Search results

Reflexive Antiracism is an approach to antiracism that seeks to avoid the limitations of essentialism and negative emotional reactions through a focus on racialisation (a concept that encompasses both racism and antiracism) as well as the formation and maintenance of racialised identities. This paper aims to outline the construction and validation of a scale to measure this novel theoretical construct: the Reflexive Antiracism Scale‐Indigenous (RAS‐I).

In the context of a cultural training course focused on Indigenous peoples in Australia, 20 items to assess attitudes were developed along with four hypothetical scenarios designed to assess behavioural intentions in specific situations. The survey formed by these items and scenarios was piloted to assess test‐retest, concurrent and construct validity as well as item endorsement and internal reliability.

Findings suggest that an 11‐item scale based on this survey forms a valid and reliable measure of Reflexive Antiracism. Further research and applications are discussed.

This paper will prompt further exploration of Reflexive Antiracism as a concept that can be applied in a range of settings where a more nuanced understanding and approach to antiracism may be of benefit. Being aware of their position within a society that is racialised will allow antiracists to be reflexive (and realistic) about their ability as individuals to achieve antiracist ideals while continuing to strive towards them.

The “Anti-Racism in my Pocket” case illustrates how collaborative entrepreneurial leadership can build on personal experiences, expertise and a desire to change the status quo to support racial equity. The case will support students’ critical thinking skills and further heighten their understanding of the contributions of women in leadership, anti-racism and the role of technology. Moreover, the case is motivating for students with aspirations of using business skills and knowledge to contribute to social equity.

After completing this case, students should be able to identify the role of marketing in the development, implementation and evaluation of a behavior change initiative, the Anti-Racism Action Nuggets anti-racism training program; analyze qualitative and quantitative data to assess the impact of the Anti-Racism Action Nuggets Pilot using a logic model; identify marketing opportunities, challenges and strategies to scale the Anti-Racism Action Nuggets series for a broader impact; and discuss the relationship of gender in strategic positioning and marketing leadership to the development of the Anti-Racism Action Nuggets (Optional).

This case charts the development of an anti-racism training series by two friends, Allison Plyer (she/her) and Valerie (Val) Uccellani (she/her), called Anti-Racism Action Nuggets. The two protagonists aimed to change individual behaviors to reduce structural racism through lessons that were delivered in text messages to participants. Once the course is completed, they conduct a test pilot with members of NOW, LOVE, a women’s organization in New Orleans, Louisiana. At the end of the case, students are provided with the qualitative and quantitative pilot data for their analysis to recommend next steps and important marketing considerations for the Anti-Racism Action Nuggets series.

Undergraduate, graduate and executive education

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 8: Marketing

The purpose of this paper is to explore the non-financial causes of organizational success or failure, provide a better understanding of the symptoms of financial distress and improve the predictive capacity of financial failure models.

The paper utilizes exploratory case studies in investigating the relationship of non-financial factors to organizational success or failure across a sample of sector-specific Australian firms listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. A two-tailed study was designed, in which seven cases from both extremes were chosen from three Australian business sectors: finance, property and manufacturing.

Non-financial factors associated with the organizations studied impacted their success or failure. These factors included management skill, experience and involvement in organizational strategy, feedback and resultant activity, together with board of director composition. The identification of financial and non-financial factors and sound internal processes could be utilized for the development of an early warning predictor of organizational success or failure.

The use of this method is very time-consuming but is highly valuable in case study research, providing a more in-depth understanding of how non-financial factors impact organizational success or failure.

The research will provide a better understanding of the symptoms of financial distress and improve the predictive capacity of financial failure models. The improvement in prediction of organizational failure will reduce the costs of failure to all areas affected, from the large corporation to the small business. The inter-connectivity of all businesses to each other often results in a knock-on effect of failure with the cost being borne by all members of the community in some manner. The level of social impact and cost of failure can only be seen by the enormous costs of the Global Financial Crisis failures.

This paper contributes to the literature on effective qualitative research and explores important areas of consideration for those conducting qualitative multiple-case studies. It is intended to be of use to researchers investigating the area of predictors of organizational failure or success.

Most recent developments in the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies can boost the efficacy of business process management (BPM) to improve process performance. The purpose of this paper is to describe a method for redesigning bank branch (BB) protection systems contributing to make BBs “smarter.”

Based upon a multiple case study approach, the paper deployed a four-step business process reengineering design from an information system development perspective. To overcome limitations of information scarcity required for modeling activities, a multimethod approach to data gathering and results validation was adopted. The approach was based on a comprehensive literature review and an in-depth qualitative survey involving a sample of six security managers of primary Italian banking groups.

The intelligent protection system resulting from the application of the methodology to the Italian BB sector was able to improve the security management process. Lead time and actors’ workload were reduced; running costs decreased; quality of information improved as well as the overall effectiveness of the protection system against criminal attacks.

The specific IoT technologies proposed are new. Additionally, to date, their application to BB security management has not been analyzed in the BPM literature. The value resides in the highly applicable results of the methodology to the BB network of a banking group both inside and outside of Italy.

The term “crowdwork” describes a new form of digital work that is organized and regulated by internet-based platforms. This chapter examines how crowdwork platforms ensure their virtual workforce’s commitment and control its performance despite its high mobility, anonymity, and dispersion. The findings are based on a case study analysis of 15 microtask and macrotask platforms, encompassing 32 interviews with representatives of crowdwork platforms, and crowdworkers, as well as an analysis of the platforms’ homepages and community spaces. The chapter shows that performance control on crowd platforms relies on a combination of direct control, reputation systems, and community building, which have until now been studied in isolation or entirely ignored. Moreover, the findings suggest that while all three elements can be found on both microtask and macrotask platforms, their functionality and purpose differ. Overall, the findings highlight that platforms are no neutral intermediaries but organizations that adopt an active role in structuring the digital labor process and in shaping working conditions. Their managerial structures are coded and objectified into seemingly neutral technological infrastructures, whereby the underlying power relations between capital and labor become obscured.

Entrepreneurial competence plays a decisive role in entrepreneurship success. To promote the employment of college students and accelerate economic growth through entrepreneurial activities, the Chinese government and universities encourage the use of multiple inputs to boost holistic entrepreneurship education and training. This study aims to assesses the entrepreneurial competence of college students by analysing the effects of entrepreneurship education and policy implementation in China.

The quantitative approach considered a large sample of 12,269 students, who participated in entrepreneurship education in Chinese “double-first-class” universities, to construct a theoretical model of their entrepreneurial competence. Entrepreneurship competition was introduced as a mediating variable in this model.

This study revealed that college students develop entrepreneurial competence by participating in entrepreneurship competitions unlike students who participate in regular entrepreneurship education. Additionally, there was a significant difference in the measured impact of entrepreneurship policy between students who participated in entrepreneurship competitions and those who did not.

The effects of the implementation of entrepreneurship education and policy were studied using a quantitative design. Additionally, this study highlights the effect of entrepreneurship competitions with empirical evidence from China, and contributes to the discussion of entrepreneurship education at schools and entrepreneurship policy for policymakers.

This study aims to present an innovative predictive methodology that transitions from traditional efficiency assessment techniques to a forward-looking strategy for evaluating working capital management(WCM) and its determinants by integrating data envelopment analysis (DEA) with artificial neural networks (ANN).

A slack-based measure (SBM) within DEA was used to evaluate the WCME of 1,388 firms in the Indian manufacturing sector across nine industries over the period from April 2009 to March 2024. Subsequently, a fixed-effects model was used to determine the relationships between selected determinants and WCME. Moreover, the multi-layer perceptron method was applied to calculate the artificial neural network (ANN). Finally, sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine the relative significance of key predictors on WCME.

Manufacturing firms consistently operate at around 50% WCME throughout the study period. Furthermore, among the selected variables, ability to create internal resources, leverage, growth, total fixed assets and productivity are relatively significant vital predictors influencing WCME.

The integration of SBM-DEA and ANN represents the primary contribution of this research, introducing a novel approach to efficiency assessment. Unlike traditional models, the SBM-DEA model offers unit invariance and monotonicity for slacks, allowing it to handle zero and negative data, which overcomes the limitations of previous DEA models. This innovation leads to more accurate efficiency scores, enabling robust analysis. Furthermore, applying neural networks provides predictive insights by identifying critical predictors for WCME, equipping firms to address WCM challenges proactively.

Although the latest Mobile Oil survey tells us that more than 200,000 accredited ISO 9000‐family certificates have been issued world‐wide up to September 1997, few of these have been given to organisations in the social sector. In this article the implementation of an ISO 9000 system in a public owned home for partially blind and mentally retarded people in Denmark called “Ebo” is analysed. The analysis focuses on three major areas: the motivation for choosing certification, the interpretation of the standard in the social sector, and finally the effects of the implementation process at Ebo. The central findings are that managerial technologies like ISO 9000 have little or no inherent core that makes them more or less compatible with any type of institution. They also have little or no core effects, but effects are a result of social sense‐making processes in an ambiguous situation. If ISO 9000 certification has any non‐socially constructed effects, they will be more pronounced when the cultural distance between the standard and the company culture is the largest. The research project has been conducted by action research methodology, where the authors have been involved in the implementation process as consultants.