Abstract
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Abstract
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Isabelle Bourdon, Chris Kimble and Nathalie Tessier
The purpose of this paper was to gain a better understanding of the nature of online communities, the relationships within them and the relationship between such communities and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to gain a better understanding of the nature of online communities, the relationships within them and the relationship between such communities and the host organization. Knowledge sharing via participation in online communities is a central part of many multinational organizations’ business strategies; however, the task is not always straightforward.
Design/methodology/approach
The research focused on power relationships in online communities. The approach was inductive and consisted of an exploratory case study using semi-structured interviews, augmented with direct observation and documentary sources, within a framework provided by the French sociologists Crozier and Friedberg.
Findings
The findings identify the various reasons for participating in the community and aspects of both the relationships within the community and between the community and the host company.
Practical implications
The research shows that online communities are not easy to categorize and that attempting to use a single solution for the management of such communities risks oversimplifying a complex situation. It also shows that Crozier and Friedberg’s framework is useful in highlighting issues that otherwise might not have been noticed.
Originality/value
Issues of power are often neglected in studies of online communities. The use of Crozier and Friedberg’s framework offers a novel way to examine power relationships, which can offer new insights into how such communities function.
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Hua Wang and Chris Kimble
The article shows how changes in product architecture have become the driving force behind a breakthrough strategy that has enabled Chinese carmakers to produce vehicles that are…
Abstract
Purpose
The article shows how changes in product architecture have become the driving force behind a breakthrough strategy that has enabled Chinese carmakers to produce vehicles that are broadly equivalent to the products of western carmakers but at a fraction of the price.
Design/methodology/approach
The article presents an analysis of the development of a strategy based in an innovative product architecture used by a Chinese carmaker. The analysis covers the period between 1998 and 2006 and presents the results of a longitudinal study carried out by one of the authors in China between 2002 and 2007.
Findings
The article uses the literature on product architecture and breakthrough strategy to describe a quasi‐open modular product architecture used by Chinese carmakers. It provides an historical account of one company's approach to car making using this strategy and describes how it has allowed it to move from being a manufacturer of refrigerators to the ninth largest carmaker in China in period of ten years.
Practical implications
The article highlights the strategic potential of innovations in product architecture in general and that of quasi‐open modular architectures in particular. It also highlights the role of the emerging markets in China as the source of potential drivers for breakthrough strategies and as a threat to the current position of western carmakers.
Originality/value
This article uses evidence based on direct observation to describe a novel approach to product architecture that has been pioneered in the emergent markets in China.
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Frances Rust and Christopher M. Clark
This brief history of the International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (ISATT) documents developments and trends during the decade 2013–2023. To situate recent ISATT…
Abstract
This brief history of the International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (ISATT) documents developments and trends during the decade 2013–2023. To situate recent ISATT history, we begin with an overview of the association's first 30 years (1983–2012). The dominant theme of those early years was developing ISATT as a recognized and influential professional organization connecting researchers on teaching and teacher education from a growing list of nations and regions of the world. During the most recent decade, there has been a concerted effort toward broad internationalization through biennial conferences and regional meetings, and a growing network of national representatives from across the world. Also, the ISATT journal, Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, the journal, which began in 1995, has published hundreds of peer-reviewed articles written by more than 1000 authors and coauthors, contributing to a growing body of knowledge about teaching and teacher education in many cultures. In the last 20 years and especially in the past 10, the locations of ISATT meetings have become significantly more diverse, following a trend of greater internationalization compared with ISATT's European and North American beginnings. At the same time, the number of ISATT members remains stable and small thereby preserving a collegial and collaborative tone in our exchanges. In sum, ISATT's recent decade finds the association intellectually healthy, successful in managing the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, and enriched by the proliferation of multinational points of view and styles of research.
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This paper aims to report the results of a study into visitor evaluations of interactions with hotel employees in Mauritius. Given that the island's core tourism product is based…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report the results of a study into visitor evaluations of interactions with hotel employees in Mauritius. Given that the island's core tourism product is based on luxury resorts, tourist‐hotel employee interactions possess a potential for determining satisfactory or unsatisfactory holiday evaluations on the part of visitors.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 103 visitors is interviewed using a semi‐structured guide comprising open‐ended questions. This approach reflects the lived experiences of guests and helps to better assess the role played by nationality when reporting visitor‐staff interactions. Data are analyzed using both thematic analysis and textual analysis software.
Findings
Nationality, ethnicity and languages spoken are found to be factors that determine differences in requirements from hotel staff on the part of tourists. Nationality is the strongest discriminator of these requirements.
Research limitations/implications
As with many examples of qualitative research, the findings are time and place specific. Yet nonetheless, the concepts of personal construct theory permit some generalization.
Practical implications
Resort complex staff and management need to note the differences required by guests of different national groupings, and to appreciate that less than warm responses by some clients are not indicative of dissatisfaction.
Originality/value
The paper distinguishes between guests not only on the basis of nationality and ethnicity, but also languages spoken. No similar study relating to resort complexes in Mauritius has been identified. The study also uses two modes of textual data analysis to support the interpretation offered.
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Ian Sealy, Walter Wehrmeyer, Chris France and Matt Leach
This paper seeks to identify a requirement for a new sustainable development management system (SMS) model for global business organizations (GBOs) and proposes some essential…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to identify a requirement for a new sustainable development management system (SMS) model for global business organizations (GBOs) and proposes some essential features for such a model.
Design/methodology/approach
The concept is developed in four stages. First, a definition of a GBO is developed, after reviewing existing definitions and identifying their limitations. The characteristics of GBOs are reviewed, with emphasis on their implications for the management of sustainability programmes. A review of SMS literature and of existing SMS codes and standards has been made, and the limitations of existing SMSs are critically reviewed. Drawing on this three‐part analysis, a new model of an SMS suitable for use in GBOs is described.
Findings
Existing definitions of global business organizations are inadequate. Existing sustainability management systems standards and codes do not meet the requirements of global businesses (or indeed of other, regional businesses) in several respects.
Originality/value
The paper shows that there are special requirements for SMSs in GBOs, and that these are not met by any of the existing models or proposals in the literature. The paper proposes a new model, which combines best‐practice from existing literature with new features.