Martin MacCarthy, Ashlee Morgan and Claire Lambert
This study aims to consolidate and hone existing spectating and crowd theory. This is achieved by marrying socio-cultural ideas and concepts from related disciplines.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to consolidate and hone existing spectating and crowd theory. This is achieved by marrying socio-cultural ideas and concepts from related disciplines.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual review examines what people do when they congregate at an event, and in doing so, answers the question of what they forgo when denied a crowd. Concepts are teased from the literature as to what happens during participatory congregation (in company, in situ), punctuated by relegation without it.
Findings
Related concepts are organised into a typology. The metamodel is the essence of the paper and includes four themes: (1) identity construction, (2) interacting with others, (3) producing and co-producing the event and (4) the allure of tribalism.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is conceptual and therefore a typology (not a taxonomy). This implies that while it is likely transferable, it is not generalisable. It is manual and subjective, as opposed to objective and automatic. Notwithstanding future research implications, it is intended to inform those considering running virtual events.
Practical implications
Event organisers are informed as to the “what” and “why” of running community events. It encourages a more circumspect, humanistic view that events are not merely a source of revenue.
Social implications
This review contributes a macro understanding of human nature, complementing a micro understanding of crowd behaviour.
Originality/value
Virtual event management is a relatively new and burgeoning field. Prior to the Pandemic an event without a crowd was almost inconceivable.
Details
Keywords
Martin A. O’Neill, Paul Williams, Martin MacCarthy and Ronald Groves
Seeks to investigate the conceptualization and measurement of service quality and its importance to the dive tourism industry. It reports the findings from a recently conducted…
Abstract
Seeks to investigate the conceptualization and measurement of service quality and its importance to the dive tourism industry. It reports the findings from a recently conducted study of dive tourist perceptions of service quality as they relate to a tour operator running tours on an artificial reef dive experience in Western Australia. The study also assesses the importance assigned by consumers to the various service quality attributes relative to those perceptions. The results are of significance to operators in that they identify clearly the managerial implications of providing a quality service during the dive tourism experience.
Details
Keywords
Kevin Watson and Dinah M. Payne
The purpose of this paper is to review current practice in sharing and mining medical data revealing benefits, costs and ethical issues. Based on stakeholder perspectives and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review current practice in sharing and mining medical data revealing benefits, costs and ethical issues. Based on stakeholder perspectives and values, the authors create an ethical code to regulate the sharing and mining of medical information.
Design/methodology/approach
The framework is based on a review of academic, practitioner and legal research.
Findings
Owing to the inability of current safeguards to protect consumers from risks related to the disclosure of medical information, the authors develop a framework for ethical sharing and mining of medical data, security, transparency, respect, accountability, community and quality (STRACQ), which espouses security, transparency, respect, accountability, community and quality as the basic tenets of ethical data sharing and mining practice.
Research limitations/implications
The STRACQ framework is an original, previously unpublished contribution that will require modification over time based on discussion and debate within and among the academy, medical community and public policymakers.
Social implications
The framework for sharing borrows from the Fair Credit Reporting Act, allowing the collection and dissemination of identified medical data but placing strict limitations on use. Following this framework, benefits of shared and mined medical data are freely available with appropriate safeguards for consumer privacy.
Originality/value
Mandates for adoption of electronic health-care records require an understanding of medical data mining. This paper presents a review of data mining techniques and reasons for engaging in the practice of identifying benefits, costs and ethical issues. The authors create an original framework, STRACQ, for ethical sharing and mining of medical information, allowing knowledge exploration while protecting consumer privacy.
Details
Keywords
“It should also be noted that the objective of convergence and equal distribution, including across under-performing areas, can hinder efforts to generate growth. Contrariwise…
Abstract
“It should also be noted that the objective of convergence and equal distribution, including across under-performing areas, can hinder efforts to generate growth. Contrariwise, the objective of competitiveness can exacerbate regional and social inequalities, by targeting efforts on zones of excellence where projects achieve greater returns (dynamic major cities, higher levels of general education, the most advanced projects, infrastructures with the heaviest traffic, and so on). If cohesion policy and the Lisbon Strategy come into conflict, it must be borne in mind that the former, for the moment, is founded on a rather more solid legal foundation than the latter” European Commission (2005, p. 9)Adaptation of Cohesion Policy to the Enlarged Europe and the Lisbon and Gothenburg Objectives.
Nathalie Fabbe-Costes, Lucie Lechaptois and Martin Spring
To empirically examine the usefulness and value of supply chain mapping (SC mapping), which has been neglected despite its importance in research and practice.
Abstract
Purpose
To empirically examine the usefulness and value of supply chain mapping (SC mapping), which has been neglected despite its importance in research and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on three combined theoretical perspectives, we conducted a case study on a car manufacturer's managers mapping their downstream supply chain (SC). We conducted semi-structured interviews and a mapping exercise with them, followed by a focus group.
Findings
We find differences between individual and corporate SC maps and between how managers define the outbound SC, the SC map they draw and what they say when mapping. The three theoretical perspectives allow us to enrich SC mapping thinking. We focus on boundary objects to formulate propositions. SC mapping and maps are discussed with respect to contemporary SCs and SCM.
Research limitations/implications
Based on a single case study on one firm's outbound SC. Research could be expanded to the company's external partners and follow the development and use of maps in real time.
Practical implications
Highlights the usefulness and difficulties of SC mapping, for individuals and organisations. For the company, it opens avenues for further development and use of SC mapping to improve inter-functional and inter-organisational collaboration.
Social implications
Confirms the need for SC mapping competences in SCM and consequently the usefulness of teaching SC mapping courses in logistics and SCM programs.
Originality/value
Highlights the usefulness of SC mapping and rekindles interest in SC mapping and maps in SCM. Introduces boundary objects into SCM research.
Details
Keywords
Despite a surge of writing on sport in the islands of the Pacific, contemporary scholarship has remained tightly focused on those sports (men) most visible on the global stage…
Abstract
Despite a surge of writing on sport in the islands of the Pacific, contemporary scholarship has remained tightly focused on those sports (men) most visible on the global stage today. Other games and sports, other players and other times have yet to receive the same attention. This chapter represents an initial effort to redress some of these omissions by exploring the past and present of cricket in the region. While cricket was the first successful ludic import to the Pacific, the game owes its significance there to more than mere longevity. Introduced by British ‘agents of empire’ in the long 19th century, cricket was – in the hands of Islanders – transformed into distinctive local forms such as Trobriand cricket and Samoan kirikiti. Explaining and theorising these changes to the game's method and meaning, I argue, provides a framework for understanding other indigenous and indigenised sporting practices in the region and beyond. A focus on cricket also enables us to interrogate sport's significance in the daily lives of not only elite male athletes but also a more diverse cast of Islanders – most notably women and girls. In these and other ways, the example of cricket demonstrates the value of looking back to historicise sport's significance and beyond the ‘usual sporting suspects’. By looking back and beyond, we can move towards a broader and deeper perspective of sporting cultures in the region.
Details
Keywords
Wafaa A.H. Ahmed, Bart L. MacCarthy and Horst Treiblmaier
Blockchain is increasingly being considered for applications in operations and supply chain management. However, evidence from practice is still scarce on why, where and how…
Abstract
Purpose
Blockchain is increasingly being considered for applications in operations and supply chain management. However, evidence from practice is still scarce on why, where and how organizations seek to apply the technology in the supply chain across different industries. The study develops a comprehensive framework to enhance understanding of the application areas of blockchain technology in the supply chain, as well as organizations' motivations in seeking blockchain solutions and relevant contingency factors influencing applications.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors investigate 50 use cases of blockchain applications in the supply chain, covering six industries. Contingency theory is applied in conducting a qualitative textual and correlation analysis to identify and compare blockchain adoption motivations, application areas and contingency factors across different industries.
Findings
The analysis develops an evidence-based framework that captures ten principal motivations in seeking blockchain solutions, three main blockchain application areas along with important application sub-categories and five clusters of contingency factors that influence blockchain deployment and its uses in different industrial sectors.
Research limitations/implications
The study expands the limited cross-sectoral research on blockchain applications and motivations in the supply chain. Using contingency theory, it presents a comprehensive framework that captures the drivers and factors relating to blockchain adoption in the supply chain in a nomological network. The study lays the foundation for further theoretical perspectives and empirical research to investigate relevant sectoral characteristics and their importance for different types of blockchain application in the supply chain.
Practical implications
The study informs practitioners about potential supply chain application areas that can be enhanced through blockchain technology, taking account of the specific characteristics of their products, business and manufacturing processes, supply network configurations, industry standards, regulations and market demand.
Originality/value
The study is the first to provide cross-sectoral evidence on the relevance of organizations' motivations and numerous contingency factors on blockchain application areas in the supply chain.
Details
Keywords
Carla Roberta Pereira, Martin Christopher and Andrea Lago Da Silva
The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of procurement in identifying and managing the intra- and inter-organisational issues which impact supply chain resilience…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of procurement in identifying and managing the intra- and inter-organisational issues which impact supply chain resilience. Achieving resilience along the supply chain in today’s turbulent business environment requires efforts from both internal and external elements of the extended enterprise.
Design/methodology/approach
The systematic literature review was conducted between 2000 and 2013 with the objective being to answer the single research question proposed. To do so, a content analysis based on the literature was applied to 30 selected papers.
Findings
The study revealed that procurement activities do make a significant contribution to creating supply chain resilience. Emerging from the literature review, certain intra- and inter-organisational issues were identified that could impact supply chain resilience. Also the possible actions that procurement could take to enable the enhancement of supply chain resilience were identified.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited, in that it is exploratory and focuses only on the body of knowledge presented in two databases over the past 13 years. It has also been restricted to the procurement function and the consequent implications for the upstream supply chain.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper lies in the identification of intra- and inter-organisational issues from a procurement perspective specifically as they relate to improving supply chain resilience. This raises further questions on the role of procurement in creating supply chain resilience, which has not been well-explored in the current literature.
Details
Keywords
Rupert Lawrence Matthews, Bart L. MacCarthy and Christos Braziotis
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organisational learning (OL) can occur through process improvement (PI) activities, leading to sustained improvements over time in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organisational learning (OL) can occur through process improvement (PI) activities, leading to sustained improvements over time in the context of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors study PI practices in six engineering-oriented SMEs via interview-based case studies. The authors draw from a range of literature and use an OL conceptual framework informed by Crossan et al.’s (1999) 4I framework as an analytical lens.
Findings
The OL perspective provides new insights to conceptualise the nature of PI as a multi-level practice in SMEs. Effective PI practices within SMEs are shown to be consistent with OL concepts, enabling firms to translate individually identified improvement opportunities into organisational-level changes that result in sustained benefits. A new conceptual model is presented that explains how SMEs can learn through improvement activities. The key role of management support, both operational and strategic, is highlighted. It is necessary for management to provide sufficient PI opportunities to enable and sustain beneficial learning.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on a sample of engineering-oriented SMEs located in the UK. Further case-based, longitudinal, and survey-based research studies with firms of different types will enhance the generalisability of the findings, allowing the confirmation and extension of the new conceptual model.
Practical implications
The findings provide a theoretically underpinned framework for achieving OL in engineering-oriented SMEs through PI activities. The new model highlights the key mechanisms that enable learning from improvement activities. The findings highlight the key role played by management in introducing additional learning opportunities in the form of new business that requires exploratory learning. Without this, the reduction in improvement opportunities reduces the benefits that can be realised from PI.
Originality/value
OL provides a multi-level perspective to understanding how smaller firms are able to undergo systematic improvements and the support required to continually improve.