Abstract
Details
Keywords
Abstract
Details
Keywords
Richard Huff, Cynthia Cors, Jinzhou Song and Yali Pang
The work of David John Farmer has been recognized as critical to the Public Policy and Administration canon. Its impact has been far-reaching both geographically because of its…
Abstract
The work of David John Farmer has been recognized as critical to the Public Policy and Administration canon. Its impact has been far-reaching both geographically because of its international application and theoretically because of the vast array of public administration challenges it can help resolve. This paper uses the concepts of rhizomatic thinking and reflexive interpretation to describe Farmerʼs work. And because a critical piece of Farmerʼs work is a bridging of the gap between theory and practice, it formally introduces Farmerʼs research approach as Farmerʼs Method. This article is intended to serve as a useful tool for students, practitioners, and theorists in understanding the vast contributions of David John Farmer and the practical application of his work.
Yan Jin, Augustine Pang and Joshua Smith
The purpose of this paper is to explore the veracity of the contingency model of ethical crisis communication by examining the factors of influence in a time of crisis including…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the veracity of the contingency model of ethical crisis communication by examining the factors of influence in a time of crisis including what constitutes ethics in a time of crisis; the role of public relations (PR) practitioners as the “moral conscience” of an organization and perceptions of the PR’ role within top management.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth interviews were conducted among ten senior PR managers with crisis communication experience in North America.
Findings
This research identifies and investigates six ethical variables – the nature of the crisis, the role of top management, the activism of stakeholders, government regulation/intervention, the diversity of cultures and the exposure to external business environments – and their potential influences on an organization’s communication practices.
Research limitations/implications
The qualitative approach does not produce generalizable results. In addition, the authors could have interviewed more people, although the authors have reached information saturation in analyzing the interview data based on the ten interviews conducted.
Practical implications
Insights from this exploratory study contribute to answering the “how” questions with empirical data that enhance the clarity on the roadmap of ethical factors in crisis communication practice.
Originality/value
Unlike other conceptual work that explores moral philosophies in ethics, this study aims to offer a practical approach – rather than a philosophical argument and persuasion – that is rooted in the practitioner’s world.
Details
Keywords
Xi Zhong, He Wan and Qiuping Peng
The authors analyze the effects of controlling shareholders' stock pledging on firms' strategic change behavior, and investigate how the balance of power between shareholders and…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors analyze the effects of controlling shareholders' stock pledging on firms' strategic change behavior, and investigate how the balance of power between shareholders and analyst coverage moderates those effects.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing fixed effects models, the authors test hypotheses based on Chinese listed company data from 2011 to 2017.
Findings
Controlling shareholders' stock pledges has a negative effect on strategic change. As the balance of power among shareholders and/or analyst coverage increases, it mitigates the effect of controlling shareholder stock pledges on strategic change. In particular, the balance of power between shareholders and analyst coverage weakened the relationship between controlling shareholder stock pledges and strategic change. Lastly, after distinguishing family from nonfamily firms, the authors discovered that these findings only held for family firms.
Originality/value
This study makes important contributions to strategic change, stock pledge and family firm literature, and also provides guidance on firms' strategic change practices.
Details
Keywords
This study aims to crystallize the research landscape of corporate social responsibility (CSR) authenticity by systematically analyzing CSR scholarships published in peer-reviewed…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to crystallize the research landscape of corporate social responsibility (CSR) authenticity by systematically analyzing CSR scholarships published in peer-reviewed journals from 2007 to 2021.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative content analysis was used to systematically analyze 52 peer-reviewed articles on CSR authenticity. In particular, this study coded the conceptualizations and operationalizations of CSR authenticity, research contexts, applied theoretical frameworks and constructs associated with authenticity in the CSR scholarships.
Findings
This study’s analysis revealed that CSR authenticity is a multifaceted and multidimensional concept researched in various contexts. Yet, it still lacks clear and consistent conceptualization and theorization. Methodologically, qualitative and quantitative methods have equally contributed to the investigation of CSR authenticity. However, scale development and validation still need to improve.
Research limitations/implications
The sample of this research is limited by the searching method and language restriction. This research contributes to CSR scholarships by describing the growing landscape of CSR authenticity research, identifying key research gaps and offering suggestions for future research.
Practical implications
Practitioners can use the findings as references to develop more authentic CSR activities.
Originality/value
This study is an early attempt to examine the research on CSR authenticity, which has been inconclusive and disorganized, despite the rapid growth of publications in recent years.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to investigate differences/similarities in business practices of second‐generation South Asian entrepreneurs within family‐owned firms, in comparison…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate differences/similarities in business practices of second‐generation South Asian entrepreneurs within family‐owned firms, in comparison to their second‐generation counterparts managing and running their own business.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws its theoretical underpinning via a number of concepts relevant to the South Asian business experience. To understand this, investigation was conducted within a phenomenological paradigm. In total, 48 semi‐structured interviews were carried out with three South Asian groups. Namely, first‐ and second‐ generation Sikh, Hindu and Pakistani Muslim entrepreneurs from both family and non‐family owned micro‐small businesses situated within the Greater London area. In addition, nine businesses from all three ethnic groups were selected to complete the multiple (comparative) case‐study stage of the research.
Findings
Similarities and differences between second‐generation entrepreneurs within family and non‐family businesses (NFBs) are evident. For instance, a majority of the respondents (from family and non‐family businesses) considered entrepreneurship as something to embrace, and not as a means of economic survival. A minority of the respondents within FBs were pushed into entrepreneurship, as such, this has had an impact on the father‐son relationship in a negative way. Second‐generation respondents from FBs, in comparison to their counterparts within NFBs, were more likely to have decision‐making pertaining to the business impeded by the father. Furthermore, respondents from FBs were moving back into the said business, whereas, respondents from NFBs were developing businesses more akin to their prior employment experience.
Practical implications
The paper offers insights into the behaviour and business practices of second‐generation South Asian entrepreneurs from family and non‐family, so adding a further dimension to our understanding of this particular group.
Originality/value
The paper will be of value to policy makers, practitioners and researchers alike, is it sheds light on motives, prior experience and class resources the second‐generation bring to entrepreneurship.
Details
Keywords
Richard Huaman-Ramirez and Dwight Merunka
This paper aims to model and estimate how celebrity chief executive officers (CEOs) credibility (i.e. expertise, trustworthiness, attractiveness) is related to their brand image…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to model and estimate how celebrity chief executive officers (CEOs) credibility (i.e. expertise, trustworthiness, attractiveness) is related to their brand image (i.e. functional, sensory/visual). This paper further examines the effects of consumer materialism on both celebrity CEOs’ credibility and the image of their brand.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 260 participants knowledgeable of CEOs and their corresponding brands completed an online questionnaire in a cross-sectional study. The data were analyzed through covariance-based structural equation modeling.
Findings
Celebrity CEOs’ expertise and attractiveness are positively related to both functional and sensory/visual images of their brands. Results also demonstrate the positive effect of materialism on both celebrity CEOs’ credibility and brand image.
Research limitations/implications
The research was conducted in one country (France) using a cross-sectional design. Additional studies in other settings or countries should be carried out to establish the generalizability of results and strengthen causality inferences.
Practical implications
CEOs need to understand and manage their key role as celebrities, given the direct influence they may have on consumer brand perceptions and behavior.
Originality/value
This study refines the relationship between celebrity CEOs’ credibility and brand image. It is the first to introduce and validate the effect of consumer materialism on the perception of celebrity CEOs.
Details
Keywords
This paper seeks to be a thought experiment. If the field of futures were invented today, it asks, what would it look like? What would be its intellectual foundations? Who would…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to be a thought experiment. If the field of futures were invented today, it asks, what would it look like? What would be its intellectual foundations? Who would it serve and influence? And how would its ideas and insights be put into practice?
Design/methodology/approach
It reviews the literatures on experimental psychology and neuroscience to identify biases that affect people's ability to think about and act upon the future, studies of expertise that map the limits of professional judgment, and recent work on the nature of critical challenges of the twenty‐first century.
Findings
It argues that futurists could develop social software tools, prediction markets, and other technologies to improve the individual and collective accuracy and impact of work. Choice architectures and nudges to lengthen “the shadow of the future” of everyday choices made by ordinary people could also be used.
Research limitations/implications
The paper argues for new directions in the practice of futures, to make the field better‐suited to deal with the challenges confronting an increasingly complex, chaotic, and contingent world.
Practical implications
The development of tools to augment professional activity, and adoption of choice architectures and nudges as media for communicating about the future, could improve futures work and its impact, but lay the foundation for other methodological innovations.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the ongoing discussion about where futures should go.
Details
Keywords
Mingke Gao, Zhenyu Zhang, Jinyuan Zhang, Shihao Tang, Han Zhang and Tao Pang
Because of the various advantages of reinforcement learning (RL) mentioned above, this study uses RL to train unmanned aerial vehicles to perform two tasks: target search and…
Abstract
Purpose
Because of the various advantages of reinforcement learning (RL) mentioned above, this study uses RL to train unmanned aerial vehicles to perform two tasks: target search and cooperative obstacle avoidance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study draws inspiration from the recurrent state-space model and recurrent models (RPM) to propose a simpler yet highly effective model called the unmanned aerial vehicles prediction model (UAVPM). The main objective is to assist in training the UAV representation model with a recurrent neural network, using the soft actor-critic algorithm.
Findings
This study proposes a generalized actor-critic framework consisting of three modules: representation, policy and value. This architecture serves as the foundation for training UAVPM. This study proposes the UAVPM, which is designed to aid in training the recurrent representation using the transition model, reward recovery model and observation recovery model. Unlike traditional approaches reliant solely on reward signals, RPM incorporates temporal information. In addition, it allows the inclusion of extra knowledge or information from virtual training environments. This study designs UAV target search and UAV cooperative obstacle avoidance tasks. The algorithm outperforms baselines in these two environments.
Originality/value
It is important to note that UAVPM does not play a role in the inference phase. This means that the representation model and policy remain independent of UAVPM. Consequently, this study can introduce additional “cheating” information from virtual training environments to guide the UAV representation without concerns about its real-world existence. By leveraging historical information more effectively, this study enhances UAVs’ decision-making abilities, thus improving the performance of both tasks at hand.