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How two high school principals, one public and one parochial, exercised symbolic leadership to influence teachers′ attitudes and behaviours is examined. Data on these principals were collected over a five month period through participant observation; élite, structured interviews; informal unstructured interviews; document analysis; survey instruments and examination of physical, environmental factors. The findings reveal that symbolic leadership is the integration and communication of a principal′s thoughts, words and actions. Evidence of symbolic leadership by these two principals indicated that symbols were powerful transmitters of important messages used to reinforce, maintain, create and give meaning to organisation culture.

There is fragmentation in the academic study of identity theory, and it is dislocated from personality theory. The paper aims to develop a model that resolves both of these issues using autonomous agency theory. It is shown that identities can be evaluated using mindset agency theory. Application is then made to a case study of Donald Trump’s US election campaign.

In the first of this three-part paper, the fragmented identity theory is examined ontologically to generate a coherent model of multiple identities.

A new coherent model of multiple identities is created.

There is not currently any that has created coherent theory of multiple identities.

This study examines the connections between subculture theory, symbolic interaction and the work of David Matza with a special focus on exploring alcohol consumption by young adults in the UK. We apply Matza ideas of the “techniques of neutralization,” “subterranean values,” and “drift” within an ethnographic study on alcohol to suggest that young people's “calculated hedonism” can be understood as a strategy of agency in the context of a subcultural setting. This article adds to the literature of symbolic interaction, subculture and the discipline of sociology by critically focusing on the work of David Matza from its reception in the 1960s to today as a central element of the new paradigm of cultural criminology. For us the sociological imagination is “alive and well” through Matza's advocacy of naturalism whereby he sought to integrate the work Chicago School under Park and Burgess with his assessment of the so-called Neo-Chicago School. In the literature Matza's work is often defined as symbolic interactionist we see his ambition in a wider sense of wanting sociology to recover human struggle and the active creation of meaning. Our approach is to understand the calculated hedonism of young adult use of alcohol through their humanity.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to review the notion of social capital and its dominant dimensions and appraise the ways in which social capital and these dimensions have been applied within family business research. Second, to develop a number of suggestions of ways in which the concept could be extended, from a symbolic perspective, to provide greater insight into the complexity and heterogeneity of family systems.

This is a conceptual paper designed to stimulate new ways of thinking about social capital and the competitive advantage of family firms.

This paper suggests that social capital has a symbolic dimension, which has been largely overlooked both within the field of family business and across social capital research more generally. Within the field of family business the authors connect this neglect to an over-emphasis on business theories. The authors offer ways in which incorporating a family theory – symbolic interactionism – could help to better understand family firms, social capital, and competitive advantage.

This paper proposes an original approach to social capital. Guided by the notion of informed pluralism the paper integrates seemingly unrelated theories and identifies opportunities for new and innovative research. By espousing a symbolic interactionist approach the argument developed within this paper is valuable for helping to advance new ways of thinking about social capital and the competitive (dis)advantage of family firms.

This paper draws on the philosophy of social sciences to develop a framework that permits a critical analysis of management practice. It uses this framework to construct a taxonomy that enables the identification of the competing philosophical paradigms that underpin contending perspectives on what constitutes “good” management practice, so enabling the articulation of their salient risks and thus their fundamental philosophical flaws. It then proposes the requirements for a philosophically coherent approach to management. Thereon, the implications for management development are explicated.

Discusses how political parties in Europe, following the trend in the USA, have entered a new era of the permanent election campaign. Describes the more integrated role played by market research and how this process is changing the nature of political parties. Provides an example of such a trend in British politics. States that political parties’ campaign strategies and party leaderships increasingly need market research to construct a more comprehensive picture of an uncertain political environment. Parties are using qualitative research to enhance the information they have traditionally obtained from quantitative polls. Discusses why there is now a greater use of qualitative research and a greater integration of market research information. Attempts to show how such methods can be brought together and how parties can start to build integrated political marketing strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the development and experimentation with a designer-assisted and collaborative concept-creating approach can provide new insights into the emergent field of service innovations.

The paper were independent researcher with no commercial interests in the method investigated. The paper adopted qualitative methodology informed by 12 innovation workshop series among three Norwegian service companies, followed up by formative validation of the three years constructional and experimental period.

The workshops introduced tangible tools and produced large numbers of innovation ideas, some of which were exploited. Participants internalized partially service design-terms and tools. The experimentation contributed to a common language among participants. Weaknesses included not explicitly addressing managerial learning and organization-internal issues.

New innovation interventions in the often fuzzy front-end should be validated to accumulate insights and allow changes.

The paper offer a managerial framework for improving innovation experimentation among corporate employees and specialists. This will help companies understand service design impact on innovation by delineating key managerial components and limitations from broad business perspective.

Relationships influenced the construction and conduct of the innovation experiments, and consequently who were influenced by the experiment in the companies. To evaluate whom to include in the workshops and whom to represent by proxy innovation networks should be analyzed.

This study reports one of very few appraisals of design-assisted service innovation interventions through process observations and follow-up field interviews, including interviews after the finalizing of field experiments. The paper offer frameworks and critical issues for fuzzy-end innovation practice and research.

This article is the editorial for the special issue on “Entrepreneurial Families in Business Across Generations, Contexts and Cultures”. We aim to develop a road map that can help academics and practitioners navigate the findings of the articles contained in this special issue. We also suggest future lines of research around the topic of entrepreneurial families in business.

We develop a conceptual model for interpreting and understanding entrepreneurial families in business across contexts and time.

Our conceptual model highlights the importance of context and time when conducting research on entrepreneurial families in business.

The findings in this special issue will be of relevance for decision makers who tailor policies that embrace different economic and social actors, including entrepreneurial families.

This editorial and the articles that make up this special issue contribute to family business research by contextualising the phenomenon of entrepreneurial families in business. We propose a new holistic perspective to incorporate context and time in the study of entrepreneurial families that own, govern and manage family firms over time.