The purpose of this study was to use the inquiry process to engage fifth grade students in a community-based project that would educate them about what it means to be a…
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to use the inquiry process to engage fifth grade students in a community-based project that would educate them about what it means to be a civic-minded citizen. While the unique nature of any community-based project prevents exact replication of the project in another context, the inquiry process itself and the overall positive results are worthy of consideration by other teachers and teacher educators who hope to develop civic-minded citizens in the intermediate grades. This article will describe the context in which the project was implemented, the inquiry process that unfolded in one fifth grade classroom, and the lessons that were learned by all involved. The project suggests that if students are to become active citizens for the future, then they must be guided through discussion, research, and service learning experiences. Most importantly, this project seems to indicate that students may become more civic-minded when they are provided with authentic opportunities to participate in meaningful citizenship activities within their own communities.
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Noel Scott, Brent Moyle, Ana Cláudia Campos, Liubov Skavronskaya and Biqiang Liu
M. Ilangkumaran and P. Thamizhselvan
This paper aims to investigate the failure modes present in the dangerous operations and modify processes. After the identification of potential failures, prioritization will be…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the failure modes present in the dangerous operations and modify processes. After the identification of potential failures, prioritization will be made to rank them for quick attention and immediate correction in the operation/modification.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology utilizes the strength of hazard and operability (HAZOP) study and failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) to identify and prioritize the hidden potential failures present in the system. Fuzzy linguistics approach has been applied to enhance the performance of the study. This study correlates HAZOP study, FMEA and fuzzy system.
Findings
This proposed technique is used to find the better ranking of the failure modes. Risk priority number and fuzzy weighted geometric mean of the risk factors are used to improve the performance of the risk evaluation. This makes the assessment easier to be carried out effectively for critically operated systems.
Practical implications
This proposed approach could be very useful for the systematic and rational risk assessment of passive systems.
Originality/value
A new decision‐making approach is used to prioritize the failure modes present in the process industry with use of a case study.
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Junzhe Ji, Emmanuella Plakoyiannaki, Pavlos Dimitratos and Shouming Chen
The purpose of this paper is to examine how qualitative case research (QCR) has been conducted in the field of international entrepreneurship (IE) in terms of onto-epistemology…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how qualitative case research (QCR) has been conducted in the field of international entrepreneurship (IE) in terms of onto-epistemology and methodology. QCR can serve as an umbrella approach for contextualizing and capturing the complexity of IE opportunities, events, conditions and relationships, and to illuminate and enrich the understanding of related IE processes.
Design/methodology/approach
A thorough literature review was conducted of IE journal articles published between 1989 and mid-2017. This paper identified and analyzed 292 journal articles in terms of theoretical purpose and research design.
Findings
The findings suggest that the “positivistic” QCR is the customary convention of QCR in IE. “Exploratory” and “theory building” are the two most commonly pursued objectives. There have also been atypical practices and increased methodological rigor in recent years. Alternative paradigmatic QCRs that depart from positivistic assumptions are in an early stage of development in IE.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research examining QCR onto-epistemology and methodology approaches in IE, providing a useful state of the art that has been hitherto lacking in the literature. Based on this paper’s findings, the authors suggest that the IE field would benefit from greater methodological transparency in the reporting and writing of QCR. Also, the breadth of knowledge and legitimacy of the IE area would be enhanced through more studies involving unconventional (beyond positivistic) QCR.
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Linear projects often involve lengthy construction periods, necessitating dynamic adjustments to the plan. Completely rescheduling remaining activities every time can lead to…
Abstract
Purpose
Linear projects often involve lengthy construction periods, necessitating dynamic adjustments to the plan. Completely rescheduling remaining activities every time can lead to unnecessary time and cost wastage and significant deviations in resource supply. To address these issues, this paper proposes a dynamic scheduling method designed to effectively manage both time and cost during construction projects.
Design/methodology/approach
Determining the rescheduling frequency through a hybrid driving strategy and buffer mechanism, introducing rolling window technology to determine the scope of local rescheduling and constructing a local rescheduling model under the constraints of time and cost deviation with the objective of minimizing the cost. Combined decision-making for construction and rushing modes constrained by multiple construction scenarios. Opposite learning is introduced to optimize the hybrid algorithm solution.
Findings
Arithmetic examples and cases confirm the model’s feasibility and applicability. The results indicate that (1) continuous rescheduling throughout project construction is essential and effective and (2) a well-structured buffer mechanism can prevent redundant rescheduling and enhance overall control of cost and schedule deviations.
Originality/value
This study introduces an innovative dynamic scheduling framework for linear engineering, offering a method for effectively controlling schedule deviations during construction. The developed model enhances rescheduling efficiency and introduces a combined quantization strategy to increase the model’s applicability to linear engineering. This model emerges as a promising decision support tool, facilitating the implementation of sustainable construction scheduling practices.
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Guided by a relational, stakeholder perspective of resource-based theory, the purpose of the current investigation is to help unpack the complexity of the performance-enhancing…
Abstract
Purpose
Guided by a relational, stakeholder perspective of resource-based theory, the purpose of the current investigation is to help unpack the complexity of the performance-enhancing nature of coopetition for international entrepreneurs, namely the interplay between collaboration and competition. The context features under-resourced wine producers owned and managed by entrepreneurs that have implemented an internationalised business model. The focus of the study involves the influence of a “competitor orientation”, namely when decision-makers understand the short-term strengths, weaknesses, long-term capabilities and strategies of key current and potential rivals.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collection primarily featured semi-structured interviews with owner-managers of wine-producing firms in New Zealand that reflected heterogeneity amongst international entrepreneurs' strategies targeting different product markets within their respective business models. Secondary data were also collected where possible. Specifically, interviewees' firms exhibited different portfolios involving wine sales (with varying export intensities) together with augmented sales of tourism-related products/services focussed on the domestic market.
Findings
Coopetition activities amongst international entrepreneurs varied; i.e. influenced by respective owner-managers' competitor orientations. Illustrations of different decision-makers' business models within a 2 × 2 matrix feature those with a low- or high-export intensity, together with a narrow or augmented product portfolio. Internationalising entrepreneurs' perceptions varied regarding the extent to which their respective business model was oriented towards local cluster-based domestic tourism with limited export sales, as opposed to those with national and more importantly international wine sales. Possessing and acting upon relevant knowledge manifested in which competitors international entrepreneurs collaborated with and the extent to which this took place across product-market strategies. In turn, this enabled particular decision-makers to exhibit flexibility; hence, entrepreneurs enter and exit certain markets together with changing export intensities, as varying opportunities were identified and exploited.
Originality/value
Although the performance-enhancing nature of coopetition is largely established in prior literature, the complexity of that relationship remains relatively under-researched, not least, amongst international entrepreneurs. More specifically, the extent to which decision-makers that are engaged in coopetition exhibit a competitor orientation remains under-researched. Unique insights feature a 2 × 2 matrix in order to provide originality regarding international entrepreneurs' respective product-market strategies within their business models that are underpinned by varying coopetition relationships and competitor orientations.
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Esther Calderon-Monge, Roger-Guzman Redondo-Rodriguez and José M. Ramírez-Hurtado
The gap between the self-declarations of buyers as responsible consumers and the purchase of sustainable products means that consumer knowledge needs to be examined in depth, to…
Abstract
Purpose
The gap between the self-declarations of buyers as responsible consumers and the purchase of sustainable products means that consumer knowledge needs to be examined in depth, to guide the initiatives of eco-entrepreneurs towards sectors and demands that will make them viable and to advance responsible production and consumption – Objective 12: Sustainable Development 2030. The purpose of this study is to analyse the profile of consumers in relation to the purchase of ecolabelled products and to establish relations between purchasing decisions with environmental, social and ethical factors.
Design/methodology/approach
Multiple correspondence analysis is applied to the results of a questionnaire administered to a sample of 407 consumers resident in Spain. Information is gathered on environmental, social and economic concerns and the importance consumers attach to certain product attributes such as ecolabels, price and quality.
Findings
Consumers concerned over environmental, social and economic questions attached greater importance to information on ecolabels, principally within the textile, and drugstore sectors, followed by electrical and electronic appliances and the food sector. These consumers selected ecolabelled products with a good quality–price relationship.
Originality/value
The academic and business value of this research is its focus on the attributes of sustainable products so that eco-entrepreneurs may advance initiatives that are at once viable and sustainable, motivating consumers with concerns over environmental, social and economic issues.
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Aiming to address the problem in which practitioners mindlessly prioritise the reputation of social media influencers (SMIs) over ensuring proper congruence between the…
Abstract
Purpose
Aiming to address the problem in which practitioners mindlessly prioritise the reputation of social media influencers (SMIs) over ensuring proper congruence between the influencers themselves and content marketing strategies, this study develops a conceptual framework that adopts an elaboration likelihood model and attachment theory to ascertain the effects of SMIs, live content marketing and their congruency on impulsive buying (IB).
Design/methodology/approach
Through collecting cross-sectional data from 608 valid replies, this study adopts an integrated method that combines partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), artificial neural network (ANN) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyse.
Findings
The results reveal that the credibility and relevance of live content, the empathy and professionalism of SMIs, and their congruence are critical antecedents of consumers' attachments to live content and SMIs, thus triggering their attachment to endorsement and IB.
Originality/value
In knowledge, this study benefits the scope of the elaboration likelihood model and attachment theory and enriches live streaming commerce literature. In method, an integrated analytical method is used to cope with complex structural relationships in non-linear patterns and predictions, as well as examine the complex causal configurations. In practice, this study facilitates practitioners to further ascertain what attributes in live content and SMIs can foster customer's emotional attachments in choosing endorsers and developing endorsement strategies, thus driving their IB.
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Colin Higgins, Wendy Stubbs, Dale Tweedie and Gregory McCallum
Motivated by Morgan’s (1997) analysis of the “paradoxical” role of metaphors in understanding and managing organisations, the purpose of this paper is to assess in what respects…
Abstract
Purpose
Motivated by Morgan’s (1997) analysis of the “paradoxical” role of metaphors in understanding and managing organisations, the purpose of this paper is to assess in what respects organisations using integrated reporting (IR) are on a “journey” of organisational change.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyses IR practitioner literature to interpret the IR journey metaphor more precisely. The authors then use in-depth interviews to assess the extent to which this metaphor captures how six early adopter organisations in Australia implement IR, and what changes result, over four years.
Findings
The journey metaphor implies substantive and holistic organisational change. By contrast, the authors find organisations use IR in contextual, instrumental and piecemeal ways. The authors propose a “toolbox” metaphor to help (re)present how organisations adapt their reporting to fit decisions already made, and challenges presented, through ordinary and ongoing strategic management.
Research limitations/implications
Morgan (1997) stresses metaphors are invariably used to both describe and manage organisations. The authors’ analysis identifies specific ways the IR journey metaphor is descriptively misleading. The authors’ “toolbox” metaphor suggests different ways organisations are, or could, manage IR to create value.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to provide a systematic analysis of the IR journey metaphors, and to assess in what respects this metaphor captures actual organisational practice. The findings also challenge the broader notion in academic research that reporting frameworks can lead organisational change.
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Arun Aryal, Ying Liao, Prasnna Nattuthurai and Bo Li
The purpose of this study is to provide insights into the way in which understanding and implementation of disruptive technology, specifically big data analytics and the Internet…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide insights into the way in which understanding and implementation of disruptive technology, specifically big data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT), have changed over time. The study also examines the ways in which research in supply chain and related fields differ when responding to and managing disruptive change.
Design/methodology/approach
This study follows a four-step systematic review process, consisting of literature collection, descriptive analysis, category selection and material evaluation. For the last stage of evaluating relevant issues and trends in the literature, the latent semantic analysis method was adopted using Leximancer, which allows more rapid, reliable and consistent content analysis.
Findings
The empirical analysis identified key research trends in big data analytics and IoT divided over two time-periods, in which research demonstrated steady growth by 2015 and the rapid growth was shown afterwards. The key finding of this review is that the main interest in recent big data is toward overlapping customer service, support and supply chain network, systems and performance. Major research themes in IoT moved from general supply chain and business information management to more specific context including supply chain design, model and performance.
Originality/value
In addition to providing more awareness of this research approach, the authors seek to identify important trends in disruptive technologies research over time.