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1 – 10 of 62Arcosanti is a prototype city being built based on the visionary architect Paolo Soleri’s principles of Arcology which integrates architecture with ecology. Arcology proposes a…
Abstract
Arcosanti is a prototype city being built based on the visionary architect Paolo Soleri’s principles of Arcology which integrates architecture with ecology. Arcology proposes a compact three-dimensional urban form to provide a lean alternative to the unsustainable urban sprawl city form found in most of America. In its reduction of dependence on the automobile, reliance on pedestrian transportation, proximity to nature and proposal to have agriculture integrated into the city, Arcology is a vision of Green Urbanism. The design of Arcosanti incorporates Biophilic principles that preserve the biodiverse natural landscape, has a compact organic form, and functions with a circular metabolism that is analogous to nature when complete. Arcosanti, located in central Arizona, was begun in 1970 as an urban laboratory, and has been constructed by over 7,000 workshop volunteers over the past 45 years. Following Soleri's death in 2013, the Cosanti Foundation has established a Strategic Planning Steering Committee to help guide the continued development of Arcosanti as a prototype Arcology. The Strategic Plan will provide a framework for future organization and development. This article examines how the concept of Arcology and the development of the Arcosanti prototype encompasses principles of Green Urbanism and sustainable development.
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Ruth J. Boaden and Jan J. Cilliers
Investigates the ways in which the performance of academic research can be measured. In particular, it considers the role of quality as one aspect of performance. Focuses…
Abstract
Investigates the ways in which the performance of academic research can be measured. In particular, it considers the role of quality as one aspect of performance. Focuses specifically on the case of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) carried out in all UK universities and highlights the need for clearer definition and measurement frameworks. Considers the extent to which research can be considered as a product or a service. The literature is reviewed and a performance measurement framework for research is suggested, with a set of quantitative performance measures. The extent to which these measures include the RAE measures is then discussed and it is shown that the RAE measures focus primarily on one aspect of performance. Recommendations are made concerning the utilisation of a wider framework than that suggested by the RAE to enable research performance to be assessed in overall terms, improvements to be identified and benchmarking carried out.
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The literature demonstrates how the environment for and value of research is changing. The purpose of this paper is to explore the narratives of 30 UK researchers and academics to…
Abstract
Purpose
The literature demonstrates how the environment for and value of research is changing. The purpose of this paper is to explore the narratives of 30 UK researchers and academics to consider how they learned about the nature and value of research through the researcher development process and within this broader context of change.
Design/methodology/approach
A biographical‐narrative approach is adopted, emphasising subjective experience and meaning and how this is shaped by wider social structures.
Findings
Respondents' stories highlight the continued informality of much of the development process and how a lack of systematic support can leave much to chance, potentially undermining future views of professional development. Data from respondents across generations also enable examination of some of the changes that have taken place over time in the higher education (HE) environment and the impact this has had on individuals' understanding of research. In particular, changes such as the introduction of the Research Assessment Exercise/Research Excellence Framework appear to have had a significant – and not entirely positive – shaping influence on how individuals perceive, and experience, research and its aims, leading to an emphasis on outputs over knowledge building.
Research limitations/implications
A biographical‐narrative approach necessarily involves a smaller sample, nevertheless, shared themes were generated by this size of sample and inferences can be drawn.
Practical implications
Despite increased emphasis on research and publishing in the UK, these stories across generations suggest that training and development for researchers often remain very informal, with much left to chance. A more overt approach to researcher development, such as through a “scaffolded” learning process, in which an experienced colleague guides development activities, could help to avoid negative early experiences and increase the likelihood that individuals will develop their own sense of a “culture of developmentalism”.
Originality/value
Focusing on what individuals learn about the nature and value of research as they go through the development process adds to our understanding of researcher development and how this is situated within the wider HE context. Data from respondents across generations equally enable examination of some of the changes that have taken place over time, and how these re‐shape researcher development.
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David Rae and Naomi Ruth Woodier-Harris
Enterprise and entrepreneurship education (EEE) is seen as a major contributor to economic growth and development in the post-2008 environment we term the “New Era”. The role of…
Abstract
Purpose
Enterprise and entrepreneurship education (EEE) is seen as a major contributor to economic growth and development in the post-2008 environment we term the “New Era”. The role of EEE in enabling graduates to develop entrepreneurial intentions and career plans is therefore of major importance. The paper explores how EEE can influence postgraduate entrepreneurship and career initiation in the context of the New Era economy at an international level.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper explores the learning experiences of a group of 60 postgraduate international students who completed an Entrepreneurship programme at the University of Lincoln which included the development of personal learning narratives and career plans. The students were exposed to the opportunity-centred entrepreneurship approach and the “Entrepreneurial Effectiveness” model in the QAA (2012) guidelines. Their narratives were analysed to assess: prior career intentions, proposed career intentions resulting from the EEE programme, application of learning arising from the EEE programme and a survey of students was used to validate the narratives
Findings
EEE has a wider influence on personal development and career planning than simply the intention to create new ventures. The paper builds on a prior study of international postgraduate students’ orientation to entrepreneurship education in their expectations of the UK higher education, which confirmed that career development is a major motivator for international study in the UK (Rae and Woodier-Harris, 2012). The paper contributes new understanding of the relationships between EEE and graduate career intentions, especially at PG and international levels. The paper explores personal growth, confidence and identity development, formation of new career intentions and the application of learning. The international dimension is considerable and this is discussed.
Practical implications
The paper has implications for the marketing, design and delivery of EEE at international and HE institutional levels, as well as for the practices of educators in designing, validating and delivering programmes for entrepreneurial career development, at national and international levels.
Originality/value
The paper contributes new understanding to the role of EEE in postgraduate career initiation at international level in a period of significant and complex economic transformation.
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Damian Ruth, Frances Gunn and Jonathan Elms
The purpose of this paper is to explore the everyday tasks and activities undertaken by retailer entrepreneurs and owner/managers when they strategize. Specifically, it…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the everyday tasks and activities undertaken by retailer entrepreneurs and owner/managers when they strategize. Specifically, it interrogates the nature of the intuitive, idiosyncratic strategic agency of a retail owner/manager.
Design/methodology/approach
Through adopting a combination of phenomenological and narrative approaches, focussing on illuminating the everyday operational and strategic practices of one retail entrepreneur and owner/manager, a richly contextualized, ideographic account of the procedures and outcomes of their strategizing is provided.
Findings
By revealing narratives that are seldom obvious – often kept behind the counter, and not on display – the authors are able to unravel the social reality of the retailer's decision-making, and the influences of identity, connections with customers and community, emotions and the spirit, and love and family. This study also illuminates how entrepreneurs retrospectively make sense out of the messiness of everyday life particularly when juggling the melding of personal and business realities.
Research limitations/implications
This paper explores the experiences and reflections of the decision-making of one retail entrepreneur manager within a particular business setting. However, the use of an ideographic approach allowed for an in depth investigation of the realities of strategic practices undertaken by a retail owner that may be extrapolated beyond this immediate context.
Originality/value
This paper develops original insights into the retailer as an individual, vis-à-vis an organization, as well as nuanced understanding of the actual nature of work undertaken by retail entrepreneurs and owner/managers. To this end, this paper contributes to the “strategy-as-practice” debate in the strategic management literature, and to narrative analysis and advances insights to the perennial question: “what is a retailer?”.
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Integration of midwifery and nurse education into higher education was completed in 1996. This article highlights issues which emerged prior to, during and post‐integration. It…
Abstract
Integration of midwifery and nurse education into higher education was completed in 1996. This article highlights issues which emerged prior to, during and post‐integration. It focuses on the process itself, student support, status, titles and employment contracts of lecturers and examines these issues in relation to one model of change. The personal perceptions and reflections of the authors are based on their own experiences of integration in two institutions. The authors conclude that although lecturers are still “juggling” with their roles as lecturers in higher education, change should be embraced and viewed positively, and all opportunities for research, collaboration and professional development should be grasped.
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Paul J. Magnuson, Özge Hacıfazlıoğlu, Steven Carber and Rae Newman
A boarding school research center annually invites students, professors, and others to collaborate with faculty members, forming interconnected communities of practice. The…
Abstract
A boarding school research center annually invites students, professors, and others to collaborate with faculty members, forming interconnected communities of practice. The authors interviewed visitors to determine how their experience contributed to their identity as a scholar and the extent to which they felt part of a community of practice. Categorizing emergent themes according to Wenger's (1998) categories of communities of practice, we identified six subthemes that characterize their experience. All participants valued their stay and expressed a desire to remain connected to the school, visiting scholars, and other people they met and now consider part of their network.
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Stefan Scheidt, Carsten Gelhard, Juliane Strotzer and Jörg Henseler
While the branding of individuals has attracted increasing attention from practitioners in recent decades, understanding of personal branding still remains limited, especially…
Abstract
Purpose
While the branding of individuals has attracted increasing attention from practitioners in recent decades, understanding of personal branding still remains limited, especially with regard to the branding of celebrity CEOs. To contribute to this debate, this paper aims to explore the co-branding of celebrity CEOs and corporate brands, integrating endorsement theory and the concept of meaning transfer at a level of brand attributes.
Design/methodology/approach
A between-subjects true experimental design was chosen for each of the two empirical studies with a total of 268 participants, using mock newspaper articles about a succession scenario at the CEO level of different companies. The study is designed to analyse the meaning transfer from celebrity CEO to corporate brand and vice versa using 16 personality attributes.
Findings
This study gives empirical support for meaning transfer effects at the brand attribute level in both the celebrity-CEO-to-corporate-brand and corporate-brand-to-celebrity-CEO direction, which confirms the applicability of the concept of brand endorsement to celebrity CEOs and the mutuality in co-branding models. Furthermore, a more detailed and expansive perspective on the definition of endorsement is provided as well as managerial guidance for building celebrity CEOs and corporate brands in consideration of meaning transfer effects.
Originality/value
This study is one of only few analysing the phenomenon of meaning transfer between brands that focus on non-evaluative associations (i.e. personality attributes). It is unique in its scope, insofar as the partnering relationship between celebrity CEOs and corporate brands have not been analysed empirically from this perspective yet. It bridges the gap between application in practice and the academic foundations, and it contributes to a broader understanding and definition of celebrity endorsement.
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