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1 – 10 of 198The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a field study, investigating accounting, strategising and accounting for strategic management and power structures in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a field study, investigating accounting, strategising and accounting for strategic management and power structures in the Jordanian higher education (HE) sector on the basis of Bourdieu’s theory of practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts an interpretive stance, seeking to investigate the perceptions of actors in the field, with regard to accounting, strategising and accounting for strategic management in HE. The adopted methodology is adapted grounded theory, as this study assumes a prior theoretical stance of Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts. Data were collected through participant observation in meetings, at the workplace, interviews and documentation.
Findings
The main findings of this paper reflect how strategising and accounting in practice manifest themselves in the Jordanian HE sector. Bourdieu’s theory of practice sets the meta-theoretical context of the current study, with field setting the scene, and habitus being represented in the strategising mind-set participants adopt. The mind-set determines how strategic management accounting is perceived and dealt with. Strategic management accounting takes place at varying degrees. The power structures that influence and determine strategising and accounting in support thereof are researched on the basis of Bourdieu’s forms of capital. Different forms of capital matter in the HE sector determined by fields’ doxa.
Research limitations/implications
The researcher is a part of the field, the Jordanian HE sector; thus, their habitus has been exposed to its characteristics and features. Thus, certain internalised structures and experiences needed to be challenged for this analysis, which was not an easy task.
Originality/value
This study investigates accounting, strategic management and power structures in HE, and it highlights the different power structures, using Bourdieu’s forms of capital, which offers a great insight into how different cultures approach similar issues.
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Claus D. Jacobs and Loizos Heracleous
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize strategizing as a playful design practice; illustrate this view by describing a process for fostering effective strategic play;…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize strategizing as a playful design practice; illustrate this view by describing a process for fostering effective strategic play; outline the benefits of the process and discuss how executives can play effectively.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a concept development with a case illustration.
Findings
The paper finds that strategizing through playful design offers both an alternative conceptual lens as well as a novel practice of strategizing.
Originality/value
Strategizing through playful design is a useful complement to dry, conventional strategic planning processes and helps to open up and orient fruitful debate about an organization ' s particular strategic challenges.
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Jette Ernst and Astrid Jensen Schleiter
The purpose of this paper is to look at the ways in which standardization for patient safety is approached from different positions in the field, namely nurses and managers in a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to look at the ways in which standardization for patient safety is approached from different positions in the field, namely nurses and managers in a hospital department, the hospital management and standard inventers. We understand safety standardization and the responses to it as a strategizing process, where standards are legitimized, taken up, handled or countered.
Design/methodology/approach
Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in a Danish hospital department. The study included observations, interviews and documents studies. The authors apply a Bourdieusian perspective, where the authors focus on the narratives told by standard inventers, managers and nurses to examine and understand their strategizing activities in relation to safety standardization. We understand strategizing as interested action emerging in the dialectics between a habitus and a position in a field.
Findings
The authors show how the standardization of work rests on the master narrative of patient safety management and how this narrative clashes with the nurses’ practical perception of good care, which rests on the counter-narrative of the clinical judgment.
Originality/value
Safety standardization in healthcare is often studied within the broader framework of performance management using functionalist outside-in and prescriptive approaches. This study contributes to this literature by approaching standardization and the responses to it as taking place in a dialectic movement between subjective shop floor experiences and wider field-level forces. Furthermore, the study contributes to the organization and management literature concerned with change and strategic action by endorsing the Bourdieusian conception of strategizing.
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Clare Gately and James Cunningham
Business plan writing seems the panacea to gain stakeholder legitimacy and financial backing. Our chapter explores the contributions and disconnections between business plan…
Abstract
Business plan writing seems the panacea to gain stakeholder legitimacy and financial backing. Our chapter explores the contributions and disconnections between business plan writing and the start-up process for incubated technology entrepreneurs. The study is set in the South East Enterprise Platform Programme (SEEPP), an incubator programme for technology graduate entrepreneurs in the South East of Ireland. Using a purposive sample of technology entrepreneurs in start-up mode, we took a qualitative approach consisting of content analysis of 40 business plans and in-depth interviews with 25 technology entrepreneurs. Our research found that writing a detailed business plan constrains the technology entrepreneur’s natural penchant for action, compelling them to focus on business plan writing rather than enactment. Technology entrepreneurs favour a market-led rather than funding-led operational level document to plan, and learn from, near-term activities using milestones.
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Shiva Koul, Suhas Suresh Ambekar and Manoj Hudnurkar
The purpose of this paper is to determine, rank and form composite relational factors that impact the millennial consumer’s mind-set when they opt for an access-based subscription…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine, rank and form composite relational factors that impact the millennial consumer’s mind-set when they opt for an access-based subscription of an over-the-top (OTT) platform service. In the competitive rising Indian market of OTT platforms, there is a need to understand what factors drive the subscription of a service for a company strategizing to build up on their customer base or for a company seeking to retain its customers.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach includes determining factors that impact the buying behavior of the consumer and have them ranked by the survey participants in order of their importance as a factor in considering a subscription of an OTT platform service. Questionnaire as a method is used for primary data collection in this research. Using “purposive sampling,” participants of the survey were determined based on their age group and current or historic consumption of at least one OTT platform service. The survey was conducted for the millennial viewership from Tier I and Tier II cities that have good internet connectivity over their mobile phones.
Findings
The result of this research is a ranking of factors based on their importance as perceived by the millennial consumers and then form composite factors, which have similarities in responses.
Practical implications
This research enables the consumers of the information to dwell on the factors that prove to be of comparative importance to the consumer and plan/forecast their strategies and further research studies accordingly.
Originality/value
A research along similar lines has been conducted for US-based OTT platforms. However, this research is specific for Indian consumers and platforms and holds significance because of growth in the Indian OTT market.
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Kristin B. Munksgaard, Majbritt Rostgaard Evald, Ann Højbjerg Clarke and Torben Munk Damgaard
Public-private innovation (PPI) is often claimed to contribute to societal welfare, to bring positive effects to the public sector and to open new markets to private firms…
Abstract
Purpose
Public-private innovation (PPI) is often claimed to contribute to societal welfare, to bring positive effects to the public sector and to open new markets to private firms. Engaging in public-private relationships for innovation is, however, also recognised as challenging and problematic. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the managerial and strategic challenges faced by private firms when engaging in public-private relationships for innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study presents ten firms’ engagement in public-private relationships. Half of them are experienced in innovation in public-private relationship, the other half are engaging in public-private relationships for the first time. Cross-case analysis brings insight into how these different types of firms strategize for handling relationships with public partners.
Findings
Contrary to non-experienced firms, experienced firms deliberately build a long-term strategy for engaging in PPI in expectation of outcome from more than a single project. They not only engage in building an understanding of the public using setting, but also seek to bridge with the public developing and producing setting to a greater extent than less experienced firms. The experienced firms utilise relationships with actors in the wider public network as a device and an asset for overcoming challenges and for reaping benefits from their engagement.
Originality/value
The study outlines the characteristics of strategizing among the most experienced firms and their special ability to embrace the complexity of the public sector network while working simultaneously on developing innovation for specific public counterparts.
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In a context of technological disruption, companies face a digital imperative to adopt successfully emerging new technologies. While family firms have a huge potential for growth…
Abstract
Purpose
In a context of technological disruption, companies face a digital imperative to adopt successfully emerging new technologies. While family firms have a huge potential for growth and innovation, they may – due to idiosyncratic but often limited resources, have to address the complex challenges induced by digital technologies introduction. The purpose of this paper is to explore how human and cultural resources influence the formulation and implementation of five French family firms' digital strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a phenomenological epistemology, semi-structured interviews among different generational cohorts of family business owners.
Findings
The thematic analysis highlights five main cultural and psychological determinants holding the potential for positive and synergetic outcomes while implementing a digital strategy: the change management nurtured by long-term sustainability, the emotional attachment to the firm, the entrepreneurial legacy influence, the personalised involvement of individual family members and the family owners' central focus on employees.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first research projects exploring the digital transformation process of family businesses from the perspective of the firm's human capital. The participants of the study reveal idiosyncratic attitudes such as long-term orientation, entrepreneurial bridging and non-economic goals leading to competitive advantages and transgenerational wealth creation.
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Amy Skolen and Dan Paul
Here's how the new president of the fictional Alpine Corp. changed his corporate culture and forged a unified, effective senior management team.