, this was beyond the scope of this paper.

A conceptual framework is provided that indicates the value of the epistemic spectrum for information behaviour studies and provides support for action research and participative design.

Taking a phenomenological approach, and consequently either a first person approach and/or a highly participative approach to research, challenges the relationship between researcher and respondent. It also raises questions about why the authors conduct research and for whom it is intended.

The paper makes explicit the underlying philosophical assumptions and how these ideas influence the way the authors conduct research; it highlights the significance of Cartesian dualism and indicates the significance of these assumptions for the development of information solutions. It supports the view that researchers and developers should be open to respondents leading the exploration of their needs.

Describes a case study in which a consultancy method based on participative business modelling was used to support strategic decision making in the field of operations. In this case study the Dutch client company faced serious logical and financial problems after an attempt to attain competitive advantage through drastic improvement of its delivery speed. The modelling project produced several valuable insights which have resulted in a better logistical performance at lower cost. The participative approach taken in the project has made implementation of the recommendations resulting from the project easier. It has also resulted in a better quality of systems thinking and a better understanding of the operations system throughout the company — in short, in organizational learning. This case study has been conducted within a research project aimed at the development of modelling oriented consultancy method to support strategic decision making in operations. This consultancy method is called Participative Business Modelling (PBM). Several observations made in this case study with respect to the development of this consultancy method are discussed.

The implementation of organizational change has long been problematic. Over time two approaches have developed. The participative approach assumes that employee support is a pre‐requisite of change. The unilateral approach argues that behavior must be changed first and attitude will follow. The results of a study of 408 change episodes indicate that unilateral implementation approaches are more effective than participative. While employee support was related to change success, it was the function of change type not participative implementation. Behavioral‐social change types generate more support than technical‐structural changes. The implications for future research are discussed.

The just‐in‐time (JIT) production system is notable for its emphasis on employee involvement and participation. However, we suggest that the role of participation that is most typically described in the organizational behavior (OB) literature does not match the type of participation practiced in JIT. We introduce a theoretical framework that accounts for these different perspectives: whereas the OB approach treats participation as an intervention and hence as an independent variable, the JIT approach sees it as a side effect of the JIT production system and hence a dependent variable. Understanding of the differences is essential in JIT implementation in the workplace if we are to avoid miscommunication, stress, and disbelief in the system.

This paper aims to analyse and evaluate the transfer process of codified knowledge (CK) performed under two different approaches: the “socio‐technical” and the “top‐down”. It is argued that the socio‐technical approach supports the transfer of CK better than the top‐down approach.

Case study methodology was used, in the explanatory and qualitative study. The empirical evidence focused on the development of work standards following ISO 9000 norms at a Steelworks plant. This process was examined as a process of CK transfer.

First, the socio‐technical approach supports the process of CK transfer better than the top‐down view. Second, CK is a dynamic concept that may need different varying amounts of tacit knowledge in order to enable knowledge codification and assimilation. Three, the examination of the degree of context and task similarity between sender and receiving units needs to be detailed, since small variations in organizational processes might imply significant alterations on informal work practices, a key issue that affects the CK transfer process.

This study, on the one hand, might assist to further develop theories of knowledge transfer, such as Argote's et al. integrative knowledge management framework. On the other hand, it complements Szulanski's research since he did not explore the approach used during the implementation process.

Research finding contain practical advice that can the taken up by practitioners.

By focusing on different approaches to transfer CK, this study has filled a research gap in the CK transfer literature.