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1 – 10 of 358Niklas Sandell and Peter Svensson
The aim of this paper is to study the rhetoric of goodwill impairment, more specifically rhetoric, as it is constructed in the form of accounts (i.e. statements that explain…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to study the rhetoric of goodwill impairment, more specifically rhetoric, as it is constructed in the form of accounts (i.e. statements that explain unanticipated or untoward behavior). The authors argue that goodwill impairment is not only a technical matter but also a rhetorical practice by means of which external scrutiny is responded to.
Design/methodology/approach
The data corpus consists of explanations provided by corporations regarding impairment of goodwill. Data were collected from annual reports from companies quoted on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm, Sweden. The impairment explanations were analyzed according to a taxonomy of account types. The explanations were subjected to close reading to discern the potential rhetorical functions of the different accounts.
Findings
Seven account types are identified and discussed, namely, excuse, justification, refocusing, concession, mystification, silence and wordification.
Research limitations/implications
There is a need for further research that explores the process of authorship (i.e. writing, editing, negotiating and revising) through which the texts of financial communication are produced.
Practical implications
The findings have implications for the future formulations of standards regarding qualitative explanations in financial reporting in general and explanations of goodwill impairment in particular.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the knowledge about the use of natural language and rhetoric in financial communication.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibilities of letting ideas from ethnomethodology inform a radicalisation (i.e. going to the roots) of interviewing in management…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibilities of letting ideas from ethnomethodology inform a radicalisation (i.e. going to the roots) of interviewing in management and organization studies.
Design/methodology/approach
The argument draws upon insights from discourse and conversation analysis, in particular the acknowledgement of the productive function of language use in social life.
Findings
A radicalised approach to interviews is one that tries to abstain from letting the interview talk represent an organizational reality “out there.” The aim of radicalised interviewing is rather that of trying to identify situations and practices within the organization that resemble the interview situation.
Research limitations/implications
Interview research within management and organization studies needs to take into consideration that the relation between interview accounts and organizational reality is one of the re‐creation rather than re‐presentation. This insight has implications for both the interview practice and the analysis of interview material. The challenge for the interviewer is to contribute to an interview situation that enables the re‐creation of organizational reality.
Practical implications
The practice of interviewing in business practice offers the same kind of problems as the research interview, and thus needs to take into consideration the re‐creational nature of the interview situation.
Originality/value
The paper attempts to complete the linguistic turn and explore the radical consequences for the practice of interviewing. Doing so, the paper contributes to the self‐reflexive methodological debate in a way that tries to avoid pragmatic and inconsistent argumentation.
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The role of the university as a site of social, cultural and political critique appears to be in terminal decline with the inexorable “commodification” of the university in the UK…
Abstract
Purpose
The role of the university as a site of social, cultural and political critique appears to be in terminal decline with the inexorable “commodification” of the university in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. Yet, although scholars have identified the dangers of such a scenario, few attempts have been made to offer a pragmatic solution to preserve, or even rejuvenate, the university as an agent of critique. This paper proposes that a critical marketing education can take over this role in the academy where traditional critical agents like the arts and humanities are widely acknowledged to have failed.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a historical‐critical approach, and conceives of “critique” as a heterogeneous, multidimensional amalgam of both business and the humanities.
Findings
The paper shows how a critical marketing education offers a pragmatic means of preparing university students to become active and critical voices of society.
Originality/value
Few attempts have been made to offer a pragmatic solution to preserve, or even rejuvenate, the university as an agent of critique. This paper proposes that a critical marketing education can take over this role in the academy.
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Peter E. Johansson and Andreas Wallo
The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the competence in use when working with interactive research, which is a continuation and elaboration of action research.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the competence in use when working with interactive research, which is a continuation and elaboration of action research.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research approach was adopted for the study. The main body of empirical material in this paper is based on two sources of data – a survey comprising open-ended questions, followed by a series of focus group interviews. The respondents were researchers with varying degrees of experience in using interactive research.
Findings
The findings provide illustrations of what characterises interactive research as work and identify an additional set of activities that go beyond traditional research activities. Some activities are relatively easy to describe, while others exist in the gaps between other activities – e.g. boundary spanning – and are harder to explicitly define in terms of implications for the involved researchers’ competence. The work activities reaching beyond the traditional research boundaries are implicit and are not a common shared practice. From a competence point of view, this implies that the competence in use for these implicit tasks of interactive research becomes individually carried. Based on these findings, a number of individual aspects of what constitutes competence in use are suggested.
Research limitations/implications
In future studies, it would be valuable to use a mixed-method approach that also includes longitudinal observations of the actual work of conducting interactive research.
Practical implications
The findings and suggestions for how to understand the competence of interactive researchers can be used as guidance for training in research education.
Originality/value
This study contributes to previous research by describing important requirements and critical elements of competence in use when conducting interactive research.
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Theoretically, a contribution of this article is the pinpointed connection between corporate ethics and trust in intra‐corporate relationships. Furthermore, it contributes to a…
Abstract
Theoretically, a contribution of this article is the pinpointed connection between corporate ethics and trust in intra‐corporate relationships. Furthermore, it contributes to a conceptual framework that distinguishes between the constructs of business ethics and corporate ethics. The authors also provide a grounded conceptual framework of corporate ethics and trust. The principal dyadic determinants of corporate ethics in intra‐corporate relationships are interpreted to be management behaviour versus employee perception of that behaviour. Empirically, the contribution is an in‐depth and longitudinal case description that underpins the topic and the discussion provided in the article.
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The objective of this paper is to introduce and describe a conceptual framework of corporate and business ethics across organizations in terms of ethical structures, ethical…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this paper is to introduce and describe a conceptual framework of corporate and business ethics across organizations in terms of ethical structures, ethical processes and ethical performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A framework is outlined and positioned incorporating an ethical frame of reference in the field of organizational chain management.
Findings
A number of areas and sub‐areas of corporate and business ethics are framed in the context across organizations.
Research limitations/implications
The introduced framework should be seen as a seed for further development and refinement. It provides opportunities for further research of ethical concerns across organizations.
Practical implications
Organizations may benefit from the findings and insights presented and they may be used to enhance their ability to manage, monitor and evaluate ethical business practices across organizations.
Social implications
Changing societal and market patterns may enforce organizations to address ethical concerns across organizations. A myopic approach restricted to the judicial system may become insufficient and unsatisfactory from the perspective of other stakeholders of the organization.
Originality/value
The framework makes a contribution bringing in ethical concerns across organizations, providing a basis for their ethical values and culture, as well as asymmetric relationships in terms of power and dependence. The authors believe that a true learning organization needs to realise the importance of an extended view of its endeavors of corporate and business ethics in terms of ethical structures, ethical processes and ethical performance across organizations.
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The objective of this research is to develop and describe a conceptual framework of corporate ethics in total quality management (TQM).
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this research is to develop and describe a conceptual framework of corporate ethics in total quality management (TQM).
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on a summarised in‐depth and longitudinal case illustration. The summarised case describes corporate ethics in an intra‐corporate relationship.
Findings
TQM requires human resources and failing to care for them will affect accordingly the success of TQM. The case description illustrates the evolution of management versus employee expectations and perceptions of corporate ethics. It has an emphasis on the human resources of a company that strives towards TQM. As the quality of corporate ethics decreases the outcome of TQM is also affected (i.e. directly or indirectly). The case is initialised in an atmosphere of management and employee optimism and positivism of corporate ethics, which is a requisite from both parties in order to ensure prosperous TQM. The successive change towards pessimism and negativism of corporate ethics in the intra‐corporate relationship concludes the in‐depth case description.
Research limitations/implications
Four parameters of corporate ethics are used to incorporate corporate ethics into TQM, namely management versus employee expectations and perceptions. Internal corporate quality management should always be regarded as dependent upon the achieved equilibrium between management and employee perceptions. It is also dependent upon the derived equilibrium between management and employee previous expectations.
Practical implications
An important insight of this research is that TQM requires the continuous attention to the management versus employee expectations and perceptions inherent in corporate ethics of internal business operations. Furthermore, corporate ethics is complementary to business ethics.
Originality/value
The case description has shown that TQM may be running well and accomplishing the hard goals. However, TQM is not only about figures, profits and costs. It is also a business approach that should penetrate all activities inside and outside that are related to the company, including the soft issues.
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Eric Ping Hung Li, Ajnesh Prasad, Cristalle Smith, Ana Gutierrez, Emily Lewis and Betty Brown
The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential of visual (i.e. non-textual) research methods in community-based participatory research.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential of visual (i.e. non-textual) research methods in community-based participatory research.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on a case illustration of a photo- and video-voice campaign involving rural communities in British Columbia, Canada.
Findings
The authors find that visual research methods, in the form of photo- and video-voice campaigns, allow participants to form ties between their community and the broader sociocultural, natural and political milieu in which their community is located. The authors highlight the benefits of using such methodological approaches to capture an emic perspective of community building.
Originality/value
The contribution of this study is twofold. First, this study uses a photo- and video-voice campaign to showcase the role of visuals in articulating community pride – that is, how locals construct identity – and a sense of belongingness. Second, by focusing its analytical gaze on the idea of “community,” this paper revisits the importance of active involvement of research participants in the execution of empirical studies. Ultimately, the authors urge organization and management studies scholars, as well as those working in the social sciences more broadly, to further explore the value of innovative community-based research approaches in future work.
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The objective of this research is to introduce and describe a conceptual framework of business ethics in TQM.
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this research is to introduce and describe a conceptual framework of business ethics in TQM.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to highlight the concepts proffered, a case study in the Swedish retail industry was conducted. The data that underpin the case illustration have been collected as part of a larger research project in the Swedish retail industry. This paper draws on and reports the findings from one case of the larger research project that has been used in this instance to inform the role of business ethics in TQM. The case illustration is based on a qualitative approach. The data were collected through interviews with leading executives in the corporation,
Findings
Both time and context become crucial parameters to manage the quality and spectrum zones of core values in the marketplace. In fact, the necessary quality management of business operations has to be performed without delay, minimising the damage. Therefore, the importance of business ethics becomes evident in TQM. In the long run, TQM will not succeed in business operations unless business ethics is considered in the core values to support the techniques and tools applied.
Research limitations/implications
The model has only been tested by relating it to one case in the Swedish retail industry.
Practical implications
TQM is dependent on the contextual and evolutionary issues in the marketplace. Therefore, TQM should be interpreted as a continuous process. The importance of continuously monitoring the spectrum zones and qualities of core values in TQM should not be under‐estimated. Therefore, business ethics should always be present in TQM. Further research would benefit from other case studies of how business ethics benefits TQM. Therefore, the dynamics of business ethics in TQM should be further explored.
Originality/value
Business ethics needs to be an essential consideration of any TQM process. This paper examines how an organisation can incorporate this task.
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The topic of scholarly journals is important to the marketing discipline and the worldwide research communities, due to the way the journals are categorized and judged in…
Abstract
Purpose
The topic of scholarly journals is important to the marketing discipline and the worldwide research communities, due to the way the journals are categorized and judged in available and compiled journal rankings. The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the underlying measures of journal rankings in scholarly journals in marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
It is limited to the scholarly journals and journal rankings of the marketing discipline.
Findings
Journal rankings of scholarly journals in marketing are mainly based upon single‐item measures based upon either citations or perceptions, without any estimates of validity, reliability or generality.
Research limitations/implications
There is a need to move away from the predominantly “single‐item measure syndrome” that characterizes most of the available and compiled journal rankings in marketing.
Practical implications
Broader approaches should be implemented and applied in journal rankings based upon “multi‐item measures”.
Originality/value
Re‐assessment of the activity of ranking journals is long overdue if the ranking lists themselves do not consider a minimum of scientific rigor and soundness as required in other areas of scholarly endeavours. The marketing discipline may be at risk of entering a vicious and irreversible circle of decline and decomposition.
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