The theory/practice gap in B2B marketing: reflections and search for solutions

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 619-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evert Gummesson
Keyword(s):  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Grand Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
B2b Marketing ◽  
Range Theory ◽  
Practice Gap ◽  
Theory Generation ◽  
Theory Practice Gap ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to suggest pragmatic ways of dealing with the business-to-business (B2B) theory/practice gap. Design/methodology/approach – Reflecting on experience both as a researcher and practitioner. Findings – B2B marketing is characterized by complexity. There is no straight way to harmonize the relationship between its theory and practice but there are ways to make the two benefit from each other. A dilemma is that academics and practitioners are rewarded for different types of achievements. Research limitations/implications – Scholars can be made aware of the need for close involvement through action research and case theory to secure access to high-quality data in a complex B2B reality, and to their mission to contribute better real world based theory. Practical implications – The article can make practitioners aware of the value of grand theory to improve the pragmatic use of mid-range theory as it materializes in models, checklists and heuristics. Originality/value – The simultaneous emphasis on explicit and tacit knowledge in both theory generation and practice, and a framework of theory generation that sorts out substantive, mid-range and grand theory relationships.

Connections Between Theory and Practice in Teacher Education

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-105
Author(s):  
Nabi Bux Jumani
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Focus Group Interview ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Practice Gap ◽  
Theory Practice Gap ◽  
The Relationship

A fundamental component in professional education is the link between theory and practice. However, students in professional education programmes experience a lack of coherence between theory and practice which is often described as theory practice gap. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between theory and practice in MA Education Programmes offered by International Islamic University and to contribute with knowledge about how to bridge the gap between theory and practice in teacher education programme. Data were obtained through focus group interview with 40 MA Education female students who completed their four months teaching practice in December 2011. Data reveal that student teachers are quite satisfied with their pedagogical preparation and find difference in theory and practice in teacher education institutions and practice schools in Pakistan. Data indicate that student teachers were not allowed by schools to implement their learnt teaching strategies.

Got theory?: Reconceptualizing the nature of the theory-practice gap in K-12 educational leadership

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Roegman ◽  
Sarah Woulfin
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Leadership Preparation ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Practice Gap ◽  
Theory Practice Gap ◽  
K 12

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reconceptualize the theory-practice gap in educational leadership, not as a deficit, but as a necessity for legitimacy within institutional contexts. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on institutional theory to reframe the theory-practice gap, which is often seen as a deficit of leaders or preparation programs. Findings Three vignettes illustrate how aspiring and current educational leaders engage with theory and practice within specific contexts and in relation to specific aspects of leadership. Importantly, the vignettes show that when school leaders decouple theory from practice, they may be doing so to function as legitimate providers of K-12 educational leadership. Research limitations/implications The theory-practice gap, while often perceived as something negative, can have certain benefits within particular contexts. Scholars interested in the interconnections of theory and practice would benefit from considering why and how school leaders engage theory and practice. Practical implications Implications for leadership preparation programs highlight developing more complex views of the challenges that leaders face in tightly coupling theory and practice. To support future and current leaders, leadership preparation programs need to ensure that their students understand their institutional contexts and the reasons that leaders may decouple theory from action in various ways. Originality/value Instead of viewing the theory/practice gap as a deficit, this paper argues for a new way to consider why school leaders and leadership candidates may engage with theory and practice in different ways.

Dave Snowden on KM and big data/analytics: interview with David J. Pauleen

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Pauleen
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Data Analytics ◽  
Big Data Analytics ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
A Company ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Scientific Officer

Purpose Dave Snowden has been an important voice in knowledge management over the years. As the founder and chief scientific officer of Cognitive Edge, a company focused on the development of the theory and practice of social complexity, he offers informative views on the relationship between big data/analytics and KM. Design/methodology/approach A face-to-face interview was held with Dave Snowden in May 2015 in Auckland, New Zealand. Findings According to Snowden, analytics in the form of algorithms are imperfect and can only to a small extent capture the reasoning and analytical capabilities of people. For this reason, while big data/analytics can be useful, they are limited and must be used in conjunction with human knowledge and reasoning. Practical implications Snowden offers his views on big data/analytics and how they can be used effectively in real world situations in combination with human reasoning and input, for example in fields from resource management to individual health care. Originality/value Snowden is an innovative thinker. He combines knowledge and experience from many fields and offers original views and understanding of big data/analytics, knowledge and management.

scholarly journals Reflecting on the contemporary relevance of the forgotten management pioneers: A creative auto/biography

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 205979911986328
Author(s):  
Hester Nienaber
Keyword(s):  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Base Change ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Organisational Performance ◽  
Relevant Today ◽  
Practice Gap ◽  
Theory Practice Gap ◽  
And Control

Management theory and practice are characterised by the ‘theory–practice gap’. A way of addressing this divide is to engage in reflective practice, in this instance, a creative auto/biography. This different way of presenting an old issue demonstrates how the original teachings of the management pioneers remain relevant today. The central issues are the purpose of the organisation and the role of both leadership and employees in unlocking human competence in pursuit of organisational performance. The concepts ‘autonomy’ and ‘control’ transpired as crucial, which could easily be misunderstood or misapplied. This personal reflection presents evidence on which to base change, enhancing the well-being of employees, societies and the profit of organisations. This article contributes to knowledge by making inaccessible knowledge, accessible and inclusive, and the expectation that the meaning emanating from this reflection will result in the management audience to reconsider management, advancing management science and benefitting society at large.

Paternity leave: stepchild of family-friendly policies. Moderating the role of traditional masculinity ideology

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhawana Maheshwari ◽  
Jatin Pandey ◽  
Aditya Billore
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Support ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Masculinity Ideology ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model ◽  
Paternity Leave ◽  
Traditional Masculinity ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to demonstrate the importance and influence of paternity leave on individual level organizational outcomes. Drawing on signaling theory, the study examines the relationship between paid paternity leave entitlement (PPLE) and organizational attractiveness (OA) through a mediating path of anticipated organizational support (AOS). Furthermore, the study proposes that this mediated relationship would be conditional on traditional masculinity ideology (TMI) such that the relationship would be stronger for individuals who score low on TMI.Design/methodology/approachThe study analyzed a moderated mediation model using the data from a survey experiment. Data were collected from 264 professionals enrolled in an executive education course and will soon be looking for employment.FindingsThe findings supported the mediating role of AOS between PPLE and OA. As predicted, the positive impact of PPLE on AOS and OA is stronger for individuals scoring low on TMI.Originality/valueThis study takes a multidisciplinary approach to understand the underlying mechanisms that impact decisions related to employers. It is one of the few studies that study paternity leave in the Indian context and makes important contributions to theory and practice.

The Interplay between Theory and Practice in HRD

2016 ◽  
pp. 47-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew W. Gosney
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Core Competency ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Careful Evaluation ◽  
Compelling Reason ◽  
Practice Gap ◽  
Theory Practice Gap ◽  
Modern Era

While few would argue that a tension exists between HRD theoreticians and practitioners, few models explain why such tension exists. Leveraging Gosney's Model of Modern Era Theory & Practice Generation in HRD (Gosney, 2014; Gosney & Hughes, 2015), a careful evaluation of current HRD context and informing philosophy reveals compelling reason for the theory-practice gap. In reviewing both the current historical context, capitalism, and the predominant informing philosophy, pragmatism, both theoreticians and practitioners are better equipped to understand and ameliorate the divide. The chapter concludes with specific recommendations to the discipline, including a more robust exploration by theoreticians of pragmatism as an informing philosophy in HRD and the adoption of critical thinking as a core competency in practitioners.

Providing an interpretive structural model of agile supply chain practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 661-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akbar Rahimi ◽  
Abbas Raad ◽  
Akbar Alem Tabriz ◽  
Alireza Motameni
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Defense Industry ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Agile Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Agility ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Nowadays, the defense industry is considered a significant part of the manufacturing industries. Military products in the world have a high level of diversity, delivery speed and appropriative operational functionality. Therefore, various producing, high quality and high-speed delivery of military products are of great importance in enhancing Iran’s defensive power. Defense industries’ supply chain agility is a response to how to produce military products with these features. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a model for the agile supply chain of defense industries to show the relationship between agile practices and their hierarchy. Design/methodology/approach First, the authors identify the most important supply chain agility practices by expert’s questionnaire. Then, using factor analysis, practices are categorized and validated based on structural equation modeling (SEM). SEM showed a meaningful relationship between agile supply chain practices. Finally, using interpretative structural modeling, a model is presented to show the logical relationships and hierarchy between these practices. Findings The results show that out of a total of 62 practices introduced in the previous research for the agile supply chain, 37 practices in the agility of the supply chain of defense industries are effective. The 4 new agility practices were identified in this research. These 41 practices were classified into 8 categories including supplier relationship, workshop level management, organizational structure improvement, human resource management, product designing, improve and integrate the process, application of information technology and customer relationship. Improvement of organizational structure was at the highest level of the model. Therefore, managers first should focus on it. Research limitations/implications Given the confidentiality of information in the defense industry, the distribution of questionnaires and their collection was one of the most important limitations. A variety of defense products in land, air and sea areas, and a large number of industries in each sector, forced the authors to select the only land area. Although the results of this research can be used in the air and sea areas, but cannot be said that the implementation of this study presented model will fully lead to the defense industries’ supply chain agility in air and sea sectors. Originality/value This is the first research on the supply chain agility of Iran’s defense industry that bridges the gap between theory and practice. The classification of 41 practices in the form of 8 measures and examining the relationship between them is a new and practical approach for understanding the relationships between different variables that affect supply chain agility. This study introduces four new agility practices including the use of new technology and equipment, human resource balance, the use of expert human resources, training and employee empowerment, which can be considered in many industries of developing or less developed countries. Considering the specific situation of defense industry supply chain in comparison with other industries, the results of this research can be used by other defense industries of similar countries.

The influence of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (12) ◽  
pp. 2681-2703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuemei Liu ◽  
Zhiwei Zhu ◽  
Zheng Liu ◽  
Chunyan Fu
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Employee Creativity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThis study, based on construal level theory, aims to examine the influential mechanism of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity. Specifically, it examines the mediating role of cognitive flexibility between leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity, along with the moderating effect of consideration of future consequences (CFC) on this linkage.Design/methodology/approachA two time-point survey study (n = 214) was conducted to collect information from leaders and employees in terms of mutual evaluation in several Chinese industries. To effectively avoid common source bias, this survey was conducted through pairing leaders and employees. During the survey, the supervisors and subordinates were double-blinded. Correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used to test the research hypotheses.FindingsFirstly, leader empowerment behaviour can significantly predict employee creativity. Second, cognitive flexibility plays a partial mediating role in the linkage between leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity. Thirdly, CFC moderates the relationship between leadership empowerment behaviour and cognitive flexibility. The mediating role of cognitive flexibility underlies the overall moderating effect of CFC on the relationship between leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity.Research limitations/implicationsWe used construal level theory to explain the influence of the mechanism of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity. In this manner, this study bridges the gap between theory and practice, as well as enriching the research on leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity, especially in the Chinese context. Moreover, our study has several practical managerial implications, based on the importance of employee creativity. It inspires the implementation of leader empowerment behaviour, cultivation of employee creativity and introduction of several procedures.Originality/valueThis paper discusses the influential mechanism of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity from a new perspective and explains the process of encouraging employee creativity through information-processing methods. It mainly highlights the application of construal level theory to discuss employee creativity and develops a new research frame for employee creativity. Leaders can raise employee creativity through leader empowerment behaviour.

The importance of information service offerings of collaborative CRMs on decision-making in B2B marketing

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 470-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Ramón Saura ◽  
Pedro Palos-Sanchez ◽  
Alicia Blanco-González
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Information Service ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
External Control ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
B2b Marketing ◽  
Control Factors ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The importance of information service offerings is directly linked to decision-making processes for buying and selling in business-to-business (B2B) companies. B2B companies intend to offer information that helps other companies choose a product or service. This paper aims to identify the relationship between the types of information offered by a B2B company in its B2B marketing strategy and the decision-making of the companies which buy products and services. Design/methodology/approach For this purpose, a data set has been consulted that contains 439 observations that are the result of transactions using customer relationship managements (CRMs) of B2B-type companies. A total of 9 different products were consulted from 20 B2B vendors that manage their transactions with CRM software for B2B operations. A total of 439 different transactions were recorded by these vendors during 2018 (n = 439) with their information service offerings strategies. The results were analyzed with the partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings The results showed that the significance of the relationship between internal control factors and external control factors (H4) is the strongest one when using information services offerings strategies in a B2B environment. The results of this research can help B2B companies to improve their decision-making strategies and to define the structure of the information offered in their B2B marketing plans. Originality/value This research makes a contribution to an existing gap, which is to identify what the most important information is for purchasing companies in B2B environments and the relationship with this information, so that B2B purchasers can make good decisions thanks to the information service offerings strategy of the selling companies using CRMs.

How do government policies influence the governance paradigm of Australian public universities?

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-248
Author(s):  
Joe Christopher ◽  
Sarath Ukwatte ◽  
Prem Yapa
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Hybrid Control ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Control Environment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practice Gap ◽  
Government Governance ◽  
Theory Practice Gap

Purpose This study aims to examine how government policies have influenced the governance paradigm of Australian public universities from a historical perspective. In doing so, it addresses current uncertainty on government-governance connectivity. Design/methodology/approach The study draws on Foucault’s concept of governmentality and governance and uses a developed framework of three constituents of governance to explore government–governance connectivity through a critical discourse analysis. Findings The findings reveal that government policies have influenced the three constituents of governance differently since 1823, resulting in three distinct governance discourses. In the third governance discourse, the findings reveal a deviation from policy directions towards corporate managerialism, resulting in a hybrid governance control environment. This scenario has arisen due to internal stakeholders continuing to be oriented towards the previous management cultures. Other factors include structural and legalistic obstacles to the implementation of corporate managerialism, validity of the underlying theory informing the policy directions towards corporate managerialism and doubts on the achievability of the market based reforms associated with corporate managerialism. The totality of these factors suggests a theory practice gap to be confirmed through further empirical research. There are also policy implications for policymakers to recognize the hybrid control environment and ascertain the risk the hybrid control environment poses towards the expected outcomes of corporate managerialism. Research limitations/implications The findings are limited to a critical discourse analysis of data from specific policies and journal publications on higher education and a developed framework of constituents of governance. Originality/value The study is the first to examine government–governance connectivity in Australian public universities and also the first to introduce a three-constituent governance framework as a conduit to explore such studies. The findings contribute to the literature in identifying a theory-practice gap and offer opportunities for further research to confirm them.

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