Christian Gärtner and Oliver Schön
The purpose of this paper is to explicate why and how modularization of business models can lead to path dependence or strategic flexibility, thus either inhibiting or favoring…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explicate why and how modularization of business models can lead to path dependence or strategic flexibility, thus either inhibiting or favoring business model innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual paper that depicts a model based on the extant literature. The derived implications for business model innovation are illustrated by several examples.
Findings
Modularity can be used as cognitive frame to explore issues of dynamics, evolution and transformation of business models. Thereby, the paper reveals drivers as well as barriers to business model innovation which sensitizes managers that modularity as a design principle is a two-edged sword: managers cannot simply rely on what they know about the benefits of modularity because this might lead to path dependence in the future.
Practical implications
The authors suggest that middle managers might best focus on managing modules and their direct relations. Senior management should put more emphasis on encouraging extra-modular thinking.
Originality/value
By outlining the concept of business model modularity, the authors add to the scarce literature that addresses modularity beyond the fields of products, production and organization design. The discussion also advances to the literature on drivers as well as barriers to managing business model innovation. While most of the extant literature has portrayed modularity as a means to increase flexibility, only a few studies have revealed the downside of modularity and explained how it gives rise to path dependence. In this respect, the authors highlight the relation between managerial action, self-reinforcing mechanisms and characteristics of the environment. Finally, the paper’s findings provide a lens to consider contradictory strategies simultaneously which is crucial for managing complex business models.
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This chapter unpacks ‘design thinking’ as it relates to educational design, and highlights how developments in the field of Learning Design may be of assistance to educators…
Abstract
This chapter unpacks ‘design thinking’ as it relates to educational design, and highlights how developments in the field of Learning Design may be of assistance to educators. Design is defined as a creative, scientific, and complex process, underpinned by several design thinking qualities. Teaching, it is argued, should be positioned as a design science, based on its nature, practice, and intentions. Learning to design is characterized as a challenging pursuit that is supported through practice, refection, examples, and expert guidance. Based on the literature, the pursuit of designing for learning is explained as a process involving the creation of accessible and aligned designs that cater to students in order to achieve desired learning outcomes. Educational design models by Laurillard, Siemens, and Conole are contrasted and evaluated in order to critically reflect on the general utility of such models. The field of Learning Design is introduced as a discipline area that aims to help educators develop and share great teaching ideas. Six approaches that support the description and sharing of learning designs are briefly described (technical standards, pattern descriptions, visualizations, visualization tools, pedagogical planners, and the Learning Activity Management System) so as to illustrate how the Learning Design field has evolved and how educators can capitalize upon it. Directions forward are recommended, which center around reflection, collaboration, and a design orientation.
Tor Söderström, Jan Åström, Greg Anderson and Ron Bowles
The purpose of this paper is to report progress concerning the design of a computer-assisted simulation training (CAST) platform for developing decision-making skills in police…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report progress concerning the design of a computer-assisted simulation training (CAST) platform for developing decision-making skills in police students. The overarching aim is to outline a theoretical framework for the design of CAST to facilitate police students’ development of search techniques in complex interactions within the built environment, learning to apply and perform the five “quick peek” techniques for information gathering, and subsequent risk evaluation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on Luckin's ecology of resources model of learner context informed with perspectives on reflective thinking from John Dewey and Donald Schön. The paper discusses design issues within the ecology of resources model applied on CAST for complex police situations.
Findings
It is suggested that Luckin's framework with its focus on the interaction between different elements and filters in the learner's context together with Schön's perspective on reflection challenge educational designers to look beyond the immediate development of specific tools (such as the CAST in this project) and examine how these tools will be effectively embedded in the overall learning experience.
Originality/value
This paper has presented two theoretical perspectives, Luckin's ecology of resources model and Schön's perspective on reflective practice as foundations for the educational design of CAST. Applying Luckin's framework as informed by Schön helps focus attention on issues that are important in the design process in order to facilitate educational transfer.
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In the context of debates about the performance of Higher Education (HE) in which quantitative measures proliferate, this chapter reports the top line observations of an initial…
Abstract
In the context of debates about the performance of Higher Education (HE) in which quantitative measures proliferate, this chapter reports the top line observations of an initial exploration of the preparedness for practice of recent graduates of a Public Relations (PR) course at a post-1992 United Kingdom (UK) Higher Education Institution (HEI). Preparedness for practice is chosen as a conceptual lens (as preparedness for the uncertainty of practice) because HEIs frequently promise it. Using a Bourdieusian framework, preparedness is considered in relation to habitus-field match and HE performance as capital-added in habitus transformation. The chapter offers a complementary way of considering the dynamic between educator and recent graduate agency and how that might be applied when studying course and student performance, designing curricula and developing appropriate ‘signature pedagogies’, especially for those HE actors tasked with delivering against the ‘promise’ of graduate preparedness. In considering preparedness for practice as a performative function of HE, the chapter is located in wider societal debates about the ‘worth’ of HE and offers insight for educators of future PR practitioners.
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This paper has been developed to explore and discuss aspects related to teaching social justice, equity and inclusive understandings to business students in an Australian…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper has been developed to explore and discuss aspects related to teaching social justice, equity and inclusive understandings to business students in an Australian university, in particular within the area of disability inclusion in business settings. This paper seeks to describe the author's journey of reflection and re‐definition of disability and to serve as a case study for other academics interested in pursuing a similar path in other areas of tertiary business education.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper has adopted a self‐study research approach that, through the use of reflection in and on practice, seeks to improve the practice of teachers by understanding themselves as teachers, the purpose of which is to ultimately assist in improving the education.
Findings
This paper identifies some positive outcomes of using thirdspace pedagogical teaching practices. These outcomes include the opportunity for international and local students to develop deeper understandings with respect to cultural influences concerning the conceptualisation of contested concepts as well as the opportunity for tertiary educators to further develop their knowledge and understanding of cultural diversity within specific course content.
Practical implications
This paper recommends the need to support and encourage thirdspace pedagogical teaching as a valued and useful educational approach; the need for academic teaching to proactively seek ways to include both non‐western and western perspectives in teaching material; and the need for teaching academics to share and disseminate tacit teaching experiences of international students to the broader academy.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to increasing the understanding of tertiary sector pedagogical teaching practices, particularly within an internationalised curriculum setting.
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Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely…
Abstract
Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely, innovative thought structures and attitudes have almost always forced economic institutions and modes of behaviour to adjust. We learn from the history of economic doctrines how a particular theory emerged and whether, and in which environment, it could take root. We can see how a school evolves out of a common methodological perception and similar techniques of analysis, and how it has to establish itself. The interaction between unresolved problems on the one hand, and the search for better solutions or explanations on the other, leads to a change in paradigma and to the formation of new lines of reasoning. As long as the real world is subject to progress and change scientific search for explanation must out of necessity continue.
Bente Elkjaer and Barbara Simpson
In the past, critics have dismissed American Pragmatism as intellectually naïve and philosophically passé, but in this chapter we argue that it still has much to offer the field…
Abstract
In the past, critics have dismissed American Pragmatism as intellectually naïve and philosophically passé, but in this chapter we argue that it still has much to offer the field of organization studies. Pragmatism is especially relevant to those organizational scholars who are concerned with understanding the dynamic processes and practices of organizational life. This chapter lays out the historical development of Pragmatism, recognizing the originating contributions of Peirce, James, Dewey and Mead. Although each of these writers developed unique philosophical positions, their ideas are all permeated by four key themes: experience, inquiry, habit and transaction. The interplay between these themes informs a temporal view of social practice in which selves and situations are continuously constructed and reconstructed through experimental and reflexive processes of social engagement. We then use organizational learning theory as an example to illustrate the relevance of these four themes, contrasting the anti-dualistic stance of Pragmatism with the work of Argyris and Schön. Finally we turn to consider Weick's organizing and sensemaking, suggesting that Pragmatism offers three potential foci for further development of these theories, namely continuity of past and future in the present, the transactional nature of social agency and reflexivity in social practices. Similarly we see potential for Pragmatism to productively inform the theorizing of other organizational practices such as identity work, strategy work, emotion work and idea work.
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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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Rada Massingham, Peter Rex Massingham and John Dumay
The purpose of this paper is to present a new learning and growth perspective for the balanced scorecard (BSC) that includes more specific measures of integrated thinking and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a new learning and growth perspective for the balanced scorecard (BSC) that includes more specific measures of integrated thinking and value creation to help improve integrated reporting (<IR>). Practical, relevant definitions of these historically vague concepts may improve intangible asset disclosures (IAD) and increase uptake of the<IR> framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is conceptual. The authors use organisational learning to theorise about the learning and growth perspective of the BSC, within the context of the practice of IAD.
Findings
Several criticisms of IAD, the<IR>framework and the BSC have acted as barriers to implementing the<IR>framework. The improved version of the BSC’s learning and growth perspective, presented in this paper, addresses those criticisms by redefining the concept of integrated thinking (learning) and more fully connecting that learning to future value creation (growth). The model is designed to be used in tandem with the<IR>framework to operationalise integrated thinking. A new BSC strategy map illustrates how this revised learning and growth perspective interacts with the other three BSC perspectives to create long-term shareholder value through the management and growth of knowledge within an organisation.
Research limitations/implications
Organisational learning is an important source of competitive advantage in the modern knowledge economy. Here, the authors encourage further debate on how to report and disclose information on intangible assets, driven by a new conceptual strategy for organisational learning that fully supports the BSC’s capacity to help integrated thinking and future value creation for the<IR>framework.
Practical implications
From its roots as a performance measurement system, the BSC has become a widely used strategy execution tool. The<IR>framework has struggled to gain traction, but still has value in exploring intangible assets and its disclosure from a systems thinking perspective. The model is designed to bring an explicit understanding of how to improve integrated thinking for the<IR>framework facilitating better measurement, management and reporting of human and structural capital. By doing so, the new model enables a firm to use the BSC to engage with<IR>more effectively, which should also be useful for practitioners given the widespread use of the BSC.
Originality/value
The analysis of the BSC’s learning and growth perspective reveals two dichotomies – one between resources and growth, and another between systems and capability. The revised perspective resolves these dichotomies with clear, forward-focused measures of learning and intangible asset growth, and multiple vertical and horizontal connections between the perspective’s four constructs. The authors demonstrate practical paths to value creation through a range of strategic impacts.
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The field of interorganizational studies is not currently known for applying qualitative methodologies with the same enthusiasm as statistically‐based survey techniques. A review…
Abstract
The field of interorganizational studies is not currently known for applying qualitative methodologies with the same enthusiasm as statistically‐based survey techniques. A review of recent developments in qualitative methodologies reveals several techniques which can be fruitfully applied to the study of interorganizational (IO) networks. This paper extends the meaning‐based social definitionist perspective to the study of IO networks, by drawing upon the relevant theoretical aspects of social phenomenology, symbolic interactionism, and ethnomethodology. The social definitionist perspective is concerned with theories and methodologies relevant to the social definition and construction of meaning in multiple actor settings. Such a meaning‐based perspective would facilitate the application of qualitative methodologies to IO networks, in parallel with similar developments in organizational behavior. The paper identifies four specific types of qualitative analyses for IO studies: phenomenological typification, domain analysis, componential analysis, and conversational analysis.