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This chapter assesses the accuracy of the assumption that organizational change research is too thematically narrow. The proposition is explored by assessing the nature of articles on change, published since 1947, in eight representative management and organization journals (n=454). Results indicate that more research on change is being published but has not lead to significantly more developed knowledge, as it increasingly relies on refinement rather than idea overthrow, and is largely made up of themes that received most of their critical attention up to a decade ago. The critique concludes by highlighting further development and career challenges for change researchers.

This chapter applies science mapping analysis (SciMat) and literature review as research methods to examine literature about higher education institutions (HEIs) during the Covid-19 pandemic. User acceptance, satisfaction, and perception are identified as the most productive research themes in the sample of 561 Web of Science (WoS) indexed articles about HEIs during the pandemic. The literature review of the top themes reveals that user acceptance is influenced by the perceived usefulness of online learning and ease of using online tools. The level of satisfaction among students in online learning is relatively high and linked with the perceived benefits of online courses. Conditions influencing user acceptance and perceived satisfaction differ between students and lecturers. Technology-related themes appeared to be relatively under-researched as standalone themes, but technological aspects turned out to be important components of the most prolific research themes identified.

In order to facilitate transfer of knowledge to and within tourism, it is necessary to understand research trends and to critically analyze their contributions to knowledge formation. This chapter examine articles published in Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management, and Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, between 2000 and 2010, using STATIS to explore the main changes and trends that occurred in terms of research themes. Study findings indicate similarities and differences between the four journals under analysis, providing clues for a better understanding of the objectives, limitations, and trends in tourism research as well as the positioning of each academic journal.

This chapter uses multiple research methods, including quantitative science mapping analysis (SciMat) and a qualitative literature review, to provide insight into the academic debate unfolding at the intersection of big data and business processes. SciMat analysis based on keyword co-occurrence enabled identifying 12 of the most productive research themes, as reflected in a poll of 301 articles about big data and business processes. The three most important themes are: firm performance, Industry 4.0, and innovation. The traditional literature review on firm performance indicated that big data analytics (BDA) positively influence business process performance and have a beneficial impact on a firm’s performance, that is, the role of big data is viewed as critical in the context of Industry 4.0 because it enhances productivity and improves business processes. The benefits of BDA can be achieved only if the organizational obstacles related to planning, workforce attitude, and alignment with strategy are overcome. Moreover, big data is perceived as a significant source of innovation in an organization and can be conceptualized with the use of a resource-based view (RBV) of the firm. BDA positively influence business processes, which is strengthened by adequate implementation and openness to innovation.

To identify what scholars consider to be important and interesting for future research in social entrepreneurship (SE), this chapter analyzes 248 SE papers and generated 327 topics for future research. From these 327 topics, a modified Delphi process generated 27 underlying themes. Subject matter experts were surveyed as to how interesting each research topic is and the extent to which the topics lend themselves to theoretical or empirical development; this assessment was also used to calculate aggregate scores for each theme. In this chapter, we present all research topics that scored at or above 2.5 on a 5-point scale for both questions. We discuss the implications of both the method and the results of the study.

In this chapter, the authors undertake a systematic review of the literature to identify research exploring the use of new information and communication technologies (ICT). New ICT include the use of the Internet, mobile communications, and social technologies. The authors find that while interest in the area is increasing, especially among marketing and information systems scholars, there seems to be far less research interest among international business (IB) and strategy scholars. This chapter provides a summary of the research that has been done and discusses some potential future research areas that IB and strategy researchers might wish to pursue. Among these projects are investigating the use of ICT as a tool to aid the internationalization process, improve location choice and entry mode decisions, and identify and create a sustainable competitive advantage. The use of ICT in business is pervasive; As research scholars, we need to build these technologies into our theories and research to help managers determine what works and where certain technologies can help create better performing firms.

The chapter discusses abductive thematic analysis as an innovative qualitative methodology in hospitality and tourism research. The novelty of the abductive approach is to combine the power of both deductive and inductive reasoning: it is possible to initiate the research starting from an existing theoretical, without renouncing to a creative phase where the researcher interprets the phenomenon beyond the words utilized and theorizes dependencies between concepts. The chapter further presents a case study to illustrate how abductive thematic analysis can be applied to study small hospitality and tourism businesses. The chapter further highlights the benefits of adapting thematic analysis to abductive reasoning, which is a paradigmatic position thus adding rigor to hospitality and tourism. The chapter finally highlights future avenues for development of methodology research toward adding further rigor to this novel methodology.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to conduct a critical literature review that examines the origins and development of research on service robots in organizations, as well as the key emotional and cognitive issues between service employees, customers, and robots. This review provides a foundation for future research that leverages the emotional connection between service robots and humans.

Design/Methodology/Approach – A critical literature review that examines robotics, artificial intelligence, emotions, approach/avoid behavior, and cognitive biases is conducted.

Findings – This research provides six key themes that emerge from the current state of research in the field of service robotics with 14 accompanying research questions forming the basis of a research agenda. The themes presented are as follows: Theme 1: Employees have a forgotten “dual role”; Theme 2: The influence of groups is neglected; Theme 3: Opposing emotions lead to uncertain outcomes; Theme 4: We know how robots influence engagement, but not experience; Theme 5: Trust is necessary but poorly understood; and Theme 6: Bias is contagious: if the human mind is irrational…so too are robot minds.

Practical Implications – Practically, this research provides guidance for researchers and practitioners alike regarding the current state of research, gaps, and future directions. Importantly for practitioners, it sheds light on themes in the use of AI and robotics in services, highlighting opportunities to consider the dual role of the employee, examines how incorporating a service robot influences all levels of the organization, addresses motivational conflicts for employees and customers, explores how service robots influence the whole customer experience and how trust is formed, and how we are (often inadvertently) creating biased robots.

In addition to individual differences, variations in visitors’ motivations may result from temporal variance. The leisure ladder model (LLM) is one of the most representative motivation models, which proposes patterns for an individual's temporal dynamic nature. This study attempts to examine empirically the ageing and experiential variations of the theme park visitors’ motivations, which underlie the model. Using stratified and systematic sampling techniques, survey data were collected from visitors to four leading theme parks in Taiwan – an Asian island nation. Limited support for the ageing variation was found and its changing pattern was also recognized in this study. A relatively more discriminating scale to measure the extent of visitor's experience was also suggested.