Catherine Cassell, Anna Buehring, Gillian Symon and Phil Johnson
The purpose of the paper is to introduce the themed issue about qualitative research in the business and management field
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to introduce the themed issue about qualitative research in the business and management field
Design/methodology/approach
The paper considers some issues about how to define the term “qualitative research”, and then introduces each of the papers in the themed issue.
Findings
The contents of this themed issue demonstrate the insights that qualitative research can make into the management field.
Originality/value
A large amount of interest was generated in the themed issue. As a consequence, Emerald Publishing Group are launching a new journal which specifically focuses on qualitative research in this field.
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David Denyer and David Tranfield
The purpose of this paper is to address the qualitative synthesis and use of existing management research to inform management practice.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the qualitative synthesis and use of existing management research to inform management practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Three methods of qualitative synthesis, each with contrasting methodologies, are presented and their potential contribution in the management field explored.
Findings
Professional practice could be improved if practitioners had better access to the products of a large body of management research. Evidence‐based reviews of the literature in the management field could form a crucial bridge between research and practice. The task of reviewing and synthesising qualitative studies comprises a key challenge.
Research limitations/implications
The key issues in conducting qualitative synthesis are highlighted and the barriers and enablers to the application of the product of qualitative synthesis in practice are discussed.
Originality/value
The paper stimulates debate about what counts as an effective synthesis of qualitative research and highlights the growing array of approaches. In so doing the paper presents new models for the production of evidence‐based reviews.
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David Tranfield, David Denyer, Javier Marcos and Mike Burr
The division between academic knowledge and its relevance for practice is an enduring problem across many fields. Nowhere is this division more pronounced, and resolution of its…
Abstract
The division between academic knowledge and its relevance for practice is an enduring problem across many fields. Nowhere is this division more pronounced, and resolution of its negative features more required, than in academic management research and its relationship to management practice, for the advent of the knowledge revolution requires that organizations capitalize on all available assets including knowledge assets when improving performance either by increasing efficiencies or ensuring mission delivery in the medium term. How companies might achieve this has become a key question. This paper reports the “co‐production” model of knowledge creation and transfer through a novel case of this in practice. It outlines how academics and managers can work together using a “systematic review” of the science base to synthesize management knowledge and ensure its transfer. In doing so it offers management academics and practitioners a new model for the production and application of knowledge.
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David Tranfield, David Denyer and Mike Burr
Managing long‐term infrastructural assets, such as real estate, buildings and equipment, is becoming more topical at the strategic level. Such assets are reported to comprise 25…
Abstract
Managing long‐term infrastructural assets, such as real estate, buildings and equipment, is becoming more topical at the strategic level. Such assets are reported to comprise 25 per cent or more of corporate assets and occupancy costs represent 40‐50 per cent of net operating incomes and are often the third most expensive item (behind labour costs and IT). Managers with little experience of the strategic management of long‐term assets (SMoLTA) often find this a challenging agenda. This paper reports exploratory research on how managers are addressing the SMoLTA and is drawn from the views of senior managers in 25 organisations of varying sizes from the public and private sectors. In addition, the paper uses data from research on management practices in four case companies that have excellent reputations in this field, synthesising the findings into algorithmic form. This algorithm is developed and presented as a tentative framework which aims to help facilitate managers in aligning corporate and infrastructure strategy.
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Richard Adams, David Tranfield and David Denyer
The purpose of the study is to test the utility of a taxonomy of innovation based on perceived characteristics in the context of healthcare by exploring the extent to which…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to test the utility of a taxonomy of innovation based on perceived characteristics in the context of healthcare by exploring the extent to which discrete innovation types could be distinguished from each other in terms of process antecedents.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach was adopted to explore the process antecedents of nine exemplar cases of “challenging”, “under‐cover” and “readily‐adopted” healthcare innovations. Data were collected by semi‐structured interview and from secondary sources, and content analysed according to a theoretically informed framework of innovation process. Cluster analysis was applied to determine whether innovation types could be distinguished on the basis of process characteristics.
Findings
The findings provide moderate support for the proposition that innovations differentiated on the basis of the way they are perceived by potential users exhibit different process characteristics. Innovations exhibiting characteristics previously believed negatively to impact adoption may be successfully adopted but by a different configuration of processes than by innovations exhibiting a different set of characteristics.
Research limitations/implications
The findings must be treated with caution because the sample consists of self‐selected cases of successful innovation and is limited by sample size. Nevertheless, the study sheds new light on important process differences in healthcare innovation.
Practical implications
The paper offers a heuristic device to aid clinicians and managers to better understand the relatively novel task of promoting and managing innovation in healthcare. The paper advances the argument that there is under‐exploited opportunity for cross‐disciplinary organisational learning for innovation management in the NHS. If efficiency and quality improvement targets are to be met through a strategy of encouraging innovation, it may be advantageous for clinicians and managers to reflect on what this study found mostly to be absent from the processes of the innovations studied, notably management commitment in the form of norms, resource allocation and top management support.
Originality/value
This paper is based on original empirical work. It extends previous adoption related studies by applying a configurational approach to innovation attributes to offer new insights on healthcare innovation and highlight the importance of attention to process.
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This paper aims to identify specific challenges and opportunities when crafting literature reviews of qualitative accounting research. In addition, it offers potential remedies to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify specific challenges and opportunities when crafting literature reviews of qualitative accounting research. In addition, it offers potential remedies to frequent challenges when conducting such reviews.
Design/methodology/approach
This piece is based on recent methodological advice on conducting literature reviews and my own experience when conducting and publishing reviews that primarily cover qualitative accounting research.
Findings
The author chart three typical advantages and three typical use cases of literature reviews of qualitative accounting research, as well as the typical process steps and outputs of such reviews. Along with these process steps, The author identifies three overarching specific challenges when conducting such reviews and discusses potential remedies. Overall, this paper suggests that literature reviews of qualitative accounting research feature idiosyncratic challenges but offer specific opportunities at the same time.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the first to offer advice on the specific challenges and opportunities when conducting literature reviews of qualitative accounting research.
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Strategic technology partnering (STP) is considered to be significant for the access to novel technologies that are unknown to organisations. However, the performance…
Abstract
Purpose
Strategic technology partnering (STP) is considered to be significant for the access to novel technologies that are unknown to organisations. However, the performance heterogeneities within organisations can be explained by STP capabilities. Hence, the purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to provide a classificatory framework by categorising the various STP capabilities; second, to draw conclusions from the analysis of the empirical findings; and third, to guide further publications and identify future research needs.
Design/methodology/approach
The present paper adopts a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology. In this research, the extant empirical research on STP capabilities will first be classified and integrated within a classificatory framework. Lastly, the review insights will provide methodological suggestions along with theoretical themes for future research that have not been yet explored.
Findings
The study findings show that there is a strong need for a clear and unified terminology for the distinctive capabilities of STP and research has mainly highlighted certain common capabilities while other essential ones lack analysis. The SLR further reveals that most research has been quantitative in nature relying on secondary database research.
Originality/value
This SLR provides a thorough overview of prior research on STP capabilities investigating 65 articles published in highly ranked peer-reviewed journals, spanning a 22-year period from 1992 to 2014. In sum, his review structures extant STP capabilities literature into a proposed classificatory framework referred to as “CLONT-framework” and highlights its critical importance in strategic management and innovation research from a theoretical, empirical, and practical point of view.
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Lisa Maertens, Ellen Daniëls, Annie Hondeghem and Wouter Vandenabeele
Notwithstanding that evidence-based human resource management (EBHRM) is gaining more ground in governmental institutions, it is still lacking a clear and research-driven…
Abstract
Purpose
Notwithstanding that evidence-based human resource management (EBHRM) is gaining more ground in governmental institutions, it is still lacking a clear and research-driven conceptualisation (Marler and Fisher, 2013). Therefore, this study seeks to establish a fundamental clarifying concept of EBHRM by using a systematic literature review.
Design/methodology/approach
This method builds on an intensive scanning of 2,584 (interdisciplinary) articles, collected from Web of Science and Scopus. Eventually, 50 articles met the predetermined inclusion criteria and were analysed. The most recent conceptualisation of evidence-based management in the literature has served as a guideline to compare the review results and further scrutinise the differences and similarities (Barends et al., 2014; Barends and Rousseau, 2018; Rynes and Bartunek, 2017).
Findings
This has enabled us to elaborate a comprehensive conceptualisation. The articles were divided into two groups, one group (n = 31) has Rousseau et al. as a reference, the other (n = 19) did not, and used various definitions. Three themes were identified: evidence-based research methods (n = 30), specific skills (n = 36) necessary to apply an evidence-based strategy and a link with the academic-practice gap (n = 25).
Practical implications
Based on the results, we recommend adding two dimensions to strengthen the current conceptualisation: a first dimension referring to how evidence-based management can be established (i.e. which methods and skills are necessary) and a second dimension referring to the why of evidence-based management in an organisation (reducing the academic-practice gap).
Originality/value
This paper starts from a systematic review approach unlike previous research in the field to contribute to the further conceptualisation of EBHRM (Rynes and Bartunek, 2017).
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Detrin Qerimi, Krisztina Demeter and Dávid Losonci
Business process innovation (BPI) is an emerging field that has captured the interest of both academics and policymakers. However, the term is often fraught with ambiguity and…
Abstract
Purpose
Business process innovation (BPI) is an emerging field that has captured the interest of both academics and policymakers. However, the term is often fraught with ambiguity and inconsistencies in the literature, lacking a comprehensive understanding. The purpose of this paper is to explore what lies behind and determine the definition of BPI as well as to provide a deeper understanding of its key components and antecedents.
Design/methodology/approach
The study reviews the literature by applying Tranfield, Denyer and Smart (2003) method. A systematic approach was adopted to gather pertinent scholarly articles from the Scopus database, resulting in 516 potential articles, of which 32 relevant articles were included for analysis.
Findings
BPI encompasses innovations in processes, organizational structures and marketing. These components of innovation, along with crucial antecedents such as business process re-engineering, improvement and redesign, provide a comprehensive, end-to-end framework for defining BPI. These results demonstrate BPI as an internal change, modification or improvement of business processes and functions that should consolidate at least a type of innovation that is used in the organization and creates an output that is a value to the organization, customers and/or stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications
An important limitation of this study pertains to the inclusion criteria, which restricted to the “definitions”. Consequently, there is a possibility of overlooking some relevant literature. Furthermore, the framework is purely conceptual. Although grounded in the existing literature, the authors focused on examining the definitions and conceptual frameworks. The authors did not engage in empirical analysis or evaluate the methodologies of the selected papers. Furthermore, this study exclusively includes research articles published in academic journals, intentionally excluding books, conference proceedings and other forms of literature that could have been relevant. Another limitation of the study is the exclusive use of the Scopus database for article selection. This approach potentially overlooks relevant papers available in other databases, such as Web of Science, which offers a distinct collection of high-impact journals that are curated differently.
Practical implications
The research contributions of this study remain relevant, as it consolidates existing literature on a relatively underexplored concept and offers a comprehensive overview of BPI, which can serve as a valuable reference for future scholarly work. This paper is also crucial for practitioners, as it provides a clear understanding of BPI, empowering them to make more informed decisions. By defining BPI more precisely, it can improve communication with stakeholders, promoting collaboration and innovation. With a shared understanding of the concept, teams are better positioned to drive projects forward successfully. Moreover, the study emphasizes that company leadership should view both incremental progress and breakthrough innovations as essential components of a successful BPI strategy. BPI facilitates small, incremental changes that offer quick wins with limited disruption to existing processes. Simultaneously, it promotes a flexible approach, allowing innovations to be scaled and adapted across different areas of the organization. In this way, BPI not only streamlines operations but also aligns processes with customer needs, ensuring that improvements are both operationally efficient and value-driven.
Originality/value
By synthesizing a comprehensive selection of literature spanning the years 1990–2022, this paper represents a unique contribution to the conceptualization of BPI through its components and antecedents.
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Piyya Muhammad Rafi-Ul-Shan, David B. Grant, Patsy Perry and Shehzad Ahmed
Fashion supply chain (FSC) research has identified two important issues of sustainability management and risk management. However, investigation of these issues is relatively…
Abstract
Purpose
Fashion supply chain (FSC) research has identified two important issues of sustainability management and risk management. However, investigation of these issues is relatively sparse and has primarily been independent with little combinatory research, despite their important interrelationships. The purpose of this paper is to address that gap by critically reviewing extant literature to synthesise important sustainability risk issues in FSCs and proposing an empirical research agenda.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a structured literature review approach and Denyer and Tranfield’s (2009) context, intervention, mechanisms and outcome (CIMO) criteria for critical analysis to enable the development of future empirical research areas.
Findings
While sustainability and risk are discussed independently in the supply chain literature, combinatory discussions are very limited, despite the interdependence of these concepts. There is little substantial research on sustainability risk in global FSCs and therefore, an empirical research agenda is proposed with the four research directions to address the gap and take forward the notion of supply chain sustainability risk management in FSCs: definition; organisation and management; influence on performance; and development of a conceptual framework.
Research limitations/implications
This paper provides a critical literature review and thus lacks empirical study.
Practical implications
This paper highlights important issues in sustainability risk management for FSCs and presents an agenda for future empirical research.
Originality/value
This paper contributes by providing a combinatory synthesis of sustainability and risk management in FSC literature and an agenda for future empirical research.