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The chapter questions the low demand for scholarly (scientific research) competence of civil servants through identifying practical and transformative uses of scientific knowledge in professionals’ practice, thus arguing for a particular type of scholarly competence in professional degree programs.

The chapter conceptually develops a theory of practitioners’ knowing in action that reframes use of scientific knowledge as part of practical inquiry.

The chapter formulates the notion of extended ‘scientific temper’ to open up spaces for reflection in the context of everyday professional practice and avoid the pitfalls of technical rationality. It argues for an ontological – as opposed to mere epistemological – dimension of knowing in action. It suggests that changes in practitioners’ stance in line with the extended ‘scientific temper’ enable specific uses of scientific knowledge and help achieve aims of emancipation and transformation.

The chapter sketches a list of scholarly competencies and principles of didactics of training scholarly competence of civil servants in line with the notion of extended ‘scientific temper’ and post-structuralist paradigms in science.

The chapter’s value lies in reconceptualising the use of scientific knowledge in relation to everyday professional practice in public administration.

To provide a qualitative, in‐depth, naturalistic, empirical inquiry into entrepreneurial decision‐making, through the application of grounded theory methodology.

Application of original Glaser and Strauss grounded theory methodological approach and subsequent works are situated in the comparatively new context of entrepreneurship and small business management. Gathered data are iteratively analysed to produce emergent conceptual categories and their underpinning properties. Emergent substantive theories of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial decision making are discussed against existing decision and entrepreneurship theories.

First, the examination of the appropriateness of applying grounded theory to investigating complex entrepreneurship issues, as analysed through conceptual categories drawn from an empirical study. Second, the theoretical exploration of emergent entrepreneurship bounded practices and associated tasks of decision‐making. Finally, through the revelation of what is inductively achievable, what can be practically learned by researching naturalistic entrepreneurship.

This process of iterative theory building, whilst grounded in a substantive inquiry, holds the capacity to generate further research questions and tentative explanations at broader formal levels. By cross cutting the boundaries of units of analyses – the entrepreneur or associated actors, for example – this results in the maturation of a complex web of human interactivities. From the research reported, questions beyond the substantive case can develop a broader theoretical and practical agenda. For example, issues such as: buying‐in to an established business, the managing of key skills workers in small enterprises, and, entrepreneurial decision‐making in conjunction with other actors’ involvement.

The application of grounded theory emergent research objectives, whilst originating from particular inductive investigations, can become foundations for better understanding broader entrepreneurship questions and practice‐based researched endeavours.

This paper contributes to the identified need for developing the stock of qualitatively bounded research within entrepreneurship and small business inquiry. It develops understanding of both the theoretical and practical nature of entrepreneurship, the managing of an enterprise and the synonymous task of making decisions.

This chapter highlights inquiry-based learning in action in a first-year Social Sciences inquiry course. Focusing on the continued development of this course over eight years, we present a practical example of fostering an inquiry-based teaching and learning environment grounded in metacognitive practice. Woven throughout the course is a thoughtful and deliberate incorporation of skill-building based on two types of metacognitive expertise; self-understanding and self-regulation with a goal to encourage and support students in developing effective learning strategies necessary for university study. We have found that scaffolding the inquiry learning process with metacognition further enhances the first-year learning experience and promotes a deeper level of learning, where students become aware of their own thinking practice and process. These skills include critical thinking, self-directed learning, clear communication and openness to learning. The chapter presents a series of strategies for introducing and linking metacognitive practice and the inquiry-based approach to learning. Presenting the five stages of inquiry learning: exploration, question and problem identification, methods of investigation, collection and analysis of data, development of conclusions and creative communication of results we describe how we work to develop a more distinct, personalized, engaging and sustainable undergraduate learning experience.

Properly conceived, conducted and interpreted, motivation research can be an extremely powerful management tool, designed to help the manufacturer or advertiser to sell more goods. Its aim is to expose the market situation, explain it and suggest courses of action which will lead to desired changes. It is a way of looking at a problem rather than a collection of specialist techniques and is strictly practical. Hence it can be used alongside other market research tools for the solution of marketing problems and can be applied to a wide range of business activities. Much of its development has been in the advertising field but it can also help in the formulation of production policy, solving packaging problems and marketing operations. It is examined here in all these contexts. The idea of motivation research, the reasons for its use and the techniques by which to apply it are discussed, as well as the pitfalls that are likely to occur. New and imaginary case studies are used throughout to illustrate points. A review of the subject literature is included.

The purpose of this paper is to apply grounded theory methodology to report on an empirical case which develops emergent theories on the human complexities of managerial decision‐making and the synonymous task of managing.

A structured research approach was applied in gathering and analysing data from all actors within a small private sector enterprise. The key objective was to discover what the owner‐manager and all employees perceived as important issues with regard to the managing of the business during a period of post‐takeover. In‐depth on‐site and off‐site interviews were carried out over an extended period.

Emergent theory exposes actors' disputed perceptions of how the business had been managed and ought to be managed, and, the judgments and decisions that had been made and consequently should be made. Revealed is a complex cognitive and behavioural web of human interactions and deep‐seated management‐employee discord that whilst threatening the actual survival of the business appears not to impede questionable practices, both by management and staff. Through the application of grounded theory methodology emergent constructs are discussed against existing knowledge that exposes new insights into management decision theory and the managing of an enterprise.

The process of theory generation whilst grounded in a substantive inquiry has the capacity to generate further research and tentative explanations at higher levels of understanding. From the research reported, questions beyond the substantive case can develop a broader theoretical and practical agenda – for example, issues of other actors' involvement in management decision making and the intrinsic part psychological factors play in the structuring of decisions.

Based on the finding from an empirical study the paper reveals significant practical managerial issues in the day‐to‐day and strategic managing of an enterprise. From a researcher's perspective, the paper critically demonstrates the functionality of grounded theory in management inquiry.

This paper advances the theoretical and practical necessity for the enlargement of the stock of qualitatively bounded research that focuses on grounded theory applications, management practice and decision theory.

In this paper, grounded theory as an inductive method of theory generation in business research is presented and critically evaluated. The historical and epistemological backgrounds of the method are discussed, its research procedures are briefly outlined, and its suitability for sales research assessed. To illustrate the principles of the method, a study of the nature of business‐to‐business sales relationships is introduced. The results of this study show clearly that grounded theory can yield highly significant findings in areas that deal with phenomena as complex as human relationships, where the construction of theoretical frameworks cannot be achieved at the cost of conceptual density.

The object of this research is the reconstruction of the existing legal response by European Union states to the phenomenon of immigration. It seeks to analyse the process of conferral of protection.

One main dimension is selected and discussed: the case law of the national courts. The study focuses on the legal status of immigrants resulting from the intervention of these national courts.

The research shows that although the courts have conferred an increasing protection on immigrants, this has not challenged the fundamental principle of the sovereignty of the states to decide, according to their discretionary prerogatives, which immigrants are allowed to enter and stay in their territories. Notwithstanding the differences in the general constitutional and legal structures, the research also shows that the courts of the three countries considered – France, Germany and Spain – have progressively moved towards converging solutions in protecting immigrants.

The research contributes to a better understanding of the different legal orders analysed.

This paper aims to contribute to the body of practical knowledge about reorienting teacher education to address sustainability by reflecting on an action research experience from a study course on sustainability in a regional university.

It contemplates the usage of aesthetic learning to activate pre-service teachers’ presentational knowing about inclusion and exclusion – modes of relationships which are essentially sustainable and unsustainable, respectively. The research participants are involved in creation, interpretation and discussion of drawings-cum-concept-maps about inclusive and exclusionary relationships in social and educational contexts.

The participants are found to express their knowledge through presentational forms such as colour, spatial alignment, direction and mimicry.

This qualitative study being an action research into the particulars of a specific situation precludes abstract generalisation. Yet it is hoped that the findings may illuminate related concerns in similar contexts as educators seek inspiration and guidance for improving their practices of implementing teacher education for sustainability.

The paper proposes aesthetic learning as a means to involve pre-service teachers in active generation of personally meaningful and practically applicable insights, enabling communication of complex ideas and fostering emotional engagement with peers. It is also suggested as a pathway towards accessing, exploring and, potentially, enriching the participants’ assumptions about relational issues such as inclusion and exclusion as pre-service teachers strive to make personal sense of what it means to live sustainably.

Although the notion of wisdom confronts the economic rationale of business organizations, this paper aims to argue that organizations are coming under increasing pressure not only to learn, change and adapt, but also to take actions that are ethically acceptable and respond to the expectations of multiple stakeholders, or in other words to act wisely. Accordingly this article seeks to progress the debate on the relationship between organizational learning, learning organizations and wisdom, in pursuit of a new version of the model of the learning organization, the practically wise organization.

First, the literature on the learning organization and organizational learning is reviewed with a view to the identification of useful models and concepts. The paucity of reference to wisdom in that literature is noted. The following sections develop the theme of practical wisdom and, the essence of the practically wise organization, respectively. Finally a model for the practically wise organization that is both a virtuous and a learning organization is proposed.

The paper finds that a practically wise organization is a learning organization whose learning architecture is based on the principles of practical wisdom. Such an organization manages the processes associated with the seven pillars of wisdom: understanding dynamic complexity; developing personal wisdom competency; deliberating towards ethical models; refreshing shared sustainable vision; group wisdom dynamics; deliberated praxis; and embodied learning.

The article is a first step towards extending the theory and practice associated with the learning organization and organizational learning to embrace the multi‐stakeholder, ethically and morally informed perspectives embedded in the notion of practical wisdom.