Search results

1 – 10 of 314
Article
Publication date: 15 September 2023

Oliver James Carrick

The COVID-19 pandemic caused schools across the world to close their physical facilities and switch from face-to-face classes to remote learning. This research investigates the…

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic caused schools across the world to close their physical facilities and switch from face-to-face classes to remote learning. This research investigates the consequences of school closures during the pandemic on families and children from marginalized sections of society. The setting of the Galapagos Islands is characterized by poor Internet access and performance, resulting in a detrimental effect on the education of students from vulnerable sectors of society.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data from an empirical context, this case study seeks to enhance statistical results from a provincial level household survey with quantitative information from participatory development planning workshops and plans.

Findings

Statistical analysis evidences the compound effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the more vulnerable families living in the Galapagos. Both economic wellbeing and children's ability to attend classes online during school closures were linked to respondents' education levels. Participatory development planning workshops highlighted further inequality, and the plans resultant from the process sought to overcome challenges and address needs by contextualizing education for sustainable island living.

Originality/value

This case study emphasizes the impact of school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable sectors of society. In the Galapagos Islands, the response to the compound effect of the pandemic and the other situational challenges has been to contextualize the educational curriculum towards the goal of sustainable living. The lessons learned from this experience will be applicable to other remote island groups.

Details

International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, vol. 25 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2396-7404

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 October 2023

Susan De La Paz, Josue Otarola and Cameron Butler

This study aims to explore how teachers in a large, diverse district could use a complex adolescent literacy curriculum, and it coincided with the start of the coronavirus 2019…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how teachers in a large, diverse district could use a complex adolescent literacy curriculum, and it coincided with the start of the coronavirus 2019 pandemic, also a time of great upheaval for this nation. The authors and district partners collaboratively designed document sets that could help students explore socially complex historical topics with discipline-specific reading and writing support. These challenges led to fully virtual PD and redesigned cognitive tools and lesson materials that could be used in a fully distanced learning environment.

Design/methodology/approach

PD and data collection were ongoing and iterative, as the authors' goals were to understand variability in teachers' understanding and how the social unrest in the nation and the need for distance learning would influence their application of our curriculum. Data sources included teacher artifacts, interviews and implementation surveys and anonymized student work samples. The third author wrote memos during webinars and district meetings. The authors employed a grounded theory approach to analyze teachers’ evolving understandings of how to teach students to make judgments, their lesson differentiation and their attention to social justice issues.

Findings

Teachers who attended the authors' online PD increased their knowledge of the authors' cognitive apprenticeship (CA) approach to instruction, demonstrating more sophisticated understandings of important historical thinking skills and the need to provide students with explicit instruction and appropriate cognitive scaffolds. By the end of the year, teachers also showed ease in using new technological platforms and a more flexible use of disciplinary thinking scaffolds in ways the authors hoped. Finally, teachers in the authors' sample (and their students) frequently made connections between topics and sources in the authors' curriculum and ongoing societal problems (such as systemic racism) in this nation.

Research limitations/implications

The authors' original sample of teachers was over 70; however, this number eventually fell to nine teachers (about 12.5% of the eligible participants) due to many ongoing challenges (e.g. teaching while parenting) during this time period. The authors note that teachers who remained engaged with the authors had over 10 years of experience and all but one had at some point been in a leadership position such as a team lead or department head. It is possible that experience teachers found on the authors' curriculum intervention to be too challenging to implement during the pandemic.

Practical implications

Online PD can be successful when sessions focus on content that teachers will use with students. We provided video models showing teachers how to teach historical reading and writing using the authors' tools and supports authors' platform. Although brief, the authors gave teachers opportunities for collaborative practice during webinars, and time to share challenges related to virtual teaching. In return, teachers shared what was working for them and allowed the authors to use anonymized student materials as the basis for subsequent materials for teaching students to make historical judgments.

Social implications

All students, including those with learning or attentional disabilities/difficulties, emergent bilingual students, underrepresented students or marginalized students, must learn to grapple with complex historical and political information. Doing so will support their ability to make sense of conflicting and/or politicized information that pervades the media today and to judge for themselves what counts as evidence and truth.

Originality/value

Although there are a small number of teachers, this study shows that a strong research partnership between a university and district office can support the successful implementation of a complex historical literacy curriculum that allows students to explore social justice issues while learning important disciplinary literacy skills. Future work will share student learning outcomes.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 December 2023

Cheng Xu, Haibo Zhou, Bohong Fan and Yanqi Sun

The purpose of this study is to address a significant gap in the understanding of entrepreneurship at the microfoundation level. It focuses on how individual entrepreneurs…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to address a significant gap in the understanding of entrepreneurship at the microfoundation level. It focuses on how individual entrepreneurs, specifically Hongbang entrepreneurs in China from 1896 to 1949, shape and transform their contexts. The aim is to provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that facilitate entrepreneurial success.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts a microhistorical approach, investigating the case of Hongbang entrepreneurs in China during 1896-1949. It involves an in-depth examination of historical records to explore the strategic interactions between these entrepreneurs and core stakeholders such as consumers, financial intermediaries, government regulators, and human resources. The research methodology emphasizes a process-oriented view, examining the evolution of personalized networks into extensive connections.

Findings

The research reveals that Hongbang entrepreneurs successfully reshaped their unfavorable embedded contexts by strategically collaborating with key stakeholders. They influenced consumer tastes, allied with financial intermediaries, negotiated with governments on regulation policies, and developed human resource stocks. The transformation was facilitated by the evolution of their networks from personalized to extensive connections. These findings highlight the localized strategies such as cronyism in resource acquisition within China’s private property development industry.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the field by offering insights into entrepreneurial contextualization and networking. It sheds light on the complex interplay between entrepreneurs and their contexts, providing a nuanced understanding of localized strategies in the Chinese context. The findings add value to the discourse on entrepreneurship by elucidating the strategic and processual acts through which entrepreneurs engage with stakeholders and reshape their environments.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2071-1395

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 March 2023

Agneta Häll, Stefan Tengblad, Margareta Oudhuis and Lotta Dellve

The purpose of this paper is to critically study the implementation and contextualization of the human resource transformation (HRT) management model within the human resources…

1405

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to critically study the implementation and contextualization of the human resource transformation (HRT) management model within the human resources (HR) function of a global industrial company group.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative case study that includes two data collections.

Findings

Implementation of the HRT model led to tensions and conflicting interpretations of the mission of the HR function, and a “tug of war” about the distribution of work both within HR and between HR and line management. Splitting the HR function into three legs made the HR function's learning cycles more difficult. The corporate group had a decentralized and diverse business culture, and contextualization of the HRT model to this setting highlighted the model's embeddedness in the American business culture of centralization and standardization. Implementation of the model also entailed a transition from an employee to an employer perspective within HR.

Research limitations/implications

For an assessment of HR's total work other parts of the HRT model (Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005) need to be involved since HR professionals in the insourced or outsourced shared service center (SSC) and Center of Expertise (CoE) and the e-HR tools are equally important for executing the total HR's mission. Further studies of the problematic human resource business partner (HRBP) role are needed and also what the development of e-HR solutions means for the HR profession.

Practical implications

The authors argue for a continuous development of HR work, along with closer professional contact both with line managers (LMs) and within the HR function, for improved learning cycles and a need for contextualization when implementing management models.

Social implications

The paper discusses the HRT model's impact on HR practitioners’ and LMs’ work practice.

Originality/value

This article shows the need for contextualization when implementing management models. The lack of such contextualization led to severe tensions, and the intentions of an efficient and respected HR function were not achieved. The study contributes an evaluation of the tensions between HRT as a normative and standardized model in business settings accustomed to variety and decentralized decision-making.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 52 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 October 2022

Dana L. Ott, Snejina Michailova, Anna Earl and Siah Hwee Ang

Over the past few decades, examinations of emerging economies (EEs) have received increasing attention in international business (IB) research. This article takes a critical…

Abstract

Purpose

Over the past few decades, examinations of emerging economies (EEs) have received increasing attention in international business (IB) research. This article takes a critical stance on some of the re-occurring shortcomings of that research.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a critical literature review of 493 articles on EEs that have been published in five top-tier IB academic journals in the period 2010–2020. True to the nature of a critical literature review, the authors judge and question some of the practices that have impeded knowledge accumulation.

Findings

The authors found a recurring lack of definitional clarity and contextualization, as well as overgeneralized inferences from findings. The authors provide recommendations on how to address these weaknesses and a checklist to guide future IB research on EEs.

Originality/value

The authors question and problematize what they see as dominant but undesirable practices when conducting EE research. The actionable directions for addressing uncovered issues and checklist to guide future research in this area that the authors offer are rather bold and unambiguous.

Details

Critical Perspectives on International Business, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 December 2022

Domenica Barile, Giustina Secundo and Pasquale Del Vecchio

Within food industry several changes and innovations are affecting the management of the entire supply chain (production, logistics, etc.). As strategy for the survival and…

475

Abstract

Purpose

Within food industry several changes and innovations are affecting the management of the entire supply chain (production, logistics, etc.). As strategy for the survival and competition, digitalization has assumed a crucial role during the pandemic emergence by causing the reconfiguration of traditional chains and business models. Framed in these premises, the research analyses how digital technologies have innovated the sub-chains of bakery products and pasta within food industry with reference to customers' interactions, delivery and marketing during the COVID-19 pandemic emergence.

Design/methodology/approach

Moving from a critical literature review about the perspectives of digital technologies within the tradition of food industry, action research has been adopted to analyze in deep a case study of the start-up “ArteBianca Delivery” located in South Italy. Through this method, researchers have been deeply involved within the start-up to face the challenge of transforming the marketing and customer care into digital ones due to the COVID-19 restriction.

Findings

Findings provide empirical evidence about the reconfiguration of the traditional business model of a family firm in the food sector into a digital one with the start-up “ArteBianca Delivery”. The marketing, delivery, e-commerce and customer care components of the business models have been supported and enhanced through the adoption of digital tools, such as mobile applications and social technologies useful both for users and for a more urgent digitization of company.

Practical implications

Implications for practice can be identified into the pattern of digital transformation implemented as well as in the opportunity of replication and contextualization of the results to other companies looking for setting up a digital strategy.

Originality/value

Elements of original contribution can be identified into: (1) the exploration of digital transformation in food family firms caused by the pandemic emergence, (2) the contextualization of the digital transformation to the sub-chains of bakery and pasta and (3) the geographical location of the case.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 August 2023

Tiziano Volpentesta, Esli Spahiu and Pietro De Giovanni

Digital transformation (DT) is a major challenge for incumbent organisations, as research on this phenomenon has revealed a high failure rate. Given this consideration, this paper…

2208

Abstract

Purpose

Digital transformation (DT) is a major challenge for incumbent organisations, as research on this phenomenon has revealed a high failure rate. Given this consideration, this paper reviews the literature on DT in incumbent organisations to identify the main themes and research directions to be undertaken.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors adopt a systematic literature review (SLR) and computational literature review (CLR) employing a machine learning algorithm for topic modelling (LDA) to surface the themes discussed in 103 peer-reviewed studies published between 2010 and 2022 in a multidisciplinary article sample.

Findings

The authors identify and discuss the five main themes emerging from the studies, offering the state-of-the-art of DT in established firms' literature. The authors find that the most discussed topics revolve around the DT of healthcare, the process of renewal and change, the project management, the changes in value performances and capabilities and the consequences on the products of DT. Accordingly, the authors identify the topics overlooked by literature that future studies could tackle, which concern sustainability and contextualisation of the DT phenomenon.

Practical implications

The authors further propose managerial insights which equip managers with a revolutionary mindset that is not constraining but, rather, integration-seeking. DT is not only about technology (Tabrizi B et al., 2019). Successful DT initiatives require managerial capabilities that foster a sustainable departure from the current organising logic (Markus, 2004). This study pinpoints and prioritises the role that paradox-informed thinking can have to sustain an effective digital mindset (Eden et al., 2018) that allows for the building of momentum in DT initiatives and facilitates the renewal process. Indeed, managers lagging behind DT could shift from an “either-or” solutions mindset where one pole is preferred over the other (e.g. digital or physical) to embracing a “both-and-with” thinking balancing between poles (e.g. digital and physical) to successfully fuse the digital and the legacy (Lewis and Smith, 2022b; Smith, Lewis and Edmondson, 2022), enact the renewal, and build and maintain momentum for DTs. The outcomes of adopting a paradox mindset in managerial practice are enabling learning and creativity, fostering flexibility and resilience and, finally, unleashing human potential (Lewis and Smith, 2014).

Social implications

The authors propose insight that will equip managers with a mindset that will allow DT to fail less often than current reported rates, which failure may imply potential organisational collapse, financial bankrupt and social crisis.

Originality/value

The authors offer a multidisciplinary review of the DT complementing existing reviews due to the focus on the organisational context of established organisations. Moreover, the authors advance paradoxical thinking as a novel lens through which to study DT in incumbent organisations by proposing an array of potential research questions and new avenues for research. Finally, the authors offer insights for managers to help them thrive in DT by adopting a paradoxical mindset.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 26 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 November 2023

Julian Marx, Beatriz Blanco, Adriana Amaral, Stefan Stieglitz and Maria Clara Aquino

This study investigates the communication behavior of public health organizations on Twitter during the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Brazil. It contributes to the…

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates the communication behavior of public health organizations on Twitter during the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Brazil. It contributes to the understanding of the organizational framing of health communication by showcasing several instances of framing devices that borrow from (Brazilian) internet culture. The investigation of this case extends the knowledge by providing a rich description of the organizational framing of health communication to combat misinformation in a politically charged environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected a Twitter dataset of 77,527 tweets and analyzed a purposeful subsample of 536 tweets that contained information provided by Brazilian public health organizations about COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. The data analysis was carried out quantitatively and qualitatively by combining social media analytics techniques and frame analysis.

Findings

The analysis showed that Brazilian health organizations used several framing devices that have been identified by previous literature such as hashtags, links, emojis or images. However, the analysis also unearthed hitherto unknown visual framing devices for misinformation prevention and debunking that borrow from internet culture such as “infographics,” “pop culture references” and “internet-native symbolism.”

Research limitations/implications

First, the identification of framing devices relating to internet culture add to our understanding of the so far little addressed framing of misinformation combat messages. The case of Brazilian health organizations provides a novel perspective to knowledge by offering a notion of internet-native symbols (e.g. humor, memes) and popular culture references for misinformation combat, including misinformation prevention. Second, this study introduces a frontier of political contextualization to misinformation research that does not relate to the partisanship of the spreaders but that relates to the political dilemmas of public organizations with a commitment to provide accurate information to citizens.

Practical implications

The findings inform decision-makers and public health organizations about framing devices that are tailored to internet-native audiences and can guide strategies to carry out information campaigns in misinformation-laden social media environments.

Social implications

The findings of this case study expose the often-overlooked cultural peculiarities of framing information campaigns on social media. The report of this study from a country in the Global South helps to contrast several assumptions and strategies that are prevalent in (health) discourses in Western societies and scholarship.

Originality/value

This study uncovers unconventional and barely addressed framing devices of health organizations operating in Brazil, which provides a novel perspective to the body of research on misinformation. It contributes to existing knowledge about frame analysis and broadens the understanding of frame devices borrowing from internet culture. It is a call for a frontier in misinformation research that deals with internet culture as part of organizational strategies for successful misinformation combat.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 33 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 May 2023

Job Taiwo Gbadegesin, Sunday Olarinre Oladokun, Abdul-Rasheed Amidu and Alirat Olayinka Agboola

Considering the changing dimensions of client influence in the emerging sub-market in Nigeria, different from previous general insinuations, this article examines the new…

Abstract

Purpose

Considering the changing dimensions of client influence in the emerging sub-market in Nigeria, different from previous general insinuations, this article examines the new strategies adopted by clients to influence estate surveyors and valuers (ESVs), factors that predispose ESVs to client influence and the effects of clients' influence on valuation outcomes and real estate markets in emerging sub-market, using Ibadan market as the study area.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is situated within a client influence assessment framework, modified to reflect contextual incidents. Contextualization was made possible with the involvement of both practitioners and academic researchers. Validated copies of the questionnaire were administered to the registered practicing ESVs in an intact group during their monthly state (provincial) meeting and through direct delivery at their firms. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Findings

Contrary to the previous studies, the authors found no significant relationship between ESV professional qualifications, the firm's staff strength and the frequency of clients' influence in valuation assignments. Hiding important information and clauses, begging, lobbying, and seeking undue favor and promises for future jobs or appointments are the influencing strategies clients employ to pressure valuer. The topmost factors are emerging sub-market and economic-induced factors, lack of due process, and adequate transparency on the parts of firms and Valuers. It was established that the new dimension of client influence leads to the mortgage valuation accuracy dilemma, discredit of professional confidence, default and financial distress, and generating mistrust in the property market.

Practical implications

The implication is the new dimension of client influence, different from the previous studies, thus calling for professional and policy attention. As real estate investment and transactions transcend globally, understanding the local sub-market condition is imperative.

Originality/value

The novelty of the paper is the exposition on the dimensions of client influence within the economy and the implication for the professional body regulatory policy.

Details

Property Management, vol. 41 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 May 2023

Maranda Ridgway and Hélène Langinier

A decade has passed since Dabic et al. (2015) published a systematic review of the evolution of the expatriate literature from 1970 to 2012. Moreover, the past five years have…

Abstract

Purpose

A decade has passed since Dabic et al. (2015) published a systematic review of the evolution of the expatriate literature from 1970 to 2012. Moreover, the past five years have been turbulent, with many global crises affecting organizational approaches to the global movement of people, particularly expatriate workers. Thus, this article seeks to understand how global mobility has continued to evolve during such turbulence and propose avenues for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, the authors undertook a constructive replication (Köhler and Cortina, 2021) of the systematic literature review conducted by Dabic et al. (2015), informed by guidelines offered by Donthu et al. (2021) for the period 2013 to 2022. The authors conducted a performance analysis of 1,517 academic articles about expatriates and broader globally mobile workers. Additionally, the authors analyzed all expatriate-related special issues published in the past decade and provide a narrative review of seminal works from the past five years.

Findings

The expatriation field has grown exponentially; greater attention has been paid to contextualizing research, particularly concerning emerging markets, although the field remains Western-dominant. This analysis stresses the increasingly strategic nature of expatriation at a time when global staffing has become dramatically challenging. Thus, this review highlights the need for more interdisciplinarity at different levels between expatriation and the field of strategy. The authors argue the need for a multifaceted understanding of the expatriation experience.

Originality/value

The authors offer a constructive replication of a bibliometric literature review extended by a narrative analysis to complement a critical perspective on a large set of bibliographic data on the broad subject of expatriation. This addition offers an integrated view of the different themes identified by the bibliometric analysis and paves the way for future replication studies to examine how fields evolve.

Details

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-8799

Keywords

Access

Year

Last 12 months (314)

Content type

Article (314)
1 – 10 of 314