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1 – 10 of 98Anna Sandberg and Ulrika Strömberg
Describes how the terms system effectiveness from a logistics perspective and life cycle cost effectiveness were designed into the Gripen combat aircraft and how they are now…
Abstract
Describes how the terms system effectiveness from a logistics perspective and life cycle cost effectiveness were designed into the Gripen combat aircraft and how they are now being taken care of in the operational phase. Notes that in the early concept phase, there was focus on availability performance and life support cost. To ensure future operational and support cost the contract between the vendor and customer included logistic parameters that were to be predicted and followed‐up during the design phase. The Gripen system is today in operational use and operational data is continuously collected and monitored and provides essential input to the process of continuous improvement of the product and the support system. Concludes that working with a focus on availability performance and life support cost over the product life cycle has helped to develop a state‐of‐the‐art high performing aircraft both in terms of operational performance and cost effectiveness.
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– This article aims to identify methodological openings and barriers for using managerial relevance as a method to further business to business (B2B) marketing theory.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to identify methodological openings and barriers for using managerial relevance as a method to further business to business (B2B) marketing theory.
Design/methodology/approach
There is currently an imbalance between two research modes; notably, the normative knowledge accumulation mode confers scant space to the solution mode. This negatively affects both the production of managerially relevant research and theoretical developments within B2B marketing which, in turn, hinders the development of marketing as an applied science. Against the background of an upgraded methodological cartography, emphasizing the equal importance of the two research modes, this article illustrates the context of using managerial relevance as a method to forward B2B marketing theory. An aggregate picture of corresponding calls in the literature shows why this is important.
Findings
Calls for increased managerial relevance and methodological diversity outside the normative knowledge accumulation mode will face difficulties in terms of changing researcher behavior, as long as the biased relationship between the two research modes persists. For managerially relevant research to increase, and for B2B marketing science to progress, underlying assumptions of different methodological stances have to be uncovered, calling for increased methodological clarity.
Research implications
To prevent a relapse, the analysis suggests a further strategy by which to modify schematic models to study organizational change and behavior.
Practical implications
A more significant role attributed to managerial relevance for theory development early in the research process, permits to align the perspectives of research with the needs of practice and will decrease the research–practice gap.
Originality/value
The article pinpoints two research modes and three epistemological stances – predict, describe and depict – which sharpens methodological clarity beyond traditional qualitative–quantitative, and conceptual–empirical classifications.
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This chapter demonstrates the value of ethnographic research to the study of the relationship between legal narrative and professional identity. It focuses on the ethical and…
Abstract
This chapter demonstrates the value of ethnographic research to the study of the relationship between legal narrative and professional identity. It focuses on the ethical and professional judgements embedded in American federal prosecutors' creation and critiques of opening and closing statements. Drawing on ethnographic research, I argue that these statements revolve around the concept of ‘justice’, which prosecutors articulate, affirm and contest through the narratives of honesty and impartiality. More broadly, these conceptions of justice inform how federal prosecutors understand their identities and roles as professional legal actors. Ethnography's unique value lies in furnishing data pertaining to how trial narratives are fashioned and refined through ‘workshopping’ before these narratives are shared with jurors. The chapter thus highlights processes of narrative reflexivity and story composition.
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Rebecca Bolt and Helen Tregidga
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role and implications of storytelling and narrative as a means of making sense of, and giving sense to, the ambiguous concept of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role and implications of storytelling and narrative as a means of making sense of, and giving sense to, the ambiguous concept of materiality.
Design/methodology/approach
The use of stories was “discovered” through the authors' attempts to “make sense” of data from 16 interviews with participants from the financial and nonfinancial reporting and assurance contexts. The authors analyse the participants' use of stories through a sensemaking/sensegiving lens.
Findings
While participants struggle to define what materiality is, they are able to tell “stories” about materiality in action. The authors find stories are a key vehicle through which participants make sense of and give sense to materiality, for themselves and (an)other. Participants tell three types of stories in sensemaking/sensegiving processes: the lived, the adopted and the hypothetical. The authors further identify “rehearsed” and “ongoing” narratives, which take any of the three story types. The use of stories to make and give sense to materiality reveals a disconnect between the static, technical definitions of materiality currently favoured by standard setters and guidance providers, and the creative authoring processes the participants employ.
Practical implications
The authors argue for a move towards the use of stories and narratives about materiality in standard setting, specifically “materiality in action”, which the findings suggest may assist in creating shared understandings of the ambiguous concept.
Originality/value
While previous research considers what materiality means within financial and nonfinancial reporting and assurance contexts, the authors empirically analyse how people understand and make sense/give sense to materiality. The authors also contribute to the use of sensemaking/sensegiving processes within the accounting literature.
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Non-profit organizations (NPOs) are exposed to a highly competitive environment in which they are forced to grow their commercial activity to acquire additional financial…
Abstract
Purpose
Non-profit organizations (NPOs) are exposed to a highly competitive environment in which they are forced to grow their commercial activity to acquire additional financial resources. This study aims to create an understanding of how NPOs involved in textile reuse as a revenue-generating programme manage their reverse supply chains (RSC).
Design/methodology/approach
The research involves an embedded single-case study of NPOs in Finland involved in post-use textile collection. The main data sources are semi-structured interviews and participant observations.
Findings
This study is inspired by the microfoundations movement and identifies the underlying microfoundations of the NPOs’ capabilities for managing RSC for textile reuse. The study contributes to the literature by demonstrating NPOs’ lower-level, granular practices and their adaptations for achieving quality outcomes in textile reuse.
Research limitations/implications
The findings have context sensitivity and apply to the NPOs which operate in a context similar to Finland, such as in other Nordic countries.
Practical implications
This study continues the discussion on the adoption of “business-like” practices in the NPOs’ pursuit of additional revenue streams to finance humanitarian work. The findings of this study can also be transferred to the growing area of domestic textile circularity.
Social implications
Using the case of NPOs in textile reuse, the study illustrates how RSC management can serve a social, non-profit cause and transform unwanted textile products into a source of fundraising for humanitarian work.
Originality/value
This enriches the understanding of NPOs’ practices within the scope of revenue-generating programmes by examining one of them – textile reuse through charity shops from an RSC perspective.
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In recent years, two new approaches have bloomed in criminological thinking, narrative criminology and psychosocial criminology. Both have argued for a new consideration of…
Abstract
In recent years, two new approaches have bloomed in criminological thinking, narrative criminology and psychosocial criminology. Both have argued for a new consideration of offenders' narratives, which are investigated as a description of life events and choices, and of the decision to offend. An interview regarding the life and deviant career of an Italian football hooligan (‘ultras’) – a Bangladeshi–Italian boy trying to find his place in Italian society – will show how the two approaches can be combined in an analysis of the subject's often ambiguous narratives, in which both neutralisation techniques and defence mechanisms can be discerned. We will first describe the complex narrative strategies used. We will then try to explain how, through the use of complex defences and neutralisations, the subject can feel simultaneously integrated into both the deviant group and general society. In this case, despite antinomies and ambiguity, integration is achieved by keeping at bay the sense of guilt related to aggression towards parental figures.
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Anna-Greta Nyström and Karl-Jacob Mickelsson
Previous research on advertising in digital contexts has emphasized its persuasive and information processing roles for the customer. This paper aims to problematize this point of…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research on advertising in digital contexts has emphasized its persuasive and information processing roles for the customer. This paper aims to problematize this point of view and argues that the converged and interactive nature of digital media makes all advertising content into potential points of engagement in a digital media journey.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is conceptual in nature and applies service logic (SL) and customer engagement to reconceptualize digital advertising and selling.
Findings
The authors present digital advertisements and digital media content as elements that contribute to a digital media journey, which ideally leads to a purchase. Advertising content is regarded as a resource used by consumers in their underlying value-creating processes. Thus, the digital advertising process is conceptualized as a customer-driven process of engaging with digital media content, where a purchase is incorporated in (and naturally follows from) the theme of engagement.
Research limitations/implications
The paper introduces the concept of contextually embedded selling, which refers to a process where digital advertising content is thematically congruent with the surrounding editorial content, so that both contribute to the same consumer journey. Otherwise, consumers experience a contextual jump – a disconnect in theme, place or time during the consumer’s process of engagement with the digital content.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to advertising theory on advertising, engagement and the emerging research on consumer journey design by presenting an approach based on SL, namely, contextually embedded digital selling.
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Mats Janné and Anna Fredriksson
The construction industry is reluctant to utilize construction logistics centres (CLC). To understand why, the purpose of the study is to increase the understanding of drivers and…
Abstract
Purpose
The construction industry is reluctant to utilize construction logistics centres (CLC). To understand why, the purpose of the study is to increase the understanding of drivers and challenges of CLC utilization.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting an activity-based cost methodology, nine construction projects' CLC utilization in a Swedish urban development project is analyzed for a time period of three years (2013–2016).
Findings
There is a difference between drivers and challenges for implementing and utilizing CLCs, which are often implemented to reduce third-party disturbances. The drivers to utilize a CLC, however, stem from achieving efficient logistics. The authors identify two different utilization strategies; the CLC is used either for just-in-time (JIT) deliveries or as a consolidation point.
Research limitations/implications
The study shows that construction logistics is to some extent repeating some mistakes of its big brother, city logistics. The study hypothesizes that there are differences between CLC implementation and utilization drivers and challenges that are often overlooked, which can explain the lack of CLC utilization.
Practical implications
The study shows that it is crucial for construction projects to develop and formulate a logistics strategy for how to utilize the setup, i.e. deciding whether to use the setup as a consolidation point leading to fewer deliveries and more materials on-site, or as JIT, leading to more deliveries but fewer materials on-site.
Social implications
CLCs can reduce environmental impact and third-party disturbances. However, to make this come true, acceptance among the users is needed. The study provides understanding of drivers and barriers for CLC implementation and utilization that can increase acceptance among users (i.e. construction projects).
Originality/value
The current study is one of the first studies to analyze CLC utilization.
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