This paper investigates how academic teachers engage in identity work and make sense of entrepreneurship and academia in an entrepreneurship training programme.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates how academic teachers engage in identity work and make sense of entrepreneurship and academia in an entrepreneurship training programme.
Design/methodology/approach
By employing a sensemaking approach, the paper inductively analyses materials from a business idea development camp organised for academic teachers.
Findings
In collective sensemaking during the camp, non-academic facilitators strongly influenced the reflection-in-experience via normative ideas of entrepreneurship and their othering of entrepreneurship from academic work. In their post-camp individual essays, the academic teachers reflect-on-experience and draw parallels between entrepreneurship and academic work constructing sameness.
Research limitations/implications
Longitudinal research is needed in identity work and sensemaking among academic teachers in relation to entrepreneurship.
Practical implications
Universities need to offer arenas for teachers and other faculty to support identity work and sensemaking.
Originality/value
This study generates new understanding of how academic teachers engage in identity work and make sense of entrepreneurship in training when interacting with others. It underscores the importance of time needed for reflection-on-action.
Details
Keywords
The predicted increase in the population share of elderly in Sweden is rather modest compared to some of the central and south European countries. The share of 65+ will, in our…
Abstract
The predicted increase in the population share of elderly in Sweden is rather modest compared to some of the central and south European countries. The share of 65+ will, in our base scenario, increase from 17.5 to 23.9 percent in the period 2000–2040. Yet, this implies a major increase in the number of elderly. The number of 65+ will increase by 58 percent. The very old and care intensive group 80+ will increase even more, by 75 percent, and their share of the population will increase from 5.1 to 7.9 percent in 40 years. This is likely to put an increased pressure on the political system to match the expected increased demand for health care and social care by an increased supply. In some countries, the increase in the number of elderly will become balanced by a decrease in the number of children, and thus a natural reallocation of resources from children to elderly is possible. This is, according to our simulations, not the case in Sweden. The population share of those below 18 will stay rather stable between 21 and 22 percent.
The purpose of this paper is to model the nature of intra-group conflicts and to show how conflict process phases that are beneficial to the organization can be supported and how…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to model the nature of intra-group conflicts and to show how conflict process phases that are beneficial to the organization can be supported and how disadvantageous conflict process phases can be prevented or managed. Task (process) and relationship conflicts can appear alternately in the same conflict process, so the overperformance cannot be estimated by the number of intra-group conflicts alone. By exploring the intra-group conflict processes, the author can identify patterns of employee commitment that can increase, mitigate or prevent certain phases of conflict processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The study presents three intra-group conflicts from the same multinational company using the narrative tool. Qualitative methods are particularly suitable for modeling feelings, thoughts, fears and workplace attitudes. The cases come from the immediate managers of the conflict-affected groups.
Findings
The process of intra-group conflicts can typically be divided into four phases: task (process) conflict; relationship conflict; task (process) conflict; end of conflict (end of teeming). Task conflict, which provides overperformance for the organization, is supported by the employees’ normative and professional commitment, while the prevention of relationship conflict, which is detrimental to performance, is supported by increasing the employees’ affective commitment. The relationship between affective commitment and relationship conflict is moderated by transformational leadership. Finally, the minimum of team performance is affected by both the degree of relationship conflict and the lack of affective commitment, while the maximum of team performance is positively affected by the degree of task (process) conflict and the employees’ normative and professional commitment.
Research limitations/implications
In the future, the results should be confirmed by researches using quantitative methods.
Practical implications
The results suggest to managers that enhancing employees’ affective commitment is primarily important for preventing the disadvantageous relationship conflicts, while enhancing their normative and professional commitment is important for fostering the performance-related task conflict. The results show that increasing commitment goes beyond the organizational value of employees’ loyalty alone, and also highlight the importance of training and development.
Originality/value
In the literature on intra-group conflicts, most studies treat task and relationship conflicts independently of each other in conflict processes. This paper shows that both conflicts can be part of the same process at the same time. In addition, little research had addressed how employee commitment reduces or increases the certain phase of a specific type of conflict process.