Francesca Sobande, Alice Schoonejans, Guillaume D. Johnson, Kevin D. Thomas and Anthony Kwame Harrison
Grounded in experience of co-organizing a two-day photography-based workshop in Paris, this paper explores how photo-dialogues can facilitate anti-racist pedagogy and generative…
Abstract
Purpose
Grounded in experience of co-organizing a two-day photography-based workshop in Paris, this paper explores how photo-dialogues can facilitate anti-racist pedagogy and generative discussions about how race and racism function in marketplace contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on the authors' involvement in a cross-national and cross-disciplinary team of scholars who worked with local community stakeholders—including activists, artists and practitioners—to discuss, theorize and photo-document issues regarding race and racism in the Parisian marketplace.
Findings
This paper contributes to the literature on visual culture studies and critical race studies as it demonstrates the potentials of photography combined with dialogue to challenge the White supremacy over archiving and visuality in the context of urban spaces. This new methodology is an opportunity to reflect on archetypes of visuality that depart from the traditional Parisian flâneur to be consistent with and reinforce anti-racist stances.
Originality/value
Photography and visual methods often play peripheral roles in anti-racist education across various disciplines and research areas, including critical marketplace studies. This paper expands understanding of the potentials of using photographic methods as part of critical and anti-racist work related to racial and racist dynamics, including issues regarding power, White supremacy and public space. It outlines the use of photographic dialogues in a context (Paris, France) where discussion of race is regularly societally discouraged. Thus, this work shifts the focus away from decontextualized research that regards race as an object, to specifically foreground understandings of racialized experiences and how the photographic gaze produces and is produced by racialized viewers.
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Sandra King Kauanui, Kevin D. Thomas, Cynthia L. Sherman, Gail Ross Waters and Mihaela Gilea
The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences between entrepreneurs who see a connection between spirituality and work and those who do not.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences between entrepreneurs who see a connection between spirituality and work and those who do not.
Design/methodology/approach
Data are collected and analyzed in two stages from in‐depth interviews of 112 entrepreneurs. Key differentiators explored are related to money, ethical decision making, definition of success, and the entrepreneurs' desire to live an integrated lifestyle.
Findings
No significant differences are found between the two groups along key demographic attributes; however, when applying characteristics of flow and play to the entrepreneur's work experiences, distinct differences between the groups are found.
Originality/value
These findings suggest that holistically oriented entrepreneurs utilize the business as part of their spiritual path, and create an environment in which work and play are not perceived as separate work‐related elements.
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There have been increasing calls to explore the psychological contract from the lens of power. By addressing this gap, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the assumption…
Abstract
Purpose
There have been increasing calls to explore the psychological contract from the lens of power. By addressing this gap, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the assumption of mutuality in relation to power dynamics in the employment relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 43 in-depth interviews are conducted with 6 managerial and 37 non-managerial respondents in three major call center organizations in Pakistan. Template analysis is used to analyze the data.
Findings
By undermining the assumption of implicit mutuality, the analysis reveals indeterminacy, an issue that has been frequently underplayed in the psychological contract research. The results further suggest that – in reality – employability, flexibility and employee training do not promote mutuality to the extent that is theoretically assumed because of the employers’ manipulation of these issues in their own favor.
Research limitations/implications
The focus on call centers limits the generality of findings with further qualitative research needed in other industries to explore how power asymmetries impact upon mutuality in different working environments.
Practical implications
The research implications suggest the significance of timely and explicit communication in order to curtail indeterminacy in the employment relationship. This will not only reduce the development of breach perceptions among employees but will also reinforce their psychological contracts with the organization.
Originality/value
This research contributes by highlighting the significance of mutual dependence rather than mutuality in the psychological contract. The mutual dependence approach efficiently acknowledges the implications of power asymmetries which remain largely under-researched in the psychological contract theory.
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Vivianna Fang He and Gregor Krähenmann
The pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities is not always successful. On the one hand, entrepreneurial failure offers an invaluable opportunity for entrepreneurs to learn about…
Abstract
The pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities is not always successful. On the one hand, entrepreneurial failure offers an invaluable opportunity for entrepreneurs to learn about their ventures and themselves. On the other hand, entrepreneurial failure is associated with substantial financial, psychological, and social costs. When entrepreneurs fail to learn from failure, the potential value of this experience is not fully utilized and these costs will have been incurred in vain. In this chapter, the authors investigate how the stigma of failure exacerbates the various costs of failure, thereby making learning from failure much more difficult. The authors combine an analysis of interviews of 20 entrepreneurs (who had, at the time of interview, experienced failure) with an examination of archival data reflecting the legal and cultural environment around their ventures. The authors find that stigma worsens the entrepreneurs’ experience of failure, hinders their transformation of failure experience, and eventually prevents them from utilizing the lessons learnt from failure in their future entrepreneurial activities. The authors discuss the implications of the findings for the entrepreneurship research and economic policies.
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The purpose of this paper is to propose a processual framework of psychological contract breach, which maps holistically the interactions among concepts drawn from the trust and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a processual framework of psychological contract breach, which maps holistically the interactions among concepts drawn from the trust and justice literature. However, the price of a holistic picture is frequently a lack of depth of analysis of any single variable, and consequently the second part of the paper seeks to unpack a central variable, circumstances of breach.
Design/ methodological approach
Draws on findings from a four‐year qualitative study and investigates the psychological contract in situ. The issue of circumstances of breach was explored inductively by applying in‐depth employee case histories using theory‐based sampling.
Findings
Key findings indicate that breach may occur as a result of direct or indirect organisational actions. Further the degree of reaction may differ according to the type of trigger (i.e. a distributive, procedural or interactional justice issue) and also the extent to which the organisation is held responsible.
Research limitations/Implications
Based on an in‐depth study of one organisation over time; further research is required to ascertain the generalisability of the key findings.
Practical implications
The implications for the practice of management surround the issue of unanticipated results of actions. Changes to substantive, distributive justice issues are likely to result in psychological contract violation or rupture unless handled with care. The repercussions of relationship fracture include diminished employees attitude and, perhaps more importantly for the organisation, negative behaviour.
Originality/value
The key contribution of the paper is that it presents a new model of psychological contract and elucidates a key aspect of the holistic model using empirical data.
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Graduate students of the University of New England (U.N.E.) during the period 1970–1984 wrote one hundred dissertations on morale in a wide variety of educational institutions…
Abstract
Graduate students of the University of New England (U.N.E.) during the period 1970–1984 wrote one hundred dissertations on morale in a wide variety of educational institutions. The Staff Morale Questionnaire (S.M.Q.) developed and progressively refined at U.N.E. was extensively used in these and other studies in Australia. The project's greatest value lay in the way it enabled external (i.e. off‐campus) students to develop their academic critical abilities in a guided research effort, and in the ripple effect which has enabled numerous administrators in Australian schools to gain some sensitisation to and understanding of the importance of organisational morale.
Thomas Farrington, Jiju Antony and Kevin D. O’Gorman
This paper aims to present a systematic literature review (SLR) of continuous improvement (CI) research in the hospitality and tourism management (HTM) literature. The paper also…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a systematic literature review (SLR) of continuous improvement (CI) research in the hospitality and tourism management (HTM) literature. The paper also notes trends, parallels, inconsistencies and opportunities towards a clearer understanding of current scholarship.
Design/methodology/approach
This SLR finds a dearth of research in the field. After parameter expansion and exclusions, 35 papers across 11 journals are reviewed.
Findings
Studies of CI methodologies and practices are published infrequently, tending to focus on total quality management in European contexts. Despite the guiding customer-centric principles of CI methodologies, studies focus on improving internal processes rather than the service encounter.
Research limitations/implications
The review is guided by sections of the ABS 2015 list, which excludes some journals. Books, conference papers and trade magazine articles are not reviewed.
Practical implications
This paper identifies clear needs for CI research with a specific hospitality management focus, the development of CI toolkits and curricula for hospitality managers. The development and deployment of CI methodologies and practices in HTM literature and industry should lead to long-term service improvements.
Originality/value
This study asserts the need for further context-specific, practice-led research into the refinement and long-term utility of CI methodologies and practices, towards demonstration of significant bottom-line industry impact. The paper also offers a clear SLR methodology and a definition for CI in hospitality.