Becoming an expert: developing expertise in an applied discipline

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 262-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Orlich Kuhlmann ◽  
Alexandre Ardichvili

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the development of expertise in an applied discipline by addressing the research question: How is professional expertise developed in an applied profession? Design/methodology/approach – Using a grounded theory methodology (GTM), nine technical-tax experts, and three experienced, non-expert tax professionals were interviewed regarding their experience in developing technical-tax expertise. Using GTM procedures, a core concept and variables (categories and properties of categories) were identified. A theory is advanced which explains the interaction of the core concept and the variables. Findings – This theory proposes that expertise in applied disciplines occurs through years of engaging in the high-value, non-routine work. Professionals with an intelligence matched to the discipline and willingness to work hard are more likely to be successful in this non-routine work. Professionals who find the discipline fascinating and who revel in ambiguity are likely to repeatedly seek this non-routine work. Finally, professionals in organizations with complex client issues are more likely to have opportunities to engage in non-routine work. Research limitations/implications – This study proposed a theory related to a very specific profession – tax accounting. Future research would be appropriate to determine whether other applied disciplines have a similar dynamic in developing expertise. Originality/value – Based on existing theories of expertise, this study developed a new theory of how professional expertise is developed in an applied discipline.


2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 380-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohui Shi ◽  
Feng Li ◽  
Pattarin Chumnumpan

Purpose As a frequently observed business phenomenon, the use of product scarcity to improve a product’s market performance has received increasing attention from both academics and practitioners. The resulting literature has covered a wide variety of issues based on various theories, using different research methods, in a diverse range of settings. However, this diversity also makes it difficult to grasp the core themes and findings, and to see the outstanding knowledge gaps. This paper aims to review previous studies on the use of product scarcity in marketing and identifies new directions for future research. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review was conducted to identify and analyse 66 research papers published in business and management journals between 1970 and 2017. Findings The authors examined the underlying theories of scarcity-based marketing, and developed a conceptual framework that describes the key factors of product scarcity and how they influence both consumers and the market. They also highlighted some key achievements in modelling the processes involved in using product scarcity in marketing. Originality/value This analysis of the identified papers suggests that there are substantial gaps in our knowledge of this field, which opens up new paths for future research. For future research, the authors identified three directions aimed at: addressing the practical needs of firms in understanding product scarcity; guiding the implementation of scarcity-based strategies; and measuring, monitoring and predicting the level of product scarcity and its impacts during implementation.



2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-125
Author(s):  
Linden Dalecki

Purpose The purpose of this study is to provide a general review of the existing academic and practitioner literatures, pertaining to entrepreneurial selling with a view to articulate major entrepreneurial selling practices, patterns and principles that lead to entrepreneurial success and to propose two four-quadrant matrices. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores commonalities and distinctions in the entrepreneurial selling concepts articulated by Deutsch and Wortmann and Onyemah and Rivera-Pesquera – and relevant writings by Blank as well as Sarasvathy – are explored and analyzed. Findings It was found that the early stage entrepreneurial selling activities of founders – as a means of gleaning prospective customer feedback for product prototyping – form the core of contemporary entrepreneurial selling conceptualizations. Two provisional four-quadrant entrepreneurial selling matrices are proposed corresponding to the literature reviewed. Research limitations/implications It is hoped that the two four-quadrant matrices might serve as a springboard for future researchers interested in exploring entrepreneurial selling. The notion of preliminary selling as a valuable form of marketing research is also worthy of future research. Practical implications Given the extent to which the perspectives of entrepreneurship practitioners, clinical professors and consultants are cited and explored, manifold aspects of entrepreneurial selling are put forth. The various approaches to preliminary selling that are explored are of especially high value to practitioners. Originality/value This is the first paper to fully explore the commonalities and distinctions across the entrepreneurial selling conceptualizations developed by Deutsch and Wortmann, as well as by Onyemah and Rivera-Pesquera, and the first to propose a conceptual framework focused specifically on entrepreneurial selling.



2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Haynes

PurposeThis article contributes to the debate by arguing that addressing the core concept underpinning accelerationism and helps to unpack a number of key assumptions on the nature of capitalism, identifying areas offering new and productive insights into organisation and organisations. The scope of the article will be to examine the accelerationist literature, in particular, the core principles first emerging in the prehistory of accelerationism and further developed through the various waves and iterations of the concept.Design/methodology/approachThe paper offers a conceptual approach to accelerationism. It develops a critical literature review and uses a process of exemplification to highlight insights for organisation and organisations.FindingsThe paper concludes that the underpinnings of accelerationism are not well understood and thus much of the critique misses the more intriguing and interesting insights from the cluster of ideas at its core.Originality/valueThe scope of the paper is to provide a coherent and accessible way to navigate through a complex and demanding series of concepts. The value of the paper is that it helps to identify potential insights relevant to management, marketing and organisational scholars.



2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Lokanan

Purpose This paper aims to examine the enforcement practices of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada (IDA) and argue that self-regulation simply does not work in the financial sector, as the sanctions available are neither applied with sufficient severity nor are the responsibilities for enforcement adequately divided between self-regulation, provincial securities commissions and the police. Design/methodology/approach The core compliance data for the study came from the IDA’s tribunal cases that were heard between 1984 and June 2008. The theoretical approach involves the invocation of classic articles by the likes of Stigler, Posner and Becker, the essence of whose conclusions is that institutions will act in their own best interests and cannot be expected to act in the public interest. Findings The findings show that over the period from 1984 to 2008, the severity of the sanctions increased consistently over the period. When penalty ceilings were increased, penalties increased. When in the latter phase of the period, public members (i.e. non-members of the industry) chaired the tribunals, penalties also increased. Research limitations/implications Researchers can use the data to write a paper which asks “Why did the IDA tribunal penalties increase so consistently with time?” Future research could canvass various possible explanations, including the one presented in this paper, to focus sustained attention on the issue of self-regulation. Originality/value This study is the first to systematically examine the enforcement performance of the IDA.



2017 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-254
Author(s):  
Adam Jerrett ◽  
Theo J.D. Bothma ◽  
Koos de Beer

Purpose Teaching students/library patrons twenty-first century literacies (such as information and library literacies) is important within a library setting. As such, finding an appropriate manner to teach these skills in a practical manner at tertiary level is important. As vehicles for constructivist learning, games provide a unique opportunity to teach these twenty-first century literacies in an engaging, practical, format. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implementation of an alternate reality game (ARG) to teach these literacies through gameplay. Design/methodology/approach An ARG was designed and developed where the core gameplay tasks taught and exercised twenty-first century literacies. The game, once completed, was then analysed as a case study to determine the effectiveness of the game-based approach to literacy learning. Findings Throughout the play of the game, players spent increasingly more time in the library, often using it as a common meeting point during play. Players reported that they learnt or exercised the skills that each game task focussed on, additionally noting that the game-based context made the process of learning and exercising these skills more enjoyable. Originality/value The findings suggest that the creation of games, whether real world or digital, may be useful in engaging students/patrons with twenty-first century literacies as well as with their local library. The documentation of a successful ARG to teach twenty-first century literacies provides a model for future research to follow when designing engaging library-oriented games.



2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 186-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Lewis

Purpose For decades, psychopathy has been thought to be untreatable. Yet, conceptualisations, and indeed its assessment, have deviated away from viewing the disorder as personality pathology towards a behavioural focus where the core underlying deficits in cognition and affect have been ignored. Interventions have followed suit leading to a premature discounting of the role of therapy in adjusting psychopathic traits. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The review critically evaluates the conceptual and empirical evidence relevant to the treatment of psychopathy, deciphering components integral to the disorder that require intervention. Psychopathy is approached from a developmental perspective, with the review identifying several mechanisms thought to be responsible for precipitating and perpetuating its expression. Findings There appears some utility in targeting psychopathy from multiple angles, addressing experiences of trauma, associated schemas and the underlying cognitive-affective dysfunction noted to give rise to psychopathic traits. A new model for treatment was proposed integrating these factors to encourage the design of effective interventions that will address the origins and underlying deficits of the disorder, rather than symptomology. Originality/value The review encourages future research to consider the aetiology of psychopathy, with the aim of informing early intervention and containing the disorder whilst in its infancy, as well as addressing neurobiological dysfunction when most malleable.



2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 292-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Héctor Montiel-Campos

Purpose The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive qualitative review of the empirical accumulated knowledge on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO). Design/methodology/approach To systematically review the empirical literature that simultaneously tests the core tenets of EO and MO, this study followed a multi-step approach, which has served as a replicable literature review method in previous studies. A final sample of 121 papers published between 1987 and 2016 was developed. Findings The results show that EO–MO relationship research has made considerable strides in recent years and is accelerating and broadening. This interest is manifested in the 83 journals and 266 authors that were identified. Additionally, the results confirm that the Anglo region contributed the majority of EO–MO relationships in the study sample. Finally, the 121 papers in the sample were organized into six different approaches, which in turn represent 53 research models where the unidimensional conceptualizations of EO and MO were predominant. Originality/value This study has shown that the EO–MO relationship has been studied from different approaches, which revealed several research models that advance the knowledge on relationships between EO and MO. EO and MO are, in turn, also positively associated with firm performance. Thus, the study results highlight numerous and varied fertile areas for future research that may offer a more detailed understanding of the EO–MO relationship.



2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arian Razmi-Farooji ◽  
Hanna Kropsu-Vehkaperä ◽  
Janne Härkönen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to understand data management challenges in e-maintenance systems from a holistically viewpoint through summarizing the earlier scattered research in the field, and second, to present a conceptual approach for addressing these challenges in practice. Design/methodology/approach The study is realized as a combination of a literature review and by the means of analyzing the practices on an industry leader in manufacturing and maintenance services. Findings This research provides a general understanding over data management challenges in e-maintenance and summarizes their associated proposed solutions. In addition, this paper lists and exemplifies different types and sources of data which can be collected in e-maintenance, across different organizational levels. Analyzing the data management practices of an e-maintenance industry leader provides a conceptual approach to address identified challenges in practice. Research limitations/implications Since this paper is based on studying the practices of a single company, it might be limited to generalize the results. Future research topics can focus on each of mentioned data management challenges and also validate the applicability of presented model in other companies and industries. Practical implications Understanding the e-maintenance-related challenges helps maintenance managers and other involved stakeholders in e-maintenance systems to better solve the challenges. Originality/value The so-far literature on e-maintenance has been studied with narrow focus to data and data management in e-maintenance appears as one of the less studied topics in the literature. This research paper contributes to e-maintenance by highlighting the deficiencies of the discussion surrounding the perspectives of data management in e-maintenance by studying all common data management challenges and listing different types of data which need to be acquired in e-maintenance systems.



2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica L. Pallant ◽  
Sean Sands ◽  
Ingo Oswald Karpen

Purpose Increasingly, customers are demanding products that fit their individual needs. Many firms respond by cultivating product individualization via mass customization, often integrating this capability via interactive platforms that connect them with customers. Despite such customization, research to date has lacked cohesion, often taking the organizational, rather than customer, view. The purpose of this paper is to provide inconclusive theorizing in regard to customization from the consumers’ perspective. Design/methodology/approach The review and synthesis of the literature revealed that co-configuration is an underexplored domain of mass customization. Consequently, an initial conceptualization of co-configuration is developed and compared with current customization strategies. Specifically, the definition and boundary conditions of co-configuration are compared with three domains of mass customization, namely, co-production, co-construction and co-design. This led to the development of research priority areas to establish an agenda for future research on mass customization and its role in customer’ firm relationships. Findings This paper provides the delineation of four distinct consumer customization strategies, conceptualized in a matrix, and proposes separate customer journey visualizations. In advancing the theoretical understanding by means of a unifying typology, this paper identifies three existing Cs of mass customization (co-production, co-construction and co-design) and focuses specifically on a fourth (co-configuration), identified as an understudied mass customization strategy. Originality/value This paper extends the previous conceptualizations of mass customization comprising co-production, co-design and co-construction. The proposed typology establishes a foundation for four research priority areas that can improve both academic rigor and practical application.



2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 333-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Macdonald ◽  
Briony Birdi

Purpose Neutrality is a much debated value in library and information science (LIS). The “neutrality debate” is characterised by opinionated discussions in contrasting contexts. The purpose of this paper is to fill a gap in the literature by bringing these conceptions together holistically, with potential to deepen understanding of LIS neutrality. Design/methodology/approach First, a literature review identified conceptions of neutrality reported in the LIS literature. Second, seven phenomenographic interviews with LIS professionals were conducted across three professional sectors. To maximise variation, each sector comprised at least one interview with a professional of five or fewer years’ experience and one with ten or more years’ experience. Third, conceptions from the literature and interviews were compared for similarities and disparities. Findings In four conceptions, each were found in the literature and interviews. In the literature, these were labelled: “favourable”, “tacit value”, “social institutions” and “value-laden profession”, whilst in interviews they were labelled: “core value”, “subservient”, “ambivalent”, and “hidden values”. The study’s main finding notes the “ambivalent” conception in interviews is not captured by a largely polarised literature, which oversimplifies neutrality’s complexity. To accommodate this complexity, it is suggested that future research should look to reconcile perceptions from either side of the “neutral non-neutral divide” through an inclusive normative framework. Originality/value This study’s value lies in its descriptive methodology, which brings LIS neutrality together in a holistic framework. This framework brings a contextual awareness to LIS neutrality lacking in previous research. This awareness has the potential to change the tone of the LIS neutrality debate.



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