David Wasieleski, Nuno Guimarães da Costa and Olga Ivanova Ruffo
This conceptual paper aims to present a new, integrated model for change readiness that focuses on affective sensemaking among intra-organizational members. Change processes are…
Abstract
Purpose
This conceptual paper aims to present a new, integrated model for change readiness that focuses on affective sensemaking among intra-organizational members. Change processes are often hindered by lack of preparedness, which can be justified by organizational members' emotional resistance to change and divergent understandings of its meaning. Our paper proposes a normative model depicting the interactive process between middle-managers and employees until convergence of meaning is achieved and the organization is ready to change.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors offer a conceptual process model that describes how employees prepare for organizational change. The model illustrates how emotionally laden narratives enable employees to make sense of organizational change communicated by middle managers.
Findings
The sensemaking process is initiated by the negative emotions employees often experience when organizational change is first presented. Then middle managers must transform the negative felt emotions into positive valence via the strategic use of narratives that contain an affective component. This is done to increase the likelihood that convergent sensemaking takes place. Until this stage, intra-organizational members holding different perspectives about the need to change, engage in discussions in which the conflicting views are supported by the instrumental and systematic use of emotional tools with different valence.
Research limitations/implications
First, we contribute to the change readiness literature by offering a detailed process for managers to influence individual readiness for change in their organizations. Our paper proposes a normative model depicting the interactive process between middle-managers and employees until convergence of meaning is achieved and the organization is ready to change. Future work needs to empirically test our model.
Practical implications
We contribute to the sensemaking literature by integrating positive and negative valence into the process for understanding organizational change. Finally, we contribute to our practical understanding of convergent sensemaking processes through the strategic use of narratives in organizations.
Social implications
Our paper proposes a normative model depicting the interactive process between middle-managers and employees until convergence of meaning is achieved and the organization is ready to organizational and social change.
Originality/value
Our main contributions are three-fold. First, we contribute to the change readiness literature by offering a detailed process for managers to influence individual readiness for change in their organizations. Secondly, we contribute to the sensemaking literature by integrating positive and negative valence into the process for understanding organizational change. Finally, we contribute to our understanding of convergent sensemaking processes through the strategic use of narratives.
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Teresa Cunha Ferreira, David Ordóñez-Castañón and Rui Fernandes Póvoas
This research seeks to provide methodological bases for the identification, documentation and critical reflection of good practices of architectural design in built heritage…
Abstract
Purpose
This research seeks to provide methodological bases for the identification, documentation and critical reflection of good practices of architectural design in built heritage. These are applied explicitly to the School of Porto architects, which express a high sense of pedagogy and community practice in this field. The methodological approach defines the selection criteria for a georeferenced inventory and the procedures for in-depth analysis of adaptive reuse strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
The works included in the inventory were selected according to geographical, chronological, typological, qualitative and quantitative criteria. The cases chosen for in-depth analysis have been studied along four thematic axes to dissect all the intervention processes (previous state, design/construction and final state). This approach is supported by a cross-analysis of different sources (oral, written, graphic) and using drawing as a fundamental research tool.
Findings
The research has collected and disseminated up to 150 works by 44 architects, providing a comprehensive portrait of heritage intervention by the School of Porto over the past decades. The selection of 22 buildings for in-depth documentation reveals a particular sensibility toward the cultural values through a case-by-case approach based in deep knowledge of the preexisting context and the introduction of contemporary additions in continuity and harmonious relation with the environmental and sociocultural context.
Originality/value
This work provides a novel methodology suitable for further extension and adaptation to other case studies, as a first contribution to a more comprehensive “Atlas of Architectural Design in Built Heritage” with European case studies. The research aims to introduce new and deeper perspectives on reference works that may constitute pedagogy for the future practice of architects within contextual, inclusive and sustainable approaches.
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Houda Chakiri, Mohammed El Mohajir and Nasser Assem
Most local governance assessment tools are entirely or partially based on stakeholders’ surveys, focus groups and benchmarks of different local governments in the world. These…
Abstract
Purpose
Most local governance assessment tools are entirely or partially based on stakeholders’ surveys, focus groups and benchmarks of different local governments in the world. These tools remain a subjective way of local governance evaluation. To measure the performance of local good-governance using an unbiased assessment technique, the authors have developed a framework to help automate the design process of a data warehouse (DW), which provides local and central decision-makers with factual, measurable and accurate local government data to help assess the performance of local government. The purpose of this paper is to propose the extraction of the DW schema based on a mixed approach that adopts both i* framework for requirements-based representation and domain ontologies for data source representation, to extract the multi-dimensional (MD) elements. The data was collected from various sources and information systems (ISs) deployed in different municipalities.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors present a framework for the design and implementation of a DW for local good-governance assessment. The extraction of facts and dimensions of the DW’s MD schema is done using a hybrid approach, where the extraction of requirement-based DW schema and source-based DW schema are done in parallel followed by the reconciliation of the obtained schemas to obtain the good-governance assessment DW final design.
Findings
The authors developed a novel framework to design and implement a DW for local good-governance assessment. The framework enables the extraction of the DW MD schema by using domain ontologies to help capture semantic artifacts and minimize misconceptions and misunderstandings between different stakeholders. The introduction and use of domain ontologies during the design process serves the generalization and automation purpose of the framework.
Research limitations/implications
The presently conducted research faced two main limitations as follows: the first is the full automation of the design process of the DW and the second, and most important, is access to local government data as it remains limited because of the lack of digitally stored data in municipalities, especially in developing countries in addition to the difficulty of accessing the data because of regulatory aspects and bureaucracy.
Practical implications
The local government environment is among the public administrations most subject to change-adverse cultures and where the authors can face high levels of resistance and significant difficulties during the implementation of decision support systems, despite the commitment/engagement of decision-makers. Access to data sources stored by different ISs might be challenging. While approaching the municipalities for data access, it was done in the framework of a research project within one of the most notorious universities in the country, which gave more credibility and trust to the research team. There is also a need for further testing of the framework to reveal its scalability and performance characteristics.
Originality/value
Compared to other local government assessment ad hoc tools that are partially or entirely based on subjectively collected data, the framework provides a basis for automated design of a comprehensive local government DW using e-government domain ontologies for data source representation coupled with the goal, rationale and business process diagrams for user requirements representations, thus enabling the extraction of the final DW MD schema.
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Tatiana Lopez and Claudia Alvarez
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the state of entrepreneurship research in the Latin American context, with special emphasis on international entrepreneurship research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the state of entrepreneurship research in the Latin American context, with special emphasis on international entrepreneurship research developed in this region. Therefore, the aim and contribution are to identify the main themes in the literature about entrepreneurship and show the evolution of entrepreneurship research in Latin America to stimulate the research and provide future research lines.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is based in a systematic literature review, using 128 articles published between 2002 and 2018, in scientific journals in the region according to SCImago Journal & Country Rank.
Findings
The results show the evolution through the journals, authors, topics and methodologies used by the researchers. It is emphasized that there is a very low level of research in international entrepreneurship in Latin America. This result is coherent with higher levels of entrepreneurship in Latin American countries but very few oriented to international markets. This is one of the challenges considering the importance of this field.
Originality/value
Entrepreneurship is a field of study that has grown throughout history. Even so, in the Latin American context, research published in high impact journals is limited. This paper is the first systematic literature review and thematic analysis of research on the field of entrepreneurship in the Latin American context. In this way, it serves as encouragement for future research, providing possibilities and challenges within the field of study.
Objetivo
Este artículo presenta el estado de la investigación en emprendimiento en el contexto latinoamericano, haciendo énfasis en el emprendimiento internacional.
Diseño/metodología/aproximación
Se llevó a cabo una revisión sistemática de la literatura en la cual se encontraron 147 artículos, publicados entre 2002 y 2018 en revistas científicas de la región de acuerdo con el ranking SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR).
Resultados
Los hallazgos presentan la evolución de las revistas, los autores, los temas y las metodologías usadas por los investigadores. Se resalta el bajo nivel de investigaciones en emprendimiento internacional en la región, lo cual es coherente con altas tasas de actividad emprendedora de Latinoamérica, pero baja orientación a la internacionalización. Este es uno de los retos de los países, considerando la importancia de esta área.
Originalidad
Aunque la investigación en emprendimiento ha aumentado a través de la historia, en el contexto latinoamericano las publicaciones en revistas de alto impacto son limitadas. Este estudio es la primera revisión sistemática de la literatura y análisis temático de la investigación en emprendimiento. En este sentido, los resultados sirven somo estímulo a la investigación futura mostrando las oportunidades y los desafíos dentro de este campo de estudio.