David Coghlan and Paul Coughlan
Reflecting on 25 years of collaborating in action learning research initiatives in interorganizational settings, the authors have framed three key theoretical contributions: (1) a…
Abstract
Reflecting on 25 years of collaborating in action learning research initiatives in interorganizational settings, the authors have framed three key theoretical contributions: (1) a formula for action learning in networks, (2) the notion of action learning research, and (3) the application of action learning research in networks. This chapter reviews how each of these three key theoretical contributions emerged as insights and were developed over time through three large-scale funded interorganizational action learning projects. The chapter provides insights into the process of theorizing as the authors show how these frameworks emerged through inquiry into experience and were consolidated through collaborative action as practice-based research, research as practice, and practice as research toward designed-in impact.
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Barbara Ann Allen, Elizabeth Wade and Helen Dickinson
Current English health policy is focused on strengthening the ‘demand-side’ of the health care system. Recent reforms are designed to significantly enhance the capability and…
Abstract
Current English health policy is focused on strengthening the ‘demand-side’ of the health care system. Recent reforms are designed to significantly enhance the capability and status of the organisations responsible for commissioning health care services and, in so doing, to address some of the perceived problems of a historically provider/supplierled health system. In this context, commissioning organisations are being encouraged to draw on concepts and processes derived from commercial procurement and supply chain management (SCM) as they develop their expertise. While the application of such principles in the health sector is not new, existing work in the UK has not often considered the role of health care purchasers in the management of health service supply-chains. This paper describes the status of commissioning in the NHS, briefly reviews the procurement and SCM literature and begins to explore the links between them. It lays the foundations for further work which will test the extent to which lessons can be extracted in principle from the procurement literature and applied in practice by health care commissioners.
Esmee Peters, Louise Knight, Kees Boersma and Niels Uenk
Both high reliability theory (HRT) and “new school” supply chain resilience (SCR) promote a multi-layered, adaptable, transformational, and holistic perspective on organizing and…
Abstract
Purpose
Both high reliability theory (HRT) and “new school” supply chain resilience (SCR) promote a multi-layered, adaptable, transformational, and holistic perspective on organizing and managing. The authors explore whether, and if so how, HRT offer fresh perspectives on the SCR challenges experienced during COVID-19 and on organizing for future resilience.
Design/methodology/approach
Addressing SCR at the interorganizational network level, and blending theory synthesis and case study research, the authors assess if and how HRN constructs and practices can guide analysis of SCR in dynamic, complex networks, and help shape development pathways towards organizing for resilience. Findings draw on thick description and iterative coding of data (58 interviews and 200+ documents) on the buyer network responsible for managing the supply of critical medical products in the Netherlands.
Findings
HRT highlights the interconnectedness of challenges encountered during COVID-19 and helps design future resilience through three lessons. Organizing for SCR requires (1) both anticipation and containment strategies, (2) stable working relationships characterized by trust, and (3) a clear basis of command underpinned by experience-based legitimacy.
Originality/value
Distinctive from SCR, which views crises as “black swans”, HRT organizes around everyday consideration of the risk of failure. Taking a buyer network perspective, the authors move beyond the buyer-supplier network focus in SCR. The authors contend that emphasis on measures such as supplier base management, stockpiling, and domestic production are essential but not sufficient. Rather, HRT implies that deep structural and social ties within the buyer network should also be emphasized.
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David S. Bright, Arran Caza, Elizabeth Fisher Turesky, Roger Putzel, Eric Nelson and Ray Luechtefeld
New educators may feel overwhelmed by the options available for engaging students through classroom participation. However, it may be helpful to recognize that participatory…
Abstract
New educators may feel overwhelmed by the options available for engaging students through classroom participation. However, it may be helpful to recognize that participatory pedagogical systems often have constructivist roots. Adopting a constructivist perspective, our paper considers three meta-practices that encourage student participation: designing activities, leading others, and assessing peers. We explored the consequences of these meta-practices for important student outcomes, including content knowledge, engagement, self-efficacy, sense of community, and self-awareness. We found that different meta-practices were associated with different combinations of outcomes. This discovery demonstrates the benefit of studying meta- practices so as to reveal the nuanced effects that may arise from pedagogical choices. In addition, an understanding of meta-practices can help leadership educators to be more discerning and intentional in their course designs.
Christine Mary Harland, Louise Knight, Andrea S. Patrucco, Jane Lynch, Jan Telgen, Esmee Peters, Tünde Tátrai and Petra Ferk
The procurement and supply of crucial healthcare products in the early stages of the COVID-19 emergency were chaotic. To prepare for future crises, we must be able to describe…
Abstract
Purpose
The procurement and supply of crucial healthcare products in the early stages of the COVID-19 emergency were chaotic. To prepare for future crises, we must be able to describe what went wrong, and why, and map out ways to build agility and resilience. How can this be done effectively, given the highly complex and diverse network of actors across governments, care providers and supply chains, and the extreme uncertainty and dynamism in the procurement system and supplier markets? The purpose of this study was to capture learning from practitioners in “real time” in a way that could frame and inform capacity building across healthcare systems with varying procurement and supply management maturity.
Design/methodology/approach
This exploratory study involved interviews with 58 senior public procurement practitioners in central and regional governments, NGOs and leaders of professional organizations from 23 countries, very early in the COVID crisis. Following the first, inductive phase of analysis leading to five descriptive dimensions, the awareness-motivation-capability (A-M-C) framework was applied in a further round of coding, to understand immediate challenges faced by procurement practitioners, how the complex, multi-level procurement system that shaped their motivations to respond and critical capabilities required to face these challenges.
Findings
Developments across 23 countries and practitioners' learning about procurement and supply in the pandemic crisis can be captured in five overarching themes: governance and organization, knowledge and skills, information systems, regulation and supply base issues. Together these themes cover the strengths and gaps in procurement and supply capability encountered by procurement leaders and front-line personnel. They highlight the various facets of structure, resource and process which constitute organizational capability. However, to account better for the highly dynamic situation characterized by both unprecedented rivalry and cooperation, analysts must also pay attention to actors' emerging awareness of the situation and their rapidly changing motivations.
Originality/value
The application of the A-M-C framework is unique in the healthcare supply chain and disaster management literature. It enables a comprehensive overview of healthcare procurement from a system perspective. This study shows how increasing system preparedness for future emergencies depends both on developing critical capabilities and understanding how awareness and motivation influence the effective deployment of those capabilities.
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Peter W. Liesch and Lawrence S. Welch
In this chapter we chart the evolution of the theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE) from Buckley and Casson’s original depiction to Buckley’s conceptualization of the…
Abstract
In this chapter we chart the evolution of the theory of the multinational enterprise (MNE) from Buckley and Casson’s original depiction to Buckley’s conceptualization of the global factory. Within that context we consider the issues of risk and uncertainty which continue to challenge firms in the international context. Indeed, despite the explosion in access to greater wealth of digital sources of information and knowledge, risk, uncertainty, volatility, complexity, and ambiguity remain constraints on the ability of firms to function effectively in the international arena. Theoretical development around the nature of the MNE must deal with such enormities, but also other demands in the global context. The evolution of the global factory has been recognized as the disintegration of the MNE through the externalization of many of its previously core activities, including parts of production and marketing, but this form of the MNE will not be the end-game. Ultimately, it may be questioned whether the MNE is becoming, or has become, just a global super-manager of value activities orchestrating the internationalization of production.
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Paul Coughlan, David Coghlan, Denise O’Leary, Clare Rigg and Doireann Barrett
The chapter describes and reflects upon an EU-funded research initiative, TRADEIT, which has attempted to develop a learning network among European traditional food producers as…
Abstract
Purpose
The chapter describes and reflects upon an EU-funded research initiative, TRADEIT, which has attempted to develop a learning network among European traditional food producers as one way of contributing to the economic sustainability of the ventures, the social sustainability of the food’s regional character and the environmental sustainability of food production through the use of traditional methods.
Methodology/approach
The chapter describes TRADEIT before moving on to an exploration of learning in organizations and networks. It outlines the action learning research methodology developed and implemented to explore the development of a learning network in TRADEIT. A single case history is presented to illustrate the engagement of a small food producer in the network.
Findings
The discussion reflects on the application of action learning in supporting sustainability evident in TRADEIT.
Originality/value
The chapter focuses on the application of action learning in the development of a learning network among traditional food producers across Europe.
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Andreas Schwab, Yanjinlkham Shuumarjav, Jake B. Telkamp and Jose R. Beltran
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in management research is still nascent and has primarily focused on content analyses of text data. Some method scholars have begun to…
Abstract
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in management research is still nascent and has primarily focused on content analyses of text data. Some method scholars have begun to discuss the potential benefits of far broader applications; however, these discussions have not led yet to a wave of corresponding AI applications by management researchers. This chapter explores the feasibility and the potential value of using AI for a very specific methodological task: the reliable and efficient capturing of higher-level psychological constructs in management research. It introduces the capturing of basic emotions and emotional authenticity of entrepreneurs based on their macro- and microfacial expressions during pitch presentations as an illustrative example of related AI opportunities and challenges. Thus, this chapter provides both motivation and guidance to management scholars for future applications of AI to advance management research.
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Cyrine Ben-Hafaïedh and Frédéric Dufays
Purpose: Entrepreneurial teams are one of the most crystallized forms of collaboration in the generically collective dynamics underpinning social entrepreneurship. Despite their…
Abstract
Purpose: Entrepreneurial teams are one of the most crystallized forms of collaboration in the generically collective dynamics underpinning social entrepreneurship. Despite their quantitative prevalence, social entrepreneurial teams (SETs) remain quite absent from the scholarly literature. This chapter aims to develop a research agenda addressing this gap. Methodology/Approach: This chapter first reviews the scarce literature dealing with this subject and develops an operationalizable definition of SETs. Next, it confronts current knowledge on entrepreneurial teams with the specific context of social entrepreneurship to introduce and discuss main topics of investigation on SETs. Findings: Six topics are suggested to have a high potential for developing knowledge on SETs: formation, size and extended team, gender, decision-making and leadership, identity, and turnover. Research Implications: This chapter frames these research avenues within a developmental stages perspective with the aim to contribute to help form and maintain effective SETs. Originality/Value of Chapter: This research has implications for scholars as it defines SETs as a distinct object for research, which allows extending knowledge on collaborative dynamics in social entrepreneurship, but also on entrepreneurial teams in general. The suggested research agenda and its orientation toward the development of effective SETs should be a springboard for future research on this subject.