Search results
1 – 10 of 37Adrian Small, Petia Sice and Tony Venus
The purpose of this paper is to set out an argument for a way to design, implement and manage IS with an emphasis on first, the learning that can be created through undertaking…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to set out an argument for a way to design, implement and manage IS with an emphasis on first, the learning that can be created through undertaking the approach, and second, the learning that may be created through using the IS that was implemented. The paper proposes joining two areas of research namely, technology management with soft systems methodology (SSM). The framework was developed through undertaking a customer concern management project within a manufacturing organisation.
Design/methodology/approach
Reviewing the literature on information systems management, the learning organisation, and systems theory a proposed synergy is found. The outcome of this synergy allows a number of methodologies to be identified that are argued as suitable for IS design. From these information system development (ISD) methodologies, SSM is expanded to incorporate the principles of the learning organisation and systems theory. The expanded SSM framework is applied in practice through a process of participatory action research.
Findings
The outcome of the practical work argues for a complete framework that joins the areas of research (SSM and technology management) and emphasises other thinking from the areas of systems theory and the “learning organisation”.
Research limitations/implications
The paper concludes with a discussion on the advantages of joining soft systems with technology management but also the limitations created. Such limitations have been identified as moving from the soft, tacit issues of the design phases to the harder more structured aspects of technology implementation and management. A change in philosophy may restrict other issues from being explored. This issue needs to be focussed on in future research.
Practical implications
A framework has been developed that draws on the work of soft systems methodology (SSM) and a technology management process framework (TMPF) used in the area of technology management. By expanding the SSM model and joining it with the TMPF an attempt to give individuals and teams a practical tool to help design, implement, and manage IS with an emphasis on learning the framework promotes.
Originality/value
The framework provides advantages for academics, consultants and other practitioners and gives a central focus on what issues need to be accomplished more explicitly in order to undertake an ISD project.
Details
Keywords
Of all the major, global professional sports where women have made inroads, striving toward equality in terms of status, earnings and media attention, tennis stands at the…
Abstract
Of all the major, global professional sports where women have made inroads, striving toward equality in terms of status, earnings and media attention, tennis stands at the forefront. This chapter traces this historical development, outlining the sport's earliest socio-cultural features that afforded the inclusion of female players and charting the progress of notable women who thrust tennis into the limelight and turned themselves into commodities – the essence of professionalisation. Suzanne Lenglen blazed the trail by becoming, in 1926, the principal attraction in the sport's inaugural professional tour. Female players were encouraged to cast aside the shackles of restrained femininity and chart their own courses in a sport still dominated by men and played according to male standards. The rise of ‘Open Tennis’ in 1968 removed the playing restrictions and stigma of professionalism, but by opening up to the male-dominated corporate world, unsurprisingly it was the male players who initially competed for the lion's share of new money. Billie Jean King's efforts to galvanise her fellow female professionals to compete on a rogue tour sponsored by Virginia Slims left them ousted by the sport's main officials, but the tour's commercial success propelled them toward equality in terms of prize money and status. Still more or less a white, middle-class-dominated pursuit, the arrival of Venus and Serena Williams in the late 1990s turned tennis toward new markets, and the sport's significance for women remains apparent in the fact that its leading players are the most recognisable and well-paid of all professional female athletes.
Details
Keywords
This study aims at providing exploratory insights into the initiative and capabilities of Chinese SMEs to develop and utilize diverse networks to support internationalization…
Abstract
This study aims at providing exploratory insights into the initiative and capabilities of Chinese SMEs to develop and utilize diverse networks to support internationalization. Such network development and utilization efforts are fundamental to the analysis and explanation of Chinese firms’ internationalization patterns and outcomes. Extending from the existing network studies in the Chinese context that generally put emphasis on strong‐tie and ethnic‐oriented networks, this paper investigates and explains explicitly the use and effects of both strong‐ and weak‐tie networks in the international development of Chinese SMEs. Indepth case studies on four rapidly internationalized Chinese SMEs are conducted. The case findings demonstrate that weak‐tie networks are essential to the firms’ business development in foreign markets; and were proactively developed and utilized in the course of the firms’ development. The cases also provide alternative perspectives to the beliefs and values underpinning strong‐tie networks presumed in existing literature. The findings draw attention to the changing business values and approaches of the Chinese firms aiming at developing internationally. Managerial implications concerning the significant influence of effective networking on internationalization are pinpointed.
Details
Keywords
Suspicions about space technologies can be regarded as instances of “space skepticism,” i.e. the broadly pessimistic view that human activities in space are untimely or liable to…
Abstract
Suspicions about space technologies can be regarded as instances of “space skepticism,” i.e. the broadly pessimistic view that human activities in space are untimely or liable to be counterproductive. Section 1 will explain that contemporary space skepticism is focused upon negative societal role rather than the physical possibility of the activities proposed. Such skepticism is a complex pool of familiar claims unevenly drawn upon rather than a single theory. Section 2 will suggest that contemporary space skepticism tends to integrate with a broader set of doubts and fears about technologies of the Anthropocene. Section 3 will draw out a tension within the skeptical complex between the idea that concern for space is irrelevant to our societal problems and the idea that it is likely to make such problems worse. Section 4 will briefly outline why the publicly dominant forms of space skepticism carry a growing capability for merger with political activism and why the publicly dominant skepticisms are not necessarily those with the greatest plausibility, but rather those with the strongest motivational force. Finally, Section 5 will set aside the issue of popular motivational force and focus instead upon the skepticisms with the greatest plausibility. It will briefly outline why the relevant fears and suspicions (about military tensions and geoengineering) are outweighed by other considerations. This response to plausible skepticisms will not aim to be comprehensive but indicative of the direction of travel for more detailed critique. It will provide a framing context for a large metaphor about space technologies allowing the Earth to breathe.
Details
Keywords
Once the third largest port in the country, the London ‘overspill’ town of King's Lynn has been revitalized in the last decade. Richard Brooks examines this once rather sleepy…
Abstract
Once the third largest port in the country, the London ‘overspill’ town of King's Lynn has been revitalized in the last decade. Richard Brooks examines this once rather sleepy market town, which now has one eye on Europe and the other on the Midlands and South‐East. Photographs by Colin Porter.
Tim Kindseth and Michael Romanos
This annotated list represents a selection of outstanding poetry titles published in the USA in 2003 and the early part of 2004.
Abstract
Purpose
This annotated list represents a selection of outstanding poetry titles published in the USA in 2003 and the early part of 2004.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors selected the titles in this list from the 2,100 titles received for the 2004 Poetry Publications Showcase at Poets House in New York City, held in April 2004.
Findings
The authors selected titles for this list that would be both accessible and challenging to library users.
Originality/value
This list can be used as a guide to collection development for contemporary poetry.
Details