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The purpose of this paper is to provide a methodological demonstration of how written and visual language in narrative and small stories about older workers might be read in multiple ways as supporting and/or constraining recent policy reform.

Critical theory and critical discourse analysis, supported by narrative analysis and visual analysis, offer a robust methodology to problematize the manner in which textually mediated discourses impact social policy reform for recruiting, retraining and retaining older workers.

The results show that still in such an “age positive” social policy environment, negative stereotypes about older workers persist, threatening to constrain social change.

An exemplary analysis of two texts, representative of those related to Australian government initiatives to reform access to work for older citizens, provides an accessible means of (re)evaluating if and how such policies are more inclusive of older workers.

This paper contributes to an emerging trend in organization studies using a critical discourse analytic approach not only to written texts, but also to the less familiar visual narratives and stories.

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to positioning and, more specifically, positioning of service brands. This is so because of the unique characteristics of services. Although some authors argue that there are no marked differences between positioning in services and that of physical goods, the vast majority of marketing scholars believe that it is difficult to embark on positioning strategies in services. Sheds some light on this issue within the context and aims to contribute to the debate.

This paper demonstrates how the positioning of self and others affects change in higher education.

The discourse of various educators was collected during various interviews and discussion groups. A positioning theory framework was used to analyse the data and derive conclusions.

It is shown that if individuals are understood in terms of their agendas in relation to the organisational context that they can be better led.

The quantity and quality of data available has limited the integrity of conclusions drawn from this paper. Further research is proposed that will provide a more robust understanding.

An approach to understand how to deal with various stakeholders is presented for leaders. There is a need to deal with each person as an individual depending on how their personal agendas influence their priorities.

This paper introduces a social constructionist perspective to leading academics.

This paper examines the experiences of engaging with academic writing of international doctoral students in the schools of humanities and education at a UK university. The purpose of this paper is to uncover the real accounts of international students whose cultural and language backgrounds are often marginalised and considered, not as facilitators, but as barriers to academic writing in the western context of universities.

Developed broadly within an interpretive post-positivistic paradigm, the study utilised Harré and van Lagenhove, 1999 Positioning theory and Goffman’s theory of Stigma to interrogate accounts of 12 students from the two schools in a year-long project involving three focus group discussions, questionnaire responses and personal reflective summaries by the students.

The paper highlights the notions of stigma associated with their foreign writing conventions and how students experience tensions and apprehensions about their ability as they painfully negotiate the new academic writing conventions of the institution. International students position themselves as vulnerable outsiders working within an ill-defined but highly valued language environment.

The research is limited to the extent that it utilises a very small number of students as its key source of evidence. However, the study was not aimed at providing generalisation as much as it sought to explore issues associated with the use of language by international studying in UK universities.

The study has practical implications for the professionals in HE to develop clear guidelines about what constitutes good English and to provide greater support to international students who see themselves as vulnerable outsiders in an environment which marginalises their linguistic and cultural identities.

The study has implications for the social, cultural, and academic integration of international students in HE institutions.

The paper signals a need for diverse writing frameworks which seek to promote rather than silence and marginalise potentially rich sources of knowledge and understanding in an increasingly globalising world.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate on the factors, which influence the academic perspectives and integrity of the Chinese international students (CISs) perspectives of academic integrity. The paper reports on the views and experiences of academicians interviewed as part of the study.

The study used a trans-disciplinary conceptual framework based on grounded and positioning theory to interpret qualitative data derived from in-depth interviews and research literature. In line with this constructivist approach, a version of Auditable Systematised Qualitative Analysis was a tool used to conceptualise the participant’s ideas about academic integrity.

Analysis of the gathered data from interviews with lecturers suggests that representing a line of discourse expressed by the institution was in many, but not all cases, difficult for these lecturers.

This research has the potential to contribute to administrator, educator and policy makers in their understanding of CIS perspectives, international student experiences in host institutions and local academic experiences, perceptions and attitudes.

This is a primary research paper designed to explore academic perspectives of academic integrity in working with international students. The complexities and changing nature of understanding of the international student context gives the research value.

The study here examines how business actors adapt to changes in networks by analyzing their perceptions or their network pictures. The study is exploratory or iterative in the sense that revisions occur to the research question, method, theory, and context as an integral part of the research process.

Changes within networks receive less research attention, although considerable research exists on explaining business network structures in different research traditions. This study analyzes changes in networks in terms of the industrial network approach. This approach sees networks as connected relationships between actors, where interdependent companies interact based on their sensemaking of their relevant network environment. The study develops a concept of network change as well as an operationalization for comparing perceptions of change, where the study introduces a template model of dottograms to systematically analyze differences in perceptions. The study then applies the model to analyze findings from a case study of Norwegian/Japanese seafood distribution, and the chapter provides a rich description of a complex system facing considerable pressure to change. In-depth personal interviews and cognitive mapping techniques are the main research tools applied, in addition to tracer studies and personal observation.

The dottogram method represents a valuable contribution to case study research as it enables systematic within-case and across-case analyses. A further theoretical contribution of the study is the suggestion that network change is about actors seeking to change their network position to gain access to resources. Thereby, the study also implies a close relationship between the concepts network position and the network change that has not been discussed within the network approach in great detail.

Another major contribution of the study is the analysis of the role that network pictures play in actors' efforts to change their network position. The study develops seven propositions in an attempt to describe the role of network pictures in network change. So far, the relevant literature discusses network pictures mainly as a theoretical concept. Finally, the chapter concludes with important implications for management practice.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a way of understanding the resistance shown by teachers to the adoption of some educational technologies.

The Wookie Widget Server is taken as a case study. This has been a long-term development project at the Institute for Educational Cybernetics, located at the University of Bolton, and has been used with teachers in a number of implementations. The efforts to enhance teachers’ adoption of the system are outlined, and an explanatory framework is proposed called “MegaTech and MiniTech” which clarifies the reasons for teachers’ resistance to adoption.

The explanatory framework combines theoretical approaches from Harré’s positioning theory, Heidegger’s concept of “to hand” and Popper’s utopian and piecemeal social engineering. Application of this framework indicates that in deploying the Wookie Widget Server with teachers the researchers were adopting a position of power in relation to teachers. The nature of this power is explored by building on Bateson’s writings.

The explanatory framework and analysis of power provide a tool for analysis of the adoption of educational technologies.

Increasingly ambitious claims are being made for educational technology. This paper recognises the potentially oppressive nature of these technologies, and provides a starting point for a coherent analysis, which enables this danger to be avoided.

The combination of theories which makes up the proposed explanatory framework is new, as is the application to educational technology of Bateson’s writing on power.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the realistic trade-offs young consumers make when evaluating luxury co-branding combinations based on signalling theory.

Conjoint analysis was employed to evaluate the relative impact of four major attributes (i.e. brand combinations, retail channels, uniqueness and price) on consumer desirability for luxury co-branding combinations. The data were analysed using desirability indices.

Brand combinations, uniqueness and price significantly impact consumer desirability of luxury co-branding combinations. The luxury brand and sportswear combination results in the highest desirability when price is more similar to the sportswear constituent and participants perceive that the collaboration as exclusive.

The results suggest that luxury brands need to consider the partnering brand's retail format primarily for co-branding strategy. Luxury brand collaborations with sportswear and premium priced streetwear brands are more likely to result in higher desirability among consumers compared to collaborations with fast fashion and mass-market brands. Additionally, uniqueness may not be effective as a point of differentiation in cases where luxury brands cannot guarantee a single yearly collaboration.

The decision to use existing brands for the fictitious combinations developed more sensible scenarios for respondents. In addition, rather than discrete questions, attribute-based combinations provide a more realistic depiction of consumers' decision making on luxury co-branding. Finally, the results provide marketing practitioners with practical directions for future development of fashion luxury co-branding strategy.

Knowledge management (KM) is a global organizational practice that focuses on core questions around knowledge sharing and creation, and which is characterized by definitional issues and a schism over the nature of knowledge. Against this by definition problematic background, this study aims to investigate how KM practitioners construct identities as expert in an online discussion forum, showing how knowledge sharing is inextricably linked to identity construction.

The study adopts a discourse analytic approach, grounded in the discourse psychology paradigm, and its underlying theory that all language, including both talk and text, is situated action in social interaction, marked by variation, function and consequences.

Analysis demonstrates how forum contributors deploy discursive devices constructively, actively and relationally to formulate membership of an expert elite group, and that group membership is marked by inter‐group competitive rivalry. This has synergies with the theory of creative abrasion.

The study has implications for KM theories and practice in showing how attention to the social‐interaction practices of talk and text can reveal deeper understanding of how people share knowledge, and in demonstrating the important and consequential relationship between identity construction and knowledge.

This is among the first studies to take a discursive approach to the study of language in the KM domain, and demonstrates the rich potential for future studies.