Susanne Bahn is a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Innovative Practice, School of Management, Faculty of Business and Law, at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. Her…
Abstract
Susanne Bahn is a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Innovative Practice, School of Management, Faculty of Business and Law, at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. Her interests lie in Occupational Health & Safety practice and processes, risk management, middle management change processes, and vocational educational training in the construction and mining industries.
Pauline Joseph, Aaron Justin Kent, Peter Damian Green, Matthew Robinson and Amanda Bellenger
The purpose of this paper is to develop data visualisation proof of concept prototypes that will enable the Curtin University Library team to explore its users’…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop data visualisation proof of concept prototypes that will enable the Curtin University Library team to explore its users’ information-seeking behaviour and collection use online by analysing the library’s EZproxy logs.
Design/methodology/approach
Curtin Library’s EZproxy log file data from 2013 to 2017 is used to develop the data visualisation prototypes using Unity3D software.
Findings
Two visualisation prototypes from the EZproxy data set are developed. The first, “Global Visualisation of Curtin Research Activity”, uses a geographical map of the world as a platform to show where each research request comes from, the time each is made and the file size of the request. The second prototype, “Database Usage Visualisation”, shows the use of the library’s various subscription databases by staff and students daily, over a month in April 2017.
Research limitations/implications
The paper has following limitations: working to a tight timeline of ten weeks; time taken to cleanse noise data; and requirements for storing and hosting the voluminous data sets.
Practical implications
The prototypes provide visual evidence of the use of Curtin Library’s digital resources at any time and from anywhere by its users, demonstrating the demand for the library’s online service offerings. These prototype evidence-based data visualisations empower the library to communicate in a compelling and interesting way how its services and subscriptions support Curtin University’s missions.
Originality/value
The paper provides innovative approaches to create immersive 3D data visualisation prototypes to make sense of complex EZproxy data sets.
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Le phénomène touristique a été mis sous accusation — maintes fois avec raison — à cause de ses effets négatifs dans l'exploitation du sol et la destruction du patrimoine bâti. Les…
Abstract
Le phénomène touristique a été mis sous accusation — maintes fois avec raison — à cause de ses effets négatifs dans l'exploitation du sol et la destruction du patrimoine bâti. Les côtes espagnoles sont la preuve évidente des effets négatifs du tourisme. Cependant, ces effets ne peuvent toujours être généralisés, puisque il y a aussi des exemples de ses aspects positifs dans la reconstruction du patrimoine bâti. Le Réseau de “Paradores” espagnols est un exemple classique de la contribution du tourisme à la reconstruction du patrimoine bâti. Par conséquent, le problème ne se pose dans la défense ou critique d'une manière générique du rôle du tourisme dans la reconstruction du patrimoine bâti, mais dans la détermination du modèle ou stratégie de développement touristique qui doit être choisi à chaque occasion.
Julie Abrams and Damian von Stauffenberg
The rapid growth of foreign private lending to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the past several years has led to a surprising reversal of roles between government-owned…
Abstract
The rapid growth of foreign private lending to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the past several years has led to a surprising reversal of roles between government-owned development agencies and private lenders. Development institutions [International Financial Institutions (IFIs)] are concentrating their loans in the strongest MFIs, leaving private lenders to look for opportunities among smaller, riskier borrowers. Development institutions are “crowding” private lenders out of the best MFIs.
Damian Ruth, Frances Gunn and Jonathan Elms
The purpose of this paper is to explore the everyday tasks and activities undertaken by retailer entrepreneurs and owner/managers when they strategize. Specifically, it…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the everyday tasks and activities undertaken by retailer entrepreneurs and owner/managers when they strategize. Specifically, it interrogates the nature of the intuitive, idiosyncratic strategic agency of a retail owner/manager.
Design/methodology/approach
Through adopting a combination of phenomenological and narrative approaches, focussing on illuminating the everyday operational and strategic practices of one retail entrepreneur and owner/manager, a richly contextualized, ideographic account of the procedures and outcomes of their strategizing is provided.
Findings
By revealing narratives that are seldom obvious – often kept behind the counter, and not on display – the authors are able to unravel the social reality of the retailer's decision-making, and the influences of identity, connections with customers and community, emotions and the spirit, and love and family. This study also illuminates how entrepreneurs retrospectively make sense out of the messiness of everyday life particularly when juggling the melding of personal and business realities.
Research limitations/implications
This paper explores the experiences and reflections of the decision-making of one retail entrepreneur manager within a particular business setting. However, the use of an ideographic approach allowed for an in depth investigation of the realities of strategic practices undertaken by a retail owner that may be extrapolated beyond this immediate context.
Originality/value
This paper develops original insights into the retailer as an individual, vis-à-vis an organization, as well as nuanced understanding of the actual nature of work undertaken by retail entrepreneurs and owner/managers. To this end, this paper contributes to the “strategy-as-practice” debate in the strategic management literature, and to narrative analysis and advances insights to the perennial question: “what is a retailer?”.
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– The purpose of this paper is to understand the phenomena of an employee “being valued” in the context of a manufacturing SME.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the phenomena of an employee “being valued” in the context of a manufacturing SME.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study using rich data from in-depth interviews following a classical (Glaserian) grounded theory.
Findings
A three dimensional concept of authentic pride enablement, altruistically-orientated shared-purpose and servant leadership explained the reasons people felt valued.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations were that this study was in one context
Practical implications
The implications are that if organisations consider a servant leadership approach, enabling of authentic pride and fostering of altruistically-orientated shared-purpose, this may help employees feel valued.
Social implications
This has implications for how organisations can show their employees that they are valued.
Originality/value
“Being valued” is a concept/construct that is widely quoted as a driver for employee engagement and yet rarely unpacked.
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Lauren Langman and Meghan A. Burke
Arthur Schlessinger (1983) suggested that the contradictions and paradoxes of American foreign policy reflected contradictions and paradoxes in the underlying character of the…
Abstract
Arthur Schlessinger (1983) suggested that the contradictions and paradoxes of American foreign policy reflected contradictions and paradoxes in the underlying character of the people. We would go further to suggest that the early years of colonial life, much like the early years of a person's life, had major consequences ever since. The intersection of Puritanism, available land, and eventually the rise of a commercial culture would forge a unique trajectory of what would be called “American Exceptionalism”, reflecting an “American character”, which itself is subject to three paradoxes or polarities, individualism vs. community, toughness vs. compassion, and moralism vs. pragmatism. The effect of this legacy and the dialectical aspect of American character were first evident when Winthrop proclaimed the city on the hill as the new Jerusalem. The legacy of that vision is taking place today in Iraq.
The purpose of this research is to enable the examination of sensemaking mechanisms, inherent in the discourse of organizational spirituality (OS), which embed meanings this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to enable the examination of sensemaking mechanisms, inherent in the discourse of organizational spirituality (OS), which embed meanings this discourse creates. In order to achieve this goal the paper explores the pivotal notion of “spirituality” in OS, examines the conditions of emergence of its main characteristics, and inquires into OS participants' mental processes which help to sustain it. Thus, the conceptual space is critically explored in which organizational actors make their commitments to attain goals by spiritual means and in which the alleged causal mechanisms operate.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach taken is a critical analysis of literature and empirical material.
Findings
The logic of OS conceptual framework is vastly inconsistent with rationalism, which underpins typical functionalist assertions of OS proponents. The central OS notion – spirituality – lacks concrete and independent characteristics. It can be perceived as a mere classification tool which groups together certain “positive” phenomena, perspectives or outcomes. The legitimacy of this operation within the discourse is guaranteed by its episteme – the set of rules, which makes certain moves possible and excludes some others. It may easily enforce or preclude the particular interpretations of organizational reality or validity of certain initiatives. The latter hints at the political dimension of OS.
Research limitations/implications
Potential researchers should be sensitive to the issues of logical circularity of OS discourse and its degree of incoherence with rationalist assumptions. The design of research on OS should attempt to delve into meanings created by OS discourse profiting from proximity to research subjects ensured by careful application of qualitative methods. Research could focus more on the political dimension: issues of power relations; methods of exerting influence; gaining support, etc., instead of contemplating more vague territories which OS studies seem inclined to explore. These results refer to a limited number of participants and organizations and are not fully generalizable, which is inevitable in qualitative research. The geographical concentration of the research sample might have affected the results to some extent, however this fact is innocuous to the overall validity of this study.
Originality/value
Beyond the scope of many recent papers that emphasize the positive role of organizational spirituality as a means of attaining particular objectives, the paper offers an alternative approach in which OS makes such calculations very difficult, and yet creates conditions which are conducive to advancing OS participants' political agendas.