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1 – 10 of 213Martha Mador, Kent Springdal and Sarah Dixon
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usefulness and relevance of a four stage model of privatisation, based in institutional theory, to quasi‐privatised organisations.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usefulness and relevance of a four stage model of privatisation, based in institutional theory, to quasi‐privatised organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper studies a UK organisation with changing ownership, governance, and boundaries. Historic Royal Palaces is intrinsically interesting, and resembles many quasi‐privatised organisations placed within charitable frameworks. Application of the process model reveals the governance challenges HRP faces.
Findings
The study suggests that the model is holistic and dynamic, and useful as an analytic template. It is inclusive of competitor, behavioural, and resource‐based views of the firm, and recognises that firms and their governance change over time.
Research limitations/implications
The report adds validity to the model developed by case studies from a different national context. The small number of cases is a limitation. Future research could include other types of quasi‐privatised organisation, and organisations in different national settings.
Practical implications
The model provides a helpful template for interpreting and explaining the changes enacted by organisations and their members through privatisation. Further, although largely descriptive, the model also has some predictive power. It can help policy makers and managers predict some of the key limitations of the privatisation process of a particular organisation based on the specific nature of its context and settings.
Originality/value
The detailed discussion of a quasi‐privatised organisation – an increasingly common, but little researched organisational type is significant. The development of a holistic approach for understanding organisational changes is also significant.
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Sarah E.A. Dixon and Anne Clifford
The purpose of this paper is to extend research into social and ecological entrepreneurship. It aims to examine how ecopreneurs can create an economically viable business whilst…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend research into social and ecological entrepreneurship. It aims to examine how ecopreneurs can create an economically viable business whilst retaining their core environmental and social values.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory approach within the phenomenological research paradigm. Single case study of Green‐Works triangulating data collection – semi structured interviews, micro‐ethnography and document analysis. Inductive approach.
Findings
A strong link is identified between entrepreneurialism and environmentalism. The entrepreneurial flair of the CEO enables the pursuit of environmental, social and economic goals. The success of the Green‐Works business model stems from the business's symbiotic relationships: firstly with large corporate bodies, which are keen to quantify their CSR efforts; secondly, with the community and social partners, who provide employment and training for disadvantaged people and a route to relatively risk free growth; and thirdly, with government and social institutions, which provide special concessions and support. The strong economic foundations of the model provide sustainability for the environmental and social objectives of the organisation.
Research limitations/implications
Research restricted to one UK case study – a model that has evolved in part through policies and business trends specific to the UK. Further research should compare this business model with other social enterprises within the UK and other countries.
Practical implications
Provides a practical framework for social and green entrepreneurship. Of interest to ecopreneurs and social enterprises seeking economic sustainability; to governments, wishing to promote CSR, environmentalism and social enterprise; and to corporate organisations wishing to demonstrate a quantitative contribution to the environment and society.
Originality/value
Demonstration of natural fit between environmentalism and entrepreneurialism. Presentation of business model offering economic sustainability for environmental and social enterprises.
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The purpose of this paper is to identify critical success factors for the management of change in transition economies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify critical success factors for the management of change in transition economies.
Design/methodology/approach
Four longitudinal case studies of Russian oil companies covering a ten‐year period from 1995, based on 71 in‐depth interviews. Examines organisational change from a resource‐based and organisational learning perspective.
Findings
Explains how top managers firstly, break with administrative heritage to increase absorptive capacity and secondly, leverage administrative heritage for rapid implementation of change. Intra‐ and cross‐case analyses demonstrate that absorptive capacity increases and organisational change occurs where the top management team has radically different skills and mindsets from the dominant logic of the post‐Soviet organisation, an entrepreneurial orientation and the capability to drive through change due to a top‐down management style.
Research limitations/implications
The research is restricted to four case studies. However, the critical success factors identified could apply to any large, conservative and bureaucratic organisation undergoing change. This represents an interesting avenue for research on organisational turnaround in the West.
Practical implications
An understanding of the critical success factors for dealing with administrative heritage will assist managers in transition economies and in turnaround situations in the West.
Originality/value
The speed of change in the Russian oil industry provided a unique setting for research into organisational change in transition economies. On the basis of cross‐case analyses, a new theoretical framework was developed to explain the change process.
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Joanne Labrecque and Sylvain Charlebois
Functional foods, also known controversially as “phoods,” are perceived by many as the food industry's response to consumers' increasing desire to make healthier eating choices…
Abstract
Purpose
Functional foods, also known controversially as “phoods,” are perceived by many as the food industry's response to consumers' increasing desire to make healthier eating choices. The objective of the present study is to determine the influence of the production technology used to make functional foods on the perceived health value of functional foods.
Design/methodology/approach
To meet the objectives of the study, the paper employs an exploratory study with six conditions. The two factors addressed were the added nutrient (lycopene and beta‐carotene) and the degree of production technology (low, medium, and high). Lycopene and beta‐carotene were both added to two functional foods with different health features, which in this study were orange juice and apple pie. The use of this latter factor supposed that the level “low” implied a product which was improved by adding a food that naturally contained a nutrient, the level “medium” implied that the nutrient was added in the laboratory, and the level “high” refers to an ingredient whose genetic code had been modified in order to introduce the gene producing the nutrient. In order to reduce the effect of the order of presentation of the technology levels, the sequence of levels was randomized.
Findings
The results show that perceived health benefits and intention to purchase are not so much influenced by what we pose as graduated stages of production technologies as by a perceived dichotomy between natural and artificial foods. The results also show the extensive mediating effect of perceived risks and benefits on the relationship between experimental conditions, perceived health benefits, and intent to purchase. The results also reveal that pre‐purchase intentions of functional foods are more noteworthy for orange juice, which has a usefulness valence, than for apple pie, which has a less healthy epicurean valence.
Originality/value
This study has various strengths, including a novel intervention that addressed a timely topic for which few data are currently available. The sale of functional foods is a complex practice. This exploratory study took a few steps toward understanding how health benefits of functional foods are perceived and how these perceptions can be better understood by food manufacturers and consumers in today's society.
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