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1 – 10 of 38Joachim Kahl, Saskia de Klerk and John Whiteoak
Empowerment is recognised as being a key to achieving organisational agility. Typically associated with a particular leadership style, implications of empowerment for management…
Abstract
Purpose
Empowerment is recognised as being a key to achieving organisational agility. Typically associated with a particular leadership style, implications of empowerment for management have remained vague in the literature. Thus, this study aims at unpacking the facets and mechanisms of empowerment in the context of organisational units (OUs).
Design/methodology/approach
First, the authors review the extant literature and discuss the crucial concepts in the context empowerment. Then, the authors analyse qualitative data from interviews conducted in four research and development (R&D) departments in the industrial manufacturing industry.
Findings
This study finds that the empowerment of business entities is crucial when operating in turbulent conditions. However, empowerment must be accompanied by a clear focus when aiming at higher agile performance. Moreover, different autonomy types and their interplay with critical factors of middle management empowerment could be identified. The research results also reveal important details about the effects of autonomy on motivation and performance and the role of OUs' dependencies.
Practical implications
The model proposed in this paper can help senior and middle managers better manage the empowerment of OUs required to enhance middle management agility and, in turn, increase overall organisational adaptability.
Originality/value
Beyond regarding empowerment as a leadership style, this paper takes a middle management perspective and unfolds the facets of empowerment in the context of OUs. Adding to the theory of self-organisation, a model is proposed to capture the key factors to determine and manage the autonomy of OUs. These insights are essential to managing autonomy successfully at the middle management level.
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Yosra Boughattas and Erno T. Tornikoski
This chapter focusses on how qualitative research can capture the lived experiences of entrepreneurial individuals by exploring their subjective experiences. Traditional methods…
Abstract
This chapter focusses on how qualitative research can capture the lived experiences of entrepreneurial individuals by exploring their subjective experiences. Traditional methods of data collection involve listening to what entrepreneurial individuals say and observing their actions, although particular attention to their feelings is often absent. To achieve data congruence and to gain a deeper understanding of their lived experiences, it is crucial to also take into consideration how they feel. This chapter will recount a confessional tale recorded during a recent field study in entrepreneurship that will shed light on the pivotal role that a researcher’s sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) trait can play during qualitative data collection in helping researchers becoming mindful of the feelings of entrepreneurial individuals, even when those feelings are not directly expressed by them. The introduction of the researcher’s SPS trait in promoting data congruence during qualitative data collection will be this chapter’s principal contribution.
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Fiorella Sinesio, Anna Saba, Elisabetta Moneta, Marina Peparaio, Eleonora Saggia Civitelli and Flavio Paoletti
The study aimed to investigate consumers’ views on criteria to be claimed for organic processed foods and information to be communicated.
Abstract
Purpose
The study aimed to investigate consumers’ views on criteria to be claimed for organic processed foods and information to be communicated.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was carried out among 439 adults living in Italy, users of processed organic food, to gather opinions on criteria that processing of organic food should meet and on the terms that best define “careful” processing. Next, a conjoint design was applied to examine the effects of five independent factors on consumers' ideal concept of “organic”; these were potential information on packaging, processing, additives and product quality, and the type of food product. Three products with different processing level were selected: an ultra-processed and multi-ingredient product (vegetable burger), a processed product preserved by canning (peas in glass jar) and a minimally processed product (bagged salad).
Findings
The findings highlight that consumers attach more importance to the organic food carrier than the informational messages. Information on the processing and packaging follows, with messages on quality and on additives seemingly of minor importance. Three clusters of respondents were identified: those driven primarily by the type of organic food (24.6%), those placing more emphasis on product processing (21.3%), and a third larger cluster (54.1%) who expressed almost equal importance to all the factors considered. As for the processing of organic products, “eco-friendly” was the best message.
Originality/value
This paper offers insights into what best outlines the ideal concept of “processed organic food” as seen by organic food consumers, to be communicated to better guide their purchasing decisions.
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Tae-Ung Choi, Grace Augustine and Brayden G King
Organizational theorists and strategy scholars are both interested in how organizations deal with ambiguity, especially in relation to implementation. This chapter examines one…
Abstract
Organizational theorists and strategy scholars are both interested in how organizations deal with ambiguity, especially in relation to implementation. This chapter examines one source of ambiguity that organizations face, which is based on their efforts to implement moral mandates. These mandates, which are related to areas such as environmental sustainability and diversity, are inherently ambiguous, as they lack a shared understanding regarding their scope and associated practices. They are also often broad and systemic and may be unclearly aligned with an organization's strategy. Due to these challenges, in this chapter, we theorize that collective action at the field level is necessary for organizations to advance and concretize moral mandates. We examine this theorizing through the case of the implementation of sustainability in higher education. We hypothesize and find support for the idea that when an organization's members engage in collective action at the field level, those organizations have an increased likelihood of achieving sustainability implementation. To gain insight into this field-to-organization relationship, we qualitatively examine 18 years of conversations from an online forum to develop a process model of moral mandate implementation. We theorize that collective action functions as a field-configuring space, in which actors from a variety of organizations come together to (1) refine the scope of the mandate and (2) create an implementation repertoire that actors can draw on when seeking to bring sustainability to their own organizations. Overall, our study provides a model of how ambiguous moral mandates can be implemented by highlighting the important role of collective action across organizations in concretizing those mandates and providing actors with the tools for their implementation.
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Lucia Espinosa-Brisset, Caroline Pénicaud, Isabelle Souchon and Anne Saint-Eve
The purpose of this paper is to better understand consumer's familiarity with fruit processing as well as how fruit production conditions (organic and conventional farming)…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to better understand consumer's familiarity with fruit processing as well as how fruit production conditions (organic and conventional farming), processing conditions (homemade, artisanal and industrial) and the type of processing (e.g. applesauce, apple cider and apple sorbet) influence consumer perceptions of processed fruits.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey questionnaire was applied to 1,000 people living in France. The people represented different genders, ages (18–60+) and sociodemographic categories. Participants were categorized based on their produce purchasing habits (conventional, local, organic, local-organic). The questionnaire contained multiple choice and five point Likert scale questions. Data were analyzed using non-parametric tests.
Findings
The authors found that participants saw year-round availability, fruit preservation and food waste reduction as processing advantages. Locally sourced products were preferred to organic products. The perceived disadvantages to processing were additive usage, nutrient loss and packaging. For consumers, these disadvantages drove highly differentiated perceptions of industrial versus artisanal/homemade apple products. Processing conditions appeared to matter far more than production conditions (organic vs. conventional). In general, consumers weren't familiar with processing operations, awareness was greater for consumers of local and/or organic produce than conventional consumers.
Social implications
There must be a societal transition toward healthier diets, and food technologies. Informed consumers, might be better equipped to make healthy, informed choices if the consumers are given quality information about food production and processing at different levels.
Originality/value
Research has shown that consumers view fresh organic fruit positively, but only few studies have looked at perceptions of processed fruit products and their familiarity with processing operations. Results of this study demonstrate that consumers could make better choices if the consumers are given quality information about fruit production and processing.
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Vrinda Acharya and Ambigai Rajendran
This study aims to perform a scoping review of the recent studies on critical resources required for the doctoral program by mapping the resources at various levels of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to perform a scoping review of the recent studies on critical resources required for the doctoral program by mapping the resources at various levels of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems and their underlying theories. The study proposes a holistic model of supportive resources in the doctoral education.
Design/methodology/approach
The current scoping review is supported by Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage methodological guidance The authors reported sixty-eight articles that were published between 2010 and 2023 and complied with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist.
Findings
The study identified two categories of resources that promote doctoral student well-being: personal resources such as research self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation of the doctoral student. Second, the contextual resources provided by supervisors, department, family, peers, institution and Government policy impact the well-being of doctoral students. The study relied on the self-determination and conservation of resources theory to determine doctoral students' stress-free, high-quality research journey.
Practical implications
The study findings can help higher education institutions, supervisors, peers and academicians plan and implement the finest resources to improve the well-being of doctoral students. The institutions can develop a wide range of strategies, tailored supportive programs, and interventions that can help in improving students' mental and emotional health, based on the developed multifaceted resource framework. Doctoral students can also use the review's findings to help them deal with program obstacles by encouraging themselves internally and participating in mentoring programs.
Originality/value
This review article proposes a comprehensive conceptual framework by considering Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems on multilevel resources that help to understand the inter-relationship between resources required in the doctoral student's program.
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Michael Giebelhausen and T. Andrew Poehlman
This paper aims to provide researchers and practitioners with a consumer-focused alternative for considering the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into services.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide researchers and practitioners with a consumer-focused alternative for considering the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into services.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews and critiques the most popular frameworks for addressing AI in service. It offers an alternative approach, one grounded in social psychology and leveraging influential concepts from management and human–computer interaction.
Findings
The frameworks that dominate discourse on this topic (e.g. Huang and Rust, 2018) are fixated on assessing technology-determined feasibility rather than consumer-granted permissibility (CGP). Proposed is an alternative framework consisting of three barriers to CGP (experiential, motivational and definitional) and three responses (communicate, motivate and recreate).
Research limitations/implications
The implication of this research is that consistent with most modern marketing thought, researchers and practitioners should approach service design from the perspective of customer experience, and that the exercise of classifying service occupation tasks in terms of questionably conceived AI intelligences should be avoided.
Originality/value
Indicative of originality, this paper offers an approach to considering AI in services that is nearly the polar opposite of that widely advocated by e.g., Huang et al., (2019); Huang and Rust (2018, 2021a, 2021b, 2022b). Indicative of value is that their highly cited paradigm is optimized for predicting the rate at which AI will take over service tasks/occupations, a niche topic compared to the mainstream challenge of integrating AI into service offerings.
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Said Elbanna, Linda Hsieh, John Child, Rose Narooz, Svetla Marinova, Pushyarag Puthusserry, Joanna Karmowska, Terence Tsai and Yunlu Zhang
Drawing on an organizational learning perspective, this paper examines the effect of levels of foreign market involvement (intensity and geographic spread) on internationalization…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on an organizational learning perspective, this paper examines the effect of levels of foreign market involvement (intensity and geographic spread) on internationalization outcomes recognizing that the moderating influence of entry-mode learning potential is not well documented in the literature on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The sample includes 180 SMEs evenly selected from three industries: biotechnology, software and clothing (60 firms in each industry). The sampled firms employ less than 250 employees and are equally distributed between three developed economies and three emerging economies. All were engaged in foreign business.
Findings
The authors find that there is a direct relationship between levels of foreign market involvement and internationalization outcomes. Entry-mode learning potential moderates the relationship between intensity of foreign market involvement and internationalization outcomes but not the relationship between geographic spread and internationalization outcomes.
Practical implications
This study reveals several new insights that help explain the pathway through which foreign market involvement activities are translated into internationalization outcomes.
Originality/value
The authors conclude that the positive relationship between intensity of foreign market involvement and internationalization outcomes is strengthened when SMEs also use an entry mode with a higher learning potential than exporting only.
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Xuening Duan, Yu Chang, Wei Huang and Md Moynul Hasan
A shared cognitive schema is the fundamental source of tacit understanding within a team. This study aims to address how such a shared cognitive schema emerges and evolves in an…
Abstract
Purpose
A shared cognitive schema is the fundamental source of tacit understanding within a team. This study aims to address how such a shared cognitive schema emerges and evolves in an interdisciplinary research team.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses an exploratory single case study to analyze the emergence and evolution of a shared cognitive schema in an interdisciplinary research team systematically. The authors spent more than two years collecting data from the IAM team via semistructured interviews, archival data and observation. Subsequently, a framework for the resulting mechanism model was developed by analyzing the data using a three-step process.
Findings
This study shows that as the interdisciplinary research team develops, the shared cognitive schema passes through three stages: overlapping cognitive schema, complementary cognitive schema and synergetic cognitive schema. The mechanisms of overlap, complement and synergy play important roles. The convergent roles of partner-based recruiting, knowledge categorization and following the existing institution facilitate the overlapping of knowledge structures. Complementary cognitive schema sharing is facilitated by interdisciplinary member selection, knowledge stock expansion and the effects of accomplished mentors. The synergetic behaviors of group voice, interactive cognition and adaptive learning facilitate synergetic cognitive schema sharing.
Originality/value
This study is the first to discuss the emergence and evolution of a shared cognitive schema at the microlevel of knowledge structure and belief structure. It offers a new theoretical perspective on the development rules of scientific research teams and provides practical enlightenment regarding the establishment and operation of interdisciplinary research teams.
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Bart Kamp and Iñigo Ruiz de Apodaca
This paper aims to study whether international niche market leaders (INMLs) gained their leading position as early mover or diligent follower, and assess whether they leveraged…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study whether international niche market leaders (INMLs) gained their leading position as early mover or diligent follower, and assess whether they leveraged hard or soft forms of technological, supply pre-emption and customer lock-in advantage mechanisms.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical material stems from qualitative and quantitative data on a sample of 20 niche companies from the Basque Country (Spain) that operate in business to business markets.
Findings
The sample predominantly followed an early entrant strategy and applied soft measures to reach niche market leadership.
Research limitations/implications
Findings imply that early entering fosters conquering leadership in niche markets, that pioneer advantage is easier to sustain in niches than in mainstream markets, and that soft measures are more effective in niche markets than in larger markets. A limitation to our findings is that they follow from explorative research on a sample of firms from a reduced geographic setting.
Practical implications
Hidden champions and INMLs can be important sources of technological progress and economic value for the localities that host them. Therefore, despite their traditional low profile and the fact that they are not always the largest firms around, policymakers may want to pay more attention to this type of companies.
Originality/value
Tot he best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to research entry timing and its outcome for market leadership with regard to niche players or hidden champions-type of firms. It introduces an original taxonomy to operationalize and distinguish between hard and soft measures to leverage advantage mechanisms related to market entry timing.
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