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This study aims to examine the performance outcomes of a store’s ownership concentration within a multi-unit franchise (MUF) network, emphasizing the nuanced effects under varying competitive conditions.

This study conducted a comprehensive analysis of all stores within the McDonald’s chain over an eight-year span. The research methodology incorporated a review of over 11 million customer evaluations to discern patterns in customer satisfaction and sales growth in relation to the store’s ownership concentration.

Stores with a pronounced ownership concentration showcased enhanced outcomes in both customer satisfaction and sales growth. However, the magnitude of these effects was moderated by the nature of competitive conditions, specifically focal market competition, non-focal market competition and legal safeguards.

The study’s concentration on McDonald’s stores introduces a specificity that might limit the universal applicability of the findings to all franchise models or sectors. Additionally, the emphasis on the store level of analysis potentially overlooks broader systemic factors.

For managers and franchise owners, understanding the nuanced roles of ownership concentration can provide strategic insights. Recognizing how different competitive conditions can moderate the effects of ownership concentration can help in making informed decisions about power dynamics and competitive positioning.

A store’s ownership concentration can have broader societal ramifications, potentially shaping consumer perceptions, community engagement and overall market health. As an owner’s stores concentrate spatially, they can contribute to a healthier market ecosystem, benefitting consumers and communities alike.

While the vertical power between the franchisor and franchisee owners have been studied, this study extends the discourse to power between MUF owners. This study provides novel insights by showing customer centric and firm centric performance outcomes of ownership concentration.

This paper presents a reflection in memory and tribute to the work and life of Professor Barbara Czarniawska (1948–2024).

We invited those colleagues whom we knew to be close to Barbara to submit reflections about her contributions to academia alongside their memories of her as a person. We present these reflections in the order we received them, and they have only been edited for minor grammatical and punctuation issues to preserve the voice of the contributing authors.

The reflections in this paper represent different translations of Barbara’s academic and theoretical contributions. However, she also contributed to people. While we can count the number of papers, books and book chapters she published, we must also count the number of co-authors, Ph.D. supervisions, visiting professorships and conference plenaries she touched. This (ac)counting tells the story of Barbara reaching out to work and interact with people, especially students and early career researchers. She touched their lives, and the publications are an artefact of a human being, not an academic stuck in an ivory tower.

A paper in Barbara Czarniawska’s honour where some of her closest colleagues can leave translations of her work through a narrative reflection, seems to be a fitting tribute.

The development of social enterprises in Ireland holds much promise with regards to the potential to create innovation and growth within local economies. However, fulfilling this promise requires the ability to recognise the complexities of this multifaced sector. In response, this article proposes Actor-Network-Theory (ANT) as having the theoretical capability to develop and create further progress in social enterprise development in Ireland.

ANT upholds that reality consists of series of heterogeneous networks composed of relations between entities. This relational lens foregrounds the interactions among the varied actors involved in social enterprise. To investigate the capabilities of ANT, this paper aligns ANT with three core areas of concern for social enterprise research: structure, power and shared meaning.

ANT works to address these identified key concerns by bridging the conceptual divide between theory and practice within the social enterprise sector. This brings to light the state of affairs as empirically practiced and not as recognised under traditional dualisms. As a result, the influences which shape the collective reality of social enterprise networks can be empirically investigated.

As an alternative sensibility, the core capabilities of ANT lie in the ability of the theory to reclaim an empirical grasp of a local environment. In this instance, it is demonstrated as to how this theoretical approach can be used to understand how growth and development manifests within social enterprise networks. From this, there is a great potential to use these insights to direct change in the place of random, and often contested, growth.

This chapter explores the influence and charisma of Taylor Swift, highlighting her use of power to captivate audiences. The chapter examines the five bases of power – coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent – demonstrated through Swift’s strategic actions in the music industry. Swift’s ability to inspire, reward, and connect authentically with her audience showcases her remarkable leadership. Swift exemplifies how true power lies in authentic connections and steadfast determination, turning personal stories into widely inspiring and authoritative narratives.

The case was developed in partnership with the focal entrepreneur, Michael Maher, and relies on primary data he provided.

This case is based on the experiences of Michael Maher, a Cincinnati, OH (USA)-based entrepreneur whose ecommerce business failed in 2016, largely due to a major change in Amazon’s marketplace. The case puts students in Michael’s position as this is happening. It focuses on the fact that although Michael knew, logically, that the failure was largely beyond his control, and that he “should” think about failure as a learning opportunity, emotionally and psychologically he felt terrible. The case forces students to confront this reality as they reflect on the situation and determine how Michael might best respond. The case is intended to help instructors address the often undiscussed “dark sides” of entrepreneurship, which can include financial hardship and intense stress, and also cause or exacerbate depression, substance abuse and other mental and physical health issues (Shepherd, 2019). These challenges frequently impact other involved stakeholders (e.g. family members) and, as a result, can negatively impact familial dynamics, friendships and other relationships. The goal of the case is not to discourage students from entrepreneurial activity, but to make them aware of these potential dark sides. In addition to awareness, the teaching plan is designed to provide students with tools and strategies to recognize and navigate the dark sides.

This case is appropriate for introductory entrepreneurship courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. It might also be used in more advanced courses focused on developing/launching a new venture (e.g. “New Venture Planning” courses). The case can be taught at any point within a given course, but it is recommended after students have developed an understanding of key entrepreneurship concepts in the focal course or in previous courses. In particular, students should have a working knowledge of the concept of “learning from failure” and other tenets of the lean startup and similar approaches (Blank, 2013; Ries, 2011). This background knowledge is important because the case confronts students with the reality that, although “learning from failure” is central to entrepreneurship, that does not necessarily eliminate the social and psychological challenges that often follow failures. Assuming students possess this background knowledge, the case is most effectively used early in a course to make students aware of the “dark sides” they might confront as an entrepreneur and set the stage for the development of strategies and skills to navigate those dark sides throughout the rest of the course. The case’s brevity means it can be assigned to be read in advance of class or during the class session in which it is being covered.

Organizational Bases of Power and Personal Bases of Power refer to distinct types of power that when applied can influence perceptions, attitudes, behaviors, and performance, changing organizational culture, outcomes, and overall effectiveness. Perceptions of Organizational Bases of Power and Personal Bases of Power were assessed by online survey of 52 higher education faculty and administrators from institutions in more than 16 countries using the Human Synergistics International Organizational Effectiveness Inventory® (OEI^®). Results revealed that total mean scores were less desirable than established Constructive benchmarks (derived from corporations with constructive cultures) for both measures and were below the 50th percentile (historical average from normative data) for Personal Bases of Power. Interestingly, subgroup analysis revealed that perceptions of Organizational Bases of Power were more favorable than the Constructive Benchmark among females (vs males), faculty (vs administrators), and public not-for-profits. Perceptions of Personal Bases of Power were better than the 50th percentile among females (vs males), administrators (vs faculty), and for-profit institutions. Observed trends for perceptual discrepancies between genders, professional roles, and business models are analyzed in the context of worldviews and values. Recommendations are presented for modifying the use of personal expert, referent, and exchange powers and organizational legitimate (position), reward, and coercive powers in alignment with the ideal values of higher education institutions seeking to improve their outcomes by moving their organizational cultures toward constructive styles.

Police corruption – the use or misuse of entrusted power for personal, institutional or third-party advantage – is widespread in emerging economies. Encounters with justice officials in developing nations often involve the payment of bribes, which undermines justice delivery and impedes socioeconomic development. Efforts to tackle or address corruption are usually complex due to the secretive nature of corruption, its perceived benefit to both victims and perpetrators and a lack of consensus on the causes. This article investigates the causes of police corruption from the viewpoint of Ghanaian police officers.

The study draws on data from a survey of police officers across three regions in Ghana. Descriptive, correlational and linear regression analyses are used to address the issues.

The results show that factors contributing to police corruption are classified into financial, cultural, institutional and oversight/guidance. We found that police officers’ consideration of a factor as a cause of police corruption is influenced by their perceptions of other factors as causes of corruption.

The results show that corruption causes should not be tackled in isolation as they depend on each other. This suggests that a holistic approach needs to be taken when developing strategies to address the causes of police corruption.

This paper contributes to the debate on the causes of police corruption from an African perspective, where there is little quantitative research exploring the causes of police corruption. Control variables do not impact officers’ perceptions of causes of corruption, which contradicts previous studies and contributes to the debate, literature and theory development.

The privacy paradox refers to the situation where users of online services continue to disclose personal information even when they are concerned about their privacy. One recent study of Facebook users published in Internet Research concludes that laziness contributes to the privacy paradox. The purpose of this study is to challenge the laziness explanation. To do so, we adopt a cognitive dispositions perspective and examine how a person’s external locus of control influences the privacy paradox, beyond the trait of laziness.

A mixed method approach is adopted. We first develop a research model which hypothesises the moderating effects of both laziness and external locus of control on privacy issues. We quantitatively test the research model through a two-phase survey of 463 Facebook users using the Hayes PROCESS macro. We then conduct a qualitative study to verify and develop the findings from the quantitative phase.

The privacy paradox holds true. The findings confirm the significant influence of external locus of control on the privacy paradox. While our quantitative findings suggest laziness does not affect the association between privacy concerns and self-disclosure, our qualitative data does provide some support for the laziness explanation.

Our study extends existing research by showing that a person’s external locus of control provides a stronger explanation for the privacy paradox than the laziness perspective. As such, this study further reveals the boundary conditions on which the privacy paradox exists for some users of social networking sites, but not others. Our study also suggests cognitive dissonance coping strategies, which are largely absent in prior investigations, may influence the privacy paradox.