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1 – 10 of 265Theodora Asimakou and Cliff Oswick
The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact of the introduction of a commerical discourse within a scientific context (i.e. a research and development (R&D) setting). It…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact of the introduction of a commerical discourse within a scientific context (i.e. a research and development (R&D) setting). It explores the reconstitution of professional identities, becoming customer focused and changing time orientations.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing upon the concept of recontextualization as a discursive framework for analysis, extensive fieldwork was undertaken in a multinational oil company involving informal conversations, formal interviews with R&D staff (n = 41), secondary data analysis and non‐participant observation.
Findings
The major finding is that the commercialization of R&D operations was resented, but not resisted, by established R&D scientists. The reasons for the absence of resistance are discussed.
Originality/value
This work contributes to the understanding of the recontextualization of discourse in professional settings. It also offers insights into the colonizing and commodifying effects of the commercialization discourse.
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Vincent Carpentier, Norbert Pachler, Karen Evans and Caroline Daly
The purpose of this paper is to explore efforts to bridge conceptualisation and practice in work‐based learning by reflecting on the legacy and sustainability of the Centre for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore efforts to bridge conceptualisation and practice in work‐based learning by reflecting on the legacy and sustainability of the Centre for Excellence in Work‐based Learning for Education Professionals at the Institute of Education, University of London. The Centre was part of the national CETL (Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning) initiative (2005‐2010) and focussed on exploring ways of transforming current models of work‐based learning (WBL) in a bid to respond to the diversity of professional learning needs within education and beyond.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents three case studies which are representative of the Centre's approach to drive theoretical development in WBL.
Findings
The three projects featured contributed to the development of WBL through synergetic cross fertilisation while operating independently from each other. Also, they are characterised by sustainability beyond the end of the CETL initiative. The Putting Knowledge to Work project developed and operationalised the concept of recontextualisation for WBL in successfully moving knowledge from disciplines and workplaces into a curriculum; and from a curriculum into successful pedagogic strategies and learner engagement in educational institutions and workplaces. The London Mobile Learning Group developed a research dynamic around theory and practice of learning with mobile media which contributed to the development of new approaches in (work‐based) learning. The Researching Medical Learning and Practice Network created a community of practice bringing together educational researchers with medical education practitioners and researchers resulting in a greater understanding of how professional attitudes and practices develop in both undergraduate and postgraduate contexts.
Originality/value
The experience of the WLE offers an example of innovative ways to continue to develop our understanding of work‐based learning and inform practice. The impact of the WLE activities on theory, policy and practice is evident in the creation of national and international platforms strengthening existing institutional links.
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Tomas Backström and Rachael Tripney Berglund
The study objectives were to (1) identify if providing solution-focused interaction training enables managers and employees to develop and implement actions to improve their…
Abstract
Purpose
The study objectives were to (1) identify if providing solution-focused interaction training enables managers and employees to develop and implement actions to improve their psychosocial work environment and (2) test a recontextualization of the psychosocial work environment as social structures affecting members of the workplace and verify if social interactions effectively change the local psychosocial work environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The intervention involved training managers, supervisors and employees in solution-focused interaction. This study used a controlled interrupted time-series design, with an intervention and control group (CG) and pre- and post-measurements.
Findings
The psychosocial work environment improved, indicating that the training led to better social interactions, contributing to changes in the social structures within the intervention group (IG). Collective reflection between participants in the take action phase was the key to success. The recontextualization uncovered these mechanisms.
Research limitations/implications
The present study supports a recontextualization of the psychosocial work environment as primarily decided by social structures that emerge in recurrent interactions within work teams. The same social structures also seem to be important for other features of the production system, like job performance.
Practical implications
Training designed to enable high-quality social interactions, like dialogue and collective reflection, has proven to be effective in changing social structures. Moreover, managers may need training in facilitating the collective reflection between participants. Increased focus on social interactions within work teams is suggested for future study of organizational change processes, psychosocial work environment and practical psychosocial work environment management.
Originality/value
The intervention was delivered in the preparation phase to enable an effective take action phase. Both phases are less studied in psychosocial risk assessments research. The recontextualization has never been fully used in psychosocial research.
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Anne Kari Bjørge, Alexander Madsen Sandvik and Sunniva Whittaker
The purpose of this paper is to explore how corporate values are interpreted by local and international employees in a multilingual organisation that has opted for the local…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how corporate values are interpreted by local and international employees in a multilingual organisation that has opted for the local language, not English, as its corporate language.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a research paper exploring how the recontextualisation and resemiotisation of value terms impact on how corporate values are interpreted, employing triangulation of questionnaire and interview results.
Findings
When values are recontextualised in employee discourse, proficiency in the corporate language and cultural background was found to have an impact on their interpretation. Internationals were found to have a broader and not exclusively professional interpretation compared to the locals. Internationals with a low level of proficiency in the local language were more sceptical than the locals as to whether there was a shared understanding of the values.
Research limitations/implications
The questionnaire yielded fewer respondents than the authors expected, which should be taken into account when interpreting the results.
Practical implications
The paper suggests best practices for communicating corporate values to a multilingual workforce.
Social implications
This paper contributes to the understanding of linguistic challenges in the multilingual work contexts.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, there is little prior in-depth research on how language impacts on employees’ interpretation of corporate values. As values are cohesive devices in organisations, the language used to convey them is worth addressing as the present paper aims to demonstrate.
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Jacobo Ramirez and Anne-Marie Søderberg
The purpose of this study is to explore how Danish and Mexican communication and management practices are recontextualized at the Latin American office of a Scandinavian…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore how Danish and Mexican communication and management practices are recontextualized at the Latin American office of a Scandinavian multinational corporation (MNC) located in Mexico.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study based on interviews, observations and company documents was conducted.
Findings
Well-educated Mexican middle managers appreciate the participative communication and management practices of Scandinavian MNCs, which transcend most experiences at local workplaces, but their interpretations and meaning system are influenced by the colonial legacy and political and socioeconomic context framing their working conditions.
Originality/value
This paper provides a contextualized analysis of a rich case study to further illustrate the challenges faced by MNCs in their quest to establish a regional office in a Latin American context and offers a theoretical model of the elements involved in complex recontextualization processes.
Propósito
El objetivo de este estudio fue explorar cómo las prácticas de comunicación y gestión Danesas y Mexicanas son recontextualizadas en la oficina latinoamericana de una empresa multinacional (EMN) escandinava, ubicada en México.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Se llevó a cabo un caso de estudio basado en entrevistas, observaciones y documentos de la empresa.
Hallazgos
Gerentes de mandos medios mexicanos, con educación superior aprecian las prácticas de comunicación y gestión participativa de la EMN escandinava, que trascienden en la mayoría de las experiencias en el lugar de trabajo local, pero sus interpretaciones y sistema de significado son influenciados por el legado colonial y el contexto político y socioeconómico que enmarcan sus condiciones de trabajo.
Originalidad/valor
Este artículo proporciona un análisis contextualizado de un caso de estudio para ilustrar más a fondo los desafíos que enfrentan las empresas multinacionales en su búsqueda por establecer una oficina regional en un contexto latinoamericano y ofrece un modelo teórico de los elementos involucrados en procesos complejos de recontextualización.
Objetivo
O principal propósito deste estudo foi explorar como as práticas de comunicação e gestão, tanto dinamarquesa quanto mexicana, são recontextualizadas no escritório latino-americano de uma multinacional escandinava (MNC) localizada no México.
Design/metodologia/abordagem
Foi realizado um estudo de caso baseado nas entrevistas, observações e nos documentos da empresa.
Conclusões
As gerentes intermediárias mexicanas, que são bem qualificados, apreciam a comunicação participativa e as práticas de gestão das multinacionais escandinavas, que superam a maioria das experiências existentes nos trabalho locais, mas suas interpretações e seu sistema de significação são influenciados pelo legado colonial e pelo contexto político e socioeconômico que enquadra as suas condições de trabalho.
Originalidade/valor
Este artigo fornece uma análise contextualizada de um estudo de caso completo, que visa ilustrar melhor os desafios que serão enfrentados pelas multinacionais na sua busca por estabelecer um escritório regional neste contexto latino-americano, além de oferecer um modelo teórico dos elementos envolvidos nestes complexos processos de recontextualização.
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Susan Whatman, Roberta Thompson and Katherine Main
The purpose of this paper is to suggest how well-being messages are recontextualized into school-based contexts from an analysis of national policy and state curricular approaches…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to suggest how well-being messages are recontextualized into school-based contexts from an analysis of national policy and state curricular approaches to health education as reported in the findings of two selected case studies as well as community concerns about young people’s well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional review of Australian federal and state-level student well-being policy documents was undertaken. Using two case examples of school-based in-curricular well-being programs, the paper explores how discourses from these well-being policy documents are recontextualized through progressive fields of translation and pedagogic decision making into local forms of curriculum.
Findings
Pedagogic messages about well-being in Australia are often extra-curricular, in that they are rarely integrated into one or across existing subject areas. Such messages are increasingly focused on mental health, around phenomena such as bullying. Both case examples clearly demonstrate how understandings of well-being respond to various power relations and pressures emanating from stakeholders within and across official pedagogic fields and other contexts such as local communities.
Originality/value
The paper focusses on presenting an adaptation of Bernstein’s (1990) model of social reproduction of pedagogic discourse. The adapted model demonstrates how “top-down” knowledge production from the international disciplines shaping curriculum development and pedagogic approaches can be replaced by community context-driven political pressure and perceived community crises. It offers contemporary insight into youth-at-risk discourses, well-being approaches and student mental health.
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The purpose of this study is to describe the multiplicity of the role of the Accounting academic as a knowledge agent: in terms of the discovery of new knowledge and its…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to describe the multiplicity of the role of the Accounting academic as a knowledge agent: in terms of the discovery of new knowledge and its recontextualisation into pedagogy, as well as effective teaching and learning in the field of Accounting.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a literature review and the collection of qualitative data (using purposive sampling), this study describes the Accounting academic’s role as a knowledge agent, as viewed by Accounting academics and professional accountants, with the aim of providing insight into the tensions that exist in the education of professionals.
Findings
The data collected in this study indicate that Accounting academics find themselves torn between their different roles: those of researcher and teacher. Accounting academics do not feel valued in their role as teachers, as at the university, more emphasis is placed and promotion is based on research, yet the Accounting profession places more value on their teaching and scholarship role.
Practical implications
There is an urgent need in professional Accounting education (trapped within a multiple principal paradigm) for some fundamental re-thinking of the focal point of research, and the knowledge agency of academe, particularly within a developing economy, such as South Africa.
Originality/value
The value of this paper is in its identification and description of the tensions experienced in the education of professional accountants. The university and profession are urged to value, acknowledge and reward the multiple roles of Accounting academics.
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Baburhan Uzum, Bedrettin Yazan, Sedat Akayoglu and Ufuk Keles
This study aims to examine how teacher candidates (TCs) in Türkiye and the USA navigate their intercultural communication skills in a telecollaboration project.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how teacher candidates (TCs) in Türkiye and the USA navigate their intercultural communication skills in a telecollaboration project.
Design/methodology/approach
Forty-eight TCs participated (26 in Türkiye and 22 in the USA) in the study. TCs discussed critical issues in multicultural education on an online learning platform for six weeks. Their discussions were analyzed using content and discourse analysis.
Findings
The findings indicated that TCs approached the telecollaborative space as a translingual contact zone and positioned themselves and their interlocutors in the discourse by using the personal pronouns; I, we, you and they. When they positioned themselves using we (people in Türkiye/USA), they spoke on behalf of everyone included in the scope of we. Their interlocutors responded to these positionings either by accepting this positioning and responding with a parallel positioning or by engaging in translingual negotiation strategies to revise the scope of we and sharing some differences/nuances in beliefs and practices in their community.
Research limitations/implications
When TCs talk about their culture and community in a singular manner using we, they frame them as the same across every member in that community. When they ask questions to each other using you, the framing of the questions prime the respondents to sometimes relay their own specific experiences as the norm or consider experiences from different points of view through translingual negotiation strategies. A singular approach to culture(s) may affect the marginalized communities the most because they are lost in this representation, and their experiences and voices are not integrated in the narratives or integrated with stereotypical representation.
Practical implications
Teachers and teacher educators should first pay attention to their language choices, especially use of pronouns, which may communicate inclusion or exclusion in intercultural conversations. Next, they should prepare their students to adopt and practice language choices that communicate respect for cultural diversity and are inclusive of marginalized populations.
Social implications
Speakers’ pronoun use includes identity construction in discourse by drawing borders around and between communities and cultures with generalization and particularity, and by patrolling those borders to decide who is included and excluded. As a response, interlocutors use pronouns either to acknowledge those borders and respond with corresponding ones from their own context or negotiate alternative representations or further investigate for particularity or complexity. In short, pronouns could lead the direction of intercultural conversations toward criticality and complexity or otherwise, and might be reasons where there are breakdowns in communication or to fix those breakdowns.
Originality/value
This study shows that translingual negotiation strategies have explanatory power to examine how speakers from different language backgrounds negotiate second and third order positionings in the telecollaborative space.
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Competencies have come to play a central role in a wide range of settings in UK public and private sector contexts. This phenomenon is usually analysed but rarely…
Abstract
Purpose
Competencies have come to play a central role in a wide range of settings in UK public and private sector contexts. This phenomenon is usually analysed but rarely recontextualised. The purpose of this paper is to identify the epistemological and ontological paradigms on which these approaches are couched in a British historical socio‐cultural context.
Design/methodology/approach
To put into light what this alternative perspective on competencies could add to reflection and practice, this paper realizes an in‐depth two‐year ethnographic study (employing participant‐observer methods) of a consultancy delivered training programme for customer service competency based vocational qualification in a water utilities company based in the north of England.
Findings
Based on a wide literature review on competencies, the first main result of this paper is to show that many of competencies approaches are underpinned by an empirical, pragmatic and ultimately modernistic, positivistic predilection. In an attempt to reappraise this rigid and highly structured representation of competencies, the paper draws on the resources of critical management approaches and notions of “lived experience”. The main empirical result is that competencies are richer than competencies (especially NVQs) usually suppose it and that critical perspectives are valuable in seeking to address these lacunae.
Originality/value
The paper offers an innovative insight to alternative dimensions of the experience of working with competency frameworks. Overall, a further value of this paper is to provide an assessment and a critique of the experience of competencies and vocational training in the UK. This recontextualisation underlines that competencies are weak at capturing and portraying the rich panoply of multifarious emotions and social interactions that take place in the workplace and everyday job life.
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Carmen Daniela Maier and Silvia Ravazzani
The purpose of this paper is to address the need to reconsider online external communication that integrates diversity management (DM) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the need to reconsider online external communication that integrates diversity management (DM) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) by examining the multimodal discursive strategies purposefully employed by organizations to reflect the symbiotic relationship between these two areas of management practice and to communicatively emphasize their corporate commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on the recently emerged stream of literature linking DM and CSR, and adopting a critical perspective on discourse analysis, this study delves into the multimodal discursive strategies that help bridge DM and CSR in online external communication. The analytical approach proposed is used for the qualitative analysis of 43 web pages selected from Microsoft company’s “Global Diversity and Inclusion” website.
Findings
Findings highlight the discursive efforts made by the organization to strategically integrate DM and CSR communication into one single framework. The analysis reveals how the coordinates of social practices (social actors and social actions) are purposefully and multimodally recontextualized in the corporate discourse when communicating this integration.
Originality/value
This study extends the focus of critical discourse analysis from exclusively language to the interplay of different semiotic modes, offering a fine-grained exploration of the multimodal meaning construction performed by organizations in the context of online external communication.
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