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1 – 9 of 9Sally Randles, Paul Dewick, Eleanor Hannan, Dawn Theresa Nicholson, Martijn Rietbergen, Christopher Taylor, Valeria Ruiz Vargas, Helen Wadham and Lauren Withycombe Keeler
This study aims to present theory, practice and original research findings to support the proposition that broad enquiry and problem-based learning (EPBL) approaches provide an…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to present theory, practice and original research findings to support the proposition that broad enquiry and problem-based learning (EPBL) approaches provide an appropriate pedagogical lens for sustainability educators to develop the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively within mission-oriented innovation policy (MIP) environments.
Design/methodology/approach
The research study comprised four elements, each of which used different research methods. The first element involved a literature review mapping the synergies between MIP and EPBL; the second element piloted the use of EPBL for undergraduate modules related to sustainability challenges; the third element involved external stakeholders in the co-creation of a postgraduate programme that brought together innovation and sustainability, with EPBL fundamental to the design and development; the fourth element curated and comparatively analysed international cases of EPBL in the context of MIP, and sustainability challenges in particular, highlighting the versatility of EPBL and the importance of creativity in EPBL design and implementation.
Findings
The systematic literature review reveals synergies between the key features of EPBL and defining characteristics of MIP, indicating the relevance of applying EPBL to support MIP. Two in situ pilots generated 13 recommendations on the benefits and operational challenges of applying EPBL. These recommendations informed the design and development of a postgraduate programme, involving a transdisciplinary consultation process with key industrial and societal stakeholders. Comparative analysis of four international case studies describing EPBL applied in practice in different international settings show there is no “one size fits all”. Instead, the application of EPBL to different sustainability challenges and for different learner groups demonstrates the versatility of the pedagogical approach and the creativity of the sustainability educators.
Originality/value
A discourse around the appropriate pedagogical methods and teaching/learning practice to equip the current and future workforce with the knowledge and skills to respond to MIP and global sustainability challenges is nascent but emerging. This paper makes a scientific and practical contribution to the discourse. The authors show how EPBL can underpin the design of programmes to provide learners with the knowledge and skills to support organisations working effectively within an MIP context, especially addressing sustainability challenges. The authors provide recommendations for educators seeking to embed EPBL within their curriculum and call for external stakeholders to proactively engage with educators to co-create programmes with context-specific outcomes.
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This article aims to show that studies of transnational risk regulation can benefit from Polanyian and neo-Polanyian research agendas in the field of law, economy, and society…
Abstract
This article aims to show that studies of transnational risk regulation can benefit from Polanyian and neo-Polanyian research agendas in the field of law, economy, and society. Risk regulation would then be understood as a corrective force within the market society. Drawing on the relevant literature in the field, Karl Polanyi’s work is contextualized both in the past (“scholarship before and beside Polanyi”) and in the present (“scholarship after and beyond Polanyi”). The review considers developments within sociology, its neighboring disciplines economics and jurisprudence, and the interdisciplinary research fields of “economy and society,” “law and society,” and “law and economy.” The article demonstrates that Polanyi is a “late classic” who shares the holistic orientation of classical historical scholarship. At the same time, it is argued that his “early revival” is due to the topicality of his criticism of the market society, and its inherent risks, in an era of neoliberalism and globalization. By going back and forth in time, the article situates Polanyi in a line of holistically minded scholarship that combines insights of general, economic, and legal sociology in what can be called the “economic sociology of law.” This is “old” and “new,” at the same time.
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Magdalena Julia Wicher and Elisabeth Frankus
This paper aims to look at the implementation of project-funded research governance and its potential to induce organisational learning on responsible research and innovation…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to look at the implementation of project-funded research governance and its potential to induce organisational learning on responsible research and innovation (RRI). This paper analysed what types of organisational learning and change can take place within organisations of an Europe-funded project and to what extent. This paper examined whether and how change occurs and how it is shaped and co-produced with other orderings.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on materials and evidence collected while working on the internal evaluation of a Horizon 2020-funded project. Analysis of the results of the mixed methods evaluation design was used to characterise occurrences of organisational learning and change.
Findings
The authors identified different forms of learning (single-loop learning, double-loop learning, reflexive and reflective learning and situational learning). The extent of learning that could lead to long-lasting organisational change was limited. This was due to the project-based and organisational design, the key-based definition of RRI and the indeterminacy of what constitutes learning and change – both at the level of funding and performing the project. For organisational change to occur, the authors argue for governance mechanisms based on reflexive learning that consider a range of structural conditions and measures.
Originality/value
Organisational learning plays an important role in change processes, which has so far been given too little consideration concerning the governance and implementation of RRI through project-based funding. The authors argue for a restructuring of governance and funding mechanisms to create more space for reflexivity and learning.
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Retailers are facing pressure to promote sustainable consumption. Building on literature about the role of retailers as “translators” of the sustainability discourse, this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
Retailers are facing pressure to promote sustainable consumption. Building on literature about the role of retailers as “translators” of the sustainability discourse, this paper studies how retailers cope with this pressure. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This study focuses on the Swedish retail sector. In 22 interviews with retail representatives and 13 store observations it explores the way food retailers approach sustainable consumption, particularly focusing on the role retail stores receive in operationalising sustainable consumption.
Findings
The retail store is identified as important organisational layer within retailers to operationalise sustainable consumption. However, retailers do not acknowledge this potential sufficiently. An idealised model of multi-layered sensemaking to successfully promote sustainable consumption is presented.
Research limitations/implications
The study results only cover a small part of the entire retail organisation and only provide a snapshot in time of their working. Future research should study how the internal process of translating sustainability to the market develops over time and how it is connected to different parts of the retail organisation (e.g. marketing, HR). More research is also necessary to specify the division of responsibilities between headquarters (HQs) and stores.
Practical implications
This paper proposes a divide of responsibilities between HQs and the individual store to better deal with societal pressures and market demand.
Originality/value
The results of this study add depth to the theoretical notions of “translation” and “sensemaking” in retailers’ efforts to promote sustainable consumption. A model for how this process works is provided.
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Nadia Zainuddin, Julia Robinson, Jennifer Algie and Melanie Randle
This paper aims to examine driving retirement and its impact on the well-being of older citizens. The concepts of value creation and destruction are used to understand older…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine driving retirement and its impact on the well-being of older citizens. The concepts of value creation and destruction are used to understand older consumers’ experiences with the self-service consumption activity of driving. This paper formally introduces the concept of value re-creation, as a means of restoring the overall value lost from the destruction of certain components of previous value structures. In doing so, this paper explores the different ways that resources across the micro, meso and macro levels of the ecosystem can be re-aligned, in order for older citizens to maintain their well-being after driving retirement.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative, individual-depth interview approach was undertaken with 26 participants living in New South Wales, Australia. The participants comprised of both drivers approaching driving retirement age, as well as driving retirees. Thematic analysis was undertaken to analyse the data.
Findings
The findings identified that emotional value in the forms of freedom, independence/autonomy and enjoyment, functional value in the forms of convenience and mobility and community value are created from driving. Driving retirement destroys certain components of this value (e.g. enjoyment and convenience) irrevocably, however freedom, independence/autonomy, mobility and social connectedness can still be maintained through re-aligning resources across the micro, meso and macro levels of the ecosystem. New components of value are also created from driving retirement. These include peace of mind, which contributes to the re-creation of the emotional value dimension, and cost savings, which creates the new value dimension of economic value. These changes to the value structure effectively re-create the overall value obtained by individuals when they retire from driving.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this work is the formal introduction of the concept of value re-creation at the overall and value dimension level, and development of a conceptual model that explains how this value re-creation can occur. The model shows the resource contributions required across all levels of the ecosystem, expanding on existing conceptualisations that have predominantly focussed on resource contributions at the individual and service levels.
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Chen-Ju Lin and Hwang-Yeh Chen
This study was commissioned by DA-AI Technology Co. Ltd. and used the outcomeexpectancy theory from the social cognitive framework and concept of planned behavior to structure an…
Abstract
Purpose
This study was commissioned by DA-AI Technology Co. Ltd. and used the outcome expectancy theory from the social cognitive framework and concept of planned behavior to structure an outside-inside user expectancy model. The purpose of this study is to identify the elements that influence internal customers to select green products.
Design/methodology/approach
The model reflected the outside expectancy of users regarding three aspects: perceived benefits, barriers and perceived corresponding value of green products as the stimulus of a user-perceptive process. The trained onsite interviewers collected 438 completed questionnaires focused on the volunteers of Tzu Chi as the main subjects of this study.
Findings
The volunteers emphasized the meaningfulness and superiority of products much more than they emphasized the enterprise image and brand image when they were trying to adopt green products. The volunteers did not express an unwillingness to adopt green products, even if they had to face the complexity of the products and pay an extra learning cost.
Originality/value
The volunteers would decrease the consumption of green products when the price was high and would increase their consumption when their ecological values encouraged them to do so. This consumptive value implies that green product adoption was perceived to enhance the social image, self-assessed value and bodily happiness of the users because their inside expectancies were fulfilled.
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Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and…
Abstract
Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and shows that these are in many, differing, areas across management research from: retail finance; precarious jobs and decisions; methodological lessons from feminism; call centre experience and disability discrimination. These and all points east and west are covered and laid out in a simple, abstract style, including, where applicable, references, endnotes and bibliography in an easy‐to‐follow manner. Summarizes each paper and also gives conclusions where needed, in a comfortable modern format.
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This paper aims to focus on the changing nature of quality assurance systems within the sixth form college sector.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on the changing nature of quality assurance systems within the sixth form college sector.
Design/methodology/approach
Ten sixth form colleges were surveyed across England and staff from varying levels within college hierarchies questioned about how quality assurance systems were implemented. Research involved interviews and questionnaires to staff, as well as documentary research.
Findings
The main finding was that there is no single model of quality management system within the sixth form colleges sector and that the clearest differences in practice are between the colleges in the north and south of England which may suggest different organisational cultures in play.
Research limitations/implications
This paper was limited by the relatively small sample size – ten from 94 sixth form colleges. However, it does provide a foundation for further research and a basis upon which to debate whether the sixth form college sector should aim for a standardised model of quality assurance.
Originality/value
Insufficient research is undertaken into the work of sixth form colleges compared to the school and general further education sectors. This paper provides an insight into an under‐researched area.
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