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The purpose of this article is to propose an approach using mixed methods appropriate for studying polysemic concepts.

Anchored in cognitive approaches, the methods relied on a generally applicable conceptual framework, on cognitive mapping for an intellectualized conception, and on in‐depth interviews for an experiential conception on different participants’ judgments of managerial courage within the same context.

The mixed methods approach allowed the study first, to uncover two kinds of managerial courage. Second, while the intellectualized conceptions led to the enumeration of a greater number of positive consequences for third parties, the conceptions resulting from recollections of experiences focused more on the consequences for the protagonist. Third, the conceptual framework allowed the authors to distinguish between the results obtained from the two distinct data collection methods: the moral dimension, present in the more intellectualized cognitive maps, was largely absent from the consequences identified by participants in the conception of managerial courage resulting from experience.

This approach has provided two original methodological contributions. The first is the development of a widely applicable conceptual framework useful for studying polysemic concepts and for treating data generated by both approaches. The second is the distinction between conceptions of courage obtained from cognitive maps and those obtained through semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews, highlighting the complementarity of the chosen methods.

The purpose of this paper is to present descriptive characteristics of the historical development of concept networks. The linguistic principles, mechanisms and motivations behind the evolution of concept networks are discussed. Implications emanating from the idea of the historical development of concept networks are discussed in relation to knowledge representation and organization schemes.

Natural language data including both speech and text are analyzed by examining discourse contexts in which a linguistic element such as a polysemy or homonym occurs. Linguistic literature on the historical development of concept networks is reviewed and analyzed.

Semantic sense relations in concept networks can be captured in a systematic and regular manner. The mechanism and impetus behind the process of concept network development suggest that semantic senses in concept networks are closely intertwined with pragmatic contexts and discourse structure. The interrelation and permeability of the semantic senses of concept networks are captured on a continuum scale based on three linguistic parameters: concrete shared semantic sense; discourse and text structure; and contextualized pragmatic information.

Research findings signify the critical need for linking discourse structure and contextualized pragmatic information to knowledge representation and organization schemes.

The idea of linguistic characteristics, principles, motivation and mechanisms underlying the evolution of concept networks provides theoretical ground for developing a model for integrating knowledge representation and organization schemes with discourse structure and contextualized pragmatic information.

This paper aims to analyse innovation models and interdisciplinarity in science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in Costa Rica between 2015 and 2021. The core focus is to evaluate the public policy in light of the groundwork that sustains the designed and proposed actions.

The authors applied a qualitative approach to build a set of dimensions and conducted content-analysis of selected documents. The analysis encompasses all current STI public policy documents in Costa Rica, including the planning instruments of the Central Government and the National Policy on STI.

The main findings show that STI policy in Costa Rica is based on different innovation models, but the projects and instruments themselves show the predominance of the reductionist model. Innovation receives a residual role. In turn, interdisciplinarity is based on the concept of convergence, which limits disciplinary collaboration to the natural, physical and engineering sciences, minimising contributions from other fields of knowledge to an instrumental role in innovation processes.

The authors conclude that the interlinkage between open innovation models, the participation of diverse societal actors and the inclusion of an interdisciplinary perspective leads to inclusive and more democratic public policy, allowing more sectors and organisations to benefit from innovation processes. This would imply a greater reach and impact of the policy, conditions that translate into innovation achievements and a better return on public investment.

This paper contributes to current discussions on STI policy by studying the implications of the link among policies, innovation models and interdisciplinarity.

The aim of this conceptual paper, predicated on a hermeneutic literature review, is to improve understanding of the nature of value continues to be extensively studied with its ability to create competitive advantage. Understanding what constitutes value improves corporate social responsibility (CSR) comprehension, including managerial CSR values. This paper aligns with studies into value and/or CSR, whether hermeneutic or otherwise.

This study provides a reflexively critical understanding of the value literature. It focuses on the “identifying” stage of a hermeneutic circle (identifying central terms, core journals and seminal authors). A hermeneutic helix is proposed to better reflect the need of constant re-interpretation of the relevant literature.

Themes include value location (value in exchange, value in use, value in meaning and value in context); architecture (pathways, constellations and networks); creation versus determination; and value types.

This paper neither seeks to define value nor delve into the overarching value discourses. It does, however, refer to the antecedents for these areas. As a hermeneutic literature review, it lacks empirical testing.

CSR practices are strongly influenced by personal values. Hence, CSR practitioners must identify the processes involved and differentiate between the sought value and value types.

The paper could engender better understanding gaps between stakeholder attitudes and practices, i.e. consumers self-identifying as “green” may not engage in ecologically sound practices. As discussed herein, the value sought by university students influences where (and what) to study.

Outdated notions such as value propositions are widely used; value may be proposed; however, only stakeholders can take value. What constitutes value is under-represented in the CSR literature. Hence, terms such as value and values (i.e. value types) are incorrectly used interchangeably.

Despite a rich extant literature, it is unclear what business models are. We assess three dominant conceptions of business models in the academic literature: as transactional structures, value extracting devices, and mechanisms for structuring the organization. To overcome the shortcomings of these approaches, we draw on theories of performativity, social typecasting, and managerial cognition. We propose an alternative conception of business models as performative representations that work in three ways: as narratives that convince, typifications that legitimate, and recipes that guide social action. Rather than actual features of firms, business models are representations that allow managers to articulate and instantiate the value of new technologies.

The paper discusses the notion of information with regard to its carriers, representatives (or structural carriers) and carried-related processes of transmission, accumulation and processing through the developmental periods of the inorganic and organic world. In the first period, information is contained in a representation of the outcome of physical, chemical and other processes in the physical, chemical and other structures of the non-living world and refers to environmental information. In the second period, information begins to be used to create the physical and chemical structures of the living world and is contained in instructions of the genetic code. In the third period, with the evolution of cognitive systems and intelligence of living beings, in addition to those listed, information is finally being used to build its own structures, which in this paper are called knowledge structures.

In addition to the usual scientific methods in conceptual papers of this type (analysis, synthesis, etc.), the methodology of the paper also relies on the method of analogy, which was used to detect the carriers and representatives of information in the processes of transmission, accumulation and processing of information and the method of classification in order to propose a new taxonomy related to the concept of information.

The paper shows that information carriers and information representatives appear in each of the three mentioned processes - transmission, accumulation and processing of information - and that they need to be distinguished from the information itself. This insight opened a new perspective in observing this concept and led to the proposal of a new taxonomy related to the concept of information in a given context, eliminating seemingly incommensurable approaches to its study in different scientific fields.

The conducted synthesis results in information being recognized as a transmittable/transmissible documentation of reality inseparable from its carrier and its representative.

This paper aims to examine the discursive constitution of leadership identities by senior women leaders working in the City of London. This study draws on postfeminism as a critical concept to explore this constitution, as it has produced the cultural conditions for the reconfiguration of masculine and feminine gender norms in leadership.

In a qualitative study, 13 women leaders in positions of power in the City of London were interviewed. Discourse analysis techniques were used to unpack the postfeminist shaping of leadership identities

At the heart of the leadership identities that senior women leaders construct is a gendered hybridity that is a multifaceted calibration of masculine and feminine attributes and behaviours. Postfeminist discourses of individualism, choice and self-improvement are entangled with discourses of authenticity, relatability and connectivity as particular leadership assets. The gendered hybridity of leadership identities unfolds the possibility for a fundamental makeover of leadership by opening-up space for a transformative change that accommodates women leaders.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the very few studies that foreground the leadership identities that women leaders construct within the confines of postfeminist gender regimes. It shows how these women invoke authenticity, unfolding possibilities for the transformational change of and political challenge to traditional gendered leadership in their organizations.

This study aims to examine the archives’ role in Portuguese public policies from 1976 to 2021, based on an analysis of decision-making and support mechanisms, as well as other legal and normative instruments (diplomas) associated with relevant policies and legal actions in government programs, major planning options, sectoral programs and legislation.

The investigation was based on a qualitative methodological framework that follows the document analysis method, consisting of four phases: research; first reading; critical reading and data collection; and analysis and interpretation.

Survey results identified the presence of the archives on government agendas and supported tracing an evolution in the development and application of measures in this area. Additionally, it was possible to relate these measures to socioeconomic and political contexts and to previously identified reference studies. The conclusion is that the place of archives in Portuguese public policies between 1976 and 2021 was still based in historical and heritage dimensions, excluding the aspect of information management, which was not even included within the concept of archives.

This is an original case study of the state of Portuguese archive policies, compared against reference works such as Couture(1998) and more recent national developments as considered in the works of Silva(2019).