Search results

In recent years, the acronym VUCA has gained traction in strategic communication (SC) as an umbrella term that summarizes the recurrent challenges (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) of digital communication environments. However, an integrated reflection on how the VUCA dimensions facilitate a deeper understanding of specific digitalization challenges and how to navigate through these challenges is lacking. This article aims to explore and substantiate the descriptive (how) and prescriptive (how to) potential of VUCA for SC under digitalization conditions.

We first provide a systematic discussion of the four VUCA dimensions based on the general strategy literature. While their descriptive value is undisputed, prescriptive advice on how to respond to these challenges is contradictory. We substantiate this observation in a second empirical step based on problem-centered interviews with strategic communicators at the agency and corporate levels.

Our findings reveal that VUCA facilitates a systematic mapping of digitalization challenges consistently identified by professionals. The proposed strategic responses, however, remain contradictory at the theoretical and empirical levels. Hence, we propose the VUCA radar as a comprehensive descriptive and prescriptive framework.

The radar provides (a) a systematic overview of recurrent digitalization challenges to SC at the industry and practice levels and (b) prescriptive advice on how to navigate through these challenges by balancing contradictory strategic responses at the levels of vision, understanding, clarity and agility.

Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) has the potential to enable closed-loop supply chains (CLSC) and decrease environmental impact, but it is only applied on a small scale. The purpose of this paper is to explore and develop a framework of challenges and corresponding mitigations encountered by Business-to-Consumer (B2C) retailers when transitioning to PaaS.

Data collection drew on a qualitative interview study with two industry experts and four PaaS B2C retailers from different Dutch industries.

A framework was developed linking 26 challenges in eight clusters—financial, product-related, supply chain-related, consumer-related, human resources, research and development/technology, regulatory and industry-related—to 24 mitigations. The mitigations were elaborated, and theoretical insights for matching challenges with mitigations were provided.

This study expands PaaS literature to the generally under-researched retail context. It contributes to CLSC literature by applying it to a less-studied context, thereby revealing many supply chain-related challenges and mitigations encountered by B2C retailers.

The framework offers practical guidance to retail managers for overcoming or preventing challenges in PaaS, in their endeavours toward adopting environmentally sustainable practices.

The study creates awareness about environmental sustainability and the potential to reduce societal impact, in which a PaaS-enabled CLSC is one step.

Studying PaaS and CLSC in a retail context is timely and novel.

This study aims to determine how the applications of blockchain technology (BT) can play a crucial role in managing financial flows in the humanitarian supply chain (HSC) and what benefits and challenges are associated with BT in a humanitarian setting.

The present study used a qualitative research approach, incorporating a systematic literature review and conducting semi-structured interviews with 12 experts in the fields of humanitarian operations, supply chain management, fintech and information technology.

The findings show that the humanitarian sector has the potential to reap significant benefits from BT, including secure data exchange, efficient SCM, streamlined donor financing, cost-effective financial transactions, smooth digital cash flow management and the facilitation of cash programs and crowdfunding. Despite the promising prospects, this study also illuminated various challenges associated with the application of BT in the HSC. Key challenges identified include scalability issues, high cost and resource requirements, lack of network reliability, data privacy, supply chain integration, knowledge and training gaps, regulatory frameworks and ethical considerations. Moreover, the study highlighted the importance of implementing mitigation strategies to address the challenges effectively.

The present study is confined to exploring the benefits, challenges and corresponding mitigation strategies. The research uses a semi-structured interview method as the primary research approach.

This study adds to the existing body of knowledge concerning BT and HSC by explaining the pivotal role of BT in improving the financial flow within HSC. Moreover, it addresses a notable research gap, as there is a scarcity of studies that holistically cover the expert perspectives on benefits, challenges and strategies related to blockchain applications for effective financial flows within humanitarian settings. Consequently, this study seeks to bridge this knowledge gap and provide valuable insights into this critical area.

Intensified job demands (IJDs; work intensification, intensified job- and career-related planning and decision-making demands, and intensified learning demands) illustrate the intensification of working life. This study examined relationships between IJDs and work engagement.

Nine diverse samples (n = 7,786) were analyzed separately via regression analysis by estimating linear and curvilinear relationships between IJDs and engagement.

The results showed that certain subdimensions of IJDs, i.e. intensified learning demands, related positively to engagement across several subsamples. Moreover, learning demands showed a curvilinear relationship with engagement in several subsamples; engagement was highest in a moderate level of learning demands whereas low and high levels of learning demands were associated with lower engagement. We also found that other subdimensions of IJDs did not show consistent positive relationships with engagement, and some of them were negatively associated with engagement.

Cross-sectional design.

Organizations should consider what would be the optimal level of learning demands as excessive learning demands can be detrimental to employees’ engagement.

This is a first study focusing on different manifestations of the intensification of working life, operationalized via IJDs, and their curvilinear relationships with engagement by applying a multi-sample design.

Organisations increasingly rely on professional interim managers (PIMs), i.e. independent contractors who perform managerial work. These managers, who are usually very experienced and skilled, could help organisations drastically improve their performance. However, research has found that they often fail to do so, indicating that PIMs face unique on-the-job challenges that challenge their capability to be effective managers. In the study reported in this paper, I explored PIMs’ on-the-job challenges and how they overcome them. To better understand the various on-the-job challenges, I developed the concept of the liability of outsiderness.

I applied an exploratory approach and conducted 32 interviews with 21 PIMs.

I uncovered three on-the-job challenges common and unique to PIMs – communicating the contract status and contract period, being quick off the mark and attaining power – and the ways they overcome these challenges.

This paper reports findings and theory that provide several valuable guidelines for practitioners involved with interim management.

Interim management has received little scholarly attention despite its increasing relevance. Empirical research, particularly on PIMs in executive positions, is lacking. This leaves us with little evidence to base our theories and guidelines for interim management. The study reported in this paper adds novel insights to an under-researched but important field of management. The study also introduces the liability of outsiderness concept, which holds much promise for future studies of interim management.

Process mining (PM) has emerged as a leading technology for gaining data-based insights into organizations’ business processes. As processes increasingly cross-organizational boundaries, firms need to conduct PM jointly with multiple organizations to optimize their operations. However, current knowledge on cross-organizational process mining (coPM) is widely dispersed. Therefore, we synthesize current knowledge on coPM, identify challenges and enablers of coPM, and build a socio-technical framework and agenda for future research.

We conducted a literature review of 66 articles and summarized the findings according to the framework for Information Technology (IT)-enabled inter-organizational coordination (IOC) and the refined PM framework. The former states that within inter-organizational relationships, uncertainty sources determine information processing needs and coordination mechanisms determine information processing capabilities, while the fit between needs and capabilities determines the relationships’ performance. The latter distinguishes three categories of PM activities: cartography, auditing and navigation.

Past literature focused on coPM techniques, for example, algorithms for ensuring privacy and PM for cartography. Future research should focus on socio-technical aspects and follow four steps: First, determine uncertainty sources within coPM. Second, design, develop and evaluate coordination mechanisms. Third, investigate how the mechanisms assist with handling uncertainty. Fourth, analyze the impact on coPM performance. In addition, we present 18 challenges (e.g. integrating distributed data) and 9 enablers (e.g. aligning different strategies) for coPM application.

This is the first article to systematically investigate the status quo of coPM research and lay out a socio-technical research agenda building upon the well-established framework for IT-enabled IOC.

The aim of this study was to measure the level of challenges faced by novice teachers in South Africa. Findings suggest a need for professional development courses to upskill teachers with effective pedagogies that can incorporate the social and emotional components into teaching and learning.

This study applied a descriptive research methodology by administering a questionnaire to 143 novice teachers. The data analysis technique was the Rasch model.

The findings indicated high item and person reliability, with a good item fit and polarity values that are compatible with the Rasch model. The three major challenges identified are uninvolved parents, discipline problems and a lack of guidance and counselling. These challenges can be related to social and emotional learning (SEL) components.

The study used quantitative methods and discovered the challenges that novice teachers face. If the research uses a combination of qualitative methods, it will be possible to better identify the specific causes of the above three challenges of novice teachers.

Due to the complex nature of South African society, many novice teachers are overwhelmed by the challenges they face when entering the profession. These challenges are often embedded in societal risk factors, which complicate the transition from student teacher to novice teacher. The major challenges identified in this study can be related to SEL components, as the challenges are closely linked to the psychological and social backgrounds of the students. Teachers in this study indicated that they found it difficult to deal with these challenges at the beginning of their careers.

By identifying the challenges facing new teachers in South Africa, they will be better prepared for their work in schools. Therefore, they will improve the above situation to continue developing professionally.

The findings indicated high item and person reliability, with a good item fit and polarity values that are compatible with the Rasch model. Teachers in this study indicated that they found it difficult to deal with these challenges in the beginning of their careers. Professional development courses are suggested to help teachers deal with issues such as discipline, uninvolved parents and guidance and counselling effectively. Higher education programmes should also include these topics in their curricula for student teachers. A greater emphasis on training teachers in their pastoral roles is suggested.

Scalar terms, such as “local” and “global,” “big” and “small” are fundamental in how academics and practitioners make sense of and respond to grand challenges. Yet, scale is so taken-for-granted that we rarely question or critically reflect on the concept and how it is used. The aim of this paper is to identify scale as an important concept in research on grand challenges and to point out why taking scale for granted can be problematic. In particular, I suggest that to date most research on grand challenges sees scale as a fundamental ontological feature of the world. Yet, scalar categories and hierarchies are not as self-evident and given as they may seem. Moreover, taking scale as an ontological fixed category limits our ability to make sense of, theorize and respond to grand challenges. As an alternative, I suggest seeing scale as an epistemological frame that participants employ in their everyday practices to make sense of, navigate and develop solutions to grand challenges. The chapter concludes with a research agenda for studying scale as socially constructed in practice.

This paper adds to the literature on societal grand challenges by shifting the focus away from business firms and other formal organizations as key actors in addressing such challenges toward the inherent organizing capacity that lies in the use of language itself. More specifically, we focus on the organizing capacities of metaphor-based communication, seeking to ascertain which qualities of metaphors enable them to co-orient collective action toward tackling grand challenges. In addressing this question, we develop an analytical framework based on two qualities of metaphorical communication that can provide such co-orientation: a metaphor’s (a) vividness and (b) responsible actionability. We illustrate the usefulness of this framework by assessing selected metaphors used in the public discourse to make sense of and organize collective responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the flu metaphor/analogy, the war metaphor, and the combined metaphor of “the hammer and the dance.” Our paper contributes to extant research by providing a means to assess the co-orienting potential of metaphors in bridging varied interpretations. In so doing, our framework can pave the way toward more responsible use of metaphorical communication in tackling society’s grand challenges.

In this article, we explore some of the barriers that prevent learning about grand challenges. By grand challenges, we refer to transformational social and environmental issues and the critical barriers toward addressing them. Despite recent research contributions, initiatives, and calls for action to focus on such concerns, relatively little is known about the different barriers that hinder learning about grand challenges. To explore these issues, we draw from Rayner’s (2012) concept of uncomfortable knowledge, defined as knowledge that is disagreeable to organizations because it may challenge their value base, self-perception, organizing principles, or sources of legitimacy. Focusing on the example of recent programmatic attempts to advance “responsible education” in business schools, we identify three barriers to learning about grand challenges: Cognitive overload, emotional detachment, and organizational obliviousness. We conclude by outlining several implications on how to overcome these barriers, adding to recent academic and policy debates on how to make business school education more attuned to the transformational and social challenges of our time.