scholarly journals Increasing project benefits by project opportunity exploitation

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pernille Eskerod ◽  
Karyne Ang ◽  
Erling S. Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Rare Species ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Opportunity Exploitation ◽  
Long Time ◽  
New Research

Purpose Exploitation of project opportunities may bring more benefits than stipulated in the initial business case, and even stakeholder benefits that nobody thought of at the project initiation. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a new research area for megaprojects, i.e. the phenomenon of project opportunity exploitation as a means to increase the project benefits. Design/methodology/approach This is a single case study of an infrastructure megaproject, i.e. the construction and operation of a 50+ years old American bridge. Data cover information regarding 60+ years old historical documents, newspaper articles, interviews and video-recordings. Findings The findings of this paper are as follows: exploiting all opportunities created by the project and increasing project benefits require involvement from many categories of stakeholders; stakeholders get more involved in exploiting the opportunities created by the project when they are proud of the project; for some of the project-related opportunities, it might take a long time before they can be exploited (and related benefits achieved); and celebrating achievements of the project stimulate stakeholders to exploit opportunities created by the project and contribute to further project benefits. Research limitations/implications Only few interviews were conducted. Interviewees were biased as all were very proud of the bridge. This is a single case study of a “rare species”, not representing most megaprojects. Practical implications To enhance project opportunity exploitation and increased benefits, the project owner (team) must continuously communicate about the project, also after project execution. Originality/value This study contributes to a gap within the literature on the phenomenon “project opportunity exploitation”. This is a very rich case study and of a “rare species”.

“Speaking truth to power”: analysing shadow reporting as a form of shadow accounting

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 510-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Tregidga
Keyword(s):  
Power Relations ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Senior Management ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Transformative Potential ◽  
Perceived Impacts

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the act of shadow reporting by a social movement organisation as a form of shadow accounting within a sustained campaign against a target corporation. Situated within a consideration of power relations, the rationales underlying the production of the shadow report, and the shadow reports perceived value and limits as a shadow accounting mechanism, are investigated. Design/methodology/approach A Foucauldian approach to power/knowledge and truth is drawn upon in the analysis of a single case study. Alongside a consideration of the shadow report itself, interviews with both the preparers of the report and senior management of the corporation targeted comprise the main data. Findings The paper provides an empirical investigation into shadow reporting as a form of shadow accounting. While a range of insights are garnered into the preparation, dissemination and impact of the shadow report, key findings relate to a consideration of power relations. The perceived “truth” status of corporate accounts compared to accounts prepared by shadow accountants is problematised through a consideration of technologies of power and power/knowledge formations. Power relations are subsequently recognised as fundamental to the emancipatory potential of shadow reporting. Research limitations/implications Results from a single case study are presented. Furthermore, given the production of the shadow report occurred several years prior to the collection of data, participants were asked to reflect on past events. Findings are therefore based on those reflections. Originality/value While previous studies have considered the preparation of shadow reports and their transformative potential, this study is, the author believes, the first to empirically analyse the preparation, dissemination and perceived impacts of shadow reporting from the perspectives of both the shadow report producers and the target corporation.

scholarly journals Online Social Gambling and Its Implications for the Study of Marketing Communications

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilson Ozuem ◽  
Jason Prasad
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Internet Technology ◽  
Marketing Communication ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Real Money ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Communication Practices

Gambling has been a part of humanity for a long time, and references to it have been found in some of the earliest dated records. Literature on the topic has been accumulating since ancient times. The advent of Internet technology along with its typical subsets provides a new approach to how gambling is conducted in postmodern times. Drawing on qualitative research and utilising a single case study strategy, this study examines online social gambling and real money gambling marketing communication practices as well as offers some insights into the development and implementation of effective marketing communication programmes. In contrast to existing studies, the paper, in part, proposes integrative and higher levels of marketing communication programmes between online social gambling and real money gambling environments.

scholarly journals Exploring collaboration within social housing retrofit practice for an ageing population: a single case study in the West of Scotland

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayna Rodger ◽  
Nicola Callaghan ◽  
Craig Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Social Housing ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Data Infrastructure ◽  
The Social

Purpose Sustainably addressing the social and economic demands from an ageing population is a major global challenge, with significant implications for policy and practice. This is resultant of the increasing demand for housing adaptations to prevent increased pressure upon acute health services. Through the lens of institutional theory, this paper aims to explore the levels of joined-up retrofit practice within a Scottish social housing provider, under a constructivist approach. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory single case study of a Scottish local authority was undertaken. Within this, nine key stakeholders were interviewed, taking a hierarchical approach, from director to repair and maintenance staff. Results were analysed by using Braun and Clarke’s six stages of thematic analysis. Findings There is a need for greater levels of integration within retrofit practice to not only improve the health and well-being of the older population but also increase efficiency and economic savings within public services. Currently, there are key issues surrounding silo-based decision-making, poor data infrastructure, power struggles and a dereliction of built environment knowledge and expertise, preventing both internal and external collaboration. However, housing, energy and health have interlinking agendas which are integral to achieving ageing in place. Therefore, there must be system-wide recognition of the potential benefits of improved cross-sector collaboration, preventing unintended consequences whilst providing socioeconomic outcomes. Originality/value This research provides a new perspective surrounding retrofit practice within the context of an ageing population. It highlights the requirement for improved cross sector collaboration and the social and economic cost of poor quality practice.

Street-level collaboration: perception, power, and politics on the frontlines of collaboration

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-476
Author(s):  
Harish P. Jagannath
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Collaborative Governance ◽  
Bureaucratic Politics ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Street Level ◽  
Collaborative Initiative

PurposeTo examine the implementation processes and outcomes of collaborative governance initiatives through the lens of bureaucratic politics.Design/methodology/approachAn in-depth single case study research design with 28 embedded cases to study the implementation of a collaborative governance initiative. This paper uses the analytical technique of process tracing to explicate necessary and sufficient conditions to uncover causal mechanisms and confirm descriptive and causal inferences.FindingsThis study finds that when street-level bureaucrats perceived the collaborative initiative as a health intervention (and not as a collaborative initiative), it resulted in low levels of stakeholder participation and made the collaborative initiative unsuccessful. This paper finds that bureaucratic politics is the causal mechanism that further legitimized this perception resulting in each stakeholder group avoiding participation and sticking to their departmental siloes.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a single case study about a revelatory case of collaborative governance implementation in India, and findings are analytically generalizable to similar administrative contexts. Further research is needed through a multiple case study design in a comparative context to examine bureaucratic politics in implementing collaborative initiatives.Practical implicationsPolicymakers and managers need to carefully consider the implications of engaging organizations with competing institutional histories when formulating and implementing collaborative governance initiatives.Originality/valueThis study's uniqueness is that it examines implementation of collaborative governance through a bureaucratic politics lens. Specifically, the study applies Western-centric scholarship on collaborative governance and street-level bureaucracy to a non-Western developing country context to push the theoretical and empirical boundaries of key concepts in public administration.

scholarly journals Purchasing’s tasks at the interface between internal and external networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-171
Author(s):  
Steffen Muxoll Bastholm ◽  
Kristin B. Munksgaard
Keyword(s):  
User Interface ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Relationship Management ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The strategic importance of the purchasing function increases, as its task become more dynamic in various interfaces with different suppliers. Changes in these customer–supplier interfaces pose specific challenges. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the purchasing function handles the interplay of interface changes. Design/methodology/approach This study applies a qualitative single case study design. Data are collected through observations and interviews conducted before, during and after a concrete change of interface taking place between a buying firm and its suppliers and customers. Findings Three main findings are identified to redefine the tasks of the purchasing function. The first concerns the new ways of defining the purchasing tasks. The main issue is to balance tasks with the simultaneous changes influencing other interfaces and relationships. The second is the division and alignment of tasks in intra- and inter-organizational networks with regards to who decides and coordinates what. Third, the inter-connected performance relates to how other actors perform their tasks. For the purchasing function, managing supplier interfaces influences and is influenced by how the firm simultaneously manages its user interface. Practical implications For management, a new way to evaluate the performance of the purchasing function is needed by including relationship management and interactive capabilities. Originality/value This study contributes with new insights into how managing the dynamics of changing interfaces requires interactively defined purchasing tasks, division and alignment of tasks and inter-connected performance vis-à-vis others in the wider network setting.

Leveraging resource ecologies for sustainability transitions – a waste management case

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rumy Narayan ◽  
Annika Tidström
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Social Intelligence ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Addressing fundamental sustainability challenges has now become strategic for multi-national corporations. However, such challenges by their very nature are complex and require resources that are frequently beyond those that are traditionally accepted as relevant and crucial to a firm’s core business operations. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how firms identify and integrate diverse groups of actors using social intelligence to build an ecology of resources to tackle these complex challenges. Design/methodology/approach The empirical part is based on qualitative single case study research of a packaging company and its waste management program. Findings Organizing for sustainability requires business activities to be conceptualized as a continuous process of project building, involving actors in diverse settings and responsibilities divided thematically and spatially forming nets within a network to solve problems, collectively. There is a fundamental analytical problem of integrating a diversity of value spheres, and society has a set of rational methods for planning and action where decisions are made to privilege one aspect to the exclusion of others. Artificial separation of activities that are interdependent and failure to allow these activities to evolve through interactions in time and space could threaten sustainability. Research limitations/implications This is a single case study within a certain context, therefore ways for orchestrating resource ecologies need further investigation. Practical implications For managers, it is very important to recognize and appreciate the interconnectedness of resource ecologies but also that interactions resulting in joint actions can often have different rewards and benefits for the diverse range of actors implicated in such networks. This kind of social intelligence offers managers options to experiment with transitional pathways that match the objectives of diverse network actors and provide unique resource combinations for building competitive advantage. There is only so much that is under the control of managers or even firms, which means both must embrace uncertainty and the phenomenon of emergence. Social implications From a societal perspective, the findings of the study show how the open and transparent activities for the sustainability of one firm spread through different layers of the society through connecting, sharing and developing resources. Therefore, it is important for societies to enable and support the open sharing of resources for sustainability. Investments in large programs for transitions to sustainability tend to spread from a focal company into various projects for sustainability involving several layers of actors within society. This ensures that awareness, behaviors and attitudes related with sustainability become rooted in society and give rise to valuable innovations. Originality/value This study illustrates how resources are created and shaped through nets during transitions toward sustainability using social intelligence.

Lean Six Sigma in policing services

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 935-940 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiju Antony ◽  
Bryan Rodgers ◽  
Inness Coull ◽  
Vijaya Sunder M.
Keyword(s):  
Six Sigma ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Learning Points

Purpose This paper is based on a single case study carried out as part of a change programme but is used as a reflective tool to draw on some of the wider organisational learning which can be considered when implementing, reviewing or re-energise a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Programme. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach has been used and referenced throughout the paper with references to literature to support the wider learning points drawn which are then applied to any continuous improvement (CI) programmes. Findings The paper presents a range of learning points which are drawn from a successful deployment of LSS within a change project carried out as part of an overall programme in Scottish policing services. Research limitations/implications The points are drawn from a single case study which was deployed within a wider change programme and is supported by wider literature but is used as a vehicle for informing strategic considerations within an organisation. Originality/value This case study is drawn from policing services in the public sector which alone is an area that has not been significantly studied. It is used to explore wider implications in terms of strategic alignment, organisational performance and project management and presents the argument that the design of a CI programme is much wider than the implementation of LSS itself.

Analyzing the formation of a paradoxical organizational identity

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 1227-1241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Felix
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Identity ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Construction Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Core ◽  
Optimal Distinctiveness ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose This study aims to understand the construction process of an organizational identity in a hybrid organization. Design/methodology/approach The author developed a single case study based on in-depth interviews, non-participant observations and document analysis in a credit cooperative. Findings After periods of changes in organizational identity (from idealism to pragmatism), the formation of a paradoxical organizational identity was observed in which the core value became a central polarity between idealism and pragmatism; after periods when members engaged in actions that promoted resistance or change, they framed past events in a story of stable dynamics between idealism and pragmatism; and pro-distinctiveness and -similarity forces in relation to other organizations were reconciled in a quest for optimal distinctiveness that simultaneously enabled the development of uniqueness and adequacy. Originality/value This is the first study to adopt a paradox perspective to analyze the identity of a cooperative.

scholarly journals Living in a care home during COVID-19: a case study of one person living with dementia

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Davies-Abbott ◽  
Catrin Hedd Jones ◽  
Gill Windle
Keyword(s):  
Study Design ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Care Home ◽  
Care Homes ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to understand the lived experience of a person living with dementia in a care home during the COVID-19 pandemic. It responds to the absence in research of the voices of people with dementia living in care homes during the pandemic. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a single case study design applied thematic analysis to semi-structured interview data to discover the experiences of one person living with dementia in a care home during a period of lockdown. Findings Five themes reveal how the participant responded to the practical and emotional challenges of the pandemic: autonomy; fears; keeping connected; keeping safe and other people living with dementia. These themes highlight the participant’s ability to adapt, accept and dispute lockdown restrictions, revealing considerable insight into their situation. Research limitations/implications The pandemic has restricted access to care homes, which informed the single case study design. This approach to the research may restrict the generalisability of the findings. Other researchers are encouraged to include the voices of people with dementia living in care homes in further studies. Practical implications Implications for practice, presented in this paper, promote quality psychosocial approaches when health-care workers engage with people living with dementia during periods of restricted activity. Originality/value Unlike other studies about the impact of the pandemic on care homes, this paper explores the experience of the pandemic in care homes from the perspective of a person living with dementia.

scholarly journals Enterprises' perception and practice of humane entrepreneurship

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Dębicka ◽  
Karolina Olejniczak ◽  
Joanna Skąpska
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Business Practice ◽  
Actual State ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Exploratory Stage ◽  
Management Hierarchy ◽  
Trends Over Time ◽  
New Research ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

PurposeAs a new concept for humane entrepreneurship (HumEnt) evolves, many new research questions arise. At the exploratory stage, the authors found it relevant to examine and discuss the perception of the fundamental assumptions of the HumEnt concept and activities undertaken in this area by business practice.Design/methodology/approachTo thoroughly understand the studied phenomenon, a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used. An exploratory survey was obtained from 126 purposefully selected enterprises in Poland; then, a single case study was analysed.FindingsThe conducted analysis showed differences between the activities of enterprises and the perception of the HumEnt concept among employees that are especially noticeable at different levels of the management hierarchy.Research limitations/implicationsThe multifaceted nature of the results obtained is limited by the inability to infer international differences, to capture trends over time and to generalise to the total population of enterprises.Practical implicationsAlthough the surveyed companies recognise the importance of the HumEnt concept, it is not tantamount to its execution. The research results may be valuable, especially for smaller enterprises, where the business practice may require support in applying the HumEnt approach.Originality/valueThe research explored both the actual state confirmed by the actions taken and the perception of the importance of individual elements of HumEnt. A knowing–doing gap has been demonstrated between these planes. Moreover, thanks to a two-stage study, practices were selected that can be successfully implemented also in small and medium-sized enterprises.

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