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1 – 10 of 17Interdependence on the global economy and rapid technological changes raised the degree of uncertainty and complexity, leading to innovation challenges. Innovation depends on…
Abstract
Purpose
Interdependence on the global economy and rapid technological changes raised the degree of uncertainty and complexity, leading to innovation challenges. Innovation depends on knowledge, and the solution might rest on how sound firms manage it, particularly in emerging markets such as India. The purpose of this paper is to examine how firms implement knowledge management (KM) in highly innovation-oriented firms (biotechnology and pharmaceuticals) and the factors affecting its implementation by examining knowledge interactions between individuals.
Design/methodology/approach
This study consists of a systematic literature review, a case study with embedded units and the use of grounded theory to analyse the data. The factors emerging from the results were examined from an individual and organisational lens. Next, complexity theory (CT) was used to understand the impact of these factors in KM by facilitating its incorporation as a system.
Findings
The findings of this paper suggest that constant technology adoption increases human-to-technology interaction, higher circulation of existing knowledge and more controlled environments, discouraging individuals from learning or sharing knowledge. From a system perspective, results of this paper suggest that firms self-organise around technology, indicating that innovation decreases as knowledge creation and sharing tend to reduce with lesser social interactions. This study shows the usefulness of using CT in analysing KM for innovation. The performance of the system is analysed based on its constituents and interactions.
Originality/value
This study contributes to advancing CT in KM in the context of innovation in highly knowledge-intensive firms, as few studies were found in the literature.
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Bino Paul GD, Anantha Padhmanabha Achar, Krishna Muniyoor and Venkatesh Murthy R.
This paper aims to investigate the factors that determine the performance of small business units using a field survey conducted in a small jewellery cluster in Mangalore district…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the factors that determine the performance of small business units using a field survey conducted in a small jewellery cluster in Mangalore district of Karnataka state (India).
Design/methodology/approach
The estimates of the median-based quantile regression model are used to analyse how a change in small firm output is determined by seven key factors such as year of establishment, the source of finance, the source of design, lack of demand, design done by the staff, the number of skilled workers, and constraints.
Findings
The study finds that the factors such as sources of finance, design, customer relation and skilled manpower are the major determinants of the growth of jewellery business. Based on the findings, the study suggests that the invigoration of business performance by high degree of competitiveness, coupled with technological advancement and hiring of skilled labour, is essential for the sustainability of jewellery units.
Originality/value
The study pinpoints the problems and prospects of traditional business units located in an industrial cluster. Further, it suggests the different ways of strengthening the performance of small business units in India.
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Priscila Cembranel, Luiza Gewehr, Leila Dal Moro, Paulo Guilherme Fuchs, Robert Samuel Birch and José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Andrade Guerra
This study aims to investigate the contribution of higher education institutions (HEIs) to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and propose strategies to cultivate a culture…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the contribution of higher education institutions (HEIs) to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and propose strategies to cultivate a culture centred on the SDGs in HEIs.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used encompassed an integrative literature review, combining bibliographic analysis on how HEIs incorporate the SDGs into their practices, adopting a qualitative approach for the analysis and categorization of the results.
Findings
The multifaceted contributions of HEIs in promoting the SDGs stand out, through their roles in teaching, research, management and integration and communication between university and society.
Research limitations/implications
While influencing policies at various levels, HEIs encounter challenges in the effective integration of SDGs into their strategies. This underscores the need for contextualized governance, understanding students’ perspectives on sustainability and active external collaboration in policy formulation.
Practical implications
There is an urgent need to integrate SDGs into academic programmes, emphasizing the importance of redesigning curricula, actively involving teachers, researchers and students, establishing partnerships and promoting research applied to SDGs.
Social implications
The social relevance of the study lies in the emphasis on an SDG-centred culture, involving teaching, research, outreach, community engagement and governance practices.
Originality/value
The study’s uniqueness lies in identifying persistent challenges during the transition to an SDG-centred culture, necessitating multisectoral collaboration and educational programmes that integrate sustainability principles into the strategy of HEIs.
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Household chores are one of the most essential aspects of each individual's daily routine. The author has observed people from middle and upper socioeconomic backgrounds…
Abstract
Purpose
Household chores are one of the most essential aspects of each individual's daily routine. The author has observed people from middle and upper socioeconomic backgrounds, outsourcing women domestic workers to perform these household tasks. Even though these women domestic workers make up a significant portion of the total working class, they remain a socially and financially vulnerable section of society. The job of working in other people's private spaces comes with little or no regulation, social protection and no guarantee of decent work standards. The major aim of this study is to find out the social wellbeing of part-time domestic workers of Pune.
Design/methodology/approach
For this purpose, the researchers have interviewed 167 women working in the Pune region of Maharashtra, India from the period of October 2020 to January 2021. Descriptive methods and factor analysis have been used to analyze the collected data, so that socioeconomic wellbeing correlated with the significant factors explored. Further, the factors identified that Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFAs) are further validated through reliability analysis (Cronbach’s alpha for economic wellbeing and social wellbeing index for social wellbeing).
Findings
With the help of this study, researchers have tried to explore the significant factors to the social and economic wellbeing of domestic workers. The qualitative facts collected during the interview time have substantiated the findings got in EFA.
Originality/value
The paper aims to provide ground-level insights to policymakers focusing on the domestic work sector, and the gaps identified in the research will help the policymakers to frame the guidelines for the betterment of these informal domestic workers.
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Lana Sabelfeld, John Dumay, Sten Jönsson, Hervé Corvellec, Bino Catasús, Rolf Solli, Ulla Eriksson-Zetterquist, Elena Raviola, Paolo Quattrone and James Guthrie
This paper presents a reflection in memory and tribute to the work and life of Professor Barbara Czarniawska (1948–2024).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper presents a reflection in memory and tribute to the work and life of Professor Barbara Czarniawska (1948–2024).
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
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.
Originality/value
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.
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Angi Martin and Julie Cox
The education of deaf and hard of hearing (d/DHH) students is largely dependent on the preferred mode of communication. Historically, the mode of communication for d/DHH students…
Abstract
The education of deaf and hard of hearing (d/DHH) students is largely dependent on the preferred mode of communication. Historically, the mode of communication for d/DHH students was determined by society rather than by students and families. This resulted in divisiveness between the Deaf culture and proponents of oral communication. The adoption of IDEA allowed family participation in the decision-making process. Advances in technology increased student access to sound, resulting in more educational placement options. Despite the positive changes, the complex nature of hearing loss and the wide variety in cultural considerations have made it difficult to determine the best approach to deaf education. Thus, educators and providers are left in a conundrum of which version of “traditional” deaf education is best for students.
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Sajjad M. Jasimuddin, Con Connell and Jonathan H. Klein
Exploring a researchable topic and narrowing it down sufficiently to make it workable is a first task in any scientific research. This is particularly difficult when the…
Abstract
Exploring a researchable topic and narrowing it down sufficiently to make it workable is a first task in any scientific research. This is particularly difficult when the researcher is a novice, because s(he) is unlikely to be properly aware of what the essential issues and the research question(s) in the field are. This article addresses the question of how to navigate a research topic for an academic project. The article is potentially of interest to novice researchers and researchers new to a field. Illustrating its argument by means of an example in the area of knowledge management, the article proposes a set of guidelines for narrowing down a research topic to workable size. A number of recommendations are made; by utilizing these recommendations to construct a navigation map, it is hoped that a researcher can use fully formulate research question(s). It can be argued that drawing such a navigation map is an art in which prospective researchers need to be trained.
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Bino Catasús, Sofi Ersson, Jan‐Erik Gröjer and Fan Yang Wallentin
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationship underlying the often used adage “what gets measured gets managed”.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationship underlying the often used adage “what gets measured gets managed”.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper starts by reviewing the critique of the adage and then testing it by surveying 109 managers from 41 organizations. The paper includes the idea of mobilizing in the adage in order to highlight that there are other factors than indicating, which affect acting. In the positive test the paper uses the linear structural relations (LISREL) method to analyze the data.
Findings
The paper finds that that the relationship between indicating and acting is not significant and that the introduction of mobilizing gives a better model fit. As a result the reformulation of the adage is: “What gets mobilized gets managed, especially if it gets measured”.
Research limitations/implications
The paper shows that measuring is not per se a means to activate the organization. Rather, measurements support those issues that are already important in the organization. In practical terms, a reformulation could be: what gets talked about gets done, especially if there are numbers.
Practical implications
The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it finds no significant relationship between indicating and acting; and second, it introduces mobilizing to explain the relationship between indicating and acting.
Originality/value
The paper scrutinizes the conventional wisdom encapsulated in the adage and by introducing mobilizing as an additional variable. The findings suggest that the adage needs to be reformulated.
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This article draws on longitudinal research into the establishment of co‐principalships. It discusses this innovative approach to school management in relation to women’s…
Abstract
This article draws on longitudinal research into the establishment of co‐principalships. It discusses this innovative approach to school management in relation to women’s negotiations of their motivations, aspirations and strategies for career advancement and work/life balance. Longitudinal case studies of three primary school co‐principal initiatives were carried out between 1995 and 2000. Repeat interviews and observations with co‐principals, board chairpersons and school staff were conducted. Interviews were also undertaken with parents; students; and representatives of state education agencies, national governing boards, principals’ associations and teacher unions, alongside analysis of school and state policy documents. The resulting case study narratives described how each co‐principalship was initiated and either established or dis‐established. A discourse analysis of these narratives then examined how links between discourse, knowledge and power were being negotiated and challenged, as the new subject position of “co‐principal” was being constructed in New Zealand. This article analyses the significance of the similarities and differences in the women’s career backgrounds, motivations and strategies for moving into management positions. As they initiated their co‐principalships, the women variously went “against the grain” and/or co‐opted elements of the new public management corporate executive model for school leadership, which was introduced within the radical state restructuring during the late 1980s and early 90s in New Zealand.
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