scholarly journals Impact and OperaScotland, the listings and archive website

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-64
Author(s):  
Peter James Fraser ◽  
Iain Simon Fraser ◽  
Stephen Fraser

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the creation of a performing arts archive website, exploring impact in relation to the marketing and promotion of opera and understanding of opera history. Design/methodology/approach The paper sets out a case study reflection in relation to a social enterprise in the arts. Findings The paper confirms that development of a specialist or niche website is a slow process requiring significant effort and resource. Promotion draws on a variety of activities including networking, face-to-face selling, word of mouth and use of new media. Research limitations/implications The paper summarises participant experience of launching a hobby website in the cultural sector. Constraints such as patchiness of coverage are noted together with the need for collaboration. Finally, qualitative examples of impact are identified and discussed to indicate directions for further development and research. Practical implications A case study offering insights and potential learning points for those considering such projects or in similar positions. Originality/value The project described is unique yet addresses a research problem noted by many. The paper highlights some areas for future collaboration and research both nationally and internationally.

Author(s):  
Pieter de Rooij

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and understand dimensions of cultural activity involvement and the relationship between cultural activity involvement and behavioural loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 47 customers of a theatre were held. Findings – The study shows that the concept of cultural activity involvement consists of six dimensions: attraction, centrality, self-expression, social bonding, cultural transmission and financial contribution. Three customer segments are taken into consideration according behavioural loyalty levels: incidental spectators, interested participants and the core audience. There are large differences between the three customer segments regarding cultural activity involvement. Research limitations/implications – Introspection might have decreased the reliability. As the study is a case study, problems with external validity are recognised. Practical implications – Given the decline of subsidies in the arts world, it becomes more important to attract more visitors and to increase spending. Performing arts organisations might attract more visitors in case they provide additional services which enable cultural transmission. Moreover, the study shows that certain visitors are willing to contribute additional money to the arts. Originality/value – Current studies about leisure involvement focus on recreation and distinguish four dimensions of involvement. This study focuses on cultural activity involvement and explores these four dimensions, but also shows there are two new dimensions. This study contributes to a further understanding of the relationship between cultural activity involvement and behavioural loyalty.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 138-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Dixon

Purpose Research suggests that teaming routines facilitate learning in teams. This paper identifies and details how specific teaming routines, implemented in a virtual team, support its continual learning. The study’s focus was to generate authentic and descriptive accounts of the interviewees’ experiences with virtual teaming routines. Design/methodology/approach This case study gathered concrete, practical and context-dependent knowledge about virtual teaming routines in a specific environment. The main source of data was narrative expert interviews with working members of the team. Findings This study illustrates how a mix of face-to-face and virtual routines can ensure organizational learning in virtual teams. Research limitations/implications This case study is limited to one virtual team in the information industry. Future research could build on this research to study virtual teams in other industries. Practical implications This research offers specific examples of teaming routines that managers of virtual teams might adapt in managing their own teams. Social implications Given that the use of virtual teams is a growing phenomenon, understanding how to help those teams learn effectively is a critical issue. Originality/value This case study extends the research on teaming routines to virtual teams.


2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff McCarthy ◽  
Jennifer Rowley ◽  
Catherine Jane Ashworth ◽  
Elke Pioch

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute knowledge on the issues and benefits associated with managing brand presence and relationships through social media. UK football clubs are big businesses, with committed communities of fans, so are an ideal context from which to develop an understanding of the issues and challenges facing organisations as they seek to protect and promote their brand online. Design/methodology/approach – Due to the emergent nature of social media, and the criticality of the relationships between clubs and their fans, an exploratory study using a multiple case study approach was used to gather rich insights into the phenomenon. Findings – Clubs agreed that further development of social media strategies had potential to deliver interaction and engagement, community growth and belonging, traffic flow to official web sites and commercial gain. However, in developing their social media strategies they had two key concerns. The first concern was the control of the brand presence and image in social media, and how to respond to the opportunities that social media present to fans to impact on the brand. The second concern was how to strike an appropriate balance between strategies that deliver short-term revenue, and those that build longer term brand loyalty. Originality/value – This research is the first to offer insights into the issues facing organisations when developing their social media strategy.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 254-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abel Duarte Alonso ◽  
Alessandro Bressan

Purpose – Collaboration among businesses, particularly in the current global economic downturn, can be a key strategy contributing to their survival. This study examines the case of micro firms involved in Terracotta art in Impruneta, Italy, and the extent to which collaboration occurs among the local artisans. In doing so, the study aims to consider collaboration theory in the context of micro firms. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured, face-to-face and telephone interviews were conducted among the owners and managers of ten of Impruneta's 16 Terracotta firms. Findings – Whilst much of the academic literature highlights the multiple benefits of collaborative relationships, most participants acknowledge very limited engagement in collaboration. From the comments gathered, two distinct groups emerged, one composed of members of the local Terracotta association, who to some extent collaborate with one another, and the second, the non-members, who pursue their interests individually, or marginally collaborate outside Impruneta. Further, a number of barriers preventing collaboration were identified. Practical implications – The apparent weak collaborative relationships among respondents may have ramifications for the further development of their sector, for instance, restricting innovation and marketing know-how, both of which could help address such external pressures as competition. The involvement of third parties, such as the local town hall or chambers of commerce, was suggested by several participants to help increase collaboration. Originality/value – The study focuses on micro firms, a group that, despite its relevance for many countries' economies, has received limited attention from academic research, including with regard to collaboration and collaboration theory.


Author(s):  
Kathleen Jasonides ◽  
Janet Karvouniaris ◽  
Amalia Zavacopoulou

Innovative since its inception, the ACS Honors Humanities program has a long history of more than 40 years as an interdisciplinary team-taught course that examines essential questions through literature, visual and performing arts, philosophy and history.  This innovative approach has continued to motivate successive teaching teams to modify and enhance a program that challenges students academically, utilizing the best possible resources and taking advantage of new technology. In this article, we present one in-depth case study where we explain how we transformed the Honors Humanities course from Face To Face to i2Flex. We will describe and present examples of how we redesigned the course format and presentation, learning activities and assessment. We present data on student feedback and our findings regarding the benefits and challenges of adopting the i2Flex methodology for this course.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
James Richards ◽  
Vaughan Ellis

PurposeA retrospective action-research case study of one branch of the University and College Union (UCU) is used to show how threshold requirements of the Act can be systematically beaten.Design/methodology/approachThe paper responds to calls for “best practice” on how trade unions may react to member voting threshold requirements of the Trade Union Act 2016 (the Act). A broader aim is to make a theoretical contribution related to trade union organising and tactics in “get the vote out” (GTVO) industrial action organising campaigns.FindingsFindings are presented as a lead organiser's first-hand account of a successful GTVO campaign contextualised in relation to theories of organising. The findings offer “best practice” for union organisers required to beat the Act's voting thresholds and also contribute to theories surrounding trade union organising tactics.Research limitations/implicationsFurther development and adaptation of the proposed model may be required when applied to larger bargaining units and different organising contexts.Practical implicationsThe findings can inform the organising practices/tactics of trade unions in relation to statutory ballots. The findings also allow Human Resource (HR) practitioners to reflect on their approach to dealing with unions capable of mounting successful GTVO campaigns.Social implicationsThe findings have the potential to collectively empower workers, via their trade unions, to defend and further their interests in a post-financial crisis context and in the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic.Originality/valueThis is the first known empirical account of organising to exceed voting thresholds of the Act, providing practical steps for union organisers in planning for statutory ballots. Further value lies in the paper's use of a novel first-hand account of a GTVO campaign, offering a new and first, theoretical model of organising tactics to beat the Act.


2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damjan Maletič ◽  
Matjaž Maletič ◽  
Basim Al-Najjar ◽  
Boštjan Gomišček

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of maintenance in improving company's competitiveness and profitability. In the first part the paper aims to discuss the potential improvement areas from the company perspective. Second part of this paper examines maintenance impact on company's business. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical case study was utilized aiming to provide an understanding of the role of maintenance in improving company's business. The empirical data for this study were collected from a Slovenian textile company. A gap analysis was used in order to address the research problem and to identify potential improvement areas. Findings – Based on the gap analysis, the results suggest that from respondents’ points of view, maintenance practices related to condition-based maintenance approach represent the highest opportunity for improvement. The most notable empirical results of the case study showed that around 3 per cent of additional profit could be generated at weaving machine, especially if all unplanned stoppages and loss of quality due to decrease in the productivity would be prevented. Practical implications – This paper demonstrates to managers the potential benefits of maintenance policy in terms of productivity, quality and profitability. In this regard, this paper builds on a premise that company can gain higher performance benefits using more effective maintenance policy. Originality/value – The proposed conceptual model contributes to the existing literature by showing the interactions between maintenance and company's competitiveness and profitability. Empirical findings of this study therefore, acknowledge maintenance's potential of increasing the overall profit. In addition this study advances prior studies by utilizing a gap analysis which is rare in this type of research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathrine Tambudzai Nengomasha ◽  
Alfred Chikomba

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the adoption and use of electronic document and records management system (EDRMS) in the public service in Namibia and Zimbabwe with the aim of establishing barriers and enablers, and best practices which each country could adopt from the other. Design/methodology/approach This multi-case study was informed by an interpretivist paradigm. Qualitative in nature, the study applied face-to-face interviews as the data collection method, supplemented by documents analysis. The study population was Namibia and Zimbabwe’s public sectors with units of analysis, being the governments’ ministries, offices and agencies which have implemented EDRMS. Findings The paper provides the state of EDRMS implementation in Namibia and Zimbabwe. It establishes how the two countries have implemented EDRMS and factors that have contributed to the success/failure of the implementation in both countries. Originality/value The paper is a response to the need for further research studies on the implementation of EDRMS in various countries.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison O’Connor

Purpose A significant number of military veterans and family members are living with post-traumatic stress, unmet mental health needs and isolation. There is growing interest in the potential of theatre and the expressive arts as a positive intervention with this population. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the Coming Home programme which aims to create opportunities for military veterans and families to develop an ongoing engagement with the arts and through that engagement to access new ways of regulating and expressing complex emotions. Design/methodology/approach This case study shares reflections from Re-Live’s current theatre programme, Coming Home. The programme methodology uses reflective writing, theatre and choral singing to develop participants wellbeing and reduce isolation. Findings Initial feedback suggests that this programme has significant potential as a way of reconnecting veterans and families with their community and improving their wellbeing. The emotional release of group singing and performing together has been powerful. Participants report that the Coming Home programme is connecting them with parts of themselves they thought had gone forever: humour, spontaneity, fun – and having a positive impact on their wellbeing. Originality/value This case study contributes to the literature from the exciting and emerging field of the use of the creative arts with military veterans and families.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 1886-1908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgia Stavraki ◽  
Emmanuella Plakoyiannaki ◽  
Jackie Clarke

Purpose Recognizing the value and limitations of current knowledge of the appropriation process in the consumption of aesthetic experiences, this research aims to generate a localized account for novice and expert consumers of the varying role of cultural capital in the appropriation cycles and interpretative responses of an aesthetic experience. Design/methodology/approach This research uses a single case study design of Miró’s blockbuster exhibition, and draws on multiple sources of evidence, notably 50 in-depth visitor interviews, observations and archival records. Findings An evidence-based framework of the appropriation process for novice and expert consumers of aesthetic experiences is offered. This framework highlights the significance of appropriation pace and personal versus communal interpretations – amongst other features – in distinguishing distinct versions of the appropriation process in accordance with the varied accumulation of consumer cultural capital. Research limitations/implications The transferability of the findings to other aesthetic or experience-based consumption contexts such as performing arts or sports is discussed, alongside the relevance of the proposed framework for researchers of aesthetic experiences. Practical implications The empirical investigation of the understudied connection between visitors’ cultural capital and their museum experiences provides insights into curatorial and marketing practices in terms of broadening, diversifying and engaging museum audiences. Originality/value This research provides new theoretical insights into the literature of appropriation process and consumption of art experiences by bringing together consumers’ cultural capital with the appropriation process and interpretive responses to an aesthetic experience.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document