Ingrid Willems, Ria Janvier and Erik Henderickx
This research paper analyses the extent to which national systems are following “new pay” trends, or whether there are still traditional features, which reflect the specificity of…
Abstract
Purpose
This research paper analyses the extent to which national systems are following “new pay” trends, or whether there are still traditional features, which reflect the specificity of employment in the public sector and the psychological contracts of public servants.
Design/methodology/approach
The data used in this paper was based on an online survey of six countries and was completed by pay experts in each case.
Findings
Previous comparative research on civil service pay systems has focused mostly on specific aspects of pay but this paper looks at a wide range of pay characteristics. It finds that although there have been changes in pay systems in the six countries studied, the “new pay” model has not been fully adopted and traditional reward systems are still strong, with the exception of Sweden and to a lesser extent the UK and Denmark. This is related to the importance that civil servants attach to their psychological contract in which equity and collectivism remain central values
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates that cultural factors and psychological contracts are important in influencing both practices and attitudes towards change in reward systems across countries and that traditional identities of public service are still evident.
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Stephanie van de Sanden, Kim Willems, Ingrid Poncin and Malaika Brengman
- Innovative technologies, such as DS, can engage different human senses and play an important role in enhancing the store atmosphere.
- The majority of DS networks feature content…
Abstract
Learning Outcomes
Innovative technologies, such as DS, can engage different human senses and play an important role in enhancing the store atmosphere.
The majority of DS networks feature content that is generic and is rarely tailored to the audience passing by the screens. As a result, digital displays are often ignored.
DS coupled with sensors and Artificial Intelligence allow for more relevant and personalized experiences.
Relevance through personalization can help retailers overcome display blindness, but challenges in terms of legal restrictions and ethical concerns exist to unlock its potential.
Nontouch interaction technologies, such as voice assistants, gesture controls, facial recognition, and augmented reality, present new ways of interacting with digital screens.
Innovative technologies, such as DS, can engage different human senses and play an important role in enhancing the store atmosphere.
The majority of DS networks feature content that is generic and is rarely tailored to the audience passing by the screens. As a result, digital displays are often ignored.
DS coupled with sensors and Artificial Intelligence allow for more relevant and personalized experiences.
Relevance through personalization can help retailers overcome display blindness, but challenges in terms of legal restrictions and ethical concerns exist to unlock its potential.
Nontouch interaction technologies, such as voice assistants, gesture controls, facial recognition, and augmented reality, present new ways of interacting with digital screens.
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Keywords
Elena Mazurova and Willem Standaert
This study aims to uncover the constraints of automation and the affordances of augmentation related to implementing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered systems across different…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to uncover the constraints of automation and the affordances of augmentation related to implementing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered systems across different task types: mechanical, thinking and feeling.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative study involving 45 interviews with various stakeholders in artistic gymnastics, for which AI-powered systems for the judging process are currently developed and tested. Stakeholders include judges, gymnasts, coaches and a technology vendor.
Findings
We identify perceived constraints of automation, such as too much mechanization, preciseness and inability of the system to evaluate artistry or to provide human interaction. Moreover, we find that the complexity and impreciseness of the rules prevent automation. In addition, we identify affordances of augmentation such as speedier, fault-less, more accurate and objective evaluation. Moreover, augmentation affords to provide an explanation, which in turn may decrease the number of decision disputes.
Research limitations/implications
While the unique context of our study is revealing, the generalizability of our specific findings still needs to be established. However, the approach of considering task types is readily applicable in other contexts.
Practical implications
Our research provides useful insights for organizations that consider implementing AI for evaluation in terms of possible constraints, risks and implications of automation for the organizational practices and human agents while suggesting augmented AI-human work as a more beneficial approach in the long term.
Originality/value
Our granular approach provides a novel point of view on AI implementation, as our findings challenge the notion of full automation of mechanical and partial automation of thinking tasks. Therefore, we put forward augmentation as the most viable AI implementation approach. In addition, we developed a rich understanding of the perception of various stakeholders with a similar institutional background, which responds to recent calls in socio-technical research.
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Colleen E. Mills and Faith Jeremiah
This study presents an original empirically based conceptual framework representing mobile microbusiness founders' experiences when converting to a franchise business model that…
Abstract
Purpose
This study presents an original empirically based conceptual framework representing mobile microbusiness founders' experiences when converting to a franchise business model that links individual-level variables to a sociomaterial process.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory interpretive research design produced this framework using data from the enterprise development narratives of mobile franchisors who had recently converted their mobile microbusinesses to a franchise business model.
Findings
The emergent framework proposes that franchisor’s conversion experience involves substantial identity work prompted by an identity dilemma originating in a conflict between role expectations and franchising operational demands. This dilemma materializes during franchise document creation and requires some degree of “identity undoing” to ensure business continuity. By acting as boundary-objects-in-use in the conversion process, the franchise documents provide a sociomaterial foundation for the business transition and the development of a viable franchisor identity.
Research limitations/implications
There is scant literature addressing the startup experiences of mobile microbusiness franchisors. The study was therefore exploratory, producing a substantive conceptual framework that will require further confirmatory studies.
Practical implications
By proposing that conversion to a franchise business model is experienced as an identity transformation coupled to a sociomaterial process centred on system documentation, this original empirically based conceptual framework not only addresses a gap in the individual-level literature on franchise development but also provides a framework to direct new research and discussions between intending franchisors and their professional advisors about person–enterprise fit.
Originality/value
The conceptual framework is the first to address franchisors' experience of transitioning any type of microbusiness to a franchise business model.
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Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).
The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains…
Abstract
The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.
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Adele Berndt and Corné Meintjes
Family businesses feature prominently in economies, including the South African wine industry, using websites to convey their family identity. This research paper aims to explore…
Abstract
Purpose
Family businesses feature prominently in economies, including the South African wine industry, using websites to convey their family identity. This research paper aims to explore the family identity elements that family wineries use on their websites, their alignment and how these are communicated online.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on Gioia’s methodology, a two-pronged approach was used to analyze 113 wineries’ websites’ text using Atlas. ti from an interpretivist perspective.
Findings
South African wineries use corporate identity, corporate personality and corporate expression to illustrate their familiness on their websites. It is portrayed through their family name and heritage, supported by their direction, purpose and aspirations, which emerge from the family identity and personality. These are dynamic and expressed through verbal and visual elements. Wineries described their behaviour, relevant competencies and passion as personality traits. Sustainability was considered an integral part of their brand promise, closely related to their family identity and personality, reflecting their family-oriented philosophy. These findings highlight the integration that exists among these components.
Practical implications
Theoretically, this study proposes a family business brand identity framework emphasising the centrality of familiness to its identity, personality and expression. Using websites to illustrate this familiness is emphasised with the recommendation that family businesses leverage this unique attribute in their identity to communicate their authenticity.
Originality/value
This study contributes to understanding what family wineries communicate on their websites, specifically by examining the elements necessary to create a family business brand based on the interrelationship between family identity, personality and expression with familiness at its core, resulting in a proposed family business brand identity framework.
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This paper aims to address the pressing challenges in research data management within institutional repositories, focusing on the escalating volume, heterogeneity and multi-source…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to address the pressing challenges in research data management within institutional repositories, focusing on the escalating volume, heterogeneity and multi-source nature of research data. The aim is to enhance the data services provided by institutional repositories and modernise their role in the research ecosystem.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyse the evolution of data management architectures through literature review, emphasising the advantages of data lakehouses. Using the design science research methodology, the authors develop an end-to-end data lakehouse architecture tailored to the needs of institutional repositories. This design is refined through interviews with data management professionals, institutional repository administrators and researchers.
Findings
The authors present a comprehensive framework for data lakehouse architecture, comprising five fundamental layers: data collection, data storage, data processing, data management and data services. Each layer articulates the implementation steps, delineates the dependencies between them and identifies potential obstacles with corresponding mitigation strategies.
Practical implications
The proposed data lakehouse architecture provides a practical and scalable solution for institutional repositories to manage research data. It offers a range of benefits, including enhanced data management capabilities, expanded data services, improved researcher experience and a modernised institutional repository ecosystem. The paper also identifies and addresses potential implementation obstacles and provides valuable guidance for institutions embarking on the adoption of this architecture. The implementation in a university library showcases how the architecture enhances data sharing among researchers and empowers institutional repository administrators with comprehensive oversight and control of the university’s research data landscape.
Originality/value
This paper enriches the theoretical knowledge and provides a comprehensive research framework and paradigm for scholars in research data management. It details a pioneering application of the data lakehouse architecture in an academic setting, highlighting its practical benefits and adaptability to meet the specific needs of institutional repositories.