Search results

This study aims at unpacking the multiplicity of the sitting activity in public spaces through the lens of actor-network theory. In line with previous urban research focussing on outdoor activities, such empirical investigation aims to show the importance of the physical aspects of spaces, including seating, in supporting sitting activities as a way of encouraging the use of public space.

This study adopts the overlap between actor–network theory and affordances. It utilises ethnographic research involving frequent users in Dahiyat Al Hussein Park in Amman-Jordan. Data were gathered on the different seat–user relations and the translated sitting activity networks.

Analysis demonstrates different cases of alignment, misalignment and realignment between what is intended and experienced, and where these relations are maintained, disrupted or changed. These findings reveal the multiplicity of sitting activities; this is significant for understanding how they are maintained.

The research suggests a new way of conceptualising the relationship between the physical environment and users and an approach for examining sitting activities. Some studies have applied actor–network theory and/or the concept of “affordance” by highlighting relations between the object and its user and how they create sitting activities. However, only few studies have problematised the multiplicity of sitting when considering seating uses.

This paper illustrates the socio-political nature of accountings, referring to the partial privatisation of the monopoly telecommunications organisation in a lower-middle-income country.

Actor-network theory and an ANTi-history approach are used to trace circumstances and occurrences. Empirical materials include official documents, print media and retrospective interviews with organisation employees ten years on from the privatisation.

Proponents of privatisation used retrospectively constructed historical accounts to problematise the natural monopoly of telecommunications and the government organisation administering it. A restructuring programme followed. Proponents addressed controversies pertaining to the programme thus garnering widespread support for complex and controversial changes. Proponents produced and reproduced accounting artefacts as evidence in these processes of history reconstruction, consequent changes and restoring stability to telecommunications in its reconfigured commercial domain. The proponents used selective, controversial accounting evidence to problematise the government organisation's existence, then to mobilise various actors to reduce and close the controversies previously aroused and reinstate stability in a partially privatised telecommunications company. Although no longer having a monopoly this company still dominates. Dissenters did the same but with little success.

The findings demonstrate the importance of tracing the socio-political process of arriving at the dominant outcome about the past. This assists in making sense of present circumstances and re-imagining the future.

The study demonstrates that, during controversial circumstances, taken-for-granted history, as well as what is thought to have not existed in the past, support the dominant network in gaining advantage over their opponents and black-boxing their perspectives of how things should be.

This study aims to examine digital consumer culture and behavior in the community, namely, 180° Movement Digital Training Center (DTC), in Jakarta, Indonesia. It aims to describe the dynamics of digital consumer culture in contemporary society, particularly as experienced by the youth community in Jakarta in the context of socio-technology relations and incorporates it into the diagram of digital consumer culture network.

This research uses a constructivist qualitative approach and socio-technical relation analysis through actor-network theory and digital consumer culture.

The study finds that the individual model of digital consumption is constructed through the process of problematization, interessement, enrollment and mobilization of individuals. It generates a culture in which consumers are constantly up to date with high-intensity information, but within increasingly shorter timeframes, while also considering principles of affordability, needs, desires and satisfaction. The network of digital consumer culture construction among informants is peculiar and unstable.

The study of digital consumer culture within the 180° Movement DTC community highlights how consumer behaviors of its members are facilitated and interconnected within a digital cultural network. However, this research is constrained by the dialectical interplay between Christian principles and the emerging values of consumer culture, a result of the scarcity of theoretical resources and information. This study also provides a specific contribution as a foundation for mapping the volatile digital consumer culture for researchers.

Understanding the socio-technological relationships and consumption behavior of the youth community could help digital platforms tailor their services more effectively. It could also guide the 180° Movement DTC in developing programs that resonate with the youth, bridging the gap between the physical and virtual realms. Ultimately, this could lead to a more engaged and digitally literate society.

This study contributes to a broader societal understanding of how digital technology is shaping consumer behavior and identity within youth communities, which can influence social dynamics and interactions. It provides insights into the potential social impacts of digital technology, such as changes in relationships, communication patterns and self-perception, informing societal discourse on digital culture.

In addition to presenting socio-technological analysis on Indonesian consumer culture using actor-network theory, some also show that studies on digital connectivity ambivalence that concern the relationship between humans as actors and non-humans as actors have become one of the popular sociology studies at present.

This study aims to analyse the attempts of taught master course students' publications from actor-network theoretic (ANT) perspectives based on the authors' experiences.

In this study, self-study was chosen as the research method. Self-study is a qualitative research approach based on autobiography, available materials, narratives or memory-work for researchers to investigate their own practice from professional and personal experiences and work with critical friends. In this study, self-study was conducted based on the reflective narratives of three authors (the students, Authors 1 and 2, and the lecturer, Author 3), which aims to examine the meanings and explanations of the authors' ordinary experiences and investigate a variety of their emotional memories.

By drawing on ANT, this study explored how the authors translated the assignment tasks into publications by negotiating and interacting with various human and non-human actors – academic journals. The journal articles, however, were not solely the outcome of the academic endevours of the authors. Instead, the journals played a role in helping the authors learn about the academic rigour and gain confidence in their own capabilities. Further, the journals also reinforced the academic partnerships between the authors through collaboration on drafting and revising their manuscripts.

Firstly, this process of helping students publish their papers should focus on their learning and experience rather than merely promoting competition. Additionally, the importance of reaching an agreement on role division and collaborative work ethics needs to be emphasised.

As publications have become increasingly important for graduate students, this study sheds light on the experience of taught master's course students (TMCSs) and their lecturer in jointly publishing papers. While doctoral student publications have received significant attention, TMCSs' publications have not been extensively studied, making this research valuable and original.

This paper aims to explore how a shared service centre (SSC) is mobilised in a power-dominant context of a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE). Specifically, it examines the mobilisation of SSC within this multi-divisional SOE, the role and dynamics of actors involved and the influence of changes in the integrated information system (IIS) during the mobilisation process.

The study follows a qualitative case study methodology. The authors draw on actor-network theory to examine the network and translation processes constructed in mobilising SSC in the chosen SOE. The data sources of this study were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations and documentary reviews.

The mobilisation of SSC is not a linear process but rather a “spiral” interplay through continuous interactions and compromises between human and non-human actors. Power gave the core actor as an orchestrator legitimacy and formality to reduce resistance and obstruction in translation for the mobilisation of SSC. The changes in IIS appear to facilitate the interaction between the heterogeneous actors.

This case study contributes towards understanding the mobilisation of SSC in a power-dominant context by highlighting the impact of changes in IIS and the details of the mobilisation of SSC in terms of the role played by both the individual actors and the technology.

This study provides a broader understanding of the interactions of the heterogeneous actors for mobilising SSC in a power-dominant context. More importantly, the study inspires future research into examining how SSC practices unfold and how the changes in IIS influence the mobilisation of SSC.

There is considerable interest in the value of user-generated content (UGC) and its antecedents. Despite its growing importance, existing studies have largely ignored the effects of UGC on customers’ responses to recovery efforts in the fashion industry. The aim of this paper is to examine the extent to which UGC influences customers’ responses to providers’ service failure and recovery efforts, particularly how millennials’ interactions impact recovery efforts.

The study uses a phenomenological hermeneutics and adopts theoretical sampling to collect empirical data from three European countries (France, Italy and the UK). The authors interviewed 60 millennials who had online service failure experiences in online fashion. This methodological framework was designed to illustrate the close relationships between subject and object as well as identify that data analysis and collection are undertaken in relation to consistent iterative interpretations in an evolving process of study. Drawing on multi-theoretical lenses, using actor–network and social influence theories, this study advances understanding through the development of a new conceptual model relating to individual characteristics.

Using actor–network theory and social influence theory, this study developed a conceptual model of four customer groups’ responses to service failure based on the severity of service failure and the level of customers’ online response following service failure.

The authors suggest some pragmatic implications of their conceptual model and explain how awareness of different customer groups can lead to effective decision-making for marketers. This study provides a set of practical insights that brand managers can use to recover service failures.