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1 – 10 of over 36000The paper explores the emergence of smart city governance with a particular focus on the cognitive value of the new technologies and the different accountabilities emerging in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper explores the emergence of smart city governance with a particular focus on the cognitive value of the new technologies and the different accountabilities emerging in the digital infrastructures attempting to visualize and rationalize urban dynamics.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on ethnographic, netnographic and interview data from an empirical case study of the Smart and Wise City Turku spearhead project, the study builds on the assumption that smart cities emerge from the interaction between the characteristics of technologies, constellations of actors and contextual conditions.
Findings
The results report smart city activities as an organizational process and a reconfiguration that incorporates new technology with old infrastructure. Through the lens of the empirical examples, we are able to show how smart city actors, boundaries and infrastructures are mobilized, become valuable and are rendered visible. The smart cities infrastructure traces, values and governs actors, identities, objects, ideas and relations to animate new desires and feats of imagination.
Practical implications
In terms of implications to practice, the situated descriptions echo recent calls to leaders and managers to ask how much traceability is enough (Power, 2019) and limits of accountability (Messner, 2009).
Originality/value
The central theoretical concept of “thinking infrastructure” highlights how new accounting practices operate by disclosing (Kornberger et al., 2017) new worlds where the platforms and the users discover the nature of their responsibilities to the other. The contribution of this paper is that it examines what happens when smartness is understood as a thinking infrastructure. Different theorizations of infrastructure have implications for the study of smart cities. The lens helps us grasp possible tensions and consequences in terms of accountability that arise from new forms of participation in smart cities. It helps urban governance scholarship understand how smartness informs and shapes distributed and embodied cognition.
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Giorgio Locatelli, Alessandro Paravano, Marco Terenzi and Paolo Trucco
During the planning and delivery, iron triangle criteria, are essential for internal stakeholders (e.g. owner, sponsors and delivery company), mostly ignoring external…
Abstract
Purpose
During the planning and delivery, iron triangle criteria, are essential for internal stakeholders (e.g. owner, sponsors and delivery company), mostly ignoring external stakeholders such as local communities (often perceived as inconvenient) or end users. In the medium-long term, infrastructure cost and benefit are far more important for external stakeholders and the environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The iron triangle criteria, i.e. delivering on time, budget and quality/scope, is the traditional perspective to assess the success of infrastructure projects. Delivering on cost and time is significant, but particularly for infrastructure, there are more relevant success criteria. The authors argue which criteria are important, and explain why.
Findings
The authors challenge the traditional view of judging projects based on respecting time, budget and quality/scope. The authors explain that discussing the social value and contribution to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is extremely relevant. Crucially these metrics keep changing, even after the project is terminated.
Originality/value
The authors provide a new seven-step action plan for decision-makers to improve infrastructure provision by reflecting on SDGs and engaging with external stakeholders, particularly minorities and the weaker members of their communities. Such an action plan is focused on the cost and value for different stakeholders on different timeframes and progress toward social value and achieving SDGs.
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Hang Tran, Lan Anh Nguyen and Tesfaye Lemma
This study aims to articulate the conceptual foundations of the role of accounting infrastructure (calculative practice and the communicative dimension of accounting) in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to articulate the conceptual foundations of the role of accounting infrastructure (calculative practice and the communicative dimension of accounting) in extractive industries (EIs) towards a sustainable orientation from an actor-network theory (ANT) perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is a literature-based analysis of the calculative property and communicative dimension of accounting in EIs, using the concepts of calculability, assemblage and other related concepts from ANT to identify potentialities and limits of the roles of accounting in this sector.
Findings
While accounting infrastructure can influence social and environmental outcomes, it has not, as yet, led to ecologically and socially sustainable practices in EIs. Calculative properties and the communicative dimension of accounting infrastructure have capabilities to foster the phenomenon of “sustainability” in EIs by valuing, disclosing (reporting) and governing EIs towards a sustainable orientation. Conceptualizing sustainable EIs as a promissory economy, accounting infrastructure serves as a tool not only to represent past performance but also to enact the future: it helps to shape a sustainable future for the industry by informing and triggering behavioural decisions of EIs firms towards sustainable practices.
Research limitations/implications
This conceptual paper is anticipated to stimulate future sustainability accounting research. The research agenda discussed in this paper can be used to enrich our understanding of the role of accounting in sustainability.
Originality/value
This paper charts a direction for future research by interpreting the role of sustainability accounting within networks of sociotechnical relations, using ANT concepts which attach importance to the dualism of nature and society. Conceptualizing sustainability accounting and reporting as an infrastructure, which draws more attention to the relationality characteristic of accounting, the study goes beyond the traditional interpretation of accounting as a mediation device and draws on a contemporary view of accounting by invoking the dynamic relation between accounting and society, in the context of EIs.
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This study aims to examine how systems for organizing information may present an authorial voice and shows how the mechanism of voice may work to persuasively communicate a point…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how systems for organizing information may present an authorial voice and shows how the mechanism of voice may work to persuasively communicate a point of view on the materials being collected and described by the information system.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper synthesizes a conceptual framework from the field of rhetoric and composition and uses that framework to analyze how existing organizational schemes reveal authorial voice.
Findings
Through textual analysis, the mechanism of authorial voice is described in three example information systems. In two of the examples, authorial voice is shown to function as a persuasive element by enabling identification, the rhetorical construct defined by the literary critic Kenneth Burke. In one example, voice appears inconsistently and does not work to facilitate persuasion.
Research limitations/implications
This study illustrates the concept of authorial voice in the context of information systems, but it does not claim to comprehensively catalog all potential manifestations of authorial voice.
Practical implications
By analyzing how information systems work as a form of document, we can better understand how information systems communicate to their users, and we can use this understanding to facilitate design.
Originality/value
By creating designs that incorporate an enhanced conceptual grasp of authorial voice and other rhetorical properties of information systems, the construction of information systems that systematically and purposefully communicate original, creative points of view regarding their assembled collections can be facilitated, and so enable learning, discovery, and critical engagement for users.
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By using some tools such as business intelligence (BI) and exploring data stored in data warehousing systems, it is possible to increase export competition efficiency. Efficiency…
Abstract
Purpose
By using some tools such as business intelligence (BI) and exploring data stored in data warehousing systems, it is possible to increase export competition efficiency. Efficiency in the export competition is affected by several factors. Therefore, this paper has attempted to provide a new conceptual framework for assessing the impact of new information technology (IT)-based systems, public policies and BI on the efficiency of export competitiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
Increasing exports and its high efficiency depend on each country’s IT. So, IT is the main tool to increase the production process, improve quality and reduce products’ cost. In addition, each country develops policies for business activities and commerce to increase productivity in export competition. Clarifying public policies and strategies critical to the development of export competition is important in this field. Therefore, this paper has tried to provide a new conceptual framework for examining the impact of new IT-based systems, public policies and BI on the effectiveness of export competition. The research method of this study is based on structural equation modeling. This method has been used to evaluate the causal model, assess the reliability and check the measurement model’s validity. Model and data were analyzed using SPSS 22 and SmartPLS software.
Findings
The results showed that the impact of new IT-based systems, public policies and BI on export competitiveness efficiency has been positive.
Research limitations/implications
To generalize this study’s results and have a more accurate external validity, it is necessary to conduct this research program over a more extended time and space. Also, larger and more comprehensive samples should be taken for further validation. The authors also suggest that other factors can be considered.
Practical implications
The framework is conceptually innovative in modeling the efficiency of export competitiveness and assessing implications. Export competitiveness is a crucial factor in long-term global farm business survival, as it fosters opportunities for business prosperity on global markets.
Originality/value
The research offers important hints for emerging markets to find their ways to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage in the export market by controlling the country-level factors. This research will be helpful to both policymakers and global managers.
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Systems thinking is well established as an important perspective within the management field. However, the perspective is not always as all-encompassing as sometimes argued. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Systems thinking is well established as an important perspective within the management field. However, the perspective is not always as all-encompassing as sometimes argued. This paper addresses the importance of including structural elements as a part of systems thinking in relation to organizational change. The purpose of the paper is to analyze how organizational infrastructure may influence processes and outcomes of organizational change initiatives.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a longitudinal case study of the introduction of lean in a large Swedish manufacturing company. The case study comprises three embedded cases, and the empirical material is based on interviews, observations and document studies. The material has been analyzed with a systems perspective, focusing on the interplay between ideas, infrastructure and behavior in the organization.
Findings
This paper suggests that organizational infrastructure may have a profound impact on organizational behavior. Consequently, an ambition to change organizational routines will be influenced by not only people’s sense-making and behavior but also the technology and infrastructure with which people interact.
Research limitations/implications
Thus, alignment between all these entities will facilitate the change process and increase the likelihood of successful organizational change. Thus, systems thinking requires stronger attention to organizational infrastructure to better understand organizational change processes, and a philosophical approach needs to be balanced against behavioral and technical aspects of change.
Originality/value
This paper challenges much of the received knowledge and assumptions about systems and suggests an expansion of systems thinking.
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Rasheed Isa, Fidelis Emuze, Dillip Das and Bankole Osita Awuzie
The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for operationalizing the integrated use of lean and sustainability concepts for infrastructure delivery. This model is premised on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for operationalizing the integrated use of lean and sustainability concepts for infrastructure delivery. This model is premised on the need for the attainment of a sustainable built environment through efficient infrastructure delivery.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study research design was used in assessing five purposively selected cases within Gauteng province in South Africa. These facilities attained Green Building Council of South Africa ratings of 5- to 6-star, for the rating of green buildings and available evidence of integration of lean principles at the developmental stage. Questionnaires were administered to project’s role-players and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the users and facility managers, in order to elicit data for the model development. Questionnaire survey was adopted for the model validation.
Findings
The lean-sustainability platform for infrastructure delivery demonstrates features such as resources, drivers, barriers, activities, outputs, the results, and the ultimate impact. The findings give insight into various components of the model. It validates its robustness and highlights leadership among other critical factors necessary for successful operationalization of the lean-sustainability ethos required to transform the delivery of infrastructure.
Practical implications
The developed model provides a transformational route for achieving infrastructure sustainability. The lean-sustainable indicators identified will serve as evaluation tools for assessing lean-sustainability ethos during the delivery phases of infrastructure projects.
Originality/value
The model provides a new way of thinking about infrastructure project delivery regarding the need to promote sustainability in the built environment.
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Virupaxi Bagodi and Prasannna P. Raravi
The purpose of this paper is to identify the input, process and output factors (along with their manifest variables) of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and to establish cause…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the input, process and output factors (along with their manifest variables) of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and to establish cause and effect relationships amongst the factors and sub-factors. Systems thinking, a holistic approach, is used to carry out qualitative analysis of the feedback loops.
Design/methodology/approach
A well-structured questionnaire was developed to gather the relevant data to identify the factors affecting the performance of SMEs in a holistic manner. A total of 150 responses were collected during November 2015–March 2016. Factor analysis and path analysis were used to establish causal relationships between input, process and output factors. The systems thinking approach has been used for qualitative analysis.
Findings
Feedback loops have been identified amongst input-process-output-input factors and amongst sub-factors. They enabled authors to infer that the managers/owners of SMEs are systems thinkers, if not completely, at least partially. Six negative feedback loops and one positive feedback loop prevail. System behaviour arises out of the interaction of positive and negative feedback loops; it appears that in the long-run, the SMEs attain their target levels. The following inferences are drawn: circular relationships are identified amongst input, processes and organisational performance (OP), modern management tools such as just in times, Kanban have long-term benefits and are perceived as ineffective by small enterprises and formal financing and functional transparency enhances OP.
Originality/value
Systems thinking, a holistic approach, has been used to study the effect of input, process and output factors on one another. Such studies are sparse, especially, in the Indian context. Many studies have been conducted to study the effect of input and of processes on performance such as innovation, information technology, human resource, technology, government regulation on performance of SMEs in a silo but, rarely all together. The qualitative analysis adds value to the research. Many of the outcomes of the research have been largely discussed in Indian print media which indicates the pragmatic approach of the research.
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Alexandra J. Lamb and Jennie Miles Weiner
While educational infrastructure is consistently identified as a key lever for educational change, it is often overlooked in research and practice and specifically in relation to…
Abstract
Purpose
While educational infrastructure is consistently identified as a key lever for educational change, it is often overlooked in research and practice and specifically in relation to technology in schools. By using educational infrastructure as a lens to examine a group of districts' implementation of 1:1 programs, this work provides opportunities for understanding and approaching technology programs in new, and potentially more effective, ways.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the concept of educational infrastructure (Mehta and Fine, 2015; Peurach and Neumerski, 2015), this multiple-case study explores the ways superintendents and district technology leaders understand and enact 1:1 technology initiatives to support educational change.
Findings
The authors find these leaders see 1:1 technology as both embedded in, and engaged in changing, the physical, cultural, instructional and leadership infrastructures. This suggests that 1:1 technology can act as an infrastructure itself and has the potential to support changes to teaching and learning across the system.
Originality/value
This study offers a new perspective to understand and enact the opportunities of 1:1 technology. Specifically, it helps to reframe technology programs away from discrete classroom or school-based interventions to consider and attend to the system-level resources they require and thus increase benefits they can produce. While always useful, such considerations are particularly important in the current context and the proliferation of online learning for so many.
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This paper aims to present a meta‐model for electronic government (e‐government) which takes account of the broad nature of this contemporary socio‐technical phenomenon. As such…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a meta‐model for electronic government (e‐government) which takes account of the broad nature of this contemporary socio‐technical phenomenon. As such it contains within it a number of possible “business models” for the development of e‐government – strategies for e‐government focused around key business processes and information systems.
Design/methodology/approach
This meta‐model is built from literature taken from the domains of informatics, business and public administration. It is also built on established academic, policy and practitioner literature from the domain of e‐government itself.
Findings
The paper demonstrates and validates the use of this meta‐model in three ways. First, it is used as an explanatory tool to help review the contemporary experience of e‐government in the UK. To help in this process we position specific case examples of e‐government against the model from this experience. Second, it is used to evaluate a number of existing models of e‐government, particularly those which provide an explicit framework of e‐government progress. A number of deficiencies in such models are identified from this evaluation. Third, the meta‐model is proposed as a framework for evaluating and potentially benchmarking e‐government. The intention is to raise the perspective of evaluation and benchmarking in this area beyond its contemporary focus on electronic service delivery.
Originality/value
To demonstrate the worth of this approach, the paper describes the application of elements of this meta‐model in two evaluation/benchmarking exercises undertaken by the author in the context of regional e‐government.
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