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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 February 2024

Marianne Jaakkola, Soila Lemmetty, Kaija Collin, Minna Ylönen and Teuvo Antikainen

This study aims to increase the understanding of the starting points and presuppositions of organizational learning (OL) processes in a hospital’s surgical department based on the…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to increase the understanding of the starting points and presuppositions of organizational learning (OL) processes in a hospital’s surgical department based on the existing theory of OL and to make visible the practical possibilities of the theory in this context.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted as a case study. The data were collected from personnel of the hospital’s surgical department and consisted of 26 thematic interviews. The data were analyzed using qualitative theory-driven content analysis.

Findings

This study found different starting points for both employee-oriented and organization-oriented learning processes that could potentially progress to different levels of the organization: from individuals to a wider group or from a large group to an individual. The starting point of employee-oriented learning processes was depicted as everyday life problems or situations or was based on the person’s interest. The starting points of organization-oriented learning processes were described as achieving or maintaining the organization’s expected skill levels, pursuing continuous development or pursuing the organization’s specific development needs. Different kinds of presuppositions were also located within the OL processes.

Originality/value

This study produced new practice-based knowledge about the starting points of OL processes and their presuppositions. In health-care organizations, learning is especially important due to intensive and complex changes, and this study provides empirical evidence on how to enhance learning.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 February 2024

Mehrgan Malekpour, Federica Caboni, Mohsen Nikzadask and Vincenzo Basile

This paper aims to identify the combination of innovation determinants driving the creation of innovative products amongst market leaders and market followers in food and beverage…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the combination of innovation determinants driving the creation of innovative products amongst market leaders and market followers in food and beverage (F&B) firms.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is based on the case study methodology by using two types of data sources: (1) semi-structured interviews with industry experts and (2) in-depth interviews with managers. In addition, a questionnaire adapted from prior research was used to consider market and firm types.

Findings

Suggesting an integrated theoretical framework based on firm-based factors and market-based factors, this study identified a combination of determinants significantly impacting innovative products in the market. Specifically, these determinants are competition intensity and innovation capability (a combination of research and development (R&D) investment and marketing capabilities). The study also examined how these determinants vary depending on whether the firms are market leaders or market followers.

Practical implications

This research provides practical insights for managers working in the F&B industry by using case studies and exploring the determinants of developing innovative products. In doing so, suitable strategies can be selected according to the market and firm situations.

Originality/value

The originality of the study is shown by focussing on how different combinations of market and firm factors could be applied in creating successful innovative products in the food sector.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 126 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 May 2024

Mohammad B. Rana and Matthew M. C. Allen

The changing roles of the United Nations (UN) and national institutions have made addressing climate change a critical concern for many multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) survival…

Abstract

The changing roles of the United Nations (UN) and national institutions have made addressing climate change a critical concern for many multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) survival and growth. This chapter discusses how such institutions, which vary in their nature and characteristics, shape firm strategies for climate change adaptation. Exploring different versions of institutional theory, the chapter demonstrates how and why institutional characteristics affect typical patterns of firm ownership, governance, and capabilities. These, in turn, influence companies’ internationalisation and climate-change strategies. Climate change poses challenges to how we understand firms’ strategic decisions from both an international business (IB) (HQ–subsidiary relations) and global value chains (GVC) (buyer–supplier relations) perspective. However, climate change also provides opportunities for companies to gain competitive advantages – if firms can reconfigure and adapt faster than their competitors. Existing IB and GVC research tends to downplay the importance of climate change strategies and the ways in which coherent or dysfunctional institutions affect firms’ reconfiguration and adaptation strategies in a globally dispersed network of value creation. This chapter presents a perspective on the institutional conditions that affect firms’ climate change strategies regarding ownership, location, and internalisation (OLI), and GVCs, with ‘investment’ and ‘emerging standards’ playing a significant role. The authors illustrate the discussion using several examples from the Global South (i.e. Bangladesh) and the Global North (i.e. Denmark, Sweden, and Germany) with a special emphasis on the garment industry. The aim is to encourage future research to examine how a ‘business systems’, or varieties of capitalism, institutional perspective can complement the analysis of sustainability and climate change strategies in IB and GVC studies.

Details

Walking the Talk? MNEs Transitioning Towards a Sustainable World
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83549-117-1

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2024

Azadeh Motevali Zadeh Ardakani, Maura Sellars and Scott Imig

The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences and challenges of Middle Eastern refugee mothers in using technology for language learning in…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences and challenges of Middle Eastern refugee mothers in using technology for language learning in regional Australian context.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a qualitative research design and used a narrative enquiry technique to understand participants’ experiences of language acquisition with limited access to technology in new resettlement setting.

Findings

The findings presented in this paper were derived from a qualitative investigation conducted on a sample of 21 refugee mothers from Middle Eastern countries. The research aimed to explore the role of a language education programme on their integration within the regional Australian context. Participants discussed a variety of aspects of their everyday lives within their new resettlement context while offering insights on the language education programme and its impacts on their educational progress. The theme “lack of access/use of technology in English language learning” emerged from the narratives. This paper draws on selected interview data from the participants.

Originality/value

This study fills the gap in the literature on Middle Eastern refugees in regional Australia by exploring how lack/limited technology access can impact language acquisition of women from under-represented contexts.

Details

Journal for Multicultural Education, vol. 18 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-535X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 September 2023

Jianyu Ma, Noel Scott and Yu Wu

Tourism destination marketers use videos that incorporate storytelling and visual and audio components to evoke emotional arousal and memorability. This study aims to examine the…

Abstract

Purpose

Tourism destination marketers use videos that incorporate storytelling and visual and audio components to evoke emotional arousal and memorability. This study aims to examine the increase in participants’ level of arousal and the degree of memorability after watching two different videos.

Design/methodology/approach

A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 45 participants who watched two destination promotional videos. One video used storytelling whereas the other used scenic images and music. The level of arousal was measured using both tonic and phasic electrodermal activity levels. The memorability of each video was measured after seven days by testing the recall accuracy.

Findings

Scenic imagery and music videos were associated with higher-than-average arousal levels, while storytelling videos generated larger-amplitude arousal peaks and a greater number of arousal-evoking events. After a week, the respondents recalled more events from the storytelling video than from the scenery and musical advertisements. This finding reveals that the treatment, storytelling and sensory stimuli in advertising moderate the impact of arousal peaks and memorability.

Originality/value

These results indicate that nonnarrative videos using only sceneries and music evoked a higher average level of arousal. However, memorability was associated with higher peak levels of arousal only in narrative storytelling. This is the first tourism study to report the effects of large arousal peaks on improved memorability in advertising.

Article
Publication date: 26 January 2024

Charity P. Scott and Nicole Rodriguez Leach

Exploring how racism continues to persist throughout public and nonprofit organizations is central to undoing persistent society-wide injustices in the United States and around…

Abstract

Purpose

Exploring how racism continues to persist throughout public and nonprofit organizations is central to undoing persistent society-wide injustices in the United States and around the globe. The authors provide two cases for identifying and understanding the ways in which philanthropy’s whiteness does harm to K–12 students and communities of color.

Design/methodology/approach

In this article, the authors draw on critical race theory and critical whiteness studies, specifically Cheryl Harris' work to expose the whiteness of philanthropy, not as a racial identity, but in the way that philanthropy is performed. The authors characterize one of the property functions of whiteness, the right to exclude, as working through two mechanisms: neoliberal exclusion and overt exclusion. Drawing on this construction of the right to exclude, the authors present two cases: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the City Fund.

Findings

Whether intentional or not, the Gates Foundation and the City Fund each exclude communities of color in several ways: from changes to schools and districts, parents' experiences navigating school enrollment due to these changes, to academic assessments and political lobbying.

Originality/value

These cases provide a way for researchers and practitioners to see how organizations in real time reify the extant racial hierarchy so as to disrupt such organizational processes and practices for racial justice.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 43 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2021

You-De Dai, Fei-Hsin Huang, Kuan-Yang Chen, Wei-Jen Chen and Tzung-Cheng Huan

Recreational scuba diving is one of the fastest growing tourism industries around the world and has become a popular activity in Taiwan. Few studies focus on enduring involvement…

Abstract

Purpose

Recreational scuba diving is one of the fastest growing tourism industries around the world and has become a popular activity in Taiwan. Few studies focus on enduring involvement with a high risk or difficult activity specialization, so this study aims to explore the causal relationship between enduring involvement and specialization and seeks to explain sustained involvement in scuba diving activity as a recreation specialization.

Design/methodology/approach

This research selects four diving sites in Taiwan as survey locations, specifically Yeliou, Longdong, Kenting and Green Island. The questionnaire consists of three sections, including demographic information, enduring involvement and specialization. By analyzing the data collected from 810 scuba divers in Taiwan, structural equation modeling is used to examine the causal relationships among the variables.

Findings

The primary findings of this study are as follows: attraction positively affects divers’ commitment and lifestyle through joy, relaxation and sharing diving experiences; the results indicate that self-expression is associated with past experience of participating in scuba diving activity; and centrality indicates that participants’ daily life and recreation are related to each other and become central to their life. Results show that most theoretical hypotheses are supported, but there is no significant evidence of attraction impacting past experience or self-expression influencing commitment and lifestyle.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the causal influence of enduring involvement and specialization in the scuba diving context. The findings provide a solid theoretical basis for the study of sustained involvement motivation and behavior on specialization. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

水肺潜水作为一种特殊的旅游方式:台湾经验

目的

休闲水肺潜水是全球发展最快的旅游业之一, 已成为台湾的热门活动。很少有研究关注持续涉入高风险或困难活动的专门化, 因此本研究探讨持续涉入和专门化之间的因果关系, 并试图解释持续参与水肺潜水活动作为休闲专门化。

设计/方法/步骤

这项研究选择了台湾的四个潜水地点作为调查地点, 特别是野柳, 龙洞, 垦丁和绿岛。问卷分为三个部分, 包括人口统计信息, 持续参与和专门化。通过分析从台湾810名潜水员那里收集的数据, 使用结构方程模型检查变量之间的因果关系。

研究结果

这项研究的主要发现是:(1)吸引力通过愉悦, 放松和分享潜水经历积极影响潜水员的承诺和生活方式; (2)结果表明自我表达与过去参加水肺潜水活动的经历有关(3)中心性表示参与者的日常生活和娱乐彼此相关, 并成为他们生活的中心。结果表明, 大多数理论假设均得到支持, 但没有显着证据表明吸引力会影响过去的经历或自我表达影响承诺和生活方式。

独创性/价值

据我们所知, 本研究是第一个研究在潜水环境中持续涉入和专门化的因果关系影响的研究。研究结果为专门化持续参与动机和行为的研究提供了坚实的理论基础。 讨论了对未来研究的影响和建议。

Objetivo

El buceo recreativo es una de las industrias turísticas de más rápido crecimiento en todo el mundo y se ha convertido en una actividad popular en Taiwán. Pocos estudios se centran en la participación duradera con una especialización de actividad difícil o de alto riesgo, por lo que este estudio explora la relación causal entre la participación duradera y la especialización y busca explicar la participación sostenida en la actividad de buceo como una especialización recreativa.

Diseño/Metodología/Enfoque

Esta investigación selecciona cuatro sitios de buceo en Taiwán como lugares de estudio, específicamente Yeliou, Longdong, Kenting y Green Island. El cuestionario consta de tres secciones, que incluyen información demográfica, participación duradera y especialización. Al analizar los datos recopilados de 810 buzos en Taiwán, se utiliza un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales para examinar las relaciones causales entre las variables.

Resultados

Los hallazgos principales de este estudio son: (1) la atracción afecta positivamente el compromiso y el estilo de vida de los buceadores a través de la alegría, la relajación y el intercambio de experiencias de buceo, (2) los resultados indican que la autoexpresión está asociada con la experiencia pasada de participar en actividades de buceo., y (3) la centralidad indica que la vida diaria y la recreación de los participantes están relacionadas entre sí y se vuelven centrales en su vida. Los resultados muestran que la mayoría de las hipótesis teóricas están respaldadas, pero no hay evidencia significativa de que la atracción afecte la experiencia pasada o la autoexpresión que influya en el compromiso y el estilo de vida.

Originalidad/Valor

Hasta donde sabemos, este estudio es el primero en examinar la influencia causal de la participación y la especialización duraderas en el contexto del buceo. Los hallazgos proporcionan una base teórica sólida para el estudio de la motivación y el comportamiento de participación sostenida en la especialización. Se discuten las implicaciones y recomendaciones para futuras investigaciones.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 May 2024

Laura Dixon and Valerie Makin

This paper explores the potential that block teaching offers to enhance employability in the context of large-scale classes. It suggests that block teaching, with its condensed…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores the potential that block teaching offers to enhance employability in the context of large-scale classes. It suggests that block teaching, with its condensed structure, necessitates curriculum innovation, fosters participatory learning and peer-to-peer networking, and has been shown to increase student focus and enhance engagement and attainment, especially amongst diverse learners. As these are the same challenges that large-scale teaching faces, it is proposed that intensive modes of delivery could be scaled up in a way that may help to mitigate such problems as cohorts in business schools continue to increase in size.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on secondary research and provides an overview of literature that looks at block teaching, followed by that which explores the challenges of large-scale teaching contexts. It compares and contrasts the gaps in both to suggest a way that they could be combined.

Findings

The paper provides key insights into changes in the contemporary landscape of teaching within UK business schools, which have seen increasingly large cohorts and draws out the key strengths of intensive modes of delivery, which include helping students to time manage effectively, encouraging curriculum innovation and the creation of participatory learning opportunities as well as providing closer personal relationships between students and staff. Outlining some of the well-documented issues that can arise when teaching larger cohorts, the paper suggests that scaling up blocked delivery may offer a new way help to overcome them.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results are subject to generalisation. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions in large-scale teaching scenarios.

Practical implications

This paper includes implications for the development of innovative modes of teaching in the context of large cohorts, an experience that is increasingly common amongst British business schools and beyond.

Originality/value

This paper brings together two bodies of literature for the first time – that of intensive modes of teaching and that focuses on large-scale teaching contexts – for the first time to show how the former may help to overcome some of the key issues arising in the latter.

Details

Journal of Work-Applied Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2205-2062

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2023

Jurgita Banytė and Christopher Mulhearn

This article seeks to offer an answer. It explores the criteria on which commercial property market participants can develop strategies in hugely challenging circumstances. For…

Abstract

Purpose

This article seeks to offer an answer. It explores the criteria on which commercial property market participants can develop strategies in hugely challenging circumstances. For this purpose, a survey-based approach was developed with work conducted with property-market professional in the United Kingdom (UK), France, Germany and Sweden to produce a criteria-based tool supporting adaption to changing market circumstances.

Design/methodology/approach

The data have been analyzed using statistical analysis. The data's statistical analysis included Cronbach's alpha's application to evaluate the respondents' replies' reliability. A entral tendency test was used to identify the means of relevance of the criteria. The Mann–Whitney U test was used to determine potential material differences between the UK and other countries with Bonferroni corrections applied to minimize type-I errors.

Findings

Thirty characteristics have been identified that impact the dynamics of the commercial property market. Their relevance to the commercial property market was determined using a survey. The literature analysis showed that the researchers paid more attention to quantitative criteria and their comparison. The survey showed that the relevance of criteria to the commercial property market dynamics is unequal. However, the survey results showed that it is most important to pay attention to emotional criteria to adapt to uncertainty changing conditions. The problem of the environment has been on the agenda for the last four decades. Therefore, the fact that the results of the study showed that the environmental criteria are the least significant is unexpected.

Research limitations/implications

The study involved economically developed countries of Europe. Extending the study's geographical scope would be valuable in revealing whether the same differences exist in other geographical areas (such as Australia or the USA).

Practical implications

The practical implication of the analysis may be to facilitate the decision-making process of either selecting a country for commercial property investment or selecting the most sensitive and relevant criteria for the decision-making.

Originality/value

Criteria for commercial property market performance which promote successful property investment have been developed. Moreover, the criteria affecting the commercial property market have been weighted by their relevance to the market and their sequence of relevance has been established. And finally, the developed criteria have been placed into five groups that could serve as a foundation for a macro-level assessment of commercial property market dynamics.

Details

Property Management, vol. 42 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Keywords

Abstract

Details

The Positive Psychology of Laughter and Humour
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-835-5

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