Search results

1 – 10 of 206
Per page
102050
Citations:
Loading...
Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 April 2020

Göran Finnveden, Eva Friman, Anna Mogren, Henrietta Palmer, Per Sund, Göran Carstedt, Sofia Lundberg, Barbro Robertsson, Håkan Rodhe and Linn Svärd

Since 2006, higher education institutions (HEIs) in Sweden, should according to the Higher Education Act, promote sustainable development (SD). In 2016, the Swedish Government…

4462

Abstract

Purpose

Since 2006, higher education institutions (HEIs) in Sweden, should according to the Higher Education Act, promote sustainable development (SD). In 2016, the Swedish Government asked the Swedish higher education authority to evaluate how this study is proceeding. The authority chose to focus on education. This paper aims to produce a report on this evaluation.

Design/methodology/approach

All 47 HEIs in Sweden were asked to write a self-evaluation report based on certain evaluation criteria. A panel was appointed consisting of academics and representatives for students and working life. The panel wrote an evaluation of each HEI, a report on general findings and recommendations, and gave an overall judgement of each HEI in two classes as follows: the HEI has well-developed processes for integration of SD in education or the HEI needs to develop their processes.

Findings

Overall, a mixed picture developed. Most HEIs could give examples of programmes or courses where SD was integrated. However, less than half of the HEIs had overarching goals for integration of SD in education or had a systematic follow-up of these goals. Even fewer worked specifically with pedagogy and didactics, teaching and learning methods and environments, sustainability competences or other characters of education for SD. Overall, only 12 out of 47 got a higher judgement.

Originality/value

This is a unique study in which all HEIs in a country are evaluated. This provides unique possibilities for identifying success factors and barriers. The importance of the leadership of the HEIs became clear.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 13 April 2010

Olle Westin and Hanno Roberts

The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction and overview of the various papers in this special issue.

924

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction and overview of the various papers in this special issue.

Design/methodology/approach

A short discussion of the main quests of interventionist research and how these are related to the papers in this special issue, is undertaken.

Findings

The essence of interventionist research is its methodological location, researching where practice and theory meet.

Research limitations/implications

Interventionist research places strong demands on the individual researcher's interpretative, social, and abstracting skills in order to carry observations to ontological and epistemological levels.

Practical implications

Interventionist research is rich in research designs and specific intervention types. Selecting the “right” one is strongly related to the connection the researcher makes with the social context she/he will operate in. Changes over time in both design and intervention can be expected, given the dynamic, longitudinal and interactive nature of interventionist research.

Originality/value

This special issue provides examples of a varied set of interventionist research situations, including the selection of typical intervention methods and how knowledge contributions were extracted.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Book part
Publication date: 1 November 2008

Enrico Baraldi and Torkel Strömsten

The role of management control has not received sufficient attention in the literature on value creation so far. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the role of control in…

Abstract

The role of management control has not received sufficient attention in the literature on value creation so far. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the role of control in value creation in industrial networks. More specifically, the aim is to examine the management and control of interfaces between key resources within and between firms, in the networks surrounding firms, when they attempt to create value. All the firms that take part in a value-creation process have both formal and informal control systems: these firms have budgets, specific routines, reward systems, and sanctioned “ways to behave.” The paper relates the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) group's research on interaction, relationships, and networks with control literature, and presents a framework for controlling resource interfaces in a network setting. Two in-depth cases illustrate the role of control in value creation. The first case covers the development of a low-weight newspaper grade that Holmen and its paper mill Hallsta initiated. The second case examines the attempt to develop and commercialize a new, energy efficient pulping technology.

Details

Creating and managing superior customer value
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-173-2

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 November 2018

Kristian Johan Sund, Stuart Barnes and Jan Mattsson

The recently developed resource orchestration theory studies the processes by which managers handle resources to create competitive advantages. According to this theory, it is the…

8753

Abstract

Purpose

The recently developed resource orchestration theory studies the processes by which managers handle resources to create competitive advantages. According to this theory, it is the way that resources interact with each other that results in such advantages. Resource integration, i.e. the alignment, or fit between resources, is one important outcome of resource orchestration processes. This paper aims to develop a scale and outline approaches to measuring such resource integration.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a typology of five types of resources derived from value theory, the authors develop a scale for measuring the fit between resource types, i.e. the degree of resource integration. The authors illustrate the method using a case example of an IT company and demonstrate how a variety of statistical methods including hierarchical cluster analysis, structural equation modeling, social network analysis and methods from biostatistics can provide measures of resource integration.

Findings

The authors develop a scale and associated measures that can help scholars systematically measure and identify firms with a high or low level of resource integration capability. This makes it possible to investigate further these companies and reconstruct how they support dynamic capabilities, as well as commonalities across firms with high and low levels of this capability.

Originality/value

Existing studies on resource orchestration have failed to provide us with a reliable measurement instrument that can be used both in cross-sectional work, and in repeated or time-series studies, allowing us to assess the degree to which a wider range of resources in an organization are integrated. The authors develop and demonstrate such an instrument.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 26 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter analyses and discusses local government health promotion in Norway.

Approach/methodology

Institutional theory indicates that political and administrative jurisdictions are path dependent in their policy formation and implementation. By using data from different sources this assumption is analysed and discussed according to health promotion in Norwegian municipalities. The main methodology is cross tabulations, bivariate correlations and regression is carried out to supplement analyses.

Findings

Municipalities are path dependent in their health promotion policies. They acknowledge and prioritize health behaviour independent of experienced socio-economic challenges, municipal capacity as size and income, and local government political profile. Competence devoted to health promotion can create changes in policies.

Limitation/policy implications

The rhetoric on determinants and social determinants in particular is new in Norway. Rhetoric on, and interventions, that highlight the social determinants of health need to be coordinated.

Originality

The chapter presents new knowledge on Norwegian local government health promotion and how this is implemented in relation to the challenges experienced.

Details

Technology, Communication, Disparities and Government Options in Health and Health Care Services
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-645-3

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 13 April 2010

Lars Sunding and Per Odenrick

The purpose of this paper is to test an intervention technique developed earlier. The technique builds on an action research approach with a threefold aim: to produce change in a…

1071

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test an intervention technique developed earlier. The technique builds on an action research approach with a threefold aim: to produce change in a practical context, in our case to enhance the problem‐solving capacity in an operational team in an authentic construction project, and at the same time; test the technique and finally, extract additional knowledge about the problem area.

Design/methodology/approach

The technique is based on “the Skilled Facilitator” approach and the “krAft” concept, extended with knowledge about unconscious behaviour and focusing on counteracting counterproductive behaviour. The intervention was performed by the first author and studied through joint reflection, in part with the second author and in part with the participants, on documentation from meetings (notes and audio recordings), individual interviews, questionnaires, and observations.

Findings

The intervention technique developed was found to be effective in the aspect of creating efficient learning processes in the operational team. Results show that change occurred compared to the participants' experience from earlier construction projects, and indicates that the intervention was, at least partly, reason for the change. Even though the changes were apprehended both positive and negative, the positive changes were in the majority.

Originality/value

The paper creates new knowledge about how communication problems and other practical problems in the construction industry can be overcome with the help of an interventionist. The concept of the interventionist as a “liberator,” is introduced.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Book part
Publication date: 14 October 2009

Rune Elvik, Alena Høye, Truls Vaa and Michael Sørensen

Abstract

Details

The Handbook of Road Safety Measures
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-250-0

Access Restricted. View access options
Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2020

Antonio Daood, Cinzia Calluso and Luca Giustiniano

Decision-making has long been recognized as being at the core of organizational life. Yet, the cognitive mechanisms by which managers make decisions represent a critical field of…

Abstract

Decision-making has long been recognized as being at the core of organizational life. Yet, the cognitive mechanisms by which managers make decisions represent a critical field of exploration. In this context, business models (BMs) are cognitive representations of organizational architectures that managers use to orient their firms in the business environment. While BMs – as managerial schemas – have been extensively studied for their beneficial applications at the strategic level, scholarly attention has rarely focused on their dark side. In this chapter, we point out that BM thinking – that focuses excessively on established schemas – might narrow managerial cognition in the process of fine-tuning the current BM; in the process, opportunities for more radical BM innovation can be overlooked. We systematize March and Simon’s contribution on managerial cognition into a more comprehensive conceptual framework by integrating the perspectives of Kahneman, Baron, and Gollwitzer. The result is an epistemologically coherent framework for managerial cognition and decision-making that focuses on how managers can overcome cognitive biases that derive from a reliance on established BMs as schemas. We close this chapter with directions for further research.

Available. Content available
Book part
Publication date: 5 November 2016

Anne Sigismund Huff, Frances J. Milliken, Gerard P. Hodgkinson, Robert J. Galavan and Kristian J. Sund

This book on uncertainty comprises the initial volume in a series titled “New Horizons in Managerial and Organizational Cognition”. We asked Frances Milliken and Gerard P…

Abstract

This book on uncertainty comprises the initial volume in a series titled “New Horizons in Managerial and Organizational Cognition”. We asked Frances Milliken and Gerard P. Hodgkinson, two well-known scholars who have made important contributions to our understanding of uncertainty to join us in this opening chapter to introduce this project. The brief bios found at the end of this volume cannot do justice to the broad range of their contributions, but our conversation gives a flavor of the kind of insights they have brought to managerial and organizational cognition (MOC). The editors thank them for helping launch the series with a decisive exploration of what defining uncertainty involves, how that might be done, why it is important, and how the task is changing. We were interested to discover that all five of us are currently involved in research that considers the nature and impact of uncertainty, and we hope that readers similarly find that paying attention to uncertainty contributes to their current projects. Working together, we can advance understanding of organizational settings and effective action, both for researchers and practitioners.

Details

Uncertainty and Strategic Decision Making
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-170-8

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 7 January 2021

Leyla Yılmaz Fındık, İlknur Bayram and Özlem Canaran

The purpose of this paper is to explore how sustainable development (SD) is conceptualized by pre-service English language teachers in Turkey and design a specialized course…

808

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how sustainable development (SD) is conceptualized by pre-service English language teachers in Turkey and design a specialized course syllabus on SD in English language teaching (ELT) in the light of the research findings.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a mixed-methods sequential explanatory study design and investigated the case of a state university in Turkey with the involvement of 133 pre-service English language teachers.

Findings

The findings indicated that most pre-service English language teachers received no training or a course on SD in their whole education life and tended to associate SD mostly with the economic growth of a country, followed by education, social and ecological concepts. It was also found that the majority of the participants had a unidimensional view of SD. No direct links with ELT have been detected from participants’ responses. The findings also pointed to the eagerness of the participants to receive an ELT-specific course on SD providing that the course involves interactive teaching and learning activities with reference to contemporary sources focusing on global and local issues, as well as studying the methods facilitating the incorporation of such issues into teaching practice.

Research limitations/implications

This research is based on the experience of one Turkish university with limited quantitative and qualitative data.

Practical implications

Based on the participants’ knowledge, views and suggestions, this paper contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence obtained from a local context and suggests a practical framework for a field-specific course syllabus aiming to enhance teacher candidates’ knowledge, skills and values related to SD and its incorporation into ELT.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study seeking to explore pre-service ELT teachers’ conceptualization of SD in Turkish higher education, and drawing on the research findings, the authors attempted to design a course syllabus targeted at pre-service teachers in ELT departments.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

1 – 10 of 206
Per page
102050