David S. Waller and Helen J. Waller
In recent years, there has been a “heritagisation” of pop culture, including music, whereby cultural institutions, such as galleries and museums in primarily Western countries…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, there has been a “heritagisation” of pop culture, including music, whereby cultural institutions, such as galleries and museums in primarily Western countries, have run exhibitions based on pop culture to successfully market to a new audience of visitors. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the issue of the “heritagisation” of pop culture by museums and observe visitor response to a specific music-related exhibition, linking intangible and tangible elements of the exhibition to provide a framework to understand the visitor experience.
Design/methodology/approach
The purpose will be achieved by observing the “heritagisation” of pop culture in the literature and past exhibitions, proposing how cultural institutions have linked the intangible and tangible elements of music in pop culture for an exhibition and observe visitors' feedback from online comments posted on Tripadvisor undertaken during the original “David Bowie is” exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London.
Findings
From the Leximancer analysis, a new conceptual framework for visitor experience at an exhibition was developed, which contains three visitor-related categories: pre-exhibition, exhibition space and exhibition experience, with five themes (tickets, exhibition, displayed objects, David Bowie and visitors) and 41 text concepts.
Practical implications
For cultural institutions the implications are that there can be opportunities to curate exhibitions on pop culture or music-related themes, which can include intangible and tangible elements, such as songs, videos, tickets, costumes, musical instruments and posters. These exhibitions can also explore the changing socio/political/historical/cultural background that contextualises pop cultural history.
Originality/value
This theory-building study advances the body of knowledge as it links music in pop culture and cultural institutions, specifically in this case a highly successful music-related exhibition at a museum, and provides a theoretical model based on tangibility elements. Further, it analyses museum visitor comments by using the qualitative software program, Leximancer, to develop a new conceptual framework for visitor experience.
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The purpose of this paper is to reveal, how newspaper archives can support contextualisation in management history research by providing quantitative and/or qualitative, accurate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reveal, how newspaper archives can support contextualisation in management history research by providing quantitative and/or qualitative, accurate, contemporary and cost-effective, data which is not always available elsewhere.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper comprises a literature review, which summarises research into contextual analysis and newspaper archive theory; combined with content and textual analysis of articles published in the Journal of Management History and Management and Organizational History (2013-2017).
Findings
The findings reveal that the concept of contextualisation is absent from recent management history articles and that few management historians use newspaper archival sources as a data collection strategy.
Research limitations/implications
There is compelling evidence to suggest that contextual analysis can – perhaps should – be incorporated into management historians’ research strategies because managerial organisations operate in open systems, which are influenced by external factors.
Originality/value
This paper juxtaposes two neglected aspects of management history research, contextuality and newspaper archives, and proposes that a key source for historic contextual analysis is newspaper data.
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Toni Eagar and Andrew Lindridge
The academic discourse around celebrity and iconicity has resulted in the same human brand as labeled as an inauthentic and illegitimate celebrity and as a culturally important…
Abstract
Purpose
The academic discourse around celebrity and iconicity has resulted in the same human brand as labeled as an inauthentic and illegitimate celebrity and as a culturally important symbol of legitimate achievement. We address the research question of how are contradictions between celebrity and iconicity resolved in creating and managing a human brand.
Methodology/approach
Using structuration theory, we analyzed David Bowie’s 50 year career, from 1964 to 2013, totaling 562 documents. Applying Langley’s (1999) stages of data collection of grounding, organizing, and replicating, we develop a process of model of celebrity and iconicity.
Findings
We identify three stages of human brand symbolic associations: forming, fixing, and transitioning associations. These represent alternate trajectories that Bowie and Ziggy Stardust followed to become icons. In resolving his trajectories across these stages, Bowie adapts and adopts commercial materials, business practices, and new technologies to converge his symbolic associations into a coherent iconic human brand.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of this paper lie in focusing on one human brand in a particular industry. Future research is suggested in three areas: (1) the relationship between the proposed model and other human brand activities; (2) to explore how the process is manipulated by other market agents; and (3) whether a human brand’s association shifts can precede culture.
Originality/value
This perspective challenges existing conceptualizations of celebrity and iconicity by framing them as inter-related processes, where celebrity associations are fixed in time, while iconic associations transition across time periods to reflect changing cultural values and concerns.
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Toni Eagar, Andrew Lindridge and Diane M. Martin
Existing brand literature on assemblage practices has focused on providing a map or geography of brand assemblages, suggesting that an artist brand’s ability to evolve and achieve…
Abstract
Purpose
Existing brand literature on assemblage practices has focused on providing a map or geography of brand assemblages, suggesting that an artist brand’s ability to evolve and achieve brand longevity remains constant. Using geology of assemblage, this study aims to explore the types and mechanisms of change in brand evolutions to address the problem of identifying when and how a brand can transform in an evolving marketplace.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors apply an interpretive process data approach using secondary archival data and in-depth interviews with 31 self-identified fans to explore the artist brand David Bowie over his 50-year career.
Findings
As an artist brand, Bowie’s ability to evolve his brand was constrained by his assemblage. Despite efforts to defy ageing and retain a youth audience appeal, both the media and his fans interpreted and judged Bowie’s current efforts from a historical perspective and continuously reevaluated his brand limiting his ability to change to remain relevant.
Practical implications
Brand managers, particularly artist brands and human brands, may find that their ability to change is constrained by meanings in past strata over time. Withdrawal from the marketplace and the use of silence as a communicative practice enabling brand transformations.
Originality/value
The geology of assemblage perspective offers a more nuanced understanding of brand changes over time beyond the possibilities of incremental or disruptive change. We identify the mechanisms of change that result in minor sedimentation, moderate cracks and major ruptures in a brand’s evolution.
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Melvin Simensky and Lisa A. Small
Intellectual property owners put themselves at a competitive disadvantage if they rely only on traditional insurance policies to manage risk.
This paper examines the issues and barriers that inhibit faculty from using technology in instruction. It uses the diffusion and adoption theory as a means to understand and…
Abstract
This paper examines the issues and barriers that inhibit faculty from using technology in instruction. It uses the diffusion and adoption theory as a means to understand and explain how individuals and organisations react when an innovation is introduced into their environment. The framework proposed combines the empirical data from research using concept mapping with the theoretical factors identified from the literature to create a structured process that identifies the priority issues and barriers to technology adoption. Multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis were used to analyse the data gathered from the brainstorming session. A barrier definition and classification scheme was created and used to connect issues to barriers of adoption. Descriptive mixed methods approach was also used to develop a pictorial multivariate conceptual framework for understanding the relationships between issues and barriers to adopting instructional technology. Findings suggest that as a higher education institution in the early adoption phase of using instructional technology approaches critical mass of faculty users, it must address the issues of the critical mass, in order for the mainstream faculty to see the utility in the use of instructional technology in the classroom. This research lays the foundation for further research into the development of a systematic process or approach for managing the diffusion and adoption of technology in instruction at an institute of higher education.