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1 – 10 of over 27000Teresa Magdalena Beste, Ole Jonny Klakegg and Knudsen Jørgen Kjetil
The aim of the present study is to look into the potential of standardization of special purpose buildings, with the example of the Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the present study is to look into the potential of standardization of special purpose buildings, with the example of the Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property Management (Statsbygg).
Design/Methodology/Approach
The present study uses results from a group workshop on the topic of standardization, suggesting building types suitable for standardization or modular construction. In addition, data from Statsbygg’s project database is used.
Findings
There is a broad specter of special purpose buildings with potential for standardization, such as customs facilities, courthouses, university buildings and buildings with a high share of office functions. Even buildings with an individualized character, such as museums or government buildings, have a certain potential for standardization of functional or constructional elements. Modular construction can be used where and when appropriate.
Research Limitations/Implications
Being on a brainstorming level and limited to Statsbygg, the study provides a starting point for further research looking at other building commissioners working with special purpose buildings, or quantifying the potential for cost reduction.
Practical Implications
On the basis of the findings from this study, Statsbygg considers further standardization of their special purpose buildings, not only within building types but also across the portfolio or within a project, for example rooms or functional elements.
Originality/Value
Research on standardization of special purpose buildings is limited. The article presents the results of a workshop with project managers, contributing to the topic based on their experience from the construction of special purpose buildings. Although on a brainstorming level, the research is a starting point for further research into this topic.
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This article shows the importance of marketing‐mix standardisation within a global marketing concept. A frame of analysis is described that can aid enterprises to decide whether…
Abstract
This article shows the importance of marketing‐mix standardisation within a global marketing concept. A frame of analysis is described that can aid enterprises to decide whether global marketing can support their company in working out competitive advantages. The first analysis step is concerned with the question of whether marketing‐mix standardisation is important for the branch or the market of the company in question. This is oriented to strategic factors of success. The aim of the second analysis step is to find out in which ways marketing‐mix standardisation can be practised by one specific company. In this context a standardisation‐oriented segmentation concept is discussed.
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Reports on a study which investigated why multinational companies standardize the advertising executions deployed throughout the various national markets in which they operate…
Abstract
Reports on a study which investigated why multinational companies standardize the advertising executions deployed throughout the various national markets in which they operate. Economies of scale and belief in international consumer and market convergence were found to be of less influence than had been indicated in prior studies. Rather the indications were that policy on international advertising is influenced by a broad range of organizational and strategic issues, particularly a perceived need for increased central control over the marketing policies of the national subsidiaries. In some instances it could be argued that standardization is a consequence, or even a means of, increased central control, rather than resulting from detailed analysis of the specific costs and benefits of standardization. Also finds that there are many forms of standardization and the motives of the sampled companies concerned varied to some extent, according to the form and degree of standardization practised.
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Hanne Riese, Gunn Elisabeth Søreide and Line T. Hilt
This introductory chapter introduces standards and standardisation as concepts of outmost relevance to current educational practice and policy across the world, and frames them…
Abstract
This introductory chapter introduces standards and standardisation as concepts of outmost relevance to current educational practice and policy across the world, and frames them historically, empirically, as well as theoretically. Furthermore, it gives an overview of how the book is structured and how it can be seen to contribute to the wider field of research in education. The chapter starts by introducing the concepts before it provides the reader with a background description of the broad discursive landscape of policy developments, as painted by educational policy research. Subsequently it describes how standards and standardisation have been theorised within educational research, and concludes with a presentation of the different contributions.
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Standardisation in education is an ambiguous process. Standards of time, measurement, technology and other aspects have evolved historically as basic preconditions for social life…
Abstract
Standardisation in education is an ambiguous process. Standards of time, measurement, technology and other aspects have evolved historically as basic preconditions for social life and communication, in education as well as in society at large. But excessive standardisation, especially in domains of culture and knowledge, often works as cultural and symbolic violence, undermining the qualities of education and learning situations. This chapter investigates these ambiguities, presenting concepts of standards and standardisation and developing their implications for education through selected theoretical contributions and empirical cases. The theoretical contributions include Berger and Luckmann's constructivist sociology of knowledge, Bourdieu's theory of symbolic capital and Habermas' theory of communicative action. The empirical cases include the processes of centralisation and standardisation of education in the United States and the process of standardisation in European higher education.
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Standards are normative specifications for the steering of education policy and practice. They aim to clarify educational objectives, means and practice, by giving a shape to the…
Abstract
Standards are normative specifications for the steering of education policy and practice. They aim to clarify educational objectives, means and practice, by giving a shape to the worlds of education. They raise criticisms of oversimplification often splitting the discussion in unnecessary oppositions between pro and con standardisation. To escape from a fruitless antagonism, this chapter proposes the concept of waves of standardisation. Standards are essential characteristics of any organisation, including schools. Historically, standardisation of education increases with the emergence of modernity, and in particular with the unfolding and consolidation of mass schooling. Since then, however, waves of standardisation develop into diverse political scenarios and are oriented by different rationales. More than a standard world of education, a world of standards sustained by several circuits of expertise where competing logics of justifications are embedded in various political rationalities is illustrated.
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Moses Muhwezi, Henry Mutebi, Samuel Ssekajja Mayanja, Benjamin Tukamuhabwa, Sheila Namagembe and Robert Kalema
Procuring relief products and services is a challenging process for humanitarian organizations (HOs), yet it accounts for approximately 65% of relief operations’ costs (Moshtari…
Abstract
Purpose
Procuring relief products and services is a challenging process for humanitarian organizations (HOs), yet it accounts for approximately 65% of relief operations’ costs (Moshtari et al., 2021). This paper aims to examine how procurement internal controls, materials and purchasing procedure standardization influence information integration and procurement performance.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, partial least square structural equation models and multigroup analysis were used to analyze data collected from 170 HOs.
Findings
Procurement internal controls and material and purchasing procedure standardization fully mediate between information integration and procurement performance.
Research limitations/implications
The study focuses only on HOs. Since humanitarian procurement projects take place over a period of several years, it is difficult to capture the long-term effects of information integration, procurement internal controls, material and purchasing procedure standardization and procurement performance. In this regard, a longitudinal study could be undertaken, provided that the required resources are available.
Practical implications
Procurement managers should implement information integration practices within acceptable procurement internal controls and standardize material and purchasing procedures to boost procurement performance.
Originality/value
By integrating information through procurement internal controls and standardizing material and purchasing procedures, procurement performance in a humanitarian setting can be systematically optimized.
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René Lindner, Josune Hernantes and Carmen Jaca
This research assesses the implications of integrating standardization activities into European research projects to foster the engagement of project internal and external…
Abstract
Purpose
This research assesses the implications of integrating standardization activities into European research projects to foster the engagement of project internal and external stakeholders and into different project stakeholder management theories.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyzes the integration of standardization and the engagement of project internal and external stakeholders in standardization activities in a multi-case study of four European Framework Program projects and with the projects Advancing Resilience of Historic Areas Against Climate-Related and Other Hazards (ARCH) and Smart Mature Resilience (SMR) in two separate case studies more deeply. The multi-case study mainly evaluates the stakeholder participation in 10 CEN Workshop Agreements. While in the two case studies, among other things, two project surveys are used to investigate how stakeholder engagement was supported by standardization activities.
Findings
The results show that standardization significantly supports stakeholder engagement and lead to a proposal on how standardization can support achieving stakeholder engagement goals in the different research project phases.
Originality/value
This research provides practical information for policy-makers who support standardization as a tool for research, as well as for researchers and project managers who want to use standardization activities efficiently in research projects.
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Ahmad Abras and Kelum Jayasinghe
This paper examines the historical evolvement of competing institutional logics (i.e. religion, profession, state, market and community) underpinning Islamic accounting…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the historical evolvement of competing institutional logics (i.e. religion, profession, state, market and community) underpinning Islamic accounting standardisation projects and power relations between internal actors representing these logics.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts a case-study approach and analyses two Islamic accounting standardisation projects implemented at the national and international levels. Documentary review and semi-structured interviews are used for data collection. Analysis is informed by the “Institutional Logics Perspective” and Bourdieu's notion of “power as capital in a field”.
Findings
Research findings illustrate how some local actors pre-dispose themselves in promoting strict compliance to IFRS, while others endeavour to ensure compliance to “Islamic Sharia requirements” in financial reporting. In this power dynamic, there is an ongoing “constructive resistance” actively exerted by the latter group against the former, preserving the existence of religion-based reporting demands in Islamic accounting standardisation approaches. The paper also highlights chronological “dynamic” accounts that explain the evolvement of institutional logics prevailing in these projects over different historical stages at both national and international levels.
Originality/value
This paper's findings contrast and challenge the existing assumption that the “epistemic community” promoting IFRS agenda always faces “passive responses” from local actors. Moreover, the paper's offering of a dynamic view to institutional logic mapping extends the previously used “static analyses” of logics prevailing in Islamic accounting standardisation projects.
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T.C. Melewar and John Saunders
This research study investigates the relationship between the degree of headquarters control and standardization of Corporate Visual Identity System (CVIS) among British companies…
Abstract
This research study investigates the relationship between the degree of headquarters control and standardization of Corporate Visual Identity System (CVIS) among British companies and their subsidiaries in Malaysia. It examines chief executive involvement in the development of a standardized CVIS. The findings suggest that centralised control of CVIS decisions occurs with standardization of CVIS. Moreover, the findings indicate that the chief executive is the key internal driving force of globally standardized CVIS. Against expectations, locals matched the favourable disposition of headquarters towards global standardization.
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