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Article
Publication date: 27 September 2011

Lee D. Parker and Philip Ritson

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and critique Lyndall Urwick's long‐term advocacy of scientific management and its influence upon management thought.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and critique Lyndall Urwick's long‐term advocacy of scientific management and its influence upon management thought.

Design/methodology/approach

An analysis and critique of Urwick's published writings across 60 years, on the subject of scientific management and organizations, particularly linking his work and arguments to the influence of Frederick Taylor, also positioning him relative to the thinking of leading thinkers such as Henri Fayol.

Findings

This paper argues that the key to understanding his legacy lies in his unique and changing definition of “scientific management”. This was broader than the definition applied by most of his contemporaries and inspired his integrationist project of assimilating Taylorist scientific management into a raft of developing schools of management thought.

Research limitations/implications

Urwick's legacy included a lifetime campaign to reconcile scientific management with succeeding schools of thought, today's management literature stereotyping of some of his contemporary thinkers, and a contribution to management literature's predilection for the labelling of theories and principles.

Practical implications

The paper argues for returning to original sources to accurately understand the intentions and arguments of early founders of many aspects of today's management practice. It also alerts us to the proclivity of management theory and practice to opt for convenient labels that may represent a variety of historical and contemporary meanings.

Originality/value

The paper offers a critical reflection and assessment of the longest standing advocate of scientific management in the management literature.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2017

Joerg Dietz, Stacey R. Fitzsimmons, Zeynep Aycan, Anne Marie Francesco, Karsten Jonsen, Joyce Osland, Sonja A. Sackmann, Hyun-Jung Lee and Nakiye A. Boyacigiller

Graduates of cross-cultural management (CCM) courses should be capable of both tackling international and cross-cultural situations and creating positive value from the diversity…

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Abstract

Purpose

Graduates of cross-cultural management (CCM) courses should be capable of both tackling international and cross-cultural situations and creating positive value from the diversity inherent in these situations. Such value creation is challenging because these situations are typically complex due to differences in cultural values, traditions, social practices, and institutions, such as legal rules, coupled with variation in, for example, wealth and civil rights among stakeholders. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors argue that a scientific mindfulness approach to teaching CCM can help students identify and leverage positive aspects of differences and thereby contribute to positive change in cross-cultural situations.

Findings

Scientific mindfulness combines mindfulness and scientific thinking with the explicit goal to drive positive change in the world.

Originality/value

The authors explain how the action principles of scientific mindfulness enable learners to build positive value from cultural diversity. The authors then describe how to enact these principles in the context of CCM education.

Article
Publication date: 5 September 2017

Azadeh Mohebi, Mehri Sedighi and Zahra Zargaran

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an approach for retrieving a set of scientific articles in the field of Information Technology (IT) from a scientific database such as…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an approach for retrieving a set of scientific articles in the field of Information Technology (IT) from a scientific database such as Web of Science (WoS), to apply scientometrics indices and compare them with other fields.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose to apply a statistical classification-based approach for extracting IT-related articles. In this approach, first, a probabilistic model is introduced to model the subject IT, using keyphrase extraction techniques. Then, they retrieve IT-related articles from all Iranian papers in WoS, based on a Bayesian classification scheme. Based on the probabilistic IT model, they assign an IT membership probability for each article in the database, and then they retrieve the articles with highest probabilities.

Findings

The authors have extracted a set of IT keyphrases, with 1,497 terms through the keyphrase extraction process, for the probabilistic model. They have evaluated the proposed retrieval approach with two approaches: the query-based approach in which the articles are retrieved from WoS using a set of queries composed of limited IT keywords, and the research area-based approach which is based on retrieving the articles using WoS categorizations and research areas. The evaluation and comparison results show that the proposed approach is able to generate more accurate results while retrieving more articles related to IT.

Research limitations/implications

Although this research is limited to the IT subject, it can be generalized for any subject as well. However, for multidisciplinary topics such as IT, special attention should be given to the keyphrase extraction phase. In this research, bigram model is used; however, one can extend it to tri-gram as well.

Originality/value

This paper introduces an integrated approach for retrieving IT-related documents from a collection of scientific documents. The approach has two main phases: building a model for representing topic IT, and retrieving documents based on the model. The model, based on a set of keyphrases, extracted from a collection of IT articles. However, the extraction technique does not rely on Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency, since almost all of the articles in the collection share a set of same keyphrases. In addition, a probabilistic membership score is defined to retrieve the IT articles from a collection of scientific articles.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 March 2022

Deirdre Hogan and Joanne O'Flaherty

Goal 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) explicitly frames education as an enabler of change and a means to achieve all SDGs. This study aims to explore the nature and…

2644

Abstract

Purpose

Goal 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) explicitly frames education as an enabler of change and a means to achieve all SDGs. This study aims to explore the nature and culture of science as an academic discipline and its capacity for the integration of education for sustainable development (ESD).

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing upon interviews with academics working in a Life Sciences Department (n = 11), focus groups with students (n = 21) and observations from lectures, laboratory sessions and field trips, the study advances a number of recommendations for the integration of ESD in Science Education programs.

Findings

Findings point to the nature and structure of scientific knowledge and the culture of science as articulated by study participants. The study provides a number of recommendations for the integration of ESD in Science Education programs including a greater emphasis on inquiry-based learning, enhancing ESD themes in science-related modules to teach for sustainability and adopting a department wide strategy that promotes ESD.

Originality/value

This study argues that ESD practitioners need to be cognizant of the nature and culture of the discipline area – as a particular discipline propagates a specific culture – encapsulating ways of being, thinking, acting and communicating, which can have implications for the integration of ESD.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 23 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 January 2021

Erik Lindhult and Karin Axelsson

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the methodological logic of coproductive research approaches like action research, collaborative research, interactive research and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the methodological logic of coproductive research approaches like action research, collaborative research, interactive research and participatory research in a way that can clarify its effectiveness and scientific qualities in high quality knowledge production, and show the way that it can be integrated with institutionalized textbook science.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper clarifies the character of coproduction as research methodology concept, the logic of coproductive research approaches, and its characteristics compared to quantitative and qualitative methodology. A model for characterizing research approaches from leading textbook social science is developed to specify the character of coproductive research approaches and support integration in mainstream research methodology discussions.

Findings

The paper develops a research methodology framework for coproductive logic and approaches to research, to support the integration of this type of approaches in mainstream research methodology.

Research limitations/implications

The developed model of coproductive research approaches is not empirically described. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test and further develop the model in relation to cases and designs of research projects.

Practical implications

The paper is helpful for guiding the design of coproductive research in practice, i.e., in research project development or in research methodology education.

Social implications

The development of coproductive research approaches supports making science relevant and useful for solving pressing problems and improving social conditions. It also is enabling stakeholders to participate in research and development processes, thus the democratization of research and knowledge production.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to integration of the family of coproductive approaches in mainstream research methodology discussion through the development and elaboration of a framework for organizing the description and development of coproductive research approaches. The aim is that the framework is valuable for both academics, practitioners and students in designing coproductive research projects.

Details

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8378

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 1995

Gordon R. Foxall

Methodological pluralism in consumer research is usually confinedto post‐positivist interpretive approaches. Argues, however, that apositivistic stance, radical behaviourism, can…

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Abstract

Methodological pluralism in consumer research is usually confined to post‐positivist interpretive approaches. Argues, however, that a positivistic stance, radical behaviourism, can enrich epistemological debate among researchers with the recognition of radical behaviourism′s ultimate reliance on interpretation as well as science. Although radical behaviourist explanation was initially founded on Machian positivism, its account of complex social behaviours such as purchase and consumption is necessarily interpretive, inviting comparison with the hermeneutical approaches currently emerging in consumer research. Radical behaviourist interpretation attributes meaning to behaviour by identifying its environmental determinants, especially the learning history of the individual in relation to the consequences similar prior behaviour has effected. The nature of such interpretation is demonstrated for purchase and consumption responses by means of a critique of radical behaviourism as applied to complex human activity. In the process, develops and applies a framework for radical behaviourist interpretation of purchase and consumption to four operant equifinality classes of consumer behaviour: accomplishment, pleasure, accumulation and maintenance. Some epistemological implications of this framework, the behavioural perspective model (BPM) of purchase and consumption, are discussed in the context of the relativity and incommensurability of research paradigms. Finally, evaluates the interpretive approach, particularly in terms of its relevance to the nature and understanding of managerial marketing.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 29 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 September 2016

Charles R. McCann and Vibha Kapuria-Foreman

Robert Franklin Hoxie was of the first generation of University of Chicago economists, a figure of significance in his own time. He is often heralded as the first of the…

Abstract

Robert Franklin Hoxie was of the first generation of University of Chicago economists, a figure of significance in his own time. He is often heralded as the first of the Institutional economists and the impetus behind the field of labor economics. Yet today, his contributions appear as mere footnotes in the history of economic thought, when mentioned at all, despite the fact that in his professional and popular writings he tackled some of the most pressing problems of the day. The topics upon which he focused included bimetallism, price theory, methodology, the economics profession, socialism, syndicalism, scientific management, and trade unionism, the last being the field with which he is most closely associated. His work attracted the notice of some of the most famous economists of his time, including Frank Fetter, J. Laurence Laughlin, Thorstein Veblen, and John R. Commons. For all the promise, his suicide at the age of 48 ended what could have been a storied career. This paper is an attempt to resurrect Hoxie through a review of his life and work, placing him within the social and intellectual milieux of his time.

Details

Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-962-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 September 2013

Mikhail Grachev and Boris Rakitsky

The purpose of the article is to historically position F. Taylor's scientific management in a broad socio-economic landscape, arguing that Taylorism was predetermined by the…

23807

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the article is to historically position F. Taylor's scientific management in a broad socio-economic landscape, arguing that Taylorism was predetermined by the distinctive industrial type of economic growth and shaped by a political environment of an industrial economy. The authors further aim to discuss how scientific management transcended national boundaries and to analyse the case of Russia, with the focus on the rise and fall of Taylorism in that country in response to political transformations in the twentieth century.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors summarize key attributes of F. Taylor's scientific management as a systemic theoretical approach to efficiency with prioritized practical programmatic orientation and perceived social effects. The discussion on how scientific management fits the industrial economic growth and responds to the political environment follows. The authors conduct archival research and aggregate major literature on the history of Taylorism in twentieth century Russia.

Findings

The key findings of the study include: a summary of F. Taylor's management paradigm; Taylorism as the product of the industrial type of economic growth; how the political environment in Russia modified the unique cycle of scientific management with its emergence in the 1910s, rise in the 1920s, fall in the 1930s, and rebirth on a technocratic basis in the late 1950s.

Research limitations/implications

The paper contributes to the general discussion on Taylorism and provides unique assessments of its historic development in Russia. The results of the study have both academic and educational implications.

Originality/value

The findings of the study enrich the discussion about Taylorism and its application in other countries. The archival and analytic results of the study permit conclusions at a high level of aggregation; highlight conflicting positions on the history of Taylorism in Russia in the literature; provide the framework to better understand the scope of scientific management in a historic socio-economic landscape; and display original arguments to support major findings.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 19 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 July 2014

Enrico Baraldi, Antonella La Rocca and Andrea Perna

This article aims to analyze a set of features in the managerial implications of the most-cited business-to-business (B2B) marketing articles which are related to their managerial…

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to analyze a set of features in the managerial implications of the most-cited business-to-business (B2B) marketing articles which are related to their managerial relevance. The purpose is to further identify which are the most recurrent features of managerial implications, as well as the connections between such features. Finally, the articles aim to verify if these features of managerial implications vary depending on the scientific impact of the article.

Design/methodology/approach

The 60 most-cited articles were selected from both generalist and specialized academic journals and a content analysis was conducted. Then the article assesses the formal features (e.g. dedicated space), the language (e.g. consulting or normative), the translation of scientific results (e.g. message efficacy) and such other features as time orientation, specificity and abstraction of the managerial implications in these high-impact articles. The article also analyses patterns and associations between the aforementioned dimensions across the 60 articles, also depending on their level of scientific impact (i.e. their number of citations).

Findings

The results point that six out of nine features contributing to managerial relevance are the most frequently present in the implications (dedicated section easy to find, balance between academic and consulting language, partly scientific approach, overlap with scientific findings, message neither too complicated nor too simplistic, and long-term orientation). However, three other features reducing managerial relevance afflict nearly half of the articles: non-normative, generic and abstract implications. The ten articles lacking completely managerial implications are slightly more frequent among highest impact ones, which also often include overly complicated implications; while speculative and overly simplistic implications typically appear more among lowest impact articles which, however, also stand for very specific messages. There seems not to be any statistical correlation between the features contributing to managerial relevance and the scientific impact (number of citations) of an article. Instead, several of these features are correlated among each other, meaning that when one is missing, it is likely that the others also are. Finally, when implications are included in a dedicated section of the article, they tend to be specific and consequently also tend to have the other features favoring relevance.

Originality/value

The article provides an empirically grounded assessment of features that influence the managerial relevance of scientific research in the areas of B2B marketing. Our results are, in fact, grounded in a detailed examination of the managerial implications of 60 high-impact articles in this disciplinary domain.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 29 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

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