Frances Gunn, Anna Cappuccitti and Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee
The purpose of this study is to investigate patterns in the social construction of occupational jurisdiction and related professional career identity. It examines the agency…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate patterns in the social construction of occupational jurisdiction and related professional career identity. It examines the agency associated with framing messages that influence perceptions about the professional nature and value of retail management careers. The aim is to identify sources which produce influential messages about perceptions about retail management careers and the content of these messages.
Design/methodology/approach
This study utilises a qualitative research methodology (focus-group interviews) to explore the observations of people involved with the monitoring and management of career messages. Two focus groups were conducted with a) nine Canadian retail practitioners and b) seven post-secondary educators from retail management education programmes.
Findings
The focus groups identify five sources of influential messages including (1) part-time retail work experience, (2) educational institutions, (3) parents, (4) retail industry/practitioners and (5) media. They also identify three content themes presented by these sources including (1) the importance of educational requirements, (2) the nature of occupational roles and (3) the value of the career.
Research limitations/implications
The significance and generalisability of the results are limited by the size and nature of the sample.
Practical implications
This study makes a practical contribution by identifying potential career awareness strategies.
Originality/value
This research makes a theoretical contribution by expanding understanding of the role of communication with career perceptions and with the related constitution of career professionalisation.
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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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This practitioner chapter is a reflection on how health visitors (HVs) working in a health and social care partnership (HSCP) in Scotland worked safely and innovatively throughout…
Abstract
This practitioner chapter is a reflection on how health visitors (HVs) working in a health and social care partnership (HSCP) in Scotland worked safely and innovatively throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to build and sustain professional relationships with families and uphold children's rights, continuing to empower and support families despite the necessary restrictions. HVs shared their lived experiences of working through the pandemic in a variety of ways including contributing to data collection for the author’s PhD research and through reflective discussion. All quotes within this reflection are anonymised.
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JungKun Park, Te-Lin (Doreen) Chung, Frances Gunn and Brian Rutherford
The main purpose of the study is to examine the relationships between e-listening and customers’ perceptions of interpersonal service quality and utilitarian value during…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of the study is to examine the relationships between e-listening and customers’ perceptions of interpersonal service quality and utilitarian value during e-contact center interactions.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants completed an online survey about their service experiences with e-contact centers. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
This study found that e-listening is highly related to interpersonal service quality and utilitarian value. Interpersonal service quality is positively related to e-satisfaction and e-loyalty, both with e-contact centers and e-retailers.
Research limitations/implications
The study utilizes general active empathetic listening (AEL) constructs identified in previous research. Although these constructs provide a way to differentiate the cognitive aspects of AEL, and therefore, a mechanism for discerning utilitarian value, further qualitative studies on nonverbal cues in online communications would develop insights into more granular, behavioral dimensions and effects of e-listening. In addition, the study is based on general e-retailing processes, and is not focused on a specific business or sector. The magnitude of the effects of e-listening on the different factors related to customer relationships may vary with different sectors.
Practical implications
E-contact centers should provide interpersonal interactions that emphasize utilitarian value. The centers should be staffed by employees who are well trained in AEL and who are provided with appropriate resources. The interactions of these e-contact centers can provide significant input to e-retailers about the improvement of service quality and resulting customer e-loyalty.
Originality/value
The research provides an original view of service quality in e-contact center contexts and makes a valuable contribution to understanding the evolving service offerings of multi-channel e-retailing. The study provides support for the argument that value and quality in interpersonal interactions with e-contact centers lead to satisfaction and consequently to customer loyalty.
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This introductory chapter provides the context for this edited collection: Care and Coronavirus: Perspectives on Children, Youth and Families which aims to understand care in the…
Abstract
This introductory chapter provides the context for this edited collection: Care and Coronavirus: Perspectives on Children, Youth and Families which aims to understand care in the context of COVID-19, the practices, experiences and potential futures of it for children, young people and families. In this chapter, the authors begin by exploring COVID-19 and its implications for children, young people and families. This includes a consideration of how particular discourses of childhood and youth often led to the marginalisation of children in care policy and practice during the lockdown periods. The authors then discuss interdisciplinary literature on care to identify directions in policy, practice and research, drawing attention to the political nature of care and the need for scholars of childhood, youth and family to engage with these critical and political approaches to care. The authors argue that developments in the field of Childhood Studies can be brought into productive dialogue with care to forge new ways of thinking through care and childhood. The final part of the chapter provides an overview of the ensuing chapters and concludes with the implications of this work for future research, policy and practice. The authors argue that COVID-19 heightened the attention paid to care and the ways in which care is vital for the maintenance of ourselves and the world around us, while also cautioning about the inequalities and the commodification of care that was revealed in these times. The authors end with a call for reflection on the failures and successes of caring during the pandemic and in its aftermath so we might plan a more caring, hopeful future.
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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. 10;
Findings
Individuals working as retailers must overcome considerable barriers in order to succeed. Greater awareness and understanding of the various challenges, issues and experiences that shape their strategic decision-making can help to increase their competitiveness.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers’ hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
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Andy Neely, Roberto Filippini, Cipriano Forza, Andrea Vinelli and Jasper Hii
The aim of this paper is to propose a novel reference framework that can be used to study how different kinds of innovation can result in better business performance and how…
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to propose a novel reference framework that can be used to study how different kinds of innovation can result in better business performance and how external factors can influence both the firm’s capacity to innovate and innovation itself. The value of the framework is demonstrated as it is applied in an exploratory study of the perceptions of public policy makers and managers from two European regions – the Veneto Region in Italy and the East of England in the UK. Amongst other things, the data gathered suggest that managers are generally less convinced than public policy makers, that the innovativeness of a firm is affected by factors over which policy makers have some control. This finding poses the question “what, if any, role can public policy makers play in enhancing a company’s competitiveness by enabling it to become more innovative?”
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Focuses on the successful leadership techniques of three unexpected leaders: Steve Jobs, Robert Polet and Tim Gunn.
Abstract
Purpose
Focuses on the successful leadership techniques of three unexpected leaders: Steve Jobs, Robert Polet and Tim Gunn.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments.
Findings
In 1976, at the age of 21, a then unknown young innovator co‐started a company in his parent's garage. Four years later he was worth $200 million, but when he was thirty his own company threw him out. Twelve years later they begged for him back, and Steve Jobs returned to Apple. In the fashion sector, France's Pinault family paid $8 billion for Gucci, sacked the company's CEO and most famous designer and hired the so called “ice‐cream” man Robert Polet to come and direct the show. Equally unpredictable, young CEO of Liz Claibourne Inc. William McComb decided to hire Tim Gunn, a man with a background in education and, more recently, TV, to change the fortunes of his company. In all three cases, hiring and firing decisions have been the subject of outrage, derision and very nervous stock brokers. But in all three cases the decisions have proved good. What is it about these three leaders that have them succeeding against the odds?
Practical implications
Offers advice to aspiring leaders in the business world.
Originality/value
Presents three successful but different leadership personalities, pointing out what three diverse men actually have in common.
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Gunn Elisabeth Birkelund and Yannick Lemel
To compare France and Germany, we will take a new approach to the discussion on lifestyles and social stratification. Instead of anchoring our definition of social stratification…
Abstract
To compare France and Germany, we will take a new approach to the discussion on lifestyles and social stratification. Instead of anchoring our definition of social stratification in predefined concepts, such as social class and status, we will empirically explore the latent patterns of social stratification and lifestyles. Our strategy allows us to investigate whether social stratification is best measured by one, two, or more dimensions; and then to map the associated patterns of lifestyles onto this/these dimension(s).
As indicators of social stratification, we use education, household income, and occupational status; and to measure lifestyles, we use data from two surveys on lifestyles and cultural consumption (Media og kulturforbruksundersøkelsen 2004, Norway; and module Pratiques culturelles et sportives, Enquête Permanente sur les Conditions de Vie 2003, France). We limit our analysis to occupationally active respondents, 20–64 years of age.
We would expect our findings to differ somewhat between the two countries; but given that social stratification is a pervasive element of all modern societies, we would also expect to find common empirical patterns that may be of relevance to the way we conceptualize lifestyles and social stratification.