Victoria Gosling, Garry Crawford, Gaynor Bagnall and Ben Light
The purpose of this paper is to consider the key findings of a yearlong collaborative research project focusing on the London Symphony Orchestra’s development, implementation and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the key findings of a yearlong collaborative research project focusing on the London Symphony Orchestra’s development, implementation and testing of a branded smartphone app. This app was designed to primarily sell discounted tickets, engage and inform a student audience.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-method approach including an analysis of the technology, focus groups and interviews was used.
Findings
Though the aims of app developers and marketers are often to provide customers with more choice and interactivity, this research suggests that though the app proved a useful mechanism for selling discounted tickets, it indicates that existing customers were mostly enroled and mobilised via a limited and focused functionality for the app.
Originality/value
This paper is significant as mobile phone use remains comparatively under-researched, in particular there is still a relatively small literature on the growing phenomena of apps, and even less on their use in brand marketing. Also importantly, though this paper offers a consideration of one case, the app has since been expanded to include the ticketing for ten major orchestras in London, and moreover, many of the lessons learnt from this study will be of relevance to other arts organisations.
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Martyn Gosling, James Richard and Yuri Seo
The paper contributes to the debate on a general theory of markets. The purpose of this paper is to develop a market practice model based on social practice theories, and explore…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper contributes to the debate on a general theory of markets. The purpose of this paper is to develop a market practice model based on social practice theories, and explore new ways of describing market boundaries.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual analysis of contemporary marketing directions and market theorizations provides a basis for defining markets and market boundaries in terms of social practices and their performances by market actors.
Findings
Based on the market performances held in place by institutional practices that define, contextualize and stabilize a market, this paper defines market boundaries by nine specific categories of practices, described here as parameters.
Research limitations/implications
This is a conceptual paper. Future research using empirical evidence derived from situated investigations should endeavor to refine the model and practices that define market boundaries.
Originality/value
The paper provides a new conceptualization of markets and market boundaries from the social practice perspective, and advances contemporary market theorizing that puts services at the center of exchange. The paper offers managerial implications by describing alternative means for analyzing markets and developing corresponding competitive strategies. Furthermore, the conception of market boundaries as nine parameters provides insights beyond the geographic and price boundaries typically used to describe market limits and exchange processes when developing policy.
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Abdullah Mohammed ALobaid, Cameron Gosling, Lisa McKenna and Brett Williams
Saudi female paramedics face many challenges in the current Saudi emergency medical service (EMS). This study aimed to investigate perceptions of EMS experts, leaders, managers…
Abstract
Purpose
Saudi female paramedics face many challenges in the current Saudi emergency medical service (EMS). This study aimed to investigate perceptions of EMS experts, leaders, managers and academics about the challenges faced by Saudi female paramedics in the Saudi Arabian EMS workforce.
Design/methodology/approach
A descriptive qualitative research approach was used employing semi-structured face-to-face interviews with seven EMS leaders, managers and academics in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Data were analysed using thematic analysis informed by the work of Braun and Clark.
Findings
Three themes emerged from the interviews that described EMS experts' perceptions, namely, cultural and family challenges, the value of Saudi female paramedics in the workforce and workforce issues.
Originality/value
Overall, the interviews revealed that Saudi females faced several challenges that could affect their job duties and capacity to work in the EMS. Currently, Saudi females face difficulties with family, social and religious responsibilities, such as taking care of children and homes. Workforce issues were also considered problems that affect Saudi female paramedics in the workplace, such as physical fitness and psychological burnout. The EMS leaders, managers and academics emphasised that due to the new Saudi 2030 vision, it is expected and recognised that more females need to be employed in the EMS workforce.
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Mentoring programmes for students have been made ‘popular’ with the increase in New Zealand universities over the past 10 years. These programmes have targeted the groups of ‘low…
Abstract
Mentoring programmes for students have been made ‘popular’ with the increase in New Zealand universities over the past 10 years. These programmes have targeted the groups of ‘low achieving’ students, especially those of Pacific ethnicity, who have been identified as students who need academic support. For the universities, the main priority has been to increase the academic achievement levels of the students. Mentoring has value and it is beneficial for all of those involved. However, there needs to be examination and analysis of mentoring programmes, especially with regard to the impacts. As a practitioner and theorist of mentoring, I present a personal exploration of the interpersonal relationships formed in mentoring between myself and my students so that a clearer depiction of mentoring relationships may occur for those have a keen interest with Pacific students. The nature of mentoring in a university context is challenging but with the philosophical approach of appreciative mentorship, the challenges quickly fade into the background. Mentoring as a process of relationship development is critical for the successful academic futures of Pacific students in tertiary education.
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Maryanne Gosling, Glenn Harper and Michelle McLean
The purpose of this paper is to share the experiences of three public libraries near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia of using Web 2.0 tools to reach existing and new users.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to share the experiences of three public libraries near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia of using Web 2.0 tools to reach existing and new users.
Design/methodology/approach
Using blogs and other social software and mash‐ups, Casey‐Cardinia Library Corporation, Eastern Regional Libraries and Frankston Library Service are opening up their web sites and services to their communities and giving voice to their users. The various tools are described and how the libraries are making use of them is detailed.
Findings
That Web 2.0 tools can be successfully utilised by public libraries to provide enhanced services to their users.
Originality/value
The paper provides practical examples of how Web 2.0 tools can be used by public libraries. It is of particular value to public libraries that are interested in or already providing service to their users using Web 2.0 tools.
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Timothy Marjoribanks and Karen Farquharson
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate around conceptualising competence in sport organisations by analysing club leadership and management in the Australian…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate around conceptualising competence in sport organisations by analysing club leadership and management in the Australian Football League (AFL) at a time of professionalisation. The paper asks: what were considered appropriate activities for newly professionalised AFL clubs, and how was the role of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as a competent leader in delivering these activities conceptualised in the clubs?
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 38 senior club managers in the AFL. A thematic analysis was undertaken.
Findings
The paper finds that perceptions of core activities of clubs expanded with professionalisation, and that the role of the CEO emerged as the outcome of internal organisational contests. CEO competence is not only a set of technical skills, but is social, relational and “essentially contested” (Good, 1998, p. 205).
Research limitations/implications
The qualitative methodology adopted means findings cannot be generalised to other sporting leagues, however, because all clubs participated they do reflect conceptualisations in the AFL at the time. The findings are suggestive of issues that may be relevant to other sporting competitions.
Practical implications
The paper provides evidence that CEOs in sporting organisations should not be appointed only on the basis of technical skills. Social and relational skills are critical to organisational success.
Originality/value
This paper enriches understandings of AFL clubs and of CEOs as leaders in sport organisations, and contributes to theoretical debates around the organisational construction of competence.
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It was only after considerable pressure had been brought to bear by the various health authorities of the country that the Government, in July, 1899, appointed a Departmental…
Abstract
It was only after considerable pressure had been brought to bear by the various health authorities of the country that the Government, in July, 1899, appointed a Departmental Committee to consider the subject of the use of preservatives and colouring matters in food, and it is now some months ago that the full report of the Committee was published, containing certain recommendations of the utmost importance for the consideration of the authorities. Up to the present time nothing further has been heard of the matter, and in answer to a question recently put to the President of the Local Government Board by the Mayor of Kensington, Sir SEYMOUR KING, as to whether the Board intends to take steps by the introduction of a Bill, or otherwise, for giving effect at an early date to the recommendations contained in the report of the Committee, the President stated that the report was “still under consideration,” and that he could make no statement at present as to the course which the Government would take.
Victoria C. Edgar, Matthias Beck and Niamh M. Brennan
The UK private finance initiative (PFI) public policy is heavily criticised. PFI contracts are highly profitable leading to incentives for PFI private-sector companies to support…
Abstract
Purpose
The UK private finance initiative (PFI) public policy is heavily criticised. PFI contracts are highly profitable leading to incentives for PFI private-sector companies to support PFI public policy. This contested nature of PFIs requires legitimation by PFI private-sector companies, by means of impression management, in terms of the attention to and framing of PFI in PFI private-sector company annual reports. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
PFI-related annual report narratives of three UK PFI private-sector companies, over seven years and across two periods of significant change in the development of the PFI public policy, are analysed using manual content analysis.
Findings
Results suggest that PFI private-sector companies use impression management to legitimise during periods of uncertainty for PFI public policy, to alleviate concerns, to provide credibility for the policy and to legitimise the private sector’s own involvement in PFI.
Research limitations/implications
While based on a sizeable database, the research is limited to the study of three PFI private-sector companies.
Originality/value
The portrayal of public policy in annual report narratives has not been subject to prior research. The research demonstrates how managers of PFI private-sector companies present PFI narratives in support of public policy direction that, in turn, benefits PFI private-sector companies.
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Aleece MacPhail, Carmel Young and Joseph Elias Ibrahim
The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon a workplace-based, interdisciplinary clinical leadership training programme (CLP) to increase willingness to take on leadership roles…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon a workplace-based, interdisciplinary clinical leadership training programme (CLP) to increase willingness to take on leadership roles in a large regional health-care centre in Victoria, Australia. Strengthening the leadership capacity of clinical staff is an advocated strategy for improving patient safety and quality of care. An interdisciplinary approach to leadership is increasingly emphasised in the literature; however, externally sourced training programmes are expensive and tend to target a single discipline.
Design/methodology/approach
Appraisal of the first two years of CLP using multiple sourced feedback. A structured survey questionnaire with closed-ended questions graded using a five-point Likert scale was completed by participants of the 2012 programme. Participants from the 2011 programme were followed up for 18 months after completion of the programme to identify the uptake of new leadership roles. A reflective session was also completed by a senior executive staff that supported the implementation of the programme.
Findings
Workplace-based CLP is a low-cost and multidisciplinary alternative to externally sourced leadership courses. The CLP significantly increased willingness to take on leadership roles. Most participants (93 per cent) reported that they were more willing to take on a leadership role within their team. Fewer were willing to lead at the level of department (79 per cent) or organisation (64 per cent). Five of the 11 participants from the 2011 programme had taken on a new leadership role 18 months later. Senior executive feedback was positive especially around the engagement and building of staff confidence. They considered that the CLP had sufficient merit to support continuation for at least another two years.
Originality/value
Integrating health-care professionals into formal and informal leadership roles is essential to implement organisational change as part of the drive to improve the safety and quality of care for patients and service users. This is the first interdisciplinary, workplace-based leadership programme to be described in the literature, and demonstrates that it is possible to deliver low-cost, sustainable and productive training that increases the willingness to take on leadership roles.
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Rachel Esson, Alison Stevenson, Maureen Gildea and Sue Roberts
Like any other customer‐centred organisation, the library has a variety of methods at its disposal to gather information from and about its customers, such as usage data, survey…
Abstract
Purpose
Like any other customer‐centred organisation, the library has a variety of methods at its disposal to gather information from and about its customers, such as usage data, survey results, focus groups, and face‐to‐face opportunistic encounters. Given that using survey instruments is currently the main way that libraries engage with their customers this paper seeks to look at how librarians can ensure that their surveys are of the best possible quality. It then aims to present two case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper discusses successful methods for engaging customers, both online and in person, in conversation with particular reference to new generation learners, and the need to demonstrate to participants that their opinions are heard and have an impact. The paper then discusses two case studies of work undertaken at Victoria University of Wellington Library. In the first case the Library sought student participation and input to Te RōpŪ Whakamanawa, a working group convened to address the needs of Māori and Pasifika academic staff and students. In the second case the Library undertook a larger process of gathering client and stakeholder feedback as part of a wider ranging “Library services for the future” review. The customer engagement was extensive and robust, including 32 focus group sessions with a diverse range of people, and additional online feedback channels for wider university engagement.
Findings
The future‐focussed academic library must be distinguished by the scope and quality of its service programs. To be successful the design and development of those services have to be shaped and informed by the customers.
Originality/value
The paper examines the ways in which academic libraries can seek to understand the expectations of their customers, particularly those in minority groups, in order to be able to plan for the future.